Background: Previous studies have proposed correlation between variants of the cerebral arterial circle (also known as circle of Willis) and some cerebrovascular diseases. Differences in the incidence of these diseases in different populations have also been investigated. The study of variations in the anatomy of the cerebral arterial circle may partially explain differences in the incidence of some of the cerebrovascular diseases in different ethnic or racial groups.
A group of patients with pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) were reported from China in December 2019. Although several antiviral drugs are widely tested, none of them has been approved as specific antiviral therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Accumulating evidence established a hyperinflammatory states or cytokine storm in COVID‐19. Among these cytokines, IL‐6 plays a key role in cytokine storm and can predict the adverse clinical outcomes and fatality in these patients. Based on the evidence of the significant role of IL‐6 in cytokine storm, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases as principal comorbidities, it seems that anti‐cytokine therapy may be useful in patients with severe COVID‐19 to reduce mortality. Recent studies demonstrated that herbal‐derived natural products had immunosuppressive and anti‐inflammatory properties and exhibited exceptional act on mediators of inflammation. Parthenolide is the principal sesquiterpene lactones and the main biologically active constituent Tanacetum parthenium (commonly known as feverfew) which has could significantly reduce IL‐1, IL‐2, IL‐6, IL‐8, and TNF‐α production pathways established in several human cell line models in vitro and in vivo studies. Therefore, parthenolide may be one of the herbal candidates for clinical evaluation.
Background: Many studies have investigated the variations in the anatomy of each segment of the cerebral arterial circle while a few have addressed the variations of the cerebral arterial circle as a whole. Methods: Thirty brains of recently deceased Iranian infants and fetuses were dissected. The dissection process was filmed and digitized so as to be readily available for further studies. The variations of the circle as a whole and segmental variations were evaluated. Results: Variants with uni- and bilateral hypoplasia of posterior communicating arteries (PcoAs) were the most common in our study, similar to previous works. No aplasia of the precommunicating part of the anterior cerebral artery (A1), the precommunicating part of the posterior cerebral artery (P1) and anterior communicating artery was seen. Hypoplasia of the right and left PcoA was observed in 8 and 5 cases, respectively. Aplasia of the right PcoA was found in 16.6% and of the left PcoA in 3.3%. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed the previously described finding that the symmetrical, circular configuration of the circulus arteriosus cerebri is present in only about 42.1%. The main differences between the fetal and adult disposition are the diameter of the PcoA and the circular part of the posterior cerebral artery. According to previous studies, the fetal brain older than 4 months has anatomical characteristics very similar to the adult’s circle; our finding was mostly similar to adult samples as most samples were from infants, not fetuses.
Sweet almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb) is a known nut, which has long been used in several ethnomedical systems, especially in Persian medicine (PM) for its nutritional and therapeutic activities. In this study, we aimed to provide a summary on traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological activities of sweet almond.Thus, we reviewed textbooks of PM and electronic literature on traditional medicine.Moreover, the available data on the usage of sweet almond were searched in electronic databases to find articles on its pharmacological properties and phytochemistry. According to phytochemical investigations, this plant contains macronutrients, micronutrients, essential oils, various phenolic compounds, and phytosterols. Current pharmacological studies represent that Prunus dulcis has several biological activities including prebiotic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anticancer, hepatoprotective, cardiometabolic protection, nootropic, anxiolytic, sedative-hypnotic, and nervous-improving effects. Further clinical trials and meta-analysis are required to draw a definitive conclusion on the efficacy and therapeutic activities of almond.
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