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OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the protective effect of Zataria multiflora extract, an antioxidative medicinal plant, against cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced oxidative lung damage in mice.@*METHODS@#Mice were intraperitoneally pre-treated with various doses of Zataria multiflora extract (50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) once daily for 7 consecutive days. Animals were then injected with a single 200 mg/kg intraperitoneal dose of CP 1 h after the last administration of O. vulgare. Twenty-four hours later, mice were euthanized, the lungs were immediately removed, and biochemical and histological studies were conducted.@*RESULTS@#A single dose of CP markedly altered the levels of several biomarkers associated with oxidative stress in lung homogenates. Pretreatment with Zataria multiflora significantly inhibited the elevation of lipid peroxidation level and the depletion in glutathione content, and superoxide dismutase and catalase activities induced by CP in lung. In addition, Zataria multiflora effectively alleviated CP-induced histopathological abnormality and pulmonary damages in mice lung tissues.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The results reveal that Zataria multiflora protects lung tissues from CP-induced toxicity and suggest a role for oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of lung toxicity produced by CP in mice. Because Zataria multiflora has been extensively used as an additive agent and is regarded as safe, it may be used concomitantly as a good supplement for reducing organ toxicity in patients undergoing chemotherapy, besides their consolidated ethnopharmacological uses.
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BACKGROUND@#The hypocaloric diets improve glycemic status in obese individuals, but the response to hypocaloric diets in fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO)-rs9939609 gene variant is unknown. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the gene-diet interaction of FTO-rs9939609 gene variant and hypocaloric diets on glycemic control in overweight and obese adults.@*METHODS@#Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and Google scholar were searched up to December 2018, for relevant clinical trials. Mean changes in fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were extracted.@*RESULTS@#The pooled analysis of nine studies showed that there was no significant difference between AA/AT and TT genotypes in FBS (weighted mean difference [WMD] = 0.01, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.08, 1.10, P = 0.984) and serum insulin (WMD = 0.20, 95% CI: -0.85, 1.26; P = 0.707) after intervention hypocaloric diets. The overweight/obese participants in AA/AT group showed the greatest reduction in HOMA-IR compared with TT genotype following intervention, and this difference was not statistically significant (WMD = -0.38, 95% CI: -0.94, 0.16, P = 0.167).@*CONCLUSION@#This meta-analysis suggests that there was no significant difference between AA/AT and TT genotypes of FTO-rs9939609 on FBS, serum insulin level, and insulin resistance in response to hypocaloric diets.
ABSTRACT
Objective: ANRIL is an important antisense noncoding RNA gene in the INK4 locus [9p21.3], a hot spot region associated with multiple disorders including coronary artery disease [CAD], type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM] and many different types of cancer. It has been shown that its expression is dysregulated in a variety of immune-mediated diseases. CAD is a major problem in T2DM patients and the cause of almost 60% of deaths in these patients worldwide. The aim of the present study was to compare the expression level of ANRIL between T2DM patients with and without CAD
Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, we examined ANRIL expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples by quantitative reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction [RT-qPCR] in 64 T2DM patients with and without CAD [33 CAD+ and 31 CADpatients respectively, established by coronary angiography]
Results: Expression analysis revealed that ANRIL was up regulated [2.34-Fold, P=0.012] in CAD+ versus CAD diabetic patients. Data from receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve analysis has shown that ANRIL could act as a potential biomarker for detecting CAD in diabetic patients
Conclusion: The expression level of ANRIL is associated with presence of CAD in diabetic patients and could be considered as a potential peripheral biomarker
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In recent years, more head and neck cancer patients have been treated with radiotherapy. Radiation-induced mucositis is a common and dose limiting toxicity of radiotherapy among patients with head and neck cancers. Patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer are also at increased risk of developing oral candidiasis. A number of new agents applied locally or systemically to prevent or treat radiation-induced mucositis have been investigated, but there is no widely accepted prophylactic or effective treatment for mucositis. Topical Aloe vera is widely used for mild sunburn, frostbites, and scalding burns. Studies have reported the beneficial effects of Aloe gel for wound healing, mucous membrane protection, and treatment of oral ulcers, in addition to antiinflammatory, immunomudulation, antifungal, scavenging free radicals, increasing collagen formation and inhibiting collagenase. Herein the author postulates that oral Aloe vera mouthwash may not only prevent radiation-induced mucositis by its wound healing and antiinflammatory mechanism, but also may reduce oral candidiasis of patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy due to its antifungal and immunomodulatory properties. Hence, Aloe vera mouthwash may provide an alternative agent for treating radiation-induced oral mucositis and candidiasis in patients with head and neck cancers.
Subject(s)
Humans , Aloe , Chemistry , Clinical Trials as Topic , Head and Neck Neoplasms , Radiotherapy , Mouthwashes , Therapeutic Uses , Radiation Injuries , Drug Therapy , Stomatitis , Drug TherapyABSTRACT
To evaluate the protective effects of kojic acid on mortality induced by gamma irradiation in mice. The efficacy was compared with amifostine as a reference radioprotector. This experimental study was conducted in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari and Babolsar Radiotherapy Hospital, Babolsar, Iran, between October 2006 and January 2008. Kojic acid was administrated subcutaneously as single doses of 142, 175, 232, and 350 mg/kg, one hour prior to a lethal dose of gamma irradiation [8 Gy]. Amifostine was injected subcutaneously at a dose of 200 mg/kg at a similar irradiation dose. The mortality was recorded 30 days after irradiation. The antioxidant activity of the kojic acid was assessed using the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free stable radical [DPPH] method. One hundred and twenty NMRI mice were divided into 6 groups with 20 mice in each group. At 30 days after treatment, the percentage of survival in each group was: control, 5%; 142 mg/kg, 5%; 175 mg/kg, 0%; 232 mg/kg, 30%; 350 mg/kg, 40%; and amifostine, 40% one hour treatment prior gamma irradiation. The survival rate was statistically increased in animals treated with kojic acid [350 mg/kg], one hour prior irradiation, as compared with the irradiated control group. Kojic acid exhibited concentration-dependent scavenging activity on DPPH possessing strong antioxidant activity. Kojic acid with antioxidant activity reduced the mortality induced by gamma irradiation