Artemisia annua L. (Sweet wormwood) leaf extract attenuates high-fat diet-induced testicular dysfunctions and improves spermatogenesis in obese rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Artemisia annua L., known as "sweet wormwood," is widely used in Egyptian folk medicine. Egyptians implement the aerial parts in the treatment of respiratory, digestive and sexual dysfunctions. However, the mechanism by which Artemisia annua improves testicular function is still being discovered. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to evaluate the modulatory effects of the crude leaf extract of Artemisia annua (AAE) on a high-fat diet induced testicular dysfunction in rats and compare it with the antilipolytic drug Orlistat. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty adult rats were randomly classified and assigned to four groups. The first group typically consumed a balanced diet and served as a negative control (GP1). A high-fat diet-induced obesity was applied to the other three groups for 12 weeks. A positive control remained on HFD for another 8 weeks, which is GP2. Other groups were administered for 8 consecutive weeks either with Orlistat (50 mg/kg body weight) or AAE (100 mg/kg body weight), which have been defined as GP3 and GP4, respectively. Testosterone (TST), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were determined in the sera of all groups. In addition, the oxidant/antioxidant biomarkers such as protein carbonyl, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase isoenzyme-B (CK-MB) were determined. An immunohistochemical stain with the apoptotic marker caspase-3 and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were also investigated. RESULTS: In the testes of the obese group, the results showed hormonal imbalance, an increase in oxidative stress biomarkers and apoptosis. In the group treated with orlistat (GP3), noticeably more perturbations were noted. The obese rats that had been treated with AAE (GP4) showed a significantly reduced level of oxidative stress, hormonal balance restoration and reduced apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: The crude leaf extract of A. annua is a potential herbal therapeutic for the treatment of obesity-related testicular dysfunction and the restoration of hormonal imbalance in obese rats.

Al-hijamah (the triple S treatment of prophetic medicine) significantly increases CD4/CD8 ratio in thalassemic patients via increasing TAC/MDA ratio: a clinical trial.

Beta thalassemia is associated with decreased immunity possibly due to iron overload. Al-hijamah (Hijamah) is wet cupping therapy (WCT) of prophetic medicine. Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him said: "The best among your treatments is Al-hijamah". Al-hijamah is a promising excretory treatment to clear blood of causative pathological substances. Al-hijamah is a three-step technique (skin suction, scarification and suction) i.e. triple S technique). Recently, we introduced Al-hijamah as a novel iron excretion therapy (through pressure-dependent filtration then excretion via the skin dermal capillaries) that significantly decreased serum iron overload and related oxidative stress using a physiological excretory mechanism (Taibah mechanism). Iron overload was reported to impair both humoral immunity and cell mediated immunity in patients with beta thalassemia. In this study, twenty patients having ß-thalassemia major (maintained on iron chelation therapy) underwent a single session of Al-hijamah (30-60 minutes) using 4-5 sucking cups only. Another age and sex-matched control group of thalassemic patients received iron chelation therapy only. Al-hijamah enhanced the immunity of thalassemic patients in the form of increased CD4+ T cell count, from 124.10±36.98 to 326.20±57.94 cells/mm3, and an increased CD8+ T cell count from 100.30±36.98 to 272.40±46.37 cells/mm3. CD4/CD8 ratio significantly increased from 1.29 to 1.7 (P<0.001). There was a significant increase of ten times (P<0.001) in serum TAC/MDA ratio (reflects increased antioxidant capacity vs decreased oxidative load and stress) induced by Al-hijamah. After Al-hijamah, both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell counts significantly increased and positively correlated with TAC/MDA ratio (r = 0.246) and (r = 0.190), respectively. Moreover, CD4/CD8 ratio positively correlated with TAC/MDA after Al-hijamah (r = 0.285). In conclusion, Al-hijamah significantly increased CD4/CD8 ratio in thalassemic patients via increasing TAC/MDA ratio. Our study strongly recommends medical practice of Al-hijamah in hospitals for its immune potentiating effects in agreement with the evidence-based Taibah mechanism. Al-hijamah should be generalized for treating other immune-deficiency conditions. Al-hijamah-induced bloody excretion is so minimal and never aggravates the anaemic status.