mohammad adibnejad

Hypercholesterolemia is now considered a major risk factor for development of atherosclerosis. The phospholipase A2 superfamily of enzymes has causal involvement in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of mortality in developed countries and in some developing countries such as Iran. The present study was designed to investigate the antihypercholesterolemic and antiatherogenic potentiality of ethanolic extracts of Ocimum basilicum (O. basilicum) and Otostegia persica (O. persica) in high-fat diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rats. In this study, 35 male rats were randomly divided into 1 normal diet and 4 high-fat diet groups. After two months of high-fat diet, measurement of cholesterol and LDL showed a significant difference between the groups. The 5 groups were as follows: Healthy rats receiving physiological serum, hypercholesterolemic rats without any treatment, hypercholesterolemic rats receiving quinacrine (30 mg/kg), hypercholesterolemic rats treated with extract of O. persica (300 mg/kg), and hypercholesterolemic rats treated with O. basilicum extract (300 mg/kg). Treatment was carried out for 40 days and finally, blood samples were collected and examined for cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, C-reactive protein, phospholipase A2, and interleukin-6 levels. Treatment of hypercholesterolemic rats with ethanolic extracts of O. persica and O. basilicum did not cause significant changes in cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL or HDL levels. They caused a significant decrease in the levels of inflammatory factors of IL-6, PLA2 and CRP (p <0.05). Ethanolic extracts of O. persica and O. basilicum have antisclerotic effects by reducing the inflammatory factors and PLA2 activity.

Due to the lack of information about the positive or negative effects of L-carnitine, chromium, vitamin D, and the uptake of a safe dietary supplement to reduce the effects of diabetes, it seems essential to determine the effects of these drugs on diabetes.

Wistar rats were divided into 12 groups, control, diabetic, and intact, each of which was treated with metformin, L-carnitine, vitamin D, and chromium or a combination of L-carnitine, vitamin D, and chromium. The serum levels of liver function parameters, iron, TIBC, Catalase and GPX activities were measured. Data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA using SPSS 18 software. Statistical significance among the groups was determined using LSD test, and P-value< 0.05 was considered significant in all cases.

AST activity in diabetic groups and those receiving chromium and L-carnitine has significantly reduced (P-value= 0.009). A significant reduction in ALT and ALP activity in the diabetic groups receiving vitamin D and combined and non-diabetic groups receiving metformin were observed, in contrast to a significant increase in ALT activity in diabetic recipients of L-carnitine (P-value= 0.009).

L-carnitine, chromium, and vitamin D supplements have synergistic effects and a combination of them has the best protective effect on factors that have been studied.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is believed to be caused by decline of insulin secretion because of destruction of the pancreatic β cell, which is characterized with symptoms such as hyperglycemia, polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, and other symptoms. Due to the lack of sufficient data about protective effect of L-carnitine, chromium, and vitamin D as compared with metformin on biochemical indices in streptozotocin-diabetic rats, it seems necessary to determine the effects of these medications on diabetes.

Sixty Wistar rats were divided into 12 diabetic and healthy groups, and 10 groups of witness, metformin )150 mg/kg(, L-carnitine )200 mg/kg(, and chromium )2 mg/kg(, vitamin D (0.06 µg) and a group treated with simultaneous combined therapy of L-carnitine, chromium, and vitamin D. Diabetes mellitus was induced by streptozotocin. Rats with glucose levels of more than 300 mg/dL were considered as diabetic. After 30 days of treatment, the serum concentrations of renal parameters, lipid profile, malondialdehyde, and activity of superoxide dismutase were measured in the studied groups.

Malondialdehyde had a significant decrease in all diabetic groups but an increase in nondiabetic metformin and L-carnitine groups (P < 0.05). In all groups, a significant reduction of triglyceride was observed (P < 0.05). Urea increased in the diabetic metformin and chromium treatment groups, whereas in the other groups it decreased (P < 0.05). Among diabetic metformin groups, a significant increase in serum creatinine was found (P < 0.05). High-density lipoprotein also decreased in the combined group of L-carnitine, chromium, and vitamin D (P < 0.05). Cholesterol in diabetic L-carnitine, chromium treatment, and combined group showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05).

These data showed that all three drugs of L-carnitine, chromium, and vitamin D such as metformin seemed appropriate, which had the hypoglycemic, antilipidemic, and antioxidant effects.

Obesity is a common health problem around the world. Studies have shown inverse relationship between serum vitamin D levels with obesity among patients and healthy population. The aim of this present study is to examine the relationship between serum vitamin D levels with general and abdominal obesity among migraine patients. The present study is a cross‑sectional and 66 migraine patients aged 19‑61 years were included for analysis. Partial correlation was performed to assess association between serum 25‑OH‑D with general and abdominal obesity. Adjustments were performed for age, sex, and education. No relationship was found between serum levels of vitamin D with general and abdominal obesity. However, a significant association was shown between waist circumferences (WC) with body mass index (BMI). Serum levels of 25‑OH‑D were not associated with WC and BMI. Furthermore, after adjustment for confounder variables, no association was observed.