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Chenopodium botrys (CB) is a native plant in Iran which has been used as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antiviral agent in traditional medicine of Iran. In this study, the authors describe the effects of essential oil of CB on cutaneous wound healing markers in Sprague-Dawley male rats. The results of GC-MS indicated that the most frequently found chemical constituents in CB essential oil were α-Eudesmol, Epi-α-muurolol, and Cubenol. Full-thickness excisional wounds (2×2 cm) were induced on the back of 24 rats. In this study, rats were randomly divided into four main groups (n=6), including untreated (control), treated with 1 ml basal cream (Placebo), treated with 1 ml tetracycline (3 %), and treated with 1 ml CB essential oil (6 %) for 10 days. The animals of each group were euthanized at 10 days post-injury (DPI), and wounds were evaluated by gross, histometrical and histomorphological analyses. In gross study, the animals treated with CB demonstrated a considerable decrease in the wound area during the experiment, compared to control, basal cream, and tetracycline groups (p<0.01). Parameters such as alignment of the healing tissue, re-epithelialization, and epithelial formation in CB treated group showed a significant increase, compared to other groups. In addition, treatment with CB decreased the wound surface area and the number of lymphocytes and neutrophils and increased the number of blood vessels, ratio of collagen to total and ratio of collagen to cell, in comparison with control and basal cream groups (p<0.01). Thus, the present research indicates the cutaneous wound healing activity of CB, suggesting it to be used as a therapeutic supplement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder affecting the whole body systems including the female reproductive organs. Moreover, diabetes is an important cause of infertility. Metformin is commonly used to control hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes. This study was done to evaluate the ultrastructural changes of ovarian follicles in diabetic rats and their response to metformin. Methods: Thirty-six adult Sprague-Dawley female rats (170-210 g) were studied in three groups (Control, diabetic and metformin-treated rats). In the second and third groups, diabetes was induced by injection of streptozotocin (45 mg/kg). The rats in the third group were later treated by metformin monohydrochloride (100 mg/kg). At the end of the experiment, rats were sacrificed and their right ovaries were observed under transmission electron microscope. Quantitative data were analyzed by student t-test in SAS software. Results: In comparison with the control group, significant decreases in zona pellucida thickness and the mean number of microvilli were observed (respectively, P<0.01 and P<0.001) in diabetic rats. Significant decreases in zona pellucida thickness were also observed in metformin-treated rats (P<0.05) but changes in the number of microvilli were non-significant. The number of organelles in oocyte cytoplasm was higher and they were natural or natural-looking in metformin-treated rats versus the diabetic ones. Reduction in the number of mitochondria and their ballooning cristae were of the most noticeable changes in diabetic rats. Conclusion: Diabetes decreases the number of microvilli and oocyte organelles and diminishes zona pellucida thickness leading to structural changes in the organelles but metformin could improve the aforesaid conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder which affects whole body systems including reproductive system. Diabetes is also a contributing factor to infertility. Metformin is one of the most common drugs to control hyperglycemia. In this study, 36 adult Sprague-Dawley female rats (170-210 g) were divided into 3 groups (control, diabetic and diabetic-treated by metformin). In second and third groups, diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection (45 mg kg(-1), IP) and the third group was treated by metformin hydrochloride (100 mg kg(-1) day(-1), PO) for 8 weeks. Body weights were compared and blood glucose, gonadotropins and sexual hormones were measured. In diabetic group the blood glucose level significantly (P < 0.05) increased in comparison with that of control and metformin-treated diabetic rats. The results also revealed that, in the untreated diabetic rats, the mean body weights and pituitary-gonadal axis hormones were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in comparison with the control. Although there were significant (P < 0.05) reduction in mean body weights in metformin-treated diabetic rats, reduction in pituitary-gonadal axis hormones was not as sharp as in untreated diabetic rats and only level of progesterone was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in comparison with the control. The results of this investigation revealed that there was a clear relationship between experimental diabetes with body weight and pituitary-gonadal axis hormones, and treatment with metformin relatively restored diabetic complications.