Wound healing potential of Althaea officinalis flower mucilage in rabbit full thickness wounds

Objective: To evaluate and practically demonstrate the influence of Althaea officinalis flower mucilage as a plant known in Iran's and other Middle Eastern countries' traditional medicine for its wound healing properties. Methods: Animals were divided into 6 groups of 5 cases including a non-treated group as the negative control group receiving no treatment, a group treated with eucerin as the positive control group, a phenytoin 1% group as a standard group treated topically with phenytoin 1% hand-made ointment, and treatment groups treated with hand-made Althaea officinalis flower mucilage (AFM) ointment in a eucerin base with different concentrations (5%, 10%, 15%). Results: Among the treatment groups, the AFM 15% ointment showed the best result. Wound healing duration was reduced by the surface application of these groups. Wound closure was completed on Days 14 and 15 in the AFM 15% ointment and phenytoin 1% groups, respectively. No significant difference was observed in healing period between these groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, AFM 15% ointment was found to reduce wound healing time without any significant difference with the phenytoin 1% ointment. The authors suggest increased AFM effectiveness in when combined with phenytoin or other effectual plants.

The effects of lactobacillus suppositories in the recovery and recurrence of bacterial vaginosis: a double-blind randomized clinical trial

Bacterial vaginosis [BV] is the most prevalent causes of abnormal secretion in women at fertility age. Also, Bacterial vaginosis is one of the most common diseases in women who refer to gynecology clinic. The main cause of the pathogenesis is increasing pH of vagina due to reduced number of lactobacillus and growth of anaerobic bacteria. Prevalence of BV varies between 10 to 30 percent in different societies. Amsel criteria is used as diagnostic test in BV. This interventional study was designed to assess the impact of vaginal lactobacillus suppository and metronidazole compared to metronidazole alone on the recovery and recurrence of bacterial vaginosis. This study was a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial which was conducted on 130 women with bacterial vaginosis to compare the effects of vaginal lactobacillus suppository and metronidazole. Bacterial vaginosis was diagnosed using Amsel criteria that based on some clinical symptoms. Patients were divided into two groups, first group were treated with oral metronidazole plus lactobacillus and second group were treated with metronidazole alone. Patients were followed-up one week and four weeks after initiation of the treatment. One hundred and thirty women completed the study. Patients were followed at one and four weeks after initiation of intervention. Amsel criteria and recovery rate in both groups compared before treatment one and four weeks after treatment. The criteria and treatment were significantly improved, but this improvement was higher and statistically significant in the metronidazole plus Lactobacillus group compared to second group [P< 0.0001]. The protective effects of lactobacillus in dealing with anaerobic pathogens as well as the negative impact of metronidazole on lactobacillus of vaginal flora, use of lactobacillus along with metronidazole especially in patients with recurrent infections is recommended. In other words, using lactobacillus with metronidazole for treatment of bacterial vaginosis is more effective than metronidazole alone

QT dispersion: does it change after percutaneous coronary intervention?

Myocardial ischemia is one of several causes of prolonged QT dispersion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect that percutaneous coronary intervention has on the depolarization and repolarization parameters of surface electrocardiography in patients with chronic stable angina. We assessed the effects of full revascularization in patients with chronic stable angina and simple-vessel disease who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. Twelve-lead electrocardiograms were recorded before intervention and 24 hours subsequently. We measured parameters including QRS duration, QT and corrected QT durations, and JT and corrected JT duration in both electrocardiograms and compared the values. There were significant differences between the mean QRS interval [0.086 +/- 0.01 sec vs. 0.082 +/- 0.01 second; p value =0.01], mean corrected QT dispersion [0.080 +/- 0.04 sec vs. 0.068 +/- 0.04 sec; p value = 0.001], and mean corrected JT dispersion [0.074 +/- 0.04 sec vs. 0.063 +/- 0.04 sec; p value = 0.001] before and after percutaneous coronary intervention. No significant differences were found between the other ECG parameters. Our data indicate that the shortening of corrected QT dispersion and corrected JT dispersion in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention is prominent