نشریه ارمغان دانش
سال پانزدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 57، بهار 1389)

Introduction &

Although antibiotics are used in conventional treatment of infectious diseases, a lot of unexpected side effects along with resistance to antibiotics appear. Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita are plants found abundantly in most parts of Iran. In the present study, we extracted and identified the chemical compounds of the essential oils of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita. Moreover, the anti-oxidative property, free radical scavenging capacity, and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of these plants were studied.

This study was conducted in the Biotechnology Department laboratories, Agricultural Faculty of Avicina University, Hamadan, Iran, in 2009. The aerial parts of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita were harvested in summer, when the plants were in their full blooming stage and dried in the shade. The essential oil of the aerial parts was extracted by hydro-distillation and was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS method. The micro-organisms employed in this study were: E. coli, S. aureus, S. enteritidis, L. monocytogenes. By employing disc diffusion and tube dilution methods, antimicrobial effects of the oils were studied. Antioxidative property, free radical scavenging capacity, and antimicrobial activities of the oils were also studied.

Chemical analysis of the extracts resulted in the identification of 28 and 37 compounds in the essential oils of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita respectively. The sensitivity of the bacteria to the oils in order of decreasing the sensitivity was L. monocytogenes, E. coli, S. aureus, and S. enteritidis. The antibacterial properties of the essential oil from Mentha piperita leaves were higher than the oil of Salvia officinalis leaves. Also inhibitions zones of microbial growth were not correlated with the microbicidal kinetics of the oils.

This study showed that the herbal essences of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita are very active against E. coli, S. aureus, S. enteritidis and L. monocytogenes.

Introduction &

Labor pain is one of main preoccupations of pregnant women. In this study, our aim was determining the lavender aromatherapy on pain intensity perception and intrapartum outcome in primipare.

The present randomize control trial (RCT) study was conducted at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2007.One hundred sixty participants, who enrolled voluntarily in our survey and signed the consent form, were divided into two equal groups by simple sampling. The intervention days were randomly separated to avoid any bias. The aroma group received 0.1 milliliter of lavender essential oil mixed with 1 milliliter of distilled water, via tissues attached to their gown close to their nostrils, and the control group received just 2 cc of distilled water via the same way.Pain perception intensity was measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) before the intervention, 30 and 60 minutes after aromatherapy respectively. Both groups were observed during labor time to monitor any aroma side effects. Collected data were analyzed by t-test and chi-square using the SPSS software.

Independent T test analysis revealed that the differences in the means of pain perception intensity before intervention between the two groups are not significant while the means of pain perception intensity in the aroma group was lower than that of the control group at 30 and 60 minutes after the interventions (p<0.001). Paired T test showed that the means of pain perception intensity in the aroma group did not differ before the intervention,30 and 60 minutes after the intervention, but in the control group, had significant increasing in pain perception intensity (p<0.001) was seen. Aromatherapy with lavender did not affect the duration of labor phases and Apgar score.

The present study revealed that aromatherapy with lavender affects pain perception of labor pain in the aroma group, but did not affect duration of labor phases and Apgar score.

Introduction &

Wound healing is the process of repairing following injury to the skin and other soft tissues. Following injury, inflammatory response occurs and the cells below the dermis begin to increase collagen production, later on, the epithelial tissue is regenerated. Royal jelly (RJ) is a bee product. There are many reports on pharmacological activity of RJ on experimented animals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of RJ on the induction of wound healing of sterile incision in Balb/C mice.

In this experimental study which was conducted at Shahr-e-kord University of Medical Sciences in 60 female Balb/C mice (8 weeks old) were selected. The mice were anesthetized with ether. The dorsal fur of the animals was shaved and sterilized with alcohol, and then a longitudinal para vertebral full thickness incision of 10mm long was made. The animals were then divided into six equal groups. In group one (negative control), nothing was applied to the wound. Group 2 (positive control) was treated with nitrofurazon ointment, group 3 was treated with RJ 200 mg/kg daily, group 4 was treated with RJ 200 mg/kg every two days, group 5 was treated with RJ 300 mg/kg daily, group 6 treated with RJ 300 mg/kg every two days. Royal jelly was topically used on the wounds. The wound length was measured with vernier capilar every two days until the complete healing was occurred. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 11.5 using Kruscal Walis tests.

There was a significant difference between groups 1, 2 with the other groups (p< 0.015). RJ promoted wound healing activity significantly in group 3, 5 compared to negative and positive control groups. There was no significant difference between the dosage of 200mg/kg with 300 mg/kg of RJ (p>0.015).

The results of this study indicated that daily application of RJ possesses betters wound healing effects than nitrofurazon.