The protective effects of ginger on the development of coronary atherosclerosis: An experimental animal study

The use of ginger extracts has been recently suggested to be effective for prevention of establishing and development of coronary atherosclerosis due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory components. In the present study, the effect of standardized ginger extract on the development of experimentally induced atherosclerosis in animal models was investigated. The study protocol was consist of three groups of male rabbits (n = 5 each group) that were randomly divided to three groups to fed a common stock diet (containing bran and fresh vegetables) plus high cholesterol pack, or stock diet plus ginger (0.1 g/kg body weight/day) (group II) together with cholesterol, or only stock diet as the atheroma control for 75 days. Atheroma was graded macroscopically by mean graticule count percent. The degree of experimental cholesterol atherosclerosis was graded on an arbitrary scale of 0 to 4, and serum level of total cholesterol was also measured. The atherosclerotic lesion area was macroscopically smaller in rabbits that consumed ginger in comparison with the lesion area in those animals no received ginger extract (43.26 ± 8.7 mm2 versus 82.3 ± 7.9 mm2, p<0.001). Microscopically, the mean grading in coronary artery of rabbits received high cholesterol diet without ginger was 3.1±0.56, while in the group received high cholesterol diet plus ginger was 1.6±0.85 with a significant difference. Regarding effects of ginger on total cholesterol level and considering nonsignificant cholesterol level at baseline, the level of cholesterol after 75 days reached 66.72±0.12 mg/dL in the control group, 776±40.55 mg/dL in group fed high cholesterol without ginger, and 446±23.97 mg/dL in the group fed ginger with a significant level in high cholesterol plus ginger group than in high cholesterol alone group (p<0.001). Ginger can effectively protect the development of atherosclerosis manifested by lowering serum cholesterol level, as well as reducing infarct size and grade

A case of carbamazepine induced systemic lupus erythematous (SLE)

ABSTRACT Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant drug that used to treat seizures and nerve pain and such as most drugs have side effect. Systemic lupus erythematous is one of connective tissue disorders that often caused by an auto immune mechanism of unknown, although some drugs cause SLE. This report aimed to demonstrate the carbamazepine induced SLE after its oral consumption for Convulsion. This is the report carbamazepine- induced systemic lupus in a 16-year-old patient who had been treated with

Impact of the components of Mediterranean nutrition regimen on long-term prognosis of diabetic patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND: The impact of different nutritional regimens on long-term prognosis and outcome in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) has been questioned. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the effects of different nutritional components of Mediterranean regimen on long-term cardiovascular events in diabetic patients with CAD in the Iranian population. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study, we recruited 233 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and with at least 6 months of documented CAD. Nutritional assessment was obtained by a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and the diet score was calculated on the basis of the Mediterranean diet quality index (Med-DQI). For Assessing long-term CAD prognosis, the patients were followed by telephone for one year. The study endpoint was long-term Major Adverse Cardiac and Cerebrovascular event (MACCE). RESULTS: Death was observed in 19 patients (8.2) during the one-year follow-up. Two patients (0.9) suffered non-fatal myocardial infarction and 14 (6.0) needed revascularization within 1 year after discharge from hospital. Overall MACCE within one year in the study population was 12.4. There were significant differences between number of deaths and dietary scores of saturated fatty acid, cholesterol, meats, fish, and fruit and vegetables (P < 0.05). Moreover, significant differences were found between MACCE rate and dietary scores of saturated fatty acid, cholesterol, and fruit and vegetables (P < 0.05). Using multivariate logistic regression models, Mediterranean dietary regimen could effectively predict long-term death as well as MACCE adjusted for gender and age variables. CONCLUSION: Mediterranean dietary regimens, including low level of cholesterol and saturated fatty acid, can effectively improve long-term outcome including death and MACCE in diabetic patients with CAD

Anti-hyperelipidemic effects of sumac (Rhus coriaria L.): Can sumac strengthen anti-hyperlipidemic effect of statins?

People believe that sumac is used as reducing fat. In the present study, the hypolipidemic effect of sumac fruits was compared with lovastatin in patients suffered hypercholesterolemia. In a randomized double-blinded-controlled trial, 172 patients diagnosed as hypercholesterolemia (high LDL level) and indicated for lipid-lowering schedules were randomly allocated to receive lovastatin (20 mg/day) or a combination of lovastatin (20 mg/day) and sumac (1 gram equivalent to a teaspoon/day, soluble in water). Immediately before initial assessment and also after a 3- month period of drugs prescription, the level of serum lipid profile was measured in both intervention groups by enzymatic assay and serum LDL level was determined using the Friedewald's equation. At baseline, the mean level of LDL was 149.26±22.36 mg/dL in the group received combination therapy, and 146.25±19.89 mg/dL in the group received lovastatin alone with no significant different (p=0.352). However, following administration of the two treatment schedules, the level of LDL was significantly more reduced in combination treatment group compared with another group that the serum level of LDL after 3-month study period was 105.75±21.21 mg/dL in combination therapy group and 117.04±15.78 mg/dL in single therapy group (p≤0.001). The positive response rate in the two groups was 93.0% and 75.6%, respectively (p=0.002). Using Multivariable logistic regression model, the use of sumac combined with statin led to higher response rate indicated by lowering serum LDL level (p=0.019). Sumac has a potential role in lowering LDL level especially when combined with anti-hyperlipidemic drugs as statins

Herbs with anti-lipid effects and their interactions with statins as a chemical anti- hyperlipidemia group drugs: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND The present systematic review aimed to express the clinical anti-lipid effects of different types of herbs, as well as described studied interactions between herbal remedies and prescribed drugs for hyperlipidemic patients which were based on in vitro experiments, animal studies, and empirical clinical experiences. METHODS For this systematic review, we explored 2183 published papers about herbal drugs interactions from November 1967 to August 2014, fulfilling eligibility criteria by searching in some databases such as Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cinahl, and the Cochrane database. The main keywords used for searching included: herbal medicine, herbs, statin, lipid, and herb-drug interaction. RESULTS Among published articles about herb-drug interactions, 185 papers met the initial search criteria and among them, 92 papers were potentially retrievable including a description of 17 herbs and medicinal plants. In first step and by reviewing all published manuscripts on beneficial effects of herbs on serum lipids level, 17 herbs were described to be effective on lipid profile as lowering serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as increasing serum high-density lipoprotein level. Some herbs such as celery could even affect the hepatic triglyceride concentrations. The herbal reaction toward different types of statins is varied so that grapefruit or pomegranate was interacted with only some types of statins, but not with all statin types. In this context, administration of herbal materials can lead to decreased absorption of statins or decreased the plasma concentration of these drugs. CONCLUSION Various types of herbs can potentially reduce serum lipid profile with the different pathways; however, the herb-drug interactions may decrease pharmacological therapeutic effects of anti-hyperlipidemic drugs that should be considered when approved herbs are prescribed

Association of the p53 codon 72 polymorphism with breast cancer in central part of Iran

The tumor suppressor gene protein 53 (p53) plays a general role in cell cycle control, the initiation of apoptosis and in DNA repair. The human p53 gene is mutated and accumulated in more than 50% of cancers. Codon 72 exon 4 polymorphism (Arg72Pro) of the p53 gene has been implicated in cancer risk. This study was aimed at investigating the possible association between p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and susceptibility to breast cancer among Iranian population. The p53 Arg72Pro genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction - restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis in 135 breast cancer cases and 150 controls. The PCR products were digested with BstU I restriction enzyme and the DNA fragments were then resolved by electrophoresis in 2% agarose gel. Out of the 135 breast cancer samples, 102 (75.55 %) samples were heterozygous (Arg/Pro), 27 (20%) samples homozygous for arginine (Arg/Arg) and 6 (4.45%) samples homozygous for proline (Pro/Pro). The frequencies of the three p53 genotypes; Arg/Pro, Arg/Arg and Pro/Pro in controls were 62, 24 and 14%, respectively. Heterozygosity for Arg/Pro of p53 codon 72 is potentially one of the genetic risk factors for breast cancer. The p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may be used as a stratification marker in screening individuals at a high risk of breast cancer

A review of the medicinal plants effective on headache based on the ethnobotanical documents of Iran

Headache is one of the ten most common reasons for consulting with a doctor. Healthcare community is seeking to identify nature-based drugs with no side effects and a higher efficiency for treating headache. This review article introduced the plants used to treat headache in ethnobotany and traditional culture of different regions of Iran. The key words consisting of ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, ethnomedicine, phytopharmacology, traditional medicine, phytomedicine, and Iran, accompanied with headache, pain and analgesic, were used to search for relevant publications in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Islamic World Science Citation Center, and Magiran. Overall, 59 medicinal plants from 29 families are used to treat headache specifically in Iranian traditional medicine. Most plants presented in this study were analgesic and anti-inflammatory, and affected the inflammation and cortical vascular contractile dysfunction. Because of the widespread use of traditional medicinal plants and wide acceptance of herbal drugs and traditional medicine, large studies in pharmacy and pharmacology areas are recommended to inform pharmaceutical industries

Nothing new under the sun, or the moon, or both

PC and CR were supported by the PRIN grant 2010RP5RNM_001 from the Italian Ministry of University./nLB was supported by MINECO grant PSI2012-31961

Effect of extract of Varthemia persica DC on whole blood acetylcholinesterase activity in rats

Varthemia persica DC. is an aromatic plant, from the Asteraceae family, wildly growing in the central provinces of Iran. Sesquiterpene lactones that are found in Varthemia species have protective effect against organophosphates toxicity. This study aimed to assess the Effect of Varthemia persica extract on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. In this study, 0.4 mg normal saline was injected intra peritoneally in 12 control rats. 0.4 ml ethyl paraoxon was injected intraperitoneally in the reference group. In positive control group, after ethyl paraoxon injection, 0.4 ml pralidoxime was injected. In the first group (test 1) ethanolic Varthemia persica suspension was injected. In the second group (test 2), during the 6 days before toxin injection, daily injection of Varthemia persica was made. In test 3 group, suspension injection was repeated in 5 following days. In test 4 group, dichloroethanic suspension was injected. And in the last group (test 5) a high dose of suspension (1g/ml) was injected. The blood sample was collected 30 minutes after final injection. AChE activity was measure. The results showed that AChE activity was significantly improved only in the second and third groups and in other test groups, Varthemia persica suspension don't improved AChE activity. Based on the present finding it seems that the Varthemia persica extract is only effective if it used frequently and a single dose even in high dose is not effective

Attitude of Physicians, Nurses and Paramedical Staff About the Most Common Medical Errors in Hospitals in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province

Background and Aims Drug error is one of the unforgivable human errors. Challenges such as lack of national statistics and refuse of drug errors report are more important and its recognition is a must. The aim of this study was to evaluate nurses, pharmacologists, and doctors’ attitude toward medication errors, including factors that may contribute to errors, barriers to reporting them, and possible preventive measures. Methods In this descriptive analytic study in December 2017, a survey was conducted of 91 Nurses, pharmacologists, doctors working on medical wards at an educational hospital in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in Iran. The study data were collected by a self-report questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS V. 16. Results The commonest identified causes of medication errors were doctors’ illegible handwriting, nurses’ tiredness, and distraction or interruption while administering the prescribed drugs. According to the study participants, the most important reasons for not reporting errors were the administration system and fear of being blamed. Conclusion The introduction of hospital policies and implementing structured protocols on drug administration may decrease medication errors. It is also helpful to start preventive strategies such as holding regular education sessions in pharmacology and numeracy