Background: A wide range of preventive medications for migraine attacks, with varying efficacy is currently in use. Studies comparing the efficacies of these drugs would be of value in the proper treatment of the disease. The present study compared the frequency, duration and intensity of migraine attacks during and following treatment with CYPROHEPTADINE (4 mg, twice daily) or Blellergal (belladonna 0.1 mg, ergotamine 0.3 mg and phenobarbital 20 mg). Methods: 118 patients 15 to 45 year-old with migraine headaches were randomly allocated to groups I (n=36), II (n=40) and III (n=42) and treated during three consecutive phases of 45 days. In phase one all groups received two oral placebo tablets daily. In phase two, group I continued with placebo, groups II and III received CYPROHEPTADINE (4 mg, twice daily) and Bellergal (three tablets daily), and finally, in phase three all groups were treated with placebo, respectively. Results: CYPROHEPTADINE and Bellergal treatments significantly reduced the frequency, duration and intensity of migraine attacks. These parameters remained low during phase three (placebo) in CYPROHEPTADINE treated patients as compared to those who only received placebo. But there was a rebound effect following discontinuation of Bellergal. Conclusion: CYPROHEPTADINE and Bellergal seem to preventive migraine attacks. CYPROHEPTADINE is a preferred choice because its effects were partially preserved following withdrawal.

Background: Paroxysmal hemicrania (PH) is a severe short-lasting headache usually localized around the eye. It might occur in conjunction with ipsilateral autonomic manifestations of trigeminal nerve stimulation. PH responds well to indomethacin treatment,however, considering the adverse effects of indomethacin, its long-term use is a matter of question and investigations about other prophylactic medications are going on, but they are inconclusive. The current study aims to investigate the efficacy of prophylactic use of CYPROHEPTADINE to control PH symptoms. Materials and Methods: The current clinical trial was conducted on 20 children diagnosed with PH undergoing prophylactic treatment with CYPROHEPTADINE syrup at a dosage of 0. 2–0. 4 mg/kg twice daily for a period of 3 months. The duration, frequency, and severity of headaches were assessed at baseline and then monthly for 3 months. Results: Significantly shorter duration, less frequency, and less severity of headaches were observed in the postintervention assessments of the patients (P < 0. 001). The effect size analysis showed that the greatest effect of the treatment was on the intensity of the headache (effect size: 0. 866) and the least effect was on duration of the headache (effect size: 0. 775). Drowsiness (5%) and increased appetite (30%) were the only adverse effects of treatment with CYPROHEPTADINE. Conclusion: Findings of this study showed that short-term prophylactic CYPROHEPTADINE in divided doses of 0. 2–0. 4 mg/kg could appropriately improve PH in terms of frequency, duration, and the intensity of the attacks. Nevertheless, further investigations are strongly recommended.

Novel dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), coupled with high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) has been applied for the extraction and determination of CYPROHEPTADINE (CPH), an antihistamine, in human urine samples. In this method, 0.6 mL of acetonitrile (disperser solvent) containing 30 mL of carbon tetrachloride (extraction solvent) was rapidly injected by a syringe into 5 mL urine sample. After centrifugation, the sedimented phase containing enriched analyte was dissolved in acetonitrile and an aliquot of this solution injected into the HPLC system for analysis. Development of DLLME procedure includes optimization of some important parameters such as kind and volume of extraction and disperser solvent, pH and salt addition. The proposed method has good linearity in the range of 0.02-4.5mg mL-1 and low detection limit (13.1 ng mL-1). The repeatability of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation was 4.9% (n=3). This method has also been applied to the analysis of real urine samples with satisfactory relative recoveries in the range of 91.6-101.0%.

Background: Nowadays many people depend on herbal medicine for their healthcare needs,however, handmade herbal drugs are not screened for efficacy and safety. Undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients have been detected in herbal medicine, even if there are claims to be natural. This study determines the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in a weight gain herbal supplement collected from an Iranian online herbal shop. Methods: One packet of herbal supplement (containing 45 tablets), advised as a weight gain product, was gathered from an online herbal shop in Iran. The sample was analyzed to detect undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry instrument, based on Iranian forensic standard operating procedures 920118-2655. Results: The CYPROHEPTADINE was detected in this herbal supplement at a concentration higher than the therapeutic dose. Conclusion: Although synthetic drugs cannot be produced except by permission of the licensing authorities, there is no regulation for herbal supplement production in Iran. Therefore, herbal supplements’ serious quality and safety concerns must be assured for patients’ health.

Ketotifen is a potent, safe and long acting antihistamine that is effective in treatment of asthma and its use is believed to causes weight gain and drowsiness.CYPROHEPTADINE, an antihistamine, has anticholinergic and antiserotonergic effects, and causes increases of the appetite and weight gain. In this study the effects ofdifferent doses of ketotifen and/or CYPROHEPTADINE on the appetite and weight changes in mice is evaluated. Sixty four male mice were divided in 8 groups and received the following drug regimens for 45 days. Control group, normal saline (10 ml/kg, s.c.), three groups of CYPROHEPTADINE (5, 10, 20 mg/kg, s.c.), three groups of ketotifen (8, 16, 32 mg/kg, s.c.), and one group CYPROHEPTADINE (5 mg/kg, s.c.) combined with ketotifen (8 mg/kg, s.c.). Weight changes caused by above drug regimens were recorded every 2 days and average of food intake was recorded every day for 45 days. The results showed that the high dose of ketotifen (32 mg/kg, s.c.) increased weight, significantly, but its low dose (8 mg/kg, s.c.) decreased weight significantly. CYPROHEPTADINE (5 mg/kg, s.c.) caused significant increase in weight gain and stimulated appetite, but its high dose of (20 mg/kg, s.c.), decreased the appetite and weight. Co-administration of CYPROHEPTADINE and ketotifen decreased the appetite, significantly. The results showed that different doses of CYPROHEPTADINE and ketotifen have different effects on the appetite and weight gain in mice, and possibly different mechanisms of action.

Background: Weight-gaining (WG) products are either medicine or herbal products that have been used intensively by the young and adolescents in Yemen. These products may contain undeclared potentially toxic ingredients that can lead to several health problems and diseases on long-term usage. This study was intended to evaluate the presence of some undeclared pharmaceuticals, dexamethasone (DX) and CYPROHEPTADINE (CPR), in WG products in Aden, Yemen. Methods: The detection of DX & CPR in WG products was evaluated using UV& Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Also, phytochemical analysis was carried out for herbal products. Findings: The study indicated the presence of CPR in Tab-II, honey mixture, and capsules in the range between 0. 10%-102. 6%. A lower percentage was detected in the honey mixture and a higher percentage in Tab-2. DX was only detected in Tab-I (102. 87%). Conclusion: It can be concluded that WG products may contain undeclared amounts of DX and CPR. Stricter regulations must be implemented for the usage and distribution of these products to avoid potential long-term adverse consequences.