Restraint stress may be associated with elevated free radicals, and thus, chronic exposure to oxidative stress may cause tissue damage. Several studies have reported that carvacrol (CAR) has a protective effect against oxidative stress. The present study was designed to investigate the protective effects of CAR on restraint stress induced oxidative stress damage in the brain, liver, and kidney. For chronic restraint stress, rats were kept in the restrainers for 6 h every day, for 21 consecutive days. The animals received systemic administrations of CAR daily for 21 days. To evaluate the changes of the oxidative stress parameters following restraint stress, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and catalase (CAT) activities were measured in the brain, liver, and kidney. In the stressed animals that received vehicle, the MDA level was significantly higher (P < 0.001) and the levels of GSH and antioxidant enzymes were significantly lower than the nonstressed animals (P < 0.001). CAR ameliorated the changes in the stressed animals as compared with the control group (P < 0.001). This study indicates that CAR can prevent restraint stress induced oxidative damage.

-Purpose. Clinical research has confirmed the efficacy of several plant extracts in the modulation of oxidative stress associated with diabetes mellitus. Findings indicate that safranal has antioxidant properties. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of possible protective effects of safranal against oxidative damage in diabetic rats. Methods. In this study, the rats were divided into the following groups of 8 animals each: control, untreated diabetic, three safranal (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 mg/kg/day)-treated diabetic groups. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) in rats. STZ was injected intraperitoneally at a single dose of 60 mg/kg for diabetes induction. Safranal (intraperitoneal injection) was administered 3 days after STZ administration; these injections were continued to the end of the study (4 weeks). At the end of the 4-week period, blood was drawn for biochemical assays. In order to determine the changes of cellular antioxidant defense systems, antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were measured in serum. Moreover we also measured serum nitric oxide (NO) and serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, a marker of lipid peroxidation. Results. STZ-induced diabetes caused an elevation (p < 0.001) of blood glucose, MDA, NO, total lipids, triglycerides and cholesterol, with reduction of GSH level and CAT and SOD activities. The results indicated that the significant elevation in the blood glucose, MDA, NO, total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and reduction of glutathione level and CAT and SOD activity were ameliorated in the safranal-treated diabetic groups compared with the untreated groups, in a dose dependent manner (p < 0.05, p<0.01, p < 0.001). Conclusion. These results suggest that safranal has antioxidant properties and improves chemically-induced diabetes and its complications by modulation of oxidative stress.

Conventional and newly emerging treatment procedures such as chemotherapy, catalytic therapy, photodynamic therapy and radiotherapy have not succeeded in reversing the outcome of cancer diseases to any drastic extent, which has led researchers to investigate alternative treatment options. The extensive repertoire of traditional medicinal knowledge systems from various parts of the world are being re-investigated for their healing properties Crocus sativus L., commonly known as saffron, is the raw material for one of the most expensive spice in the world, and it has been used in folk medicine for centuries. Chemical analysis has shown the presence of more than 150 components in saffron stigmas. The more powerful components of saffron are crocin, crocetin and safranal. Studies in animal models and with cultured human malignant cell lines have demonstrated antitumor and cancer preventive activities of saffron and its main ingredients, possible mechanisms for these activities are discussed. More direct evidence of anticancer effectiveness of saffron as chemo-preventive agent may come from trials that use actual reduction of cancer incidence as the primary endpoint. This review discusses recent literature data and our results on the cancer chemopreventive activities of saffron and its main ingredients.

Worldwide, lung cancer is the most common form of cancer. Saffron has been used in folk medicine for centuries. We investigated the potential of saffron to induce cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in lung cancer cells (A549). We also examined the caspase-dependent pathways activation of saffron-induced apoptosis against the A549 cells. A549 cells were incubated with different concentrations of saffron extract; then cell morphological changes, cell viability, and apoptosis were determined by the normal invertmicroscope, MTT assay, Annexin V and propidium iodide, and flow cytometric analysis, respectively. Activated caspases were detected by treatment of saffron in lung cancer cells using fluorescein-labeled inhibitors of polycaspases. The proliferation of the A549 cells were decreased after treatment with saffron in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The percentage of apoptotic cells increased with saffron concentrations. Saffron induced morphological changes, decreased percentage of viable cells, and induced apoptosis. Saffron could induce apoptosis in the A549 cells and activate caspase pathways. The levels of caspases involved in saffron-induced apoptosis in the A549 cells indicating caspase-dependent pathway were induced by saffron. The anticancer activity of the aqueous extract of saffron could be attributed partly to its inhibition of the cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in cancer cells through caspase-dependent pathways activation.

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BackgroundIron is an essential element for women of reproductive age, especially in the period before and during the pregnancy. This study investigates the consumption of iron to prevent iron deficiency anemia among pregnant women visiting Neyshabur healthcare centers based on the theory of planned behavior.MethodsIn this experimental study, data were collected through a questionnaire survey. It included 160 pregnant women who were receiving maternity services at twelve healthcare centers in the city of Neyshabur in Iran between 2015 and 2017. The participants’ demographic and anthropometric characteristics, Using the theory of planned behavior, and blood lab examination results, including ferritin levels were measured and the data were analyzed using IBM SPSS ver. 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).ResultsThe average scores of knowledge, attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intention categories for the intervention group were meaningfully increased after the participants received education on iron supplementation (P<0.05). However, these changes were not found to be significant in the control group (P>0.05). No statistically significant difference was obtained in the subjective norms category between the two groups after the education intervention (P=0.92).ConclusionBased on the experimental effects of education encouraging iron supplementation in pregnant women, it is suggested that workshops promoting iron supplementation should be conducted in health centers with the aim of preventing widespread iron deficiency anemia.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) in promoting quality of life in Neyshabur women with breast cancer. Methods: This study was an interventional design that was conducted on 124 women with breast cancer (any stage) in Iran 2018. One hundred and fourteen women with breast cancer were paired by age and randomized to either 12-week MBAT intervention group or a wait-list-control group. One hundred and fourteen women with breast cancer completed both the pre-and post-study measurements. As compared to the control group, the MBAT group demonstrated a significant decrease in symptoms of distress and significant improvements in key aspects of the health-related quality of life (as measured by the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life - BREF questionnaire). Results: The MBAT interventions had a significant effect on improving quality of life behaviors ( P < 0.05). Among the dimensions of quality of life, the highest mean score was for subpsychological (18.14 ± 2.35), and the lowest score was achieved by the subdomains of social relationships (13.54 ± 1.12). The mean (standard deviation) scores of physical health and environment were 17.19 ± 3.55 and 16.10 ± 1.87, respectively. Conclusions: This investigation of MBAT provides initial encouraging data that support a possible future role for the intervention as a psychosocial option for decrease in symptoms of women with breast cancer and quality of life.

The present study was designed to investigate the protective effect of the aqueous extract of Portulaca oleracea against hyperglycemic, oxidative damage and inflammation in the serum of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. In the present study, the rats were divided into the following groups of 8 animals each: control, untreated diabetic, 3 Portulaca oleracea (100, 200, 400 mg/kg/d)–treated diabetic groups. At the end of the 4-week period, glucose, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels were measured. STZ caused an elevation in the serum levels of glucose, MDA, IL-6, and TNF-α with reduction in the levels of GSH and TAS (P < .01). Portulaca oleracea ameliorated glucose, MDA, IL-6, TNF-α, GSH, and TAS levels in diabetic groups versus to the untreated groups (P < .05). Taken together, Portulaca oleracea prevented hyperglycemia by preventing the oxidative stress and inflammation.