RESUMEN
Background: During recent years, the carotenoid lycopene has attracted much attention for its potentially beneficial cardiovascular effects, which is located mainly in tomato peels. The antioxidant properties of tomatoes has been extensively studied for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, but the beneficial effects of pure lycopene supplement is still debatable. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate and compare the hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects of pure lycopene powder and to compare it with that of atorvastatin in hyperlipidemic New Zealand white rabbits. Methods: Adult male New Zealand white rabbits (1.5-2.5 kg) were divided into three groups of six animals each. Group I - High fat diet (HFD) (5 ml/kg). Group II - HFD (5 ml/kg) + lycopene (10 mg/kg) orally. Group III - HFD (5 ml/kg) + atorvastatin (5 mg/kg) orally. Blood samples were taken from all 18 rabbits for baseline estimation of blood sugar levels (BSL), lipid levels and blood superoxide dismutase levels. Same tests were performed in all groups after 6 weeks. Results: The lipid lowering activity of atorvastatin 5 mg/kg was better than that of lycopene while the antioxidant activity of lycopene was better than that of atorvastatin. Both the results were statistically significant. There was no significant difference in fasting BSLs in both the groups. Conclusion: Findings suggest that lycopene may have considerable therapeutic benefit as an antioxidant and hypolipidemic agent, but may not be effective as a hypoglycemic agent.
RESUMEN
Background: Wound healing is a significant healthcare problem in today’s medical practice. Despite extensive treatment modalities that are supposed to hasten the wound healing process, the outcomes of existing methods are far from optimal. One such agent that has been tried previously and found controversial in wound healing is phenytoin. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate and compare wound healing effect of topical phenytoin with povidone iodine ointment in rats. Methods: This study was conducted after approval from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC). Wound healing activity of topical phenytoin (1 g% and 2 g%) was assessed in excision wound model in Sprague Dawley rats (n=8), which was compared with topical petroleum jelly and povidone iodine ointment. Parameters studied included wound area on day 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, percentage wound contraction, percentage wound healing from day 0 to day 20 and period of re-epithelisation. Results: Wound surface area decreased in all treatment groups from day 0 through day 20 and the percentage wound closure was better in both the preparations (1% and 2%) of phenytoin when compared wih control and povidone iodine, but this was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the days required for complete re-epithelisation were less with phenytoin treated groups. There was no statistical difference between both the preparations of phenytoin. Conclusion: In this study, it was found that topical phenytoin accelerates wound healing process in an excision wound model.