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Background: The present study was designed to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of the leaves of Aloe barbadensis against toxicity induced by diclofenac sodium in albino rabbits. Subjects and Method: Thirty-six healthy albino rabbits were randomly divided into six groups each with six animals. Group 1 served as the untreated control, group 2 was treated only with diclofenac sodium, group 3 with the nephroprotective drug silymarin and groups 4, 5, and 6 were treated with different doses of Aloe barbadensis,ie 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg, respectively after being treated with diclofenac sodium. Blood samples were collected after every five days up to fifteen days. Haematological and histopathological parameters were determined by using diagnostic kits. Results: Results of haematological studies showed that use of the powder of Aloe barbadensis normalized the level of different factors eg, white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), platelet count, packed cell volume (PCV), mean cell volume (MCV) and haemoglobin (Hb) values. Histopathological studies showed that Aloe barbadensis ameliorated pyknotic nuclei in the renal epithelial cells and reduced oxidative stress by increasing the level of catalase and decreasing malondialdehyde (MDA) level. Conclusion: These results have shown that Aloe barbadensis can normalize oxidative stress and can be used as an effective nephroprotective agent against drug-induced nephrotoxicity.
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Background: The use of chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer began at the start of the 20th century in an attempt to narrow the universe of chemicals that affect the disease. Metastatic testicular cancer has always been sensitive to chemotherapy. Subjects and Method: A retrospective and prospective study was performed of patients who had undergone testicular cancer from 2011-2013. The overall age of the testicular cancer patients at the time of diagnosis, their marital status, stage of disease and treatment strategies, testosterone level etc were analysed using linear regression and t-test. Results: Most of the patients had seminoma tumour. A greater number of patients were diagnosed in the later stages of the disease. Before chemotherapy, testosterone level was normal and decreased during chemotherapy but after completion, it returned to normal level. Conclusion: There is an early onset of testicular cancer in the Pakistani population. There is no effect of chemotherapy on testosterone production in late survivors.
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Background: Diabetes mellitus is an important human disease afflicting many from various walks of life in different countries. Even though modern medicines contribute a variety of effective treatment options, they can have several unfavourable effects. The intention of this review is to organize and discuss various studies that have been previously conducted on the effectiveness of these herbal plants in diabetes. Method: By using various electronic search databases, a comprehensive English literature search was conducted. Different search terms were used by combining all the search fields in titles, abstracts and keywords. Results: Curcuma longa,a spice, is commonly known as turmeric and belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. Piper nigrumis also a spice, commonly called black pepper, and belongs to the family Piperaceae. Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date fruit, belongs to the family Arecaceae. From ancient times, they have been traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases. Among various activities, regulation of hyperglycaemia is considered one of their important effects. One of the aetiological factors implicated in the development of diabetes and its complications is the damage induced by free radicals. Antioxidant properties of antidiabetic compounds would be more beneficial. Extracts of these plants have shown hypoglycaemic and hypolipidaemic effects by the involvement of several mechanisms. In the future, further studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms involved in their hypoglycaemic potential and their active constituents as synthetic analogues. Conclusions: This review focusses on some medicinal plants that have antidiabetic effect, thus contributing to the reduction of risk factors associated with diabetes, and related beneficial effects are compiled.