Mizaj assessment in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients based on Persian Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: Increased incidence of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) calls for supporting complementary therapies in this field. Persian Medicine (PM) specialists present various assumptions to help patients through Mizaj (temperament) modification, but its confirmation requires scientific evidence. This study aimed at identifying the Mizaj of MS patients, and comparing it with their Mizaj before the onset of the disease, and with that of healthy people. METHODS: Forty-two MS and fifty-four healthy subjects participated in the study as case and control groups. General and brain Mizaj in patients were identified by five PM specialists before and after the onset of the disease. Mojahedi Mizaj Questionnaire (MMQ) was completed by the two groups. The validity of MMQ was assessed using Mizaj diagnosis by PM specialists as the gold standard. T-test, McNemar-Bowker, Wilcoxon, and Chi-square (χ 2) tests were used to compare the Mizaj of patients before and after the onset of the disease, and between the two groups (p<0.05). RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of MMQ for Hotness (75, 81%) and Coldness (75, 65%) were acceptable. There were no significant differences between patients and healthy subjects in terms of general Mizaj. But general and brain Mizaj of patients after developing MS inclined to coldness and dryness, although merely inclination of general Mizaj to coldness was significant (p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, the Mizaj of MS patients has an inclination toward coldness and dryness; Also, MMQ can be used as a validated scale for identifying the Mizaj of MS patients in future studies.

Efficacy of Persian medicine herbal formulations (capsules and decoction) compared to standard care in patients with COVID-19, a multicenter open-labeled, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Persian medicine has recommended clinical experiences and proper herbal remedies for prevention and treatment of microbial infections and respiratory diseases. An open-label, randomized, controlled, multicenter trial was conducted at five hospitals in Tehran and Isfahan provinces of Iran on 358 hospitalized adult patients. A total of 174 patients received standard care and 184 received herbal remedies (polyherbal decoction every 8 hr and two herbal capsules every 12 hr) plus standard care for 7 days. The primary clinical endpoint was the duration of hospital stay, and secondary outcomes were clinical improvement of symptoms based on self-assessment questionnaire. Results demonstrated that these natural decoction and capsules treatment plus routine care significantly decreased duration of hospital dyspnea (3.291 day vs. 6.468 days), accelerated clinical improvement, and decreased symptoms such as dry cough, dyspnea, muscle pain, headache, fatigue, anorexia, chills, runny nose, sputum cough, and vertigo in the treatment group compared with standard-care group. Significant effects of these polyherbal formulations on improving the symptoms of COVID-19 could be incredibly promising for managing this pandemic with acceptable tolerability.

Using Ecological Niche Modeling to Predict the Spatial Distribution of Anopheles maculipennis s.l. and Culex theileri (Diptera: Culicidae) in Central Iran.

BACKGROUND: Mosquitoes are very important vectors of diseases to human. We aimed to establish the first spatial database on the mosquitoes of Isfahan Province, central Iran, and to predict the geographical distribution of species with medical importance. METHODS: Mosquito larvae were collected from eight counties of Isfahan Province during 2014. Collected data were transferred to a database in ArcGIS and the distribution maps were created. MaxEnt model and jackknife analysis were used to predict the geographical distribution of two medical important species, and to find the effective variables for each species. RESULTS: Totally, 1143 larvae were collected including 6 species, Anopheles maculipennis s.l., An. superpictus s.l., An. marteri, Culex hortensis, Cx. theileri and Culiseta longiareolata. The area under curve in MaxEnt model was 0.951 and 0.873 rather 1 for An. maculipennis s.l. and Cx. theileri, respectively. Culex theileri had wider and more appropriate niches across the province, except for the eastern area. The environmental variable with highest gain was mean temperature of the wettest quarter for Cx. theileri and temperature seasonality for An. maculipennis. Culex theileri, An. maculipennis s.l. and An. superpictus, three important vectors of parasitic agents to humans, were collected in this study. CONCLUSION: The mosquito collected and mapped can be considered for transmission of malaria and filariasis in the region. Bearing in mind the results of niche modeling for vector species, more studies on vectorial capacity and resistance status to different insecticides of these species are recommended.