[Effects of hydroalcoholic extract matricaria chamomilla L. on paraquat-induced blood oxidative toxicity in rat]

Paraquat [PQ] is a herbicide and exerts its cytotoxicity via the generation of reactive oxygen species [ROS]. There is no specific treatment for PQ poisoning. The purpose of this study was to investigate of hydroalcoholic extract Matricaria chamomilla L. [M. chamomilla] against PQ-induced injury in association with its antioxidant activity. The male rats were treated by gastric gavage daily with PQ [5 mg/kg/day] and M. chamomilla [50 mg/kg/day] were administered alone or in combination for 7 days. After treatments, in blood sample, lipid peroxidation [LPO], total antioxidant capacity [TAC], the activity of glutathione peroxidase [GPx] and superoxide dismutase [SOD] were measured. In this sample, the TAC was lower in the PQ group as compared with control group. PQ increased LPO level, GPx and SOD activities compared control group M. chamomilla extract increased TAC and decreased LPO level, GPx and SOD activities compared PQ group. Co-administration of PQ with M. chamomilla extract increased TAC and decreased GPx and SOD activities as compared with PQ group. In conclusion, M. chamomilla ?as natural antioxidant may be considered beneficial for the protection oxidative damage in PQ poisoning

Neuropsychiatric disorders in the oldest medical textbook in Persian written around 985 AD

Written around 985 A.D., Hidayat al-Muta'allimin fil-Tibb [Students' Guide to Medicine] is the oldest general medical text known to have been written in modern Persian. Its author is a little known but apparently well experienced practicing physician by the name of Abu Bakr Rabi' bin Ahmed al-Akhawaini from Bukhara who claims to be a second generation student of Razi's. The neuropsychiatric sections of the book are of particular interest because the author claims a personal interest in and reputation for treating the insane. According to one of the manuscripts he was known as the "Physician of the Insane" by his contemporaries. Following the line of other Islamic medical writers, the author has described major neuropsychiatric disorders in the chapter dealing with the "Diseases of the Head and the Brain". These include Melancholic, Mania, Epilepsy, Phrenitis, Litharghos, and the Sarsam. Hysteria is, however, described among the diseases of the female reproductive system. Both the terminology used and the authorities quoted betray the author's schooling in and devotion to the Graeco-Roman medical traditions adopted by early Islamic medical writers. He emerges as a hardheaded organic physician firmly committed to the humoral doctrine of mental illnees