بهاره توکلی فر

Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by insulin deficiency or dysfunction. This study aimed to investigate the anti-diabetic effects of a mixture of extracts from "Trigonella foenum-graecum", "Vaccinium arctostaphylos", "Silybum marianum", "Urtica dioica", "Melissa officinalis", and "Citrullus colocynthis" in a diabetic rat model, as well as to evaluate potential liver complications associated with this extract.

In this experimental study, thirty male Wistar rats were rendered diabetic through intraperitoneal administration of alloxan (60 mg/kg). One week post-induction, diabetic rats were randomly assigned to five groups of six. The negative control group received distilled water via gavage, the positive control group received metformin (100 mg/kg), and three experimental groups received daily gavage of the plant extract mixture at doses of 150, 300, and 600 mg/kg, respectively. After 30 days of treatment, blood samples were collected from the tail to assess fasting blood sugar (FBS) and liver biomarkers. Subsequently, the rats were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine, and liver tissue was prepared for histopathological evaluation using hematoxylin-eosin staining and light microscopy.

The extract at doses of 300 and 600 mg/kg significantly reduced FBS and hpp2 levels. However, the 600 mg/kg dose resulted in a significant increase in liver enzymes and induced liver tissue damage.

The mixture of plant extracts demonstrated an anti-diabetic effect at a dosage of 300 mg/kg without toxic effects on the liver. These findings suggest potential therapeutic benefits of the extract in managing diabetes while highlighting the need for caution at higher dosages.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disease with mild memory loss that eventually leads to the loss of the ability to conduct conversation and react to the environment. Despite the proven role of the drugs used against the obvious causes of Alzheimer's disease, it still seems impossible to achieve an effective and permanent treatment for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. So, investigating different angles of GABAergic system signaling can be introduced as a promising target for the development of anti-Alzheimer drugs.

To induce Alzheimer's disease, the β-amyloid toxin at a dose of 5µg/µl was injected bilaterally into the hippocampus of Wistar male rats, and the rats were then treated with bilateral injection of GABA-A receptor agonist (muscimol) and antagonist (bicuculline), at a dose of 100 ng/µl/side in the hippocampus for 4 days. To assess the spatial memory of the animals, the parameters of the distance traveled by the animals, latency time to reach the hidden platform, and velocity of the animals were analyzed in Morris water maze test.

The distance traveled and the latency time to reach the hidden platform increased in the Morris water test following the injection of beta-amyloid, and the muscimol increased the amount of this memory impairment. The injection of bicuculline could not significantly change the spatial memory of the animals.

The results of this study indicate the destructive effect of beta-amyloid toxin on spatial memory, as well as the destructive role of muscimol in memory consolidation and retrieval.

Children’s intoxication is a major problem in healthcare systems and given its high prevalence, it has received significant attention. Attention to children and adolescents’ healthcare is a fundamental factor in improving health in the community. There has been no comprehensive study of prevalence and causes of intoxication in children in Alborz Province so far. Goal of this study is to identify the prevalence and causes of intoxication in children visiting Bahonar Hospital in one-year period 2014-2015.

In this cross sectional investigation, 309 children under age of 14 who were seen in Bahonar hospital with diagnosis of intoxication were studies. Data regarding their gender, age, cause of intoxication, and symptoms at presentation, length of stay, PICU admission, and parents’ level of education were gathered. In order to identify correlation between variables and “cause of intoxication” or “outcome”, we sued Chi Square or Fisher Exact test with minimum significance at P<0.05.

Of 309 children participating in this study, 54.4% were male and 45.6% were female. In 68% of case, the intoxication had happened accidentally. The most common intoxicating agents were medications with 48.5% and drugs of abuse with 23.9% prevalence. Other causes were detergents 8.7%, carbon mono-oxide 7.8%, alcohol 2.6%, burning agents 2.3%, hydrocarbons 1.3%, and insecticides 1% of intoxication in children of this province. 55% of patients needed admission to ICU. 88.1% of parents had education level below high school graduate.

Based on this data, prevalence of intoxication from medications and drug of abuse is relatively high in this province and is more common in families with low education level. Thus, providing adequate education to public and especially parents about intoxication and methods of prevention, and following safety measures in storing medication seem to be of priority in order to improve this population’s general health.

Aluminium phosphide (ALP) is a highly effective insecticide and rodenticide used frequently to protect stored grain. Acute poisoning with this compound is common in some countries including India and Iran, and is a serious health problem. The objective of this study was to survey ALP poisoning and the outcome in hospitals in Karaj, Iran.

The study was a retrospective study from April 2006 to April 2011. Records of all patients admitted and hospitalized to hospital during the five-year period were collected. Information including gender, age, amount of ALP consumed, route of exposure and outcome were extracted from the patients notes.

During the five-year period, 67 patients, 53.7% men and 46.3% women were admitted with ALP poisoning. Most poisoned people were under the age of 21 years.The most common signs and symptoms at admission were nausea (79.4%), vomiting (76.5%), abdominal pain (31.4%) and metabolic acidosis (41.1%). Suicidal intention was the most common cause of poisoning leading to 44.8% deaths and most cases were male (P<0/05).

Due to high mortality, follow poisoning with ALP best treatment is prevention. It should be noted that although in previous years, hospitals did not record all cases of poisoning cases but data indicate a high consumption of this poisoning as a suicidal factor in Karaj city. Withdrawal of ALP tablet from the market and the monitoring of their performance can reduce the rate of poisoning in society