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Annals of Medicine and Surgery (2012) May 2024species are commonly used as medicinal herbs, with a wide range of implications for medical conditions. The injudicious use of this plant has been known to cause...
INTRODUCTION
species are commonly used as medicinal herbs, with a wide range of implications for medical conditions. The injudicious use of this plant has been known to cause devastating side effects, including cardiac arrhythmias.
CASE PRESENTATION
Here, the authors present an 80-year-old male with incessant ventricular tachycardia after ingestion of this herb. The sinus rhythm was restored after electrical cardioversion and aggressive intravenous antiarrhythmics.
CLINICAL DISCUSSION
To the best knowledge of the authors, no case of a ventricular storm following ingestion of has been reported till now, probably rendering this case the first one.
CONCLUSION
This report aims to present the rare case using theoretical concepts from the discipline and to share our approach in the hope of achieving a better understanding of similar cases.
PubMed: 38694277
DOI: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000001892 -
Open Veterinary Journal Mar 2024Food poisoning caused by bacterial agents is a worldwide problem, usually accompanied by unpleasant symptoms and may be severe leading to death. Natural compounds from...
BACKGROUND
Food poisoning caused by bacterial agents is a worldwide problem, usually accompanied by unpleasant symptoms and may be severe leading to death. Natural compounds from marine algae namely flavonoids may play a role in the remedy of this condition.
AIM
This research aims to assess the potency of flavonoids extracted from and as antibacterial agents.
METHODS
was collected from Western Libyan Coast and was collected from Farwa Island. The antimicrobial activity and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration of algal flavonoid-containing extracts was performed against some positive and negative Gram bacteria.
RESULTS
Crude extract containing flavonoids from was more effective than extract against with antimicrobial essay (25-28 + 1 and 14.5-37.5 + 0.5-1.5), MIC (50 and 50-250 µg/ml), MBC (75 and 75-250 µg/ml). In the antimicrobial assay (19-24.5 + 0.5-1.5: 24 + 1), MIC (50-250 + 100 µg/ml), and MBC (250 and 125 µg/ml). On the other hand, flavonoids containing extract from were more effective than against Enterohemorrhagic O157 EHEC O157 (25-28 + 1: 14-18.5 + 0.5-1.5), MIC (100-250:100-500 µg/ml), and MBC (150-250 and 250-500 µg/ml). qualitatively combat by flavonoid from (13.5-14 + 0.5-1: 10.5-13.5 + 0.5-1.5), MIC (100-250: 250 µg/ml), and MBC (100-250: 250 µg/ml). Flavonoids from (4 strains: 2 strains) were effective against Crude flavonoids from both algae were not effective against
CONCLUSION
Data from this study could conclude that flavonoid extracts from could be used against foodborne bacterial agents.
Topics: Flavonoids; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; Caulerpa; Ulva; Plant Extracts; Foodborne Diseases; Animals
PubMed: 38682138
DOI: 10.5455/OVJ.2024.v14.i3.3 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2024The utilization of fauna and fauna-based byproducts in ethnomedicinal usages has been a longstanding human activity, practiced across various cultures worldwide. This...
INTRODUCTION
The utilization of fauna and fauna-based byproducts in ethnomedicinal usages has been a longstanding human activity, practiced across various cultures worldwide. This study focuses on investigating the utilization of animal-based traditional medicine by the people of Pakistan, specifically in the Gujranwala area.
METHODS
Data collection took place from January to September 2019 through interviews with local communities. Ethnomedicinal applications of animal products were analyzed using several indices, including Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Relative Popularity Level (RPL), Folk Use Value (FL), and Relative Occurrence Percentage (ROP).
RESULTS
The study identified the use of different body parts of 54 species of animals in treating various diseases and health issues. These include but are not limited to skin infections, sexual problems, pain management (e.g., in the backbone and joints), eyesight issues, immunity enhancement, cold, weakness, burns, smallpox, wounds, poisoning, muscular pain, arthritis, diabetes, fever, epilepsy, allergies, asthma, herpes, ear pain, paralysis, cough, swelling, cancer, bronchitis, girls' maturity, and stomach-related problems. Certain species of fauna were noted by informers with high "frequency of citation" (FC), ranging from 1 to 77. For instance, the black cobra was the most frequently cited animal for eyesight issues (FC = 77), followed by the domestic rabbit for burn treatment (FC = 67), and the Indus Valley spiny-tailed ground lizard for sexual problems (FC = 66). Passer domesticus and were noted to have the highest ROP value of 99.
DISCUSSION
The findings of this study provide valuable preliminary insights for the conservation of fauna in the Gujranwala region of Punjab, Pakistan. Additionally, screening these animals for medicinally active compounds could potentially lead to the development of novel animal-based medications, contributing to both traditional medicine preservation and modern pharmaceutical advancements.
PubMed: 38681848
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1351693 -
Bioresources and Bioprocessing Nov 2023Fermentation is thought to be born in the Fertile Crescent, and since then, almost every culture has integrated fermented foods into their dietary habits. Originally... (Review)
Review
Fermentation is thought to be born in the Fertile Crescent, and since then, almost every culture has integrated fermented foods into their dietary habits. Originally used to preserve foods, fermentation is now applied to improve their physicochemical, sensory, nutritional, and safety attributes. Fermented dairy, alcoholic beverages like wine and beer, fermented vegetables, fruits, and meats are all highly valuable due to their increased storage stability, reduced risk of food poisoning, and enhanced flavor. Over the years, scientific research has associated the consumption of fermented products with improved health status. The fermentation process helps to break down compounds into more easily digestible forms. It also helps to reduce the amount of toxins and pathogens in food. Additionally, fermented foods contain probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that help the body to digest food and absorb nutrients. In today's world, non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and allergies have increased. In this regard, scientific investigations have demonstrated that shifting to a diet that contains fermented foods can reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. Moreover, in the last decade, there has been a growing interest in fermentation technology to valorize food waste into valuable by-products. Fermentation of various food wastes has resulted in the successful production of valuable by-products, including enzymes, pigments, and biofuels.
PubMed: 38647968
DOI: 10.1186/s40643-023-00702-y -
BMC Public Health Apr 2024Pesticide poisoning is a major public health problem in Thailand and is the result of intensive inappropriate and unsafe use of pesticides. This analytical...
BACKGROUND
Pesticide poisoning is a major public health problem in Thailand and is the result of intensive inappropriate and unsafe use of pesticides. This analytical cross-sectional study aimed to determine the factors affecting safe pesticide-use behaviors among farm plant agriculturists in northeastern Thailand.
METHODS
The study sample included 427 farm plant agriculturists in Loei Province, northeastern Thailand. Individuals were randomly selected by a multistage random sampling technique. The following data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 8 parts: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) knowledge about pesticide use, (3) perceived severity of impact from pesticide use among farm plant agriculturists, (4) perceived susceptibility to pesticide use, (5) perceived self-efficacy in the modification of safe pesticide-use behaviors, (6) perceived outcome of the modification of safe pesticide-use behaviors, (7) social support, and (8) safe pesticide-use behaviors. Frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and multiple regression analyses were employed for data analysis.
RESULTS
The majority of participants (79.4%) had high scores for safe pesticide-use behaviors among farm plant agriculturists (scores of 112-150). Factors that significantly affected safe pesticide-use behaviors included knowledge about pesticide use (β = 0.282), social support (β = 0.217), reading information from pesticide labels before pesticide use (β = 0.207), perceived self-efficacy (β = 0.186), female sex (β = -0.140), rice farmer status (β = 0.129), corn farmer status (β = 0.127), perceived susceptibility (β = 0.126), having received information from the internet (β = -0.124), and perceived severity (β = -0.098). Together, these 10 factors were found to explain 32.5% of the safe pesticide-use behaviors among farm plant agriculturists.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that there is a need to increase the number of promotional activities related to the safe use of pesticides through social support and training, with the aim of increasing the overall level of knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility, and modification of the perceived impact severity of pesticide use. Thus, relevant agencies should promote and support the safe use of pesticides by farm plant agriculturists. This study revealed that the factors affecting safe pesticide-use behaviors among farm plant agriculturists included knowledge about pesticide use, social support, reading pesticide container labels, perceived self-efficacy in the modification of pesticide-use behaviors, sex, rice farmer status, corn farmer status, perceived susceptibility to pesticide use, having received information from the internet, and perceived severity of impact from pesticide use.
Topics: Humans; Pesticides; Farms; Agriculture; Thailand; Cross-Sectional Studies; Occupational Exposure; Farmers; Zea mays; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
PubMed: 38643084
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18662-z -
BMC Psychiatry Apr 2024Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the commonest mental disorders affecting more than 250 million people globally. Patients with chronic illnesses had higher...
Prevalence of major depressive disorder and its associated factors among adult patients with neurolathyrism in Dawunt District, Ethiopia; 2022: community-based cross-sectional study.
INTRODUCTION
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the commonest mental disorders affecting more than 250 million people globally. Patients with chronic illnesses had higher risks for developing MDD than the general population. Neurolathyrism is a chronic illness characterized by lifelong incurable spastic paralysis of lower extremities; causing permanent disability. It is highly prevalent in Dawunt district, Ethiopia; with a point prevalence of 2.4%. Despite this, there were no previous studies assessing the prevalence of MDD among patients with neurolathyrism in Ethiopia.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of MDD and to identify its associated factors among patients with neurolathyrism in Dawunt district, Ethiopia.
METHODS
A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on 260 samples in Dawunt district from February 01 to March 30/ 2021. Multistage sampling technique was used to select study participants. The patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression screening tool was used to diagnose MDD. PHQ-9 is a standardized depression screening tool and a PHQ-9 score of ≥ 10 has a sensitivity and specificity of 88.0% [95% CI (83.0-92.0%)] and 85.0% [95% CI (82.0-88.0%)] for screening MDD. Data were collected by interview; entered to EpiData version 4.2.0; exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis; descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model were used; AOR with 95% CI was used to interpret the associations; and finally results were presented by texts, charts, graphs, and tables.
RESULTS
A total of 256 adult patients with neurolathyrism were participated; and the prevalence of MDD was found to be 38.7%. Being female [AOR = 3.00; 95% CI (1.15, 7.84)], living alone [AOR = 2.77; 95% CI (1.02-7.53)], being on neurolathyrism stage-3 [AOR = 3.22; 95% CI (1.09, 9.54)] or stage-4 [AOR = 4.00; 95% CI (1.28, 12.48)], stigma [AOR = 2.69; 95% CI (1.34, 5.39)], and lack of social/ family support [AOR = 3.61; 95% CI (1.80, 7.24)] were found to have statistically significant association with an increased odds of MDD; while regular exercise and ever formal counselling were found to have statistically significant association with a decreased odds of MDD.
CONCLUSION
The prevalence of MDD among neurolathyrism patients in Dawunt district was high. Lack of social support, stigma, not getting formal counselling, and not involving in regular exercise were modifiable risk factors. Therefore, social support, reducing stigma, formal counselling, and encouraging regular exercise might help to reduce the burden of MDD among neurolathyrism patients.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Female; Male; Prevalence; Depressive Disorder, Major; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ethiopia; Lathyrism
PubMed: 38627754
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-024-05755-7 -
Journal of the American Society For... May 2024In Asia, some herbal preparations have been found to be adulterated with undeclared synthetic medicines to increase their therapeutic efficiency. Many of these...
In Asia, some herbal preparations have been found to be adulterated with undeclared synthetic medicines to increase their therapeutic efficiency. Many of these adulterants were found to be toxic when overdosed and have been documented to bring about severe, even life-threatening acute poisoning events. The objective of this study is to develop a rapid and sensitive ambient ionization mass spectrometric platform to characterize the undeclared toxic adulterated ingredients in herbal preparations. Several common adulterants were spiked into different herbal preparations and human sera to simulate the clinical conditions of acute poisoning. They were then sampled with a metallic probe and analyzed by the thermal desorption-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The experimental parameters including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and turnaround time were prudently optimized in this study. Since tedious and time-consuming pretreatment of the sample is unnecessary, the toxic adulterants could be characterized within 60 s. The results can help emergency physicians to make clinical judgments and prescribe appropriate antidotes or supportive treatment in a time-sensitive manner.
Topics: Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Humans; Drug Contamination; Plant Preparations; Emergency Medical Services
PubMed: 38616559
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.4c00016 -
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2024Heavy metals (HMs) are natural elements present in the Earth's crust, characterised by a high atomic mass and a density more than five times higher than water. Despite... (Review)
Review
Heavy metals (HMs) are natural elements present in the Earth's crust, characterised by a high atomic mass and a density more than five times higher than water. Despite their origin from natural sources, extensive usage and processing of raw materials and their presence as silent poisons in our daily products and diets have drastically altered their biochemical balance, making them a threat to the environment and human health. Particularly, the food chain polluted with toxic metals represents a crucial route of human exposure. Therefore, the impact of HMs on human health has become a matter of concern because of the severe chronic effects induced by their excessive levels in the human body. Chelation therapy is an approved valid treatment for HM poisoning; however, despite the efficacy demonstrated by chelating agents, various dramatic side effects may occur. Numerous data demonstrate that dietary components and phytoantioxidants play a significant role in preventing or reducing the damage induced by HMs. This review summarises the role of various phytochemicals, plant and herbal extracts or probiotics in promoting human health by mitigating the toxic effects of different HMs.
PubMed: 38611284
DOI: 10.3390/foods13070978 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2024The current study was conducted on the inhabitants living in the area adjacent to the Hudiara drain using bore water and vegetables adjacent to the Hudiara drain. Toxic...
The current study was conducted on the inhabitants living in the area adjacent to the Hudiara drain using bore water and vegetables adjacent to the Hudiara drain. Toxic heavy metals badly affect human health because of industrial environmental contamination. Particularly hundreds of millions of individuals globally have faced the consequences of consuming water and food tainted with pollutants. Concentrations of heavy metals in human blood were elevated in Hudiara drainings in Lahore city, Pakistan, due to highly polluted industrial effluents. The study determined the health effects of high levels of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb, Ni, Hg, Cr) on residents of the Hudiara draining area, including serum MDA, 8-Isoprostane, 8-hydroxyguanosine, and creatinine levels. An absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine heavy metals in wate water, drinking water, soil, plants and human beings blood sampleas and ELISA kits were used to assess the level of 8-hydroxyguanosine, MDA, 8-Isoprostane in plasma serum creatinine level. Waste water samples, irrigation water samples, drinking water samples, Soil samples, Plants samples and blood specimens of adult of different weights and ages were collected from the polluted area of the Hudiara drain (Laloo and Mohanwal), and control samples were obtained from the unpolluted site Sheiikhpura, 60 km away from the site. Toxic heavy metals in blood damage the cell membrane and DNA structures, increasing the 8-hydroxyguanosine, MDA, creatinine, and 8-Isoprostane. Toxic metals contaminated bore water and vegetables, resulting in increased levels of creatinine, MDA, Isoprostane, and 8-hydroxy-2-guanosine in the blood of inhabitants from the adjacent area Hudiara drain compared to the control group. In addition,. This study also investigated heavy metal concentrations in meat and milk samples from buffaloes, cows, and goats. In meat, cow samples showed the highest Cd, Cu, Fe and Mn concentrations. In milk also, cows exhibited elevated Cu and Fe levels compared to goats. The results highlight species-specific variations in heavy metal accumulation, emphasizing the need for targeted monitoring to address potential health risks. The significant difference between the two groups i.e., the control group and the affected group, in all traits of the respondents (weight, age, heavy metal values MDA, 8-Isoprostane, 8-hydroxyguaniosine, and serum creatinine level). Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated. The study has shown that the level of serum MDA, 8-Isoprostane, 8-hydroxyguaniosine, or creatinine has not significantly correlated with age, so it is independent of age. This study has proved that in Pakistan, the selected area of Lahore in the villages of Laloo and Mohanwal, excess of heavy metals in the human body damages the DNA and increases the level of 8-Isoprostane, MDA, creatinine, and 8-hydroxyguaniosine. As a result, National and international cooperation must take major steps to control exposure to heavy metals.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Animals; Cattle; Creatinine; Soil Pollutants; Pakistan; Drinking Water; Cadmium; Environmental Monitoring; Metals, Heavy; Heavy Metal Poisoning; Soil; Vegetables; DNA Damage; DNA; Goats; Risk Assessment
PubMed: 38600156
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58655-x -
Heliyon Apr 2024Heavy metal (HM) poisoning of agricultural soils poses a serious risk to plant life, human health, and global food supply. When HM levels in agricultural soils get to... (Review)
Review
Heavy metal (HM) poisoning of agricultural soils poses a serious risk to plant life, human health, and global food supply. When HM levels in agricultural soils get to dangerous levels, it harms crop health and yield. Chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) are the main heavy metals. The environment contains these metals in varying degrees, such as in soil, food, water, and even the air. These substances damage plants and alter soil characteristics, which lowers crop yield. Crop types, growing circumstances, elemental toxicity, developmental stage, soil physical and chemical properties, and the presence and bioavailability of heavy metals (HMs) in the soil solution are some of the factors affecting the amount of HM toxicity in crops. By interfering with the normal structure and function of cellular components, HMs can impede various metabolic and developmental processes. Humans are exposed to numerous serious diseases by consuming these affected plant products. Exposure to certain metals can harm the kidneys, brain, intestines, lungs, liver, and other organs of the human body. This review assesses (1) contamination of heavy metals in soils through different sources, like anthropogenic and natural; (2) the effect on microorganisms and the chemical and physical properties of soil; (3) the effect on plants as well as crop production; and (4) entering the food chain and associated hazards to human health. Lastly, we identified certain research gaps and suggested further study. If people want to feel safe in their surroundings, there needs to be stringent regulation of the release of heavy metals into the environment.
PubMed: 38590838
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28357