Reversal of Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity by Using Phytotherapy: A Review

Azar Hosseini,Amirhossein Sahebkar 대한약침학회 2017 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.20 No.4

Doxorubicin as a chemotherapeutic drug is widely used for the treatment of patients with cancer. However, clinical use of this drug is hampered by its cardiotoxicity, which is manifested as electrocardiographic abnormalities, arrhythmias, irreversible degenerative cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. The precise mechanisms underlying the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin are not clear, but impairment of calcium homeostasis, generation of iron complexes, production of oxygen radicals, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell membrane damage have been suggested as potential etiologic factors. Compounds that can neutralize the toxic effect of doxorubicin on cardiac cells without reducing the drug's antitumor activity are needed. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that herbal medicines and bioactive phytochemicals can serve as effective add-on therapies to reduce the cardiotoxic effects of doxorubicin. This review describes different phytochemicals and herbal products that have been shown to counterbalance doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

Reversal of Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity by Using Phytotherapy: A Review

Hosseini, Azar,Sahebkar, Amirhossein KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE 2017 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.20 No.4

Doxorubicin as a chemotherapeutic drug is widely used for the treatment of patients with cancer. However, clinical use of this drug is hampered by its cardiotoxicity, which is manifested as electrocardiographic abnormalities, arrhythmias, irreversible degenerative cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. The precise mechanisms underlying the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin are not clear, but impairment of calcium homeostasis, generation of iron complexes, production of oxygen radicals, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell membrane damage have been suggested as potential etiologic factors. Compounds that can neutralize the toxic effect of doxorubicin on cardiac cells without reducing the drug's antitumor activity are needed. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that herbal medicines and bioactive phytochemicals can serve as effective add-on therapies to reduce the cardiotoxic effects of doxorubicin. This review describes different phytochemicals and herbal products that have been shown to counterbalance doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

A Review of Potential Efficacy of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Cognitive Dysfunction and Seizures

Arezoo Rajabian,Azar Hosseini,Mahmoud Hosseini,Hamid Reza Sadeghnia 한국식품영양과학회 2019 Preventive Nutrition and Food Science Vol.24 No.4

Crocus sativus (saffron) is traditionally used to relieve several ailments. Experimental researches have also investigated applications of saffron and its active constituents for the treatment of a wide spectrum of disorders. This review discusses pharmacological/therapeutic properties of saffron and its main components on memory function, learning ability and seizures, to highlight their merit for alleviating these disorders. An extensive literature review was carried out using various databases including ISI Web of Knowledge, Medline/PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar, Embase, Biological Abstracts, and Chemical Abstracts. The growing body of evidence showed the value of saffron and its’ components, alone, or in combination with the other pharmaceuticals, for improving learning and memory abilities and controlling seizures. These findings may provide pharmacological basis for the use of saffron in cognitive disturbance and epilepsy. However, further preclinical and clinical studies are necessary.

Comparing the Performance of Dynamical and Statistical Downscaling on Historical Run Precipitation Data over a Semi-Arid Region

Nasrin Salehnia,Fateme Hosseini,Ali Farid,Sohrab Kolsoumi,Azar Zarrin,Majid Hasheminia 한국기상학회 2019 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.55 No.4

Precise evaluations of climate model precipitation outputs are valuable for making decisions regarding agriculture, water resource, and ecosystem management. Many downscaling techniques have been developed in the past few years for projection of weather variables. We need to apply dynamical and statistical downscaling (DD and SD) to bridge the gap between the coarse resolution general circulation model (GCM) outputs and the need for high-resolution climate information over a semi-arid region. We compare the requirements of DD (RegCM4) and SD (Delta) approaches, evaluate the historical run of NNRP1 data in comparison with station data, and analyze the changes in wet days and precipitation values through both methods during 1990– 2010. In this study, we did not want to use prediction data under different scenarios of climate change, and we have just applied observed data to assess the amount of precise of NNRP1 data, over the observed period. SD method requires less time and computing power than DD. The DD approach performs better over the evaluation period according to efficiency criteria. In general, the Pearson correlation in DD with observation data in evaluation period was higher than (r > 0.72 and R2 > 0.52) SD (r > 0.65 and R2 > 0.41) over three study stations. Similarly, MAE and NSE show better results from DD relative to SD. SD underestimates the number annual mean wet-days for all three stations examined. DD overestimates a number of annual mean wet-days, but with less deviation from the observed mean.

Overexpression of miR-146a and miR-155 are Potentially Biomarkers and Predict Unfavorable Relationship between Gastric Cancer and Helicobacter pylori Infection

Masoud Karimi,Abdolreza Mohammadnia,Mohammad Amin Amini,Azar Ghavimi Shamekh,Elahe Derakhshanfar,Farzaneh Hosseini 전남대학교 의과학연구소 2023 전남의대학술지 Vol.59 No.3

Gastric Cancer (GC) is one of the most dangerous malignancies in the world. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between miR-146a and miR-155 in patients with H. pylori infections with GC compared to H. pylori-infected patients and healthy subjects. Forty patients with H. pylori and GC positive diagnoses and 40 patients with H. pylori positive and GC negative diagnoses, and 40 healthy persons were selected. The expression of miR-146a and miR-155 genes in the whole blood was examined using qRT-PCR. Moreover, ROC curves were drawn to represent the sensitivity and specificity of miR-146a and miR-155 expression as biomarkers. The results showed the expression of miR-146a and miR-155 in the whole blood of patients with H. pylori and GC positive diagnoses are significantly higher than in healthy individuals and are non-significantly enhanced compared to H. pylori positive and GC negative. Also, the results stated miR-146a and miR-155 expression in the whole blood of patients who are H. pylori positive and GC negative are significantly increased compared to healthy individuals. Furthermore, the ROC curve analysis of miR-146a and miR-155 RNA level demonstrated the two miRNAs have an appropriate sensitivity and specificity for diagnostic goals. In conclusion, H. pylori infection may increase the expression of miR-146a and miR-155 in patients with H. pylori and GC positive diagnoses, which can be effective in the curbing the progression of GC. For this reason, up-regulation of miR-146a and miR-155 along with H. pylori infection might contribute to the pathogenesis of GC, and also can be suggested as biomarkers for GC diagnosis and treatment.

Rosmarinic Acid Protects Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Nutrient-Deficient Conditions.

Ahmad Ghorbani,Hamid Reza Sadeghnia,Amir Reza Afshari,Azar Hosseini 한국식품영양과학회 2019 Preventive Nutrition and Food Science Vol.24 No.4

One of the major challenges for stem cell therapy of ischemic organs is that the transplanted cells are confronted with nutrient deficiency and oxidative stress. Previous studies have indicated that pretreatment of stem cells with cytoprotective phytochemicals improves their therapeutic potential. This study was aimed to investigate whether rosmarinic acid can enhance survival of adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) in nutrient-deficient culture as an in vitro model of ischemia. The ASCs were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue of male adult Wistar rats and incubated for 24 h with rosmarinic acid in nutrient-deficient (glucose- and serum-deprived, GSD) culture medium. In a separate experiment, ASCs were pre-incubated for 4 h with rosmarinic acid and then exposed to GSD conditions for 24 h. The viability of ASCs was determined using thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide assays. The effect of rosmarinic acid on the cell cycle was evaluated using propidium iodide staining. GSD conditions significantly decreased the viability of ASCs and enhanced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, sub-G1 cell populations, and necrosis. Both pre-incubation and incubation of ASCs with 0.75∼6 M rosmarinic acid significantly increased cell viability in GSD conditions. Rosmarinic acid further decreased the level of ROS, lipid peroxidation, the percent of cells in sub-G1 stage, and necrosis in GSD conditions. These findings suggest that rosmarinic acid enhances survival of ASCs cultured in nutrient-deficient conditions through promoting antioxidant effects. Therefore, rosmarinic acid may help preserve ASCs survival after they are transplanted into ischemic organs.