Inhibitory Effects of Apium graveolens on Xanthine Oxidase Activity and Serum Uric Acid Levels in Hyperuricemic Mice

Karim Dolati,Hassan Rakhshandeh,Mohsen Golestani,Fatemeh Forouzanfar,Roya Sadeghnia,Hamid R. Sadeghnia 한국식품영양과학회 2018 Preventive Nutrition and Food Science Vol.23 No.2

Celery (Apium graveolens) is traditionally used to treat rheumatism and cardiovascular disorders. Hyperuricemia is considered as a predisposing factor for gout and is also suggested to be associated with coronary artery disease. In the present study, the effect of hydroalcoholic extracts from A. graveolens (AGE) against potassium oxonate (PO)-induced hyperuricemia was investigated in mice. AGE (250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg) or allopurinol (5 mg/kg, as positive control) were orally administrated 1 h after PO injection (250 mg/kg, ip) for two weeks. After that, the serum uric acid level and hepatic xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) and xanthine oxidase (XO) activities were measured. In addition, the antioxidant activity of AGE was determined by assessment of hepatic lipid peroxidation, in vivo and the ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay, in vitro. The extract exhibited good capacity to reduce ferric ion to ferrous ion with mean value of 63.8±8.5 μmol/g. The data also showed that oxonate treatment produced a significant increase in serum uric acid level (4.6 vs. 2.3 mg/ dL, P<0.001), liver XO/XDH activities (P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively), and hepatic lipid peroxides levels (about two fold, P<0.01), compared to the healthy mice. AGE significantly decreased the serum uric acid level, hepatic XO/XDH activities, and lipid peroxidation, in a dose-dependent manner. Oral administration of 1,000 mg/kg AGE for two weeks reversed the elevated serum uric acid level (2.7 vs. 4.6 mg/dL, P<0.001) and significantly inhibited liver XO/XDH activities (P<0.001) and diminished hepatic lipid peroxidation (0.45 vs. 0.82 nmol/mg protein, P<0.05), compared with hyperuricemic mice. AGE (1,000 mg/kg) per se did not significantly modify these parameters. Our results demonstrated that AGE could reduce the serum uric acid level via inhibition of hepatic XDH/XO and indicated its potential utility as an effective hypouricemic bioactive agent or functional food.

Opuntia dillenii: A Forgotten Plant with Promising Pharmacological Properties

Shirazinia, Reza,Rahimi, Vafa Baradaran,Kehkhaie, Ashrafali Rezaie,Sahebkar, Amirhossein,Rakhshandeh, Hassan,Askari, Vahid Reza KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE 2019 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.22 No.1

Generative and vegetative parts of the cactuses have had a long-lasting position in folk medicine and their effects could partly be confirmed in scientific experiments. Nowadays, the cactus, fruits, and cladodes are the focus of many studies because of their desirable properties. Therefore, the summarized reports of valuable properties of medicinal plants may be a good way to familiarize researches with a new source of drugs with lower side effects and higher efficacy. Opuntia dillenii, a well-known member of the Cactaceae family, is used as a medicinal plant in various countries and grows in the desert, semi-desert, tropical and sub-tropical areas. It shows diverse pharmacological activities such as: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, hypotensive etc. OD fruit also possesses valuable constitutes for instance: betalains, ascorbic acid, total phenol, protein as well as essential elements which suggest the significant potential of this plant as a complementary therapy against several pathological conditions. This review describes experimental evidence about pharmacological and therapeutic potential of OD in order to give the basis of its application in the prevention and treatment of some chronic diseases. More studies on OD can help better understanding of its pharmacological mechanism of action to explain its traditional uses and to identify its potential new therapeutic applications.

Opuntia dillenii: A Forgotten Plant with Promising Pharmacological Properties

Reza Shirazinia,Vafa Baradaran Rahimi,Ashrafali Rezaie Kehkhaie,Amirhossein Sahebkar,Hassan Rakhshandeh,Vahid Reza Askari 대한약침학회 2019 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.22 No.1

Generative and vegetative parts of the cactuses have had a long-lasting position in folk medicine and their effects could partly be confirmed in scientific experiments. Nowadays, the cactus, fruits, and cladodes are the focus of many studies because of their desirable properties. Therefore, the summarized reports of valu-able properties of medicinal plants may be a good way to familiarize researches with a new source of drugs with lower side effects and higher efficacy. Opuntia dillenii, a well-known member of the Cactaceae family, is used as a medicinal plant in various countries and grows in the desert, semi-desert, tropical and sub-tropical areas. It shows diverse pharmacological activities such as: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, hypotensive etc. OD fruit also possesses valuable constitutes for instance: betalains, ascorbic acid, total phenol, protein as well as essential elements which suggest the significant potential of this plant as a complementary therapy against several pathological conditions. This review describes experimental evidence about pharmacological and therapeutic potential of OD in order to give the basis of its application in the prevention and treatment of some chronic diseases. More studies on OD can help better understanding of its pharmacological mechanism of action to explain its traditional uses and to identify its potential new therapeutic applications.

The Effect of Short-term Treatment with Fennel on Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

( Masumeh Ghazanfarpour ),( Elham Amini ),( Talat Khadivzadeh ),( Masoudeh Babakhanian ),( Bahareh Nouri ),( Hassan Rakhshandeh ),( Maliheh Afiat ) 대한폐경학회 2017 대한폐경학회지 Vol.23 No.2

Objectives: The goal of this study is to assess the effect of fennel on bone density. Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which studied sixty eligible postmenopausal women, who were randomly assigned to fennel and placebo groups. Then, the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was utilized to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of the spine, femoral neck, intertrochanter, and trochanter at the baseline and after three-month follow-up. Results: The mean BMD and BMC at lumbar spine (P = 0.14, P = 0.504), total hip femoral (P = 0.427, P = 0.471), trochanter (P = 0.075, P = 0.07), intertrochanter, (P = 0.864, P = 0.932) and femoral neck (P = 0.439, P = 0.641) was not significantly different between the fennel and placebo groups. Conclusions: The results of this study did not approve the effect of fennel on bone density in post-menopausal women. However, to gain deeper insights, further studies with longer durations and larger sample sizes are recommended. (J Menopausal Med 2017;23:124-130)

A Systematic Review on Prevention and Treatment of Nipple Pain and Fissure: Are They Curable?

Niazi, Azin,Rahimi, Vafa Baradaran,Soheili-Far, Sina,Askari, Nafiseh,Rahmanian-Devin, Pouria,Sanei-Far, Zahra,Sahebkar, Amirhossein,Rakhshandeh, Hassan,Askari, Vahid Reza KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE 2018 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.21 No.3

Averagely 80% to 90% of breastfeeding women experience the nipple pain and fissures. The important factor for successful breastfeeding is to treat this problem. This study has done as a review with the aim of analysis of the clinical trials in the field of the prevention and treatment of the nipple fissures and pain due to the importance of breastfeeding. For this purpose, the key words of sore, nipples, fissure, trauma, wound, prevention, treatment, therapeutics, therapy, clinical trial, breastfeeding and their Persian synonyms and all of their possible combinations were searched in the national databases: SID and Iran Medex and Magiran, and in the international databases: PubMed, Scopus, Medline, Science direct by May 2017. The Jadad criterion was used to assess the quality of the articles and the articles with a score of 3 or more were included in this study. Finally, 48 clinical trials were reviewed that 17 of them (sample size 1801) scored 3 or more based on the Jadad criterion. Seven articles were also in the non- drug treatment group (sample size 491) and 2 articles in the drug treatment group (sample size 337) and 8 articles in the herbal treatment group (sample size 973).The results show that menthol and warm water compress as well as teaching the correct breastfeeding methods are effective treatments to prevent and treat the nipple pain and fissures. Moreover, applying the herbal medicine for prevention and treatment of the issues raised from breastfeeding may have beneficial such as Aloe vera, Portulaca olearacea. However, more studies with a great methodology are necessary to obtain more accurate evidence.

The Effect of Short-term Treatment with Fennel on Lipid Profile in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

( Maliheh Afiat ),( Elham Amini ),( Masumeh Ghazanfarpour ),( Bahareh Nouri ),( Mahsa Sadat Mousavi ),( Masoudeh Babakhanian ),( Hassan Rakhshandeh ) 대한폐경학회 2018 대한폐경학회지 Vol.24 No.1

Objectives: The present trial aimed to assess the effects of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) on lipid profiles. Methods: In this double blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial, sixty eligible postmenopausal women were randomly assigned into the fennel and placebo groups. Total blood cholesterol, cholesterol fractions, and triglycerides were tested at the baseline, and after three-month follow-up. Results: There was no significant difference in triglyceride (P = 0.679), total cholesterol (P = 0.103), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; P = 0.146) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C; P = 0.266) levels between the two groups. In addition, in both groups, a paired t-test showed no significant difference in all mentioned parameters, except for HDL-C, indicating significant borderline improvement (P = 0.052) in the fennel group. Conclusions: The fennel group revealed a very slight positive change in LDL-C, triglyceride and HDL-C. Further studies with longer durations, higher doses, and larger sample sizes are recommended to validate the results. (J Menopausal Med 2018;24:29-33)

The Beneficial Effects of Olibanum on Memory Deficit Induced by Hypothyroidism in Adult Rats Tested in Morris Water Maze

Mahmoud Hosseini,Mosa Al-Reza Hadjzadeh,Mohammad Derakhshan,Shahrzad Havakhah,Fatemeh Behnam Rassouli,Hassan Rakhshandeh,Fatema Saffarzadeh 대한약학회 2010 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.33 No.3

Functional consequences of hypothyroidism include impaired learning and memory and inability to produce long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampus. Olibanum has been used for variety of therapeutic purposes. In traditional medicine, oilbanum is used to enhance learning and memory. In the present study the effect of olibanum on memory deficit in hypothyroid rats was investigated. Male wistar rats were divided into four groups and treated for 180 days. Group 1 received tap drinking water while in group 2, 0.03% methimazol was added to drinking water. Group 3 and 4 were treated with 0.03% methimazole as well as 100 and 500 mg/kg olibanum respectively. The animals were tested in Morris water maze. The swimming speed was significantly lower and the distance and time latency were higher in group 2 compared with group 1. In groups 3 and 4 the swimming speed was significantly higher while, the length of the swim path and time latency were significantly lower in comparison with group 2. It is concluded that methimazole-induced hypothyroidism impairs learning and memory in adult rats which could be prevented by using olibanum.

A Systematic Review on Prevention and Treatment of Nipple Pain and Fissure: Are They Curable?

Azin Niazi,Vafa Baradaran Rahimi,Sina Soheili-Far,Nafiseh Askari,Pouria Rahmanian‑Devin,Zahra Sanei‑Far,Amirhossein Sahebkar,Hassan Rakhshandeh,Vahid Reza Askari 대한약침학회 2018 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.21 No.3

Averagely 80% to 90% of breastfeeding women experience the nipple pain and fissures. The important factor for successful breastfeeding is to treat this problem. This study has done as a review with the aim of analysis of the clinical trials in the field of the prevention and treatment of the nipple fissures and pain due to the importance of breastfeeding. For this purpose, the key words of sore, nipples, fissure, trauma, wound, prevention, treatment, therapeutics, therapy, clinical trial, breastfeeding and their Persian synonyms and all of their possible combinations were searched in the national databases: SID and Iran Medex and Magiran, and in the international databases: PubMed, Scopus, Medline, Science direct by May 2017. The Jadad criterion was used to assess the quality of the articles and the articles with a score of 3or more were included in this study. Finally, 48 clinical trials were reviewed that 17 of them (sample size 1801) scored 3 or more based on the Jadad criterion. Seven ar-Received: Feb 08, 2108 Reviewed: Apr 16, 2018 Accepted: Aug 02,2018ticles were also in the non- drug treatment group (sample size 491) and 2 articles in the drug treatment group (sample size 337) and 8 articles in the herbal treatment group (sample size 973).The results show that menthol and warm water compress as well as teaching the correct breastfeeding methods are effective treatments to prevent and treat the nipple pain and fissures. Moreover, applying the herbal medicine for prevention and treatment of the issues raised from breastfeeding may have beneficial such as Aloe vera, Portulaca olearacea. However, more studies with a great methodology are necessary to obtain more accurate evidence.