Background The incidence of application of medicinal herbs during pregnancy has increased significantly among women over the past years; however, the safety and efficacy of medicinal herbs during pregnancy are still unclear. The aim of the present study was to categorize the predictors of self-medication with herbal remedies during pregnancy based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Methods The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 300 pregnant women referred to Kashan health center to receive prenatal care services in 2020. The study participants were randomly selected using stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. The data collection tool was a two-part researcher made questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire included demographic information, midwifery information, and questions related to women’s awareness about herbal medicine. The second part of the questionnaire was designed based on the theory of planned behavior including attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, intention, and behavior performance. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and SPSS version 18.0. Results The mean age of participants was 28. 7±5.4 years (range, 15–45 years), the majority were housewives (88.3%) and had secondary education (39.3%). A total of 164 women (57. 1%) used medicinal herbs during pregnancy. The individual’s attitude towards herbal medicines consumption, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control was correlated with behavioral intention (P < 0.05). Similarly, subjective norms were the most predictor of using herbal medicine among pregnant women (P < 0.05). Conclusion The findings revealed that more than 50 % of pregnant women used medicinal herbs during pregnancy. The present study showed that the individual’s attitude towards herbal medicines consumption, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control was correlated with intention of herbal medicine use among pregnant women. Likewise, subjective norms were the most predictor of herbal medicine use among pregnant women. The TPB should be addressed in planning health education programs and modifying health behaviors, including self-medication, especially during pregnancy.
The electrospinning technique was used for the nanofiber production of Alyssum lepidium mucilage with acetic acid and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer. Some parameters such as voltage, polymer concentration, tip-to-collector distance, and feed rate were optimised and applied for the fabrication of the nanofiber membranes of the seeds mucilage. The scanning electron microscopy images were used to find the optimised conditions for the electrospinning process. It was found that the aqueous solution of Alyssum mucilage/PVA (80:20), voltage (18 kV), polymer concentration (50%), tip-to-collector distance (10 cm) and feed rate (0.125 ml/h) could be successfully used to obtain uniform nanofibers with diameters as low as 139.9 nm. Xray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer analysis also proved the presence of the alyssum mucilage/PVA nanofiber. In this study, the used electrospun procedure was biodegradable, inexpensive, non-toxic, and maintainable enough to optimise the mucilage nanofiber fabrication as a new source, thereby improving the potential application of the nanofiber biomembrane in filtration and medical systems with biocompatible and biodegradable properties.
Mucilage is a class of polysaccharides found in some plants that have pharmaceutical effects as anti-hemorrhoids.Alyssum is one such species; its seeds produce mucilage that possesses pharmaceutical properties. The aim of this study was to optimize the conditions for callus production and mucilage synthesis in Alyssum species in a tissue culture procedure. In the study presented here, callus initiation in different genotypes of Alyssum species (A. inflatum, A. lepidium, and A. strigosum) has been investigated for the first time. Different combinations of 2,4 Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4 D), Kinetin (Kin) and Benzyl amino purin (BAP) were used to optimize callus initiation frequency and callus growth rates (CGR) in hypocotyl explants. The highest rates of callus induction (%) and callus growth rates (CGR) were achieved with 2.5 mg @ l Alyssum sp. using in vitro cell culture.
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