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Introduction: The high incidence and mortality rates of liver cancer have raised concerns about the effectiveness of current treatments. This study aimed to synthesize iron oxide nanoparticles coated with glucose and conjugated with Safranal (Fe3O4@Glu-Safranal) and investigate its effect on the viability and expression of the CASP8, CASP9, p53, and CAD genes in a liver cancer cell line (HepG2). Materials & Methods: HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of the nanoparticles, and the effect of nanoparticles on cell viability was determined using the MTT test. After determining the inhibitory percentage of different concentrations of nanoparticles, the cells were treated with 50% inhibitory concentration of the nanoparticles, their total RNA was extracted, cDNA was synthesized, and gene expression level was evaluated by real-time PCR. The statistical tests included one-way ANOVA and paired t-test, which were analyzed by SPSS V.22 at a level of significance less than 0.05. Results: The results showed that the Fe3O4@Glu-Safranal nanoparticle at concentrations higher than 62.5 µg/ml causes a significant decrease in the survival rate of cancer cells. A 50% inhibitory concentration of the nanoparticle for liver cancer cell lines was found to be 277 and 458 μg/ml, respectively. This showed that the nanoparticle had stronger cytotoxic effects on cancer cells. Also, it was observed that treatment of the cells with Fe3O4@Glu-Safranal caused a significant increase in the expression of the CASP8, CASP9, p53, and CAD genes by 4.27, 2.09, 3.92, and 1.76 folds, respectively, in liver cancer cells (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Apoptosis induction can be considered the main anticancer mechanism of the Fe₃O₄@Glu-Safranal nanoparticle, which is caused in response to direct cell damage or generated oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the identified side effects of current synthetic drugs and growing public awareness in terms of beneficial usage of the natural compounds, the attention of researchers towards effective compounds in plants have recently drawn. D-limonene is a monoterpene, volatile, and aromatic flavor compound which is found in citrus fruits such as orange peel oil. As an essential oil, it has been reported that D-limonene presents a wide spectrum of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and therapeutic properties. Dlimonene is also classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS). This compound is widely used in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, perfume, food, and beverage industries. However, due to some inherent properties of D-limonene such as low water solubility, chemical destruction in the presence of light and high temperature, and high sensitivity to oxidation, its application is considerably limited at the industrial scale. In this paper, structure, extraction methods, physicochemical, therapeutic and health properties of limonene, as well as its applications in the food industry are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nowadays, more than 100 types of cancer are known worldwide, which leukemia is one of the most common type. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is one of the most recognized forms of leukemia, accounting for between 15% and 20% of total leukemia. Efforts to find new synthetic compounds are one of the basic strategies for finding new drugs for CML treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of growth suppression and induction of apoptosis (family of pyrazinoic acid) on the cancer cell line of K562 leukemia. Methods: In this study, the effect of a certain concentration of 2-oxo-1, 2-diphenylethyl-pirazine-2-carboxylate (2 DP.P) was evaluated on the growth, cell cycle and induction of apoptosis of K562 cells using various techniques. MTT test was used to investigate the effects of 2-DP.P on cell viability. For this purpose, 5×104 of K562 cells were cultured at concentrations of 25-100 μM from the 2-DP.P for 24, 48 and 72 hours intervals. Electrophoresis, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry were used for analysis of apoptosis. Results: The 2-DP.P inhibited dose and time dependently growth in K562 cells. IC50 of the compound was calculated 25 μM. Also, data from fluorescence microscopy, DNA fragmentation and cell cycle analysis confirmed the reduction of viability and induction of apoptosis by the compound. Conclusion: due to the effects of growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis by the 2-DP.P, this compound can be suggested as a new and effective compound for further studies in treating patients with leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Today, considerable advances achieved in different scientific fields have led to an ever-increasing access of people to various medications and their unauthorized consumption, which negatively affects the healthcare and treatment system. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the Prevalence and causes of this phenomenon in the female population of Ahwaz. Material and Methods: In this Cross-sectional study364 Women referring to seven health centers in Ahwaz were selected randomly and based on the family medical file number and by proportional distribution to each center and semi-structured questionnaires were completed through interviews. The data were analyzed by Chi square test and logistic regression. P

Background: drug abuse considered as a social phenomenon at present and health problems. Increasing rate of dependence drugs can be investigated in relationships among family and person. The present study was performed with aim to determine influence of family function about youth dependence synthetic drugs based on Mc Master Model of Family Function. Methods: This research was a Cross sectional study that performed among two groups youth of Esfahan city include 183 dependent and 207 non dependent drugs. Data collections were fourteen demographic questions and Family Assessment Device (FAD) standard questionnaire. Data were analyzed by spss-18 with descriptive and analytic statistics such as ANOVA and independent t-test. Results: All domains of family functioning in dependent communication, roles, affectivegroup included responsiveness, affective involvement, behavior control and general functioning was more inappropriate significantly. In dependent group, inappropriate foundations of life, low level of their education and parents, lower living standards, father and brother addicted and high the prevalence of drug use among friends were significantly more than nondependent group. Highest substance abused in depends group was methamphetamine. Conclusion: Family functioning in the two groups was different. So we can suggest Family functioning had role in young people tendency to synthetic drugs.

Background: Today, considerable advances achieved in different scientific fields have led to an ever-increasing access of people to various medications and their unauthorized consumption, which negatively affects the healthcare and treatment system. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the Prevalence and causes of this phenomenon in the female population of Ahwaz. Material and Methods: In this Cross-sectional study364 Women referring to seven health centers in Ahwaz were selected randomly and based on the family medical file number and by proportional distribution to each center and semi-structured questionnaires were completed through interviews. The data were analyzed by Chi square test and logistic regression. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Self-medication was observed in 70.1% of women. The most frequent group was those above the age of 30. The most common self-medication case was urogenitaldisorders (58.7%). there was a significant relation between education (p<0.003) and number of births (p=0.003) and unauthorized drug consumption. The most causes for synthetic drug use were previous illness background (48.6%) and high medication costs (50.6%), and about herbal drugs were high medication costs (41.1%), and the effectiveness of these products about medicinal herbs (38.1 %). Conclusion: High rate of self-medication in the studied society necessitates training on proper use of drugs through the use of social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In recent years the use of herbal slimming supplements has increased in Iran. One problem may be the illegal inclusion of synthetic drugs by some manufacturers in these products. The aim of this study is to determine four undeclared synthetic adulterants in some herbal slimming products present in the Iranian market. Methods: This survey study researched six common herbal slimming supplements that were obtained from the market. Supplements were purchased from Persian language advertising sites on satellite channels and the Internet. These products were analyzed by GC-MS for the detection of sibutramine, phenolphthalein, phenytoin and LC-MS for bumetanide. Results: Three products contained phenolphthalein. Fast Slim and Original Super Slim carried the highest content of sibutramine - 57 μg per capsule for Fast Slim and 78 μg per capsule for Original Super Slim. Bumetanide was found in Herbaceous Essence, Green Lean Super Slim, Magic Slim and Fat loss. Other undisclosed components such as caffeine and pseudoephedrine were detected by GC-MS library search. Conclusion: All herbal slimming products have been shown to contain undeclared synthetic adulterants. Increased public awareness of the risks of taking herbal weight-loss supplements is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]