Comparison of mean platelet volume levels in coronary artery ectasia and healthy people: systematic review and meta-analysis

Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is defined as the dilation of a segment of a coronary vessel to at least 1.5 times the diameter of its normal adjacent segment. Mean platelet volume (MPV) plays a role in acute coronary syndromes, with high MPV correlating to poor prognosis for acute thrombotic events and CAE. Several studies investigated the relationship between MPV and CAE, resulting in conflicting results. These results led us to systematically review all studies investigating the relationship between MPV and ectatic heart diseases by performing a meta-analysis study in order to report a unified result. This meta-analysis study investigated all case-control articles examining the relationship between MPV and CAE. All studies in the following databases published until January 31, 2018, were investigated: Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. Following a quality control evaluation, 14 articles, all of which were published following studies performed in Turkey from 2007 to 2016, met the criteria for study inclusion. After pooling the results from all of the articles, a total standardized mean difference (SMD) value of 0.584 (95% CI, 0.219, 0.95) was obtained using the D+L pooled SMD, indicating a significant difference (P=0.002) between the two groups, with higher MPV values in ectatic patients when comparing to healthy individuals. Therefore, increased MPV levels were significantly related to CAE, suggesting that platelets, with their inflammatory and thrombotic activities, play a role in this disease. Therefore, anti-platelet and anti-inflammatory therapies may be effective in treating CAE.

essential oils compositions of Iranian oregano [Origanum vulgareL.] populations in field and provenance from Piranshahr district, west Azarbaijan province, Iran

Origanum vulgare L. is rarely cultivated in Iran but it is the only species of the Origanum genus growing wild in this country. O.vulgare L. is widely spread all over the country. In this study, parameters of content, composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oils of domestic and wild Iranian Oregano populations were compared with one another. The extractions were performed using a clevenger-type apparatus and the essential oils in the Oregano plants were obtained by hydro-distillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The essential oils were obtained in the Oregano field at yield of [0.80%] and the 4 provenance Oregano [ranging from 0.93% to 1.66% v/w]. In cultivated plant 22 constituents, representing 94.02% and in 4 provenance plants [O.v-w1--- O.v-w4], 21, 25, 22, 20 constituents, representing 96.55%, 95.66%, 95.8%, 94.48% of the oils, respectively, were identified. The two major constituents of the essential oils, carvacrol ranging from 23.54 to 67.09% and, gamma-terpinene ranging from 7.71 to 20.94% were present in relatively equal amounts in all five samples from different localities. Five chemotypes of essential oils were identified. The main chemotype was carvacrol-gamma-terpinene. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of essential oils of O.vulgare using DPPH radical scavenging was determined. All extracts exhibited almost the same pattern of antioxidant activity as ascorbic acid [vit C]. Our findings demonstrated that the chemical composition of the essential oils of O. vulgare L. varies considering geographical location of collection site, climate and other ecological conditions which suggest both intrinsic/genetic and extrinsic/environmental factors such as: altitude, edaphic, temperature, humidity and climate, may play important roles in determining the oils composition