Lead concentration in breast milk of lactating women who were living in Tehran, Iran

It is obvious that lead intake is of concern not for its beneficial/essential effects on metabolism, but rather for its toxic actions, which can be especially damaging to children. The objective of this study was to analyze the concentration of lead in milk of mothers during prolonged lactation. Milk samples from 43 mothers were collected at 2 months postpartum. Lead was analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The value of lead in human milk was 23.66 +/- 22.43 micro g/l. Lead concentration in human milk of mothers was higher than other countries and no significant relationship was found between levels of human milk lead and mother's education, age, parity, height and weight. The concentrations of lead in the milk samples were high, which makes a major public health hazard for the inhabitants, especially neonatal and children, of the industrial locations

Effect of aqueous extract of elaeagnus angustifolia fruit on experimental cutaneous wound healing in rats

The present study was conducted to investigate the histological changes and wound healing effect of aqueous extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia. After creating full-thickness skin wounds on the back of 45 male Sprague-Dawley rats they were randomly divided into three groups. Treated group received the extract, positive control group were treated with mupirocin ointment 2% and control group did not receive any treatment. Wound healing rates were calculated on days 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 15 post-wounding and the wound tissues were harvested at 5, 10, and 15 days for histological analysis and hydroxyproline content measurement. The results indicated a significant increase in the percentage of wound contraction and hydroxyproline content in the treated group comparing to the control and positive control groups. A significant increase in the assigned histological scores was observed at 10 and 15 days in the treated and positive control groups compared to the control group. The results demonstrate that aqueous extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia accelerates cutaneous wound healing, and its effect may be due to the increased reepithelialization and collagen deposition in wound and so it can be considered as a therapeutic agent for wound healing.