Search

Purpose: Onopordon acanthium L. is known for its medicinal properties. Our recent study showed that its seed extract is a novel natura angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI). This study was carried out to investigate its possible antihypertensive effects in patients receiving losartan. Methods: This uncontrolled clinical trial was carried out among 20 patients (30-60y) with uncontrolled hypertension despite receiving 50 mg losartan (stage I & II) in two hospitals in Iran. After completing informed consent, patients were treated by 2 capsules [each 1g of Onopordon acanthium seed extract (OSE)] as add-on therapy, two times per day. Results: 18 patients completed the study (50.94 ±8.37y). Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) at the baseline was 151.9 ± 13.74mmHg and at the end of the study, it was 134.6 ± 18.25 mmHg and mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was 97.41 ± 10.36 at the baseline and was 85.71 ± 7.481 after 8 weeks. OSE significantly reduced SBP and DBP at the end of 8 weeks (P=0.003, 95% CI: -19.7, -15.1; P=0.0006, 95% CI: -10.23, -13.15; respectively). No evidence of hepatic or renal toxicity was detected. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study OSE has antihypertensive property with no significant adverse effects. However, because of the low number of samples, this medication may be not safely administered. The results of this study could be the basis for further studies with larger sample size. IRCT registration number: IRCT2013020712391N.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between a subjective measure of physical activity assessed by a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and dyslipidemia in an elderly population of Iran. A total of 74 elderly subjects (39 males) aged 65 years and older who referred to the Cardiovascular Department of the Hospital were studied. Physical activity was assessed on a 100 mm VAS according to which patients were then divided in to two groups active (activity score > or = 50; n = 31) and inactive (activity score < 50; n = 43). Body Mass Index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol, Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL) and High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL) were measured by standard methods. TG (p = 0.021) and LDL (p = 0.006) were significantly higher and HDL was significantly lower (p = 0.028) in the inactive group. No significant associations were found for other variables. As the first report from Iran, present results are important given the race differences that exist in response of plasma lipids to exercise training. Limitations of the present study include its cross-sectional, rather than prospective, structure and the relatively small sample size. It remains to be seen whether VAS can be used as a rapid screening tool for the presence of dyslipidemia in the elderly.

ABO blood groups have been associated with a number of cancers, most prominently gastric cancer [1]. We and other groups demonstrated an association between blood groups and myeloid malignancies [2–5]. However, there is very little literature on such associations with lymphoma. The only available study was conducted on 63 patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and 78 patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; it revealed a significantly lower prevalence of blood group A among both groups compared with healthy controls [5]. Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a high-grade non-Hodgkin’s B-cell neoplasm that typically remains confined to the CNS. It accounts for approximately 3% of all primary brain tumors. Immunodeficiency and Epstein–Barr virus infection are risk factors identified for PCNSL [6]. We opted to assess, for the first time, the association between ABO blood groups and PCNSL. We had 36 patients (24 males) aged 47.9 ± 13.3 years (range 18–73) with an established diagnosis of PCNSL, in three referral hospitals in Tehran. The diagnoses had been made on the basis of appropriate combinations of neuroimaging, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and examination of cerebrospinal fluid and vitreous samples, as reviewed elsewhere [6]. The distribution of ABO blood groups among patients was compared with data previously published for 1,000 Iranian healthy controls [7]. For subset analysis, a Bonferroni’s correction was applied by multiplying P values by 4. The O:A:B:AB ratio among patients and controls were 20 (55.6%):3 (8.3%):10 (27.8%):3 (8.3%) and 356 (35.6%):371 (37.1%):212 (21.2%):61 (6.1%), respectively (P = 0.005). Group O was significantly more common among patients (P = 0.018), but the significance disappeared after Bonferroni’s correction. However, we found a dramatically lower frequency of group A among patients (P = 0.0008), which remained significant after correction. Although it is the most common blood group in Iran, group A was found in only 8.3% of our patients. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to evaluate the association between blood groups and PCNSL. Our results support the previous finding that the frequency of blood group A is lower than normal in lymphoma patients. The mechanism of this relationship is currently unclear to the authors. It could possibly be mere association with no direct causal effect, i.e. blood group A being associated with a lower frequency of potential genes that promote PCNSL. Whatever the mechanism, blood group A seems to be a visible sign of relative protection against lymphoma and, in particular, PCNSL.