Comparison of honey and dextrose solution on post-operative peritoneal adhesion in rat model.

BACKGROUND: Peritoneal adhesion between abdominal organs is a complication of surgery. It causes major complications like pain, bowel obstruction, infertility and increases risk of death. Honey is known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties potentially relevant for adhesive protection. METHODS: Thirty rats were divided into five groups: negative control without any surgical procedure (normal group), control group treated with normal saline, experimental group I treated with 1ml of 10% honey, experimental group II treated with honey at half concentration of group I (honey0.5), and positive control group receiving 1ml of dextrose 5%. Inflammatory, growth and angiogenesis factors (TNF-α, Il-6, IL-1ß, TGF-ß1 and VEGF) of the adhesion tissue were assessed using ELISA. Antioxidant factors (NO, GSH and MDA) were also assessed using biochemical procedures. RESULTS: The difference between peritoneal adhesion scores, TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, TGF-ß1, VEGF, NO, GSH and MDA value of all groups was strongly significant (p<0.001). We showed that honey can decrease peritoneal adhesion (p<0.001), TNF-α (p<0.001), IL-1ß (p<0.001), IL-6 (p<0.001), TGF-ß1 (p<0.001), VEGF (p<0.001), NO (p<0.001), MDA (p<0.001) and increase GSH (p<0.001) compared with control group. Honey 0.5 also significantly decreased peritoneal adhesion (p<0.001), TNF-α (p<0.001), IL-1ß (p<0.01), IL-6 (p<0.001), VEGF (p<0.001), NO (p<0.001), MDA (p<0.01) and increase GSH (p<0.001) compared with control group. CONCLUSIONS: We find that honey can decrease inflammatory, growth and angiogenesis factors which can advance peritoneal adhesion and increase antioxidant factors. Honey could serve as a protective agent for peritoneal adhesion.

Association of hematocrit with blood pressure and hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is a risk factor for stroke, renal failure, and cardiovascular disease. The association between biochemical and hematological parameters with high blood pressure may provide a more precise approach to risk prediction conferred by HTN in these patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of current study was to explore whether biochemical and hematological parameters are associated with HTN in a cohort study with a 7-year follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 9808 individuals were enrolled and recruited as part of the Mashhad Stroke and Heart Atherosclerotic Disorders (MASHAD) cohort study, and biochemical and hematological factors were measured in all subjects. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association of biochemical and hematological parameters with HTN. RESULTS: Several biochemical parameters including fasting plasma glucose (FBG), serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and uric acid were increased in hypertensive participants. In contrast, serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was lower in hypertensive individuals. Furthermore, we demonstrated that hematological parameters including white blood cell (WBC) count, red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) were higher in the hypertensive group compared to the control group. But mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and red cell distribution width (RDW), were decreased in the hypertensive group. Furthermore, our results strongly suggested that among these parameters, hematocrit was the independent risk factor for hypertension in the population. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated the association of altered biochemical and hematological factors with hypertension supporting the value of emerging markers for early prediction of high blood pressure in prone individuals.

Impact of Cigarette Smoking on Serum Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines and Growth Factors.

Inflammation plays a key role in the initiation, progression, and clinical manifestation of atherosclerosis. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. The aim of the current study was to investigate the serum concentrations of 12 cytokines and growth factors (EGF, INF-γ, IL-1α/-1ß/-2/-4/-6/-8/-10, MCP-1, TNF-α, and VEGF) in an Iranian population, including 192 smokers, comparing these values with concentrations in nonsmokers. One hundred and ninety-two cases were enrolled from the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Of these cases, 82 were cigarette smokers and 110 were nonsmokers. Sex and age were matched for the two groups. The serum concentration of 12 cytokines and growth factors were determined using EV-3513-cytokine-biochip arrays, by competitive chemiluminescence immunoassays. The level of serum MCP-1 was significantly ( p < .001) lower in the female group of cigarette smokers (mean = 88.1 dL/ng), compared with nonsmokers (mean = 155.6 dL/ng). There were no significant differences for the other cytokines and growth factors between the groups. Our finding demonstrate the association of MCP-1 with cigarette smoking, supporting further studies in larger population on evaluating the role of cigarette smoking on pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokines.