Herbal Medicines Journal
Year:2018 | Volume:2 | Issue:4|Papers Count:6

Background and Aim: Mesangial expansion may lead to renal failure due to the stenosis or occlusion of glomerular capillary lumen in diabetic patients. Oxidative stress is the main cause of diabetic mesangial expansion. The information obtained from the accurate estimation of mesangium volume, glomerular capillary volume and mesangial cells number via stereological methods is more reliable than that of morphometric or semi-quantitative variables in diabetic nephropathy investigations.Materials and Methods: Forty mature male rats were uninephrectomized and randomly divided into four groups as follows: group 1: the control group, group 2: diabetic without treatment, groups 3 and 4: diabetic treatment with SKEO 250 and 500 ppm in drinking water respectively. The treatment started after the induction of diabetes by alloxan. Treatment blood was sampled and the kidneys were fixed in formal saline solution after 8 weeks. Serum MDA was measured by thiobarbituric acid test. Kidney paraffin sections were prepared and stained via periodic acid Schiff (PAS) method. Mesangium volume, glomerular capillary volume and mesangial cells numbers were estimated via stereological methods. Data were analyzed via Mann Whitney U test at p<0.05.Results: Diabetes increased serum MDA, mesangium volume, mesangial cells number, and at once decreased glomerular capillary volume in comparison to control group. Treatment by SKEO ameliorated these variables when compared with group 2 (p<0.05).Conclusion: As an antioxidant agent, SKEO ameliorates diabetic mesangial expansion, glomerular capillary volume and mesangial cells numbers via inhibiting lipid peroxidation.

Background and Aim: Echinophora platyloba DC (Apiaceae) is a plant endemic to Kurdistan province of Iran. Aerial part of the plant is regarded as the source of natural antimicrobial agent.Materials and Methods: The aerial part of E. platyloba was extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, acetone EtOH and EtOH: H2O respectively. The extracts were individually tested against three gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Acinetobacter baumannii) and two gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) via agar dilution methods.Results: The best inhibitory effect was observed in ethanolic extract, which had a remarkable inhibitory effect on all bacteria especially on S. aureus. The results also indicated that dichloromethane extract showed the weakest inhibitory effect on all types of bacteria. Meanwhile, acetone extract exhibited a relatively mild inhibitory effect.Conclusion: Theantimicrobial effects of E. platyloba confirmed its potential for folk use. More comprehensive investigations are recommended concerning the significant antibacterial activity of the ethanol extract of E. platyloba to determine the exact compounds responsible for observed biological activities.

Background and Aim: The use of bioactive compounds of medicinal plants in prevention, control and treatment of human diseases has a long history. Most of plant bioactive compounds have highly complex chemical structures, and their chemical syntheses are often uneconomical. Moreover, their production is still dependent on plants. Plants of Papaveraceae family contain a variety of bioactive compounds that have many uses in traditional and modern medicine. In the present study, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of alkaloid extracts of four plant species of Papaveraceae family against some human pathogens.Materials and Methods: Crude alkaloid compounds of Papaver macrostomum, Roemeria refracta, Papaver somniferum and Glaucium grandiflorum plants were extracted using cain method. The antimicrobial activity of plant alkaloid extracts against Pseudomonas aeroginosa PTCC 1310, Listeria monocytogenes PTCC 1297, Staphylococcus aureus PTCC 1189, Klebsiella pneumoniae PTCC 1290 and Candida albicans PTCC 5027 pathogens were assessed using agar diffusion method.Results: The results of this study indicated that the alkaloid extracts of tested plants were effective against fungal and bacterial pathogens. All plant alkaloid extracts exhibited more inhibitory effect against fungal pathogen than the bacterial pathogens. Comparison of MIC and MBC values for bacterial pathogens revealed that all plant alkaloid extracts showed more inhibitory effects against the gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacterial pathogens. The results also showed that the alkaloid extracts of R. refracta have stronger inhibitory effect against fungal and bacterial pathogens compared with other plants.Conclusion: The antimicrobial compounds present in the plant species of Papaveraceae family are suitable candidates to produce new antibiotics. The results of this study demonstrated that antimicrobial compound in R. refracta plant could be used in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by C. albicans and S. aureus pathogens.

Blood coagulation is a process carried out to prevent blood loss when a person is wounded. The blood coagulates in the wound place and creates a barrier which prevents bleeding. The blood coagulation process is one of the most important and vital physiological processes in the human body which is affected by many factors. Many congenital and acquired defects in each of these factors can affect the coagulation process and cause many problems for humans. Related articles were searched from Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, High Wire, MD Consult and Scopus data bases, and finally 19 articles were included in this study. In this study, 19 anti-coagulant medicinal plants were diagnosed and evaluated. Finally, it follows from this study that there are many medicinal herbs that have different effective substances to prevent blood coagulation by various mechanisms. These plants can be used as highly efficient resources in the production of valuable drugs against diseases caused by blood coagulation.

Dear Editor In an experimental study which was conducted by Moghaddasi et al. titled ‘‘The effects of Olive Leaf Extract Administration on Cerebral Hypoperfusion-Induced Electrophysiological Alterations in Rat Heart", the authors have assessed the changes in electrocardiographic parameters as an interesting idea that can increase our knowledge in the field of neurocardiology. The authors have used Bazzet’s formula in the methodology of this study to calculate QTC. We have explained the use of this formula and its accompanying challenges in the interpretation of QT interval.