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BACKGROUND The increased use of herbal remedies particularly in patients with kidney diseases indicated the importance of studies, which focused on nephrotoxic plants. OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to review and assess the kidney-damaging herbs mentioned in the Persian medicine [PM] books. METHOD The main PM books were searched for nephrotoxic herbs and their relevant reformers traditionally proposed for preventing renal damage. PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were investigated for evaluation of the scientific evidence relating to the nephrotoxicity of herbs. RESULTS A total of 64 plants with kidney damage potential and their reformer medicaments were recorded in 7 sources included in this review. Allium schoenoprasum and Marrubium vulgare were the most repeated and emphasized nephrotoxic plants in PM books, but there was no relevant scientific evidence. Despite the lack of clinical studies, some evidence was found for 38% of plants that were related to renal damage. The most repeated reformers for reducing the renal side effects mainly consisted of gum tragacanth, gum Arabic, mastic gum, anise, jujube and honey and some evidence was found for their nephroprotective activities. CONCLUSION The present study reviewed and assessed the herbs with adverse renal effects in the main PM books. Some evidence was in line with the potential nephrotoxicity of plants and their .reformers. Despite the lack of clinical research for evaluation of their renal damage, the herbs may be focused in term of their nephrotoxicity; and there is a need for further studies on the scientific basis of their nephrotoxicity.

Background Few results have shown that renal parenchymal echogenicity increases in pediatric patients with no concurrent renal diseases. This study aimed to investigate the relation between non-renal diseases and renal cortical echogenicity in children with acute abdominal pain. Materials and Methods This cross- sectional study was conducted among 100 children referred to Amirkola Children’s Hospital (Babol city, Iran) with complain of acute abdominal pain during July 2015-July 2016. Patients with a known history of renal disease or urinary tract infections were excluded. All patients were examined with sonography. The parenchymal echogenicity of kidney was evaluated by comparison with that of liver and was divided into three categories: group 1, renal cortex echogenicity less than liver parenchyma echogenicity; group 2, renal cortex echogenicity similar to that of liver parenchyma; and group 3, renal cortex echogenicity greater than that of liver parenchyma. Results: Of 93 children finally assessed, 52 (55.9%) were boy; the mean age of patients was 6.45 years old. The diagnosed causes of abdominal pain included acute appendicitis (n=43, 46.2%), mesenteric adenitis (n=8, 8.6%), gastroenteritis (n=4, 4.3%), and invagination (n=2, 2.2%). Eighteen cases (19.4%) had abnormal renal echogenicity (equal to or more than that of liver). A significant relationship was found between non-renal diseases and renal cortical hyperechogenicity (p=0.03). After follow-up of 12 patients with renal hyperechogenicity for 1-2 weeks, all of them had normal findings in re-evaluation. Conclusion The results showed that renal hyperechogenicity is a non-specific and transient finding in children with acute abdominal pain and in favor of disorders other than renal diseases.

Infectious diarrhea is one of common cause of children diarrhea causing mortality and morbidity worldwide. This study was performed to identify the common bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility in children with diarrhea.Children under 14 years old with acute diarrhea who referred to Amirkola Children's Hospital, Mazandaran, North of Iran, were enrolled during the summer and fall of 2009. From each patient, two fecal specimens were collected. Samples were cultured and bacterial isolation was done by conventional methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility was identified by disk diffusion and micro dilution methods.One hundred-seventy two patients with the mean age of 41.8±37.6 months were evaluated. The bacteria were isolated in 48 (27.9%) cases. The most common isolated bacteria was E.coli and then shigella in both bloody and nonbloody diarrheal patients. There was a significant difference between bacteria positive specimens and WBC in stool smear (p=0.003). All isolated shigella were susceptible to Ceftizoxime and ciprofloxacin and were resistant to Cefixime. Resistant to Nalidixic acid was seen in 14% of them.The results show that E.coli was the most frequently isolated pathogen in children with bloody and nonbloody diarrhea. Ceftizoxime is a good antibiotic for shigellosis in children in our area but Cefixime is not appropriate.