Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine
Volume:13 Issue: 5, Sep-Oct 2023

To determine whether addition of evening primrose to a misoprostol-based abortion regimen can increase the success of abortion.

In this randomized clinical trial., 148 women referring to Niknafas Hospital in Rafsanajn with diagnosis of missed abortion were randomly allocated into two 74-subject groups. The intervention group used 2000 mg vaginal evening primrose capsules the night before the hospitalization, while the control group did not receive any medication. Both groups received an initial dose of 800 μg of vaginal misoprostol after admission and the next dose was given three hours later if necessary.

The two groups had significant differences in terms of full abortion, consistency and dilatation of cervix, duration between the first dose of misoprostol until the ejection of fetus, the misoprostol dose administered, and the level of vaginal bleeding during the hospitalization. They had no significant differences regarding curettage, duration of hospitalization, or side effects. The mean pain score had no significant difference between the two groups, though the score was lower in the intervention group (p>0.05).

Administration of vaginal evening primrose before vaginal misoprostol was found to be more effective compared to misoprostol alone in missed abortion.

Cinnamon is extracted from the inner bark of Cinnamomum trees. Recent studies have indicated that cinnamon is a safe and cost-effective treatment for improving body weight, lipid profiles, insulin resistance, and blood pressure. This systematic review aimed to summarize the effect of cinnamon supplementation on adipokines and appetite-regulating hormones.

This comprehensive literature search was conducted using databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar up to March 2022 without any limitation. The quality of eligible studies was evaluated through the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias.

This systematic review included six clinical trial studies (363 participants), among which, only one study was performed on children, and two investigations were conducted on obese participants. A decreasing effect was found in the level of leptin and visfatin after cinnamon supplementation. Two out of three studies examined adiponectin levels and revealed non-significant effects of cinnamon consumption on this parameter. Two studies evaluated ghrelin levels and found an increase after cinnamon supplementation. The result of cinnamon supplementation on other biomarkers such as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and resistin was inconsistent.

The result of this systematic review indicated the increasing effect of cinnamon supplementation on ghrelin levels and decreasing effect on leptin and visfatin levels. However, more clinical data are required to clarify the beneficial effects of cinnamon on adipokines levels due to the controversial findings of the studies.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a frontline antineoplastic drug that kills cancer cells through genotoxic mechanism; however, it induces organ toxicities. This study assayed whether morin hydrate (MOH) could abrogate DOX hepatorenal toxicity in rats. There were 4 groups of rats: Control, MOH, DOX and MOH + DOX. Rats were administered MOH (orally, 100 mg/kg bw) for 7 consecutive days, while DOX was injected (40 mg/kg, ip) on the 5th day only. Hepatorenal function markers, and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities were estimated in both organs. Hepatorenal glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) levels were estimated with histopathology. DOX significantly (p<0.05) reduced antioxidant enzyme activities and GSH level, while NO and MDA levels increased (p<0.05) compared to the control. DOX prominently altered hepatorenal indices and induced histopathological alterations. MOH abrogated the DOX hepatorenal toxicity and alleviated the histological lesions in the liver and kidney. MOH restored the indices via antioxidant mechanism and downregulation of NO overproduction in rats.

Mint and chamomile can effectively reduce the gastric residual volume (GRV). This study aimed to determine the effect of mint extract and chamomile drops on the GRV of trauma patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube feeding in the intensive care unit. This study was a triple-blinded randomized clinical trial with a 2×2 crossover design. Eighty patients were randomly divided to receive mint extract and chamomile drops. Five drops of mint extract and 11 drops of chamomile were gavaged every 6 hr. GRV was measured using a syringe-aspiration method before and 3 hr after each intervention. After a 24-hour washout period, the two groups changed places. In the first phase of the study, before the interventions, the GRV in the mint and chamomile groups was 14.60±7.89 and 13.79±7.12 ml, and after the interventions were 8.13±6.31 and 6.61±4.68 ml, respectively. In the study's second phase, before the interventions, the GRV in the mint and chamomile groups was 10.03±4.93 and 11.46±7.17 ml and after the interventions, GRV was 4.97±4.05 and 6.98±4.60 ml, respectively. The difference in the GRV before and after the intervention was not significantly different between the two groups. Both herbal drugs effectively reduced the GRV (p=0.382). Mint extract and chamomile drops are similarly effective in reducing the GRV in trauma patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding in the intensive care unit.

The objective of this study was to determine the role of Iranian herbal Zofa® syrup in improving the clinical symptoms of patients with COVID-19. This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 105 patients with COVID-19. Patients were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=35) group (received 10 ml of Zofa® syrup every 8 hours/seven days plus standard treatment) or the control (n=70) group (received only standard treatment). Assessments were performed before and after treatment. The groups were comparable regarding age (p=0.980), gender (p=0.584), comorbidities (p=0.318), or drug history (p=0.771). There was no difference between patients' recovery status at the time of discharge (p=0.327) or two weeks post-discharge (p=0.165) in the intervention and control groups. No patient was hospitalized to the intensive care unit (ICU) for supplemental oxygen therapy and no patient died in the intervention group. However, in the control group, three (4.5%) patients were transferred to the ICU, and two (3.03%) patients died. Considering the better recovery status of the patients at the time of discharge and the absence of patient deaths in the intervention group, more additional studies are needed to confirm these findings and elucidate the role of Zofa® in COVID-19.

The current study assessed hepatoprotective effects of Sargassum boveanum (S. boveanum) in cholestatic rats. To induce cholestasis, bile duct ligation (BDL) was utilized. Five groups of Sprague-Dawley rats including Sham and four BDL groups were assigned to receive vehicle (BDL-V) or ethanolic extract of S. boveanum at 100 (BDL-SE 100), 200 (BDL-SE 200) and 500 (BDL-SE 500) mg/kg/day for seven days. BDL group receiving the vehicle (BDL-V) had substantially increased blood levels of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, total, and indirect bilirubin in comparison to the sham group. S. boveanum significantly decreased these variables compared to the BDL-V group. Hepatic malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level, and nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and TNF-α gene expression were higher in BDL-V rats compared to the sham group but these were reduced markedly in BDL groups receiving S. boveanum in comparison to the BDL-V group. BDL-V group had a significantly lower hepatic glutathione value, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and gene expression of SOD, GPx, Nrf2, HO-1 in comparison to the sham group. S. boveanum prevented the decrease of these variables. The histopathological assay showed marked bile ducts proliferation, portal inflammation, and hepatocellular damage in the BDL-V group and S. boveanum administration remarkably reduced hepatic injury. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis revealed that S. boveanum ethanolic extract contained 39 active compounds. S. boveanum treatment significantly ameliorated cholestatic hepatic injury via anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects.

Liver is an important player in regulation of body homeostasis. Study investigated the effects of hydro-alcohol extract of Zataria multiflora (ZM) on oxidative damage, level of IL-6 and enzymes of liver in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated rats. The rats were distributed into 5 groups: 1) Control; 2) LPS; and 3-5) ZM-Extract (Ext) 50, ZM-Ext 100, and ZM-Ext 200. ZM-Ext groups received 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of extract 30 min before LPS. Drugs were injected intraperitoneally. The entire period of this project was 17 days. In first three days, only extract was injected and then, ZM was injected along with LPS. LPS increased the level of ALT (Alanine aminotransferase), AST (Aspartate aminotransferase ), ALK-P (Alkaline Phosphatase), IL-6, malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) metabolites and lowered thiol, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) concentration. ZM extract not only reduced ALT, AST, ALK-P, IL-6, MDA, and NO metabolites concentrations but also increased thiol content, and SOD and CAT levels. Extract of ZM prevented LPS-induced hepatotoxicity. This protective effect was associated with reduction in inflammation and oxidative stress.

Nanoparticles include primary particles with at least one of their dimensions being less than 100 nm. The goal of this research was to determine the possible protective role of Nigella sativa (NS) against toxic effects mediated by titanium oxide nanoparticle (TNP). 30 adult mice (10 males and 20 females) were used. After mating, the pregnant female mice were randomly divided into 4 study groups (n=5 mice in each group). From the 13th day of gestation until delivery, the mice were given TNP and NS. After delivery, 10 newborn male mice were selected from each group and kept under standard conditions until puberty according to the previous grouping (4 groups). The epididymis of each mouse was removed and the sperm was collected for the evaluation of in vitro fertilization and testis for histopathology and spermatogenesis of in vitro fertilization of first-generation mice. No significant difference was observed between the NS group and the control group (p>0.05). In the TNP, a degree of epithelial lysis and a significant decrease in sperm motility was observed (p<0.05) compared with the control group. In the TNP and NS group, NS had an ameliorating effect on TNP-induced testicular germ cell damage (p<0.05). In the present study, it was found that NS had no destructive effect on the germinal epithelium. However, NS had an ameliorating effect on TNP-induced testicular germ cell damage in mice.

Paraquat (PQ) is a highly toxic herbicide that causes pulmonary fibrosis (PF), and no specific antidote is available against it. Teucrium polium L. is a plant that exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The present study evaluates the preventive and therapeutic effects of T. polium extract (TPE) against PQ-induced lung fibrosis in rats. We divided rats into five groups of eight. Groups one and two received saline and PQ (20 mg/kg, i.p.), respectively. Groups three to five were treated with TPE (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, by gavage) started one week before PQ administration and lasted three weeks after PQ administration. Our findings showed that PQ significantly increased lung malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, hydroxyproline, lung index, Ashcroft score, red blood cells accumulation, and inflammatory cell infiltration. Moreover, PQ decreased catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities and glutathione content. The results of hematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome staining indicated that PQ destroyed lung parenchyma and developed PF (p<0.05 to p<0.001). Gavage with TPE significantly improved biochemical and histological abnormalities induced by PQ in rats (p<0.05 to p<0.001). The current survey indicated that treatment with TPE could reduce and reverse PQ-induced PF, which may be due to the phenolic compounds present in TPE.

Depression is a serious mental disorder. Despite numerous medications, there are still limitations in depression treatment. So, herbal medicine has been considered an alternative therapy. This survey evaluated the effects of a Persian herbal formula on mice with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). A combination of Aloysia triphylla  citrodora, Citrus aurantium, Echium amoneum, Lavandula angustifolia, Melissa officinalis, Salix aegyptiaca, Valeriana officinalis, Viola odorata, and Cinnamomum zeylanicum was prepared. Except for the control group, animals were subjected to CUMS for 8 weeks in 5 groups (n=10): CUMS, vehicle (distilled water), herbal formula (0.23 ml/mouse), fluoxetine (20 mg/kg), and bupropion (15 mg/kg). All administrations were performed orally daily for the last 4 weeks. The depression and anxiety-like behaviors were assessed by sucrose preference (SPT), tail suspension (TST), forced swimming (FST), and elevated plus-maze (EPM) tests. Superoxidase-dismutase (SOD) activities in tissues, and serum levels of cortisol, alanine-aminotransferase (ALT), and creatinine were measured. Also, histopathological changes were evaluated. This formula significantly increased SPT (p<0.001) and decreased immobility time in FST and TST (p<0.01), but it was not effective on EPM vs. CUMS mice. The herbal formula did not change the serum level of creatinine or ALT, but insignificantly reduced cortisol vs. CUMS and vehicle groups. SOD activity increased in the brain vs. vehicle group (p<0.05). There were no changes in histological examination. The herbal formula improved depression-like behaviors which are possibly related to its anti-oxidative effect on the brain. Also, it did not cause any negative changes in the biochemical and histopathological analysis.