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Background and purpose: Erynginum billardieri has been used to control diabetes in traditional medicine. This research was performed to study the antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, and hypolipidemic effects of E. billardieri root extract (EBRE) on streptozotocin/nicotinamide-induced type 2 diabetic male rats. Experimental approach: Type two diabetic animals were treated by three different doses of EBRE (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg), orally administered for 4 weeks. Ultimately, after anesthesia, the glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, hepatic enzyme levels in the blood and liver, and pancreas tissues of the animals were analyzed. Findings/Results: Induction of diabetes caused a diminution in insulin level, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and significantly enhanced the level of other lipid profiles, glucose, and liver enzymes (P < 0.05). Administration of the EBRE to diabetic-male rats significantly reduced glucose level, lipid profiles, and liver enzymes, and increased the level of HDL to near normal. Conclusion and implications: The results of the present study showed that E. billardieri had a positive effect on diminishing the lipid profiles, liver enzymes, and controlling diabetes. The most effective dose was found to be 100 mg/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spirituality is one of the most important factors that can contribute to the recovery of substance use disorder (SUD). The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the religious-spiritual group therapy on the spiritual health and the quality of life in methadone-treated patients. Methods: This study was carried out in Qom City, Iran, in 2018. 72 methadone-treated patients were randomly selected and assigned in two groups: the experimental group (which received religious-spiritual therapy) and control group (which received no treatment). At the beginning of the study (pre-test), eight weeks after the start of the study (post-test), and three months after the start of the study (follow-up test), all participants completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). Participants in the experimental group received 8 sessions (90 minutes for each session) of spiritual and religious training, while the control group received no religious-spiritual intervention; it just was trained with general information on addiction. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and descriptive and inferential statistics methods. Findings: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the pretest, but religious-spiritual training significantly increased spiritual health and the patients' quality of life (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Religious-spiritual education can improve the quality of life and spiritual well-being in methadone-treated patients. The findings suggest that religious-spiritual education can be considered as an inexpensive, accessible, useful, and effective treatment for SUD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: In recent decades, attention paid to quality of life as an important factor to evaluate the therapeutic outcomes and the effectiveness of treatments for illnesses, has increased. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between spiritual health and quality of life in opioid-dependent men in Qom. Methods: The study population of this descriptive-correlational study consisted of 107 opioid-dependent men referring to addiction treatment centers in Qom who were selected by random sampling. Participants completed a 48-item spiritual well-being questionnaire, developed by Amiri et al., and short form 36-item health survey (SF-36). Data analysis was conducted by the SPSS version 21 using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: General spiritual health and behavioral aspect were significantly directly correlated with overall quality of life and its subscales, except for physical function, limitation in playing the role due to physical health problems, and pain. There was also a significant relationship between general spiritual health and overall quality of life. Conclusion: Behavioral aspect, among the aspects of general health, and general spiritual health are more important for the quality of life in opioid-dependent people. Spiritual health, especially spiritual behavior, is an effective supportive mechanism for opioid-dependent people that can be effective to improve their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nanoemulsion drug delivery system was developed to increase the oral bioavailability of mebudipine as a calcium channel blocker with very low bioavailability profile. The impact of nano-formulation on the pharmacokinetic parameters of mebudipine in rats was investigated. Nanoemulsion formulations containing ethyl oleate, Tween 80, Span 80, polyethylene glycol 400, ethanol and deionized water were prepared using probe sonicator. The optimum formulation was evaluated for physicochemical properties, such as particle size, morphology and stability. The particle size of optimum formulation was 22.8 ± 4.0 nm. Based on the results of this study, the relative bioavailability of mebudipine nanoemulsion was enhanced by about 2.6-, 2.0- and 1.9-fold, respectively, compared with suspension, ethyl oleate solution and micellar solution. In conclusion, nanoemulsion is an interesting option for the delivery of poorly water soluble molecules, such as mebudipine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of present study was to evaluate pharmacokinetic parameters of dibudipine Phytosolve after oral administration in rats. The solubility test was carried out to select suitable oily solvent for dibudipine. Phytosolve formulation was prepared with a medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil (20%), soybean phospholipids (5%) and a 70% fructose solution (75%). The effect of polyol content on the mean globule size of Phytosolve formulation was studied. The optimized formulation was evaluated for robustness toward dilution, transparency, droplet size, zeta potential and transmission electron microscopic analysis. The Phytosolve of dibudipine with an average droplet size of 142.3 ± 4.3 nm and surface charge -18.36 ± 0.37 mv was administered orally to rats. The average relative bioavalabilities of dibudipine in the plasma with Phytosolve were 170.4% and 211.2% as compared to the oily solution and aqueous suspension respectively. So this formulation could be offered as a useful technique to improve the oral delivery of the poorly water soluble drugs such as dibudipine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity worldwide. Surgery and chemotherapy are the first-line therapy for CRC patients; however, the efficacy and side effects are two major concerns. Nigella sativa (NS) has been found to exhibit anti-cancer effects in numerous in vitro studies. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential therapeutic effect of NS on CRC patients. Methods: In this randomized trial, a total of 39 patients with Stage IIb and III CRC who underwent colon surgery were randomly assigned to receive routine chemotherapy drugs in combination with 900 mg/day of NS (Group 1, n=18) or only chemotherapy drugs (Group 2, n=21). CRC blood biomarkers including CEA and CA19-9 were measured in both groups before, in the middle, and at the end of treatment in addition to obtaining demographic characteristics. Results: We observed that NS combined with chemotherapy reduced the CA19-9 serum level in the intervention group when compared with the baseline level before treatment. However, there was no significant difference between CA19-9 serum levels in the intervention group compared with the control group at all time points. Moreover, CEA did not show any reduction in the intervention group compared with the control group. Conclusion: Except for the NS effect on CA19-9 level in intervention group after therapy compared to baseline, NS is not effective on CRC biomarkers with this concentration and follow-up period. Therefore, longer treatment durations and monitoring with higher doses are probably required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]