Initial treatment included 100 ml 50% glucose i.v., oxygen at 10 l/min and when his conscious level toxicity improved, a gastric lavage. His conscious level returned to 15/15 on the GCS. Blood glucose was measured at 18 mmol/l.

This review provides a brief account of the various properties and medicinal usage of the black cumin seed (Nigella sativa). The literature information indicated that seed was extensively used in ancient and recent history as an effective herbal remedy against a wide spectrum of ailments and disease conditions particularly in rural communities in Asia, the Middle East and some other parts of the world. The seed was reported to have numerous biological and pharmacological properties including antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory and so many other beneficial medicinal effects. The therapeutic potential of the black cumin seed is mostly related to the presence of some pharmacologically active constituents such as thymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, dithymoquinone, thymol, nigellone and many other phytochemicals. The seed was also found to have a beneficial role in some aspects of poultry products such as improvement of bodyweight performance, feed conversion rate, carcass characteristics, egg production and egg quality when given as a feed additive.

No abstract

Ginseng has been traditionally utilized for several millennia in Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan, not only as a nourishing and tonifying agent but also as a therapeutic agent for a variety of diseases. In recent years, the different impacts of panax ginseng including immunity improvement, blood circulation improvement, antioxidation and anticancer an effect have been reported in clinical as well as basic research. Around the world, there is a trend of the rising utilization of health functional foods on the level of disease prevention along with increased interest in maintaining health because of population aging and the awareness of lifestyle diseases and chronic diseases. But till now, international ginseng monographs including those of the World Health Organization have been based on data on white ginseng and have mentioned red ginseng only partly. Another botanical species, although commonly called Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), is not a true ginseng. The present monograph will contribute to providing accurate information on panax ginseng to agencies, businesses, and consumers both in Iraq and abroad.

Hyperglycemia is considered a major initiator of oxidative stress which leads to the formation of free radicals and consequently lipid peroxidation occurs, which leads to tissue damage and diabetes mellitus development. Free radicals have been defined as intermediates of some biological redox reactions necessary for the maintenance of life. In presence of a free radical initiator and oxygen they may be oxidized this leading to lipid peroxidation, as it was suggested, might be associated with running out of hydrogen. In particular lipid peroxidation measured as levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). Glutathione (GSH), an intracellular thiol causes the eradication of free radicals or reduction in hydrogen peroxide level on state of oxidative stress. Decrease in the reduced GSH level has been reported in the erythrocyte of diabetics. Decrease in the level of GSH occurs both due to the competition between aldose reductase and glutathione reductase for NADPH, a cofactor, and increased oxidative stress (increased ratio of NADH/NAD). This study was conducted on 60 subjects. Informed consent was obtained from each person who agreed to participate in this study, while the survey was based on standardized interviews and questionnaire. Subjects were grouped as type 2-diabetics and healthy control with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) < 5.50 mmol/L. The ages ranged from 18 to 50 years. Glucose was determined by an enzymatic colorimetric test on basis of Trinder-Reaction. MDA was performed as described by Lipid Peroxidation Assay Kit (Colorimetric/Fluorometric), while the levels of GSH in all subjects were measured by the DetectX® Glutathione kit. The results show a significant elevation (P ≤ 0.05) in levels of glucose and MDA of type 2- diabetic patients in comparison with healthy subjects, which reached to 16.30 ± 0.50 mmol/L and 0.87 ± 0.19 nmol/mL for the type 2-diabetic patients, and 4.60 ± 0.15mmol L and 0.29 ± 0.5 nmol/mL for the control group, respectively. Also, it has been found a significant decrease (P ≤ 0.05) in GSH levels in type 2- diabetic patients, which reached to 3.43 ± 0.91 µM/mL in comparison with the control group which reached to 6.13±0.21 µM/mL. In conclusion we can observe that the increase in glucose levels leads to free radical formation by auto-oxidation and increase in lipid peroxidation (MDA levels), and inadequate antioxidant defense can occur during DM. In addition, GSH deficiency will make the present state worse by increasing the oxidative stress, since GSH is an important antioxidant.