Berberine and lycopene as alternative or add-on therapy to metformin and statins, a review.

Nutraceuticals are principally extracted from natural products that are frequently safe and well-tolerated. Lycopene and berberine are natural plants with a wide range of beneficial effects including protective activities against metabolic disorders such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. These compounds might be considered technically more as a drug than a nutraceutical and could be prescribed as a product. However, further studies are needed to understand if these supplements could affect metabolic syndrome outcomes. Even if nutraceuticals exert a prophylactic activity within the body, their bioactivity and bioavailability have high interindividual variation, and precise assessment of biological function of these bioactive compounds in randomized clinical trials is critical. However, these reports must be interpreted with more considerations due to the low quality of the trials. The aim of this paper is to bring evidence about the management of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes through the use of nutraceuticals with particular attention to lycopene and berberine effectiveness.

Beneficial effects of celery (Apium graveolens) on metabolic syndrome: A review of the existing evidences.

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of multiple conditions that includes hypertension, dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, and hyperglycemia disorders. Most studies revealed that the MetS is accompanied with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and insulin resistance. It can be said that, in treating or preventing the MetS and its components, lifestyle adjustment and weight loss have a vital role. According to various studies, among natural compounds, celery (Apium graveolens) is one of the most important sources of phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, flavones, flavonols, and antioxidants such as vitamin C, beta-carotene (Provitamin A), and manganese. These antioxidants have a role in decreasing the oxidative damage. The phytochemicals in celery decrease the activity of proinflammatory cytokines and prevent inflammation. Also, flavonoids in celery suppress cardiovascular inflammation. Oxidative stress and inflammation in the blood stream are the main risk factors in increasing cardiovascular disease, especially atherosclerosis. Celery phthalides leads to expanding of smooth muscle in the blood vessels and lower blood pressure. As a result, the most active ingredients in celery (A. graveolens (have shown hypolipidemic, antidiabetic, and hypotensive properties. In this review, we summarized the mechanisms underlying the protective effects of celery components on insulin action, glucose, lipid metabolism, and blood pressure.

The radioprotective effect of Zataria multiflora against genotoxicity induced by γ irradiation in human blood lymphocytes.

The radioprotective effect of hydroalcholic Zataria multiflora (Avishan-e shirazi) extract was investigated against genotoxicity induced by γ irradiation in human lymphocytes. Peripheral blood samples were collected from human volunteers and incubated with Z. multiflora extract at different concentrations (5, 10, and 50 µg/mL) for 1 hour. At each dose point, the whole blood was exposed in vitro to 150 cGy of cobalt-60 γ irradiation, and then the lymphocytes were cultured with mitogenic stimulation to determine number of the micronuclei in cytokinesis-blocked binucleated cells. The treatment of lymphocytes with extract showed a significant decrease in the incidence of micronuclei binucleated cells, compared with similarly irradiated lymphocytes without extract against γ irradiation. The maximum protection and decrease in frequency of micronuclei was observed at 50 µg/mL of Zataria extract by 32% reduction. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of extract showed that it contains high amounts of thymol. Zataria extract exhibited concentration-dependent radical-scavenging activity on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl free radicals. These data have an important application for the protection of human lymphocyte from the genetic damage and side-effects induced by γ irradiation in personnel exposed to radiation.