Mahmoud Rafieian-kopaei

Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences · Medical Plants Research Center

Osteoarthritis is the most common human joint disease in the world. It is also one of the most common skeletal muscle defects, destructive joint changes, and the leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life. Destructive changes in inflammatory joints are associated with a range of biochemical events, including the overproduction of infla...

The graphene family nanomaterials (GFNs) have been recognized to have potential applications in biomedicine, especially in the rag nostic, drug delivery and neuroimaging. Multiple studies have examined the neurotoxicity of GFNs to assay their toxic effects on organisms and ecosystems. In this article, we reviewed the different neurotoxicity effects...

Hyssopus officinalis L. is one of the most important medicinal plants in traditional medicine used to treat seizures. In this study, we assessed the effects of H. officinalis hydroalcoholic extract against pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures in rat. The anti-seizure activity of the extract was assessed in three doses of 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg....

Objective Due to the high side effects of commonly used drugs and according to the pharmacological properties reported for coumaric acid (CA), this study was designed to determine the impact of CA on acetic acid-induced colitis in rats, considering its possible anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic properties. Materials and methods Fo...

Background Plant antiviral peptides [AVP] are macromolecules that can inhibit the pathogenesis of viruses by affecting their pathogenic mechanism, but most of these peptides can bind to cell membranes, inhibit viral receptors, and prevent viruses. Recently, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the availability of appropriate drugs with low side effects...

Background Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer affecting women and is caused by human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections that are sexually transmitted. There are currently commercially available prophylactic vaccines that have been shown to protect vaccinated individuals against HPV infections, however, these vaccines have no therapeutic...

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) venom (BV) contains many enzymes and peptides used to treat various diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and chronic or autoimmune diseases. However, its adverse effects are unknown. This study investigated the therapeutic and side effects of systemic and local exposure to BV on cutaneous wound healing...

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and is associated with a high level of mortality. Objective This updated review aims to present the most important traditional medicinal plants and some of their secondary metabolites that have previously and more recently been...

Background Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is nephrotoxicity due to contrast media characterized by elevated serum creatinine levels. The formation of oxygen free radicals is one of the causes of CIN. Objective Given the antioxidant properties of Pimpinella anisum L and Dracocephalum moldavica L, this study aimed to investigate the effects of t...

Objective: To evaluate the anti-bacterial activities of titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles of Origanum (O.) vulgare and Hypericum (H.) perforatum extracts, carvacrol and hypericin against Staphylococcus (S.) aureus. Methods: In this study, TiOnanoparticles of O. vulgare and H. perforatum extracts, carvacrol and hypericin, were prepared and the...

Today, finding natural polymers with desirable properties for use in various industries is one of the critical axes of research in the world. Polysaccharides are a group of natural polymers that have various applications in the pharmaceutical industry. The attachment of monosaccharides forms polysaccharides through glycosidic bonds that are widely...

Introduction It has been shown that oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of seizure. Current anticonvulsants have side effects, thus further studies are needed to find new agents with low side effects. Anchusa italica Retz. has been suggested to have antioxidant and neuroprotective effects. The present study aimed to determine the an...

Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine disorder and one of the most common metabolic diseases. Teucrium polium has been exerted nephro- and hepatoprotective effects. This study’s objective was to determine the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Teucrium polium (T. polium) on histopathological and biochemical markers of the liver and kidney in diabetic...

Abstract The effects of Rheum ribes on lead acetate levels and hepatic biochemical factors due to lead acetate toxicity were investigated. Forty male Wistar rats were designated into four groups: Control; lead acetate (receiving in drinking water at 0.6 g/L, daily); hydroalcoholic extract groups (200 and 400 mg/kg doses, gavage, once daily). Treatm...

Pistachio green hull (PGH) contains considerable amount of polyphenolic compounds, which are the most important natural antioxidants. In this research, the antioxidative activity of PGH crude extract and polyphenolic fraction, as the alternatives to synthetic antioxidants, were evaluated. Polyphenol fraction was isolated with Amberlite XAD16 resin...

Atherosclerosis is a chronic lipid-driven and maladaptive inflammatory disease of arterial intima. It is characterized by the dysfunction of lipid homeostasis and signaling pathways that control the inflammation. This article reviews the role of inflammation and lipid accumulation, especially low-density lipoprotein (LDL), in the pathogenesis of at...

Background and objective: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a highly pathogenic virus, is responsible for a respiratory disease termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 genome encodes various structural and non-structural proteins, which are necessary for viral entry and replication. Among these protei...

Introduction: Epilepsy is a group of chronic neurological disorders characterized by seizures. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of Satureja bachtiarica essential oil in preventing epilepsy. Methods: In this experimental study, 50 mice were randomly assigned to five groups of 10 each. The control group received normal saline plu...

Medicinal plants have long been studied due to their anticancer effects and use of them is commonly increased as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM therapies) among patients with cancer. In this study, Alhagi maurorum (A.m) and Amygdalus haussknechtii (A.h) extracts were evaluated for their effects on inhibiting the growth of 4T1 breast...

Cervical cancer, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is the fourth most common type of cancer among women worldwide. While HPV prophylactic vaccines are available, they have no therapeutic effects and do not clear up existing infections. This study aims to design a therapeutic vaccine against cervical cancer using reverse vaccinology. In this stu...

Background It is known that Vitamin D can increase the body’s immunity against some viral infections. Many people around the world have vitamin D deficiency and, therefore, this has become a public concern whether vitamin D is an important factor protecting against COVID-19 infection. In this paper, the data about the roles of vitamin D on immunity...

Objectives Cichorium intybus is used in traditional medicine for various diseases including heart disease. This study aimed at evaluating the chemokine receptor type 4 up-regulation and cardioprotective effects of hydroalcoholic extract of C. intybus in a rat model of ischemic reperfusion. Methods Animals in four groups of eight rats each received...

Wound healing is a process that starts with the inflammatory response after the occurrence of any damage. This process initiates by restoring the wound surface coating tissue, migrating fibro-blasts to form the required collagen, forming a healing tissue and finally, leading to contortion and extraction of the wound. Today, various drugs are used t...

Background One of the most common complaints for women is dysmenorrhea. Several studies investigated the treatment effects of medicinal plants on primary dysmenorrhea. Objectives This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the effect of Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) on pain in primary dysmenorrhea in comparison to non-steroidal anti-inflam...

Background: White tea (Camellia sinensis) has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and a protective effect against wrinkles, sunburn and UV damages on the skin. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the effect of white tea extract on the healing process of skin wounds in rats. Methods: This study was done in the Research Center of Shahrekord Univer...

Agrimonia eupatoria is a perennial herb belonging to the Rosaceae family that all its parts are used to treat various diseases. In this article, we aimed to present a comprehensive review on the phytochemical, pharmacological, and therapeutic effects of this plant. We searched various databases and summarized the data documented in literature from...

Background: Previous studies have shown that seizures can cause cognitive disorders. On the other hand, the Curcuma zedoaria (CZ) has beneficial effects on the nervous system. However, there is little information on the possible effects of the CZ extract on seizures. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of CZ extract on co...

Numerous studies have implicated oxidative stress in the development of complications of diabetes. During hyperglycemia, production of oxidant agents such as reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species increases. This process, along with a decrease in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, induces oxidative stress in the body. This redox im...

Chronic inflammation plays an extensive role in the onset and progression of metabolic disorders such as atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, gout and obesity. Atherosclerosis accounts for upwards of 70% mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes and is also a chronic condition that causes atrial stenosis due to a lipometabolism imbalance. The purpose...

Background and objective Atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of human mortality and mobility in the world today. Reduced bioavailability of vascular Nitric Oxide (NO) has a central role in the progression and development of the atherosclerosis process. Loss of NO activity and bioavailability leads to side and detrimental effects on vascular e...

Objective The aim of this study was to comparatively investigate the effect of the topical 1% Hedera. helix extract gel to 1% diclofenac gel on knee osteoarthritis. Methods A total of 150 patients with primary osteoarthritis were randomly divided into three groups: 1% H. helix gel-treated, 1% diclofenac gel-treated, and placebo-treated. The topica...

Objective: Influenza virus, which is associated with high level of morbidity and mortality, has been recently considered a public health concern; however, the methods of choice to control and treat it are limited. Our previous study showed anti-influenza virus activity of pomegranate peel extract (PPE). In this study, the mechanism through which P...

Background and aims:Euphorbia helioscopia has multiple pharmacological activities, such as antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal,anticancer and/or antitumor, allelopathic, anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic, antioxidant, antinociceptive effect. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antinociceptive activities of Euphorbia helioscopia extract in Balb...

Arboviruses are a diverse group of viruses that are among the major causes of emerging infectious diseases. Arboviruses from the genera flavivirus and alphavirus are the most important human arboviruses from a public health perspective. During recent decades, these viruses have been responsible for millions of infections and deaths around the world...

Campylobacter (curved bacteria) is considered one of the most important and common zoonotic bacteria and the three leading bacterial causes of gastroenteritis and diarrhea. Antibacterial resistance is growing and expanding. The aim of this review article is to report anti-Campylobacter medicinal plants. For this purpose, the search terms consisting...

Prolonged epileptic seizures are the cause of neuronal death and brain damage. Lesions in different regions of the brain can lead to memory loss and cognitive disorders. It is therefore essential to seek out new neuroprotective drugs. Our aim was to investigate the therapeutic effects of oleuropein in improving seizure, oxidative stress, and cognit...

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental issue that disrupts behavior, nonverbal communication, and social interaction, impacting all aspects of an individual’s social development. The underlying origin of autism is unclear, however, oxidative stress as well as serotonergic, adrenergic and dopaminergic systems are thought t...

Objectives: Today, consumers are looking for food products providing health benefits in addition to meeting the basic nutritional needs of the body. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant and cytotoxic effects of Liza klunzingeri protein hydrolysate both in vivo and in vitro. Materials and methods: Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) was prepar...

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) is not only used as a medicinal plant with therapeutic activity but also as a tea infusion, herb, spice or as a flavoring agent in other preparations. However, its adverse side effects on health have been described. The outcome of this review revealed that peppermint and its main constituents (pulegone, menthone, m...

The aim of present study is to investigate pretreatment with hydroalcoholic extract of Alpinia officinarum rhizome on the severity of epilepsy and memory impairment in rat. In this experimental study, rats were randomly assigned to seven groups. Control group and negative control group were intraperitoneally injected with normal saline and PTZ, res...

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease which is a major cause of coronary heart disease and stroke in humans. It is characterized by intimal plaques and cholesterol accumulation in arterial walls. The side effects of currently prescribed synthetic drugs and their high cost in the treatment of atherosclerosis has prompted the use of alter...

Background and Objective Infectious diseases are amongst the leading causes of death in the world and central nervous system infections produced by viruses may either be fatal or generate a wide range of symptoms that affect global human health. Most antiviral plants contain active phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, s...

Use of chemicals as food preservatives and preventing their corruption by food pathogens is one of today's concerns of the food and health sectors, because wrong selection of these materials can be considered a risk factor for health. Among different food phatogenic bacterial Staphylococcus aureus has an important role in nosocomial infections. S....

Melissa officinalis has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and is used in various diseases. Aim of the study: We investigated the role of M. officinalis extract (MOE) against ischemia-induced arrhythmia and heart injury after five days of reperfusion in an in-vivo rat model of regional heart ischemia. The leaf extract of M. officinalis wa...

Ischemia, referring to reduction and restriction of perfusion to myocardial tissue which involves coronary artery through the formation of misplaced clots and thrombosis, is one of the most important cardiovascular diseases. Plant-based compounds help to improve or prevent disease by affecting the factors involved in the disease. This review was co...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been considered as a group of heterogeneous intestinal diseases that affects multiple organs outside of the gastrointestinal tract and is due to an uncontrolled inflammatory response mediated by the immune system. The IBD etiology has not been clearly defined, and it is considered as a multifactorial disease. Du...

Resumen Context: Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers that causes substantial numbers of deaths among women, worldwide. Medicinal plants can be used for discovering new anti-breast cancer drugs. Aims: To investigate the antioxidant effects of twenty Iranian herbs and their anticancer effects against breast cancer cell lines (i.e. MDA-...

Depression is a common psychiatric disease and one of the main causes of disability worldwide. In spite of certain developments in this field, chemical and synthetic drugs used for the treatment of depression disrupt the treatment process due to numerous side effects and high cost. Today, the goal of using a potential method for treating depression...

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hydroethanolic Nigella sativa L. extract on skin wound healing in diabetic male rats. Methods This experimental study was conducted on 49 male Wistar rats weighing 220–250 g divided into 7 groups of 7 each: control (nondiabetic untreated), sham (nondiabetic eucerin-treated), nondiab...

Aim This study was designed to evaluate the synergistic activities of hydroalcoholic extracts of medicinal plants Origanum vulgare and Hypericum perforatum and their active components, carvacrol and hypericin against Staphylococcus aureus. Methods The synergistic effects of the plants, as well as carvacrol and hypericin, were examined using a chec...

This study was conducted to investigate the neuroprotective effect of Citrus aurantium essential oil on hippocampal injury induced by transient global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in rat. In total 50 rats were randomly assigned into five groups; control, sham, ischemia, and essential oil-treated (50 or 75 mg/kg) rats. Ischemia was induced by o...

Experiencing psychosocial adversities in early life such as maternal separation (MS) increases the risk of psychiatric disorders. Immune-inflammatory responses have imperative roles in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. MS relatively changes the composition of intestinal microbiota leading to an overactivation of the hypothalamic-pituita...

The study of phytochemical compounds of plants grown in different regions can reveal their biological potentials for the identification and discovery of effective drugs. This study was conducted to investigate the total phenolic and flavonoid content of twenty Iranian medicinal plants. The plants were gathered from Chaharmahal va Bakhtyari and thei...

Some medicinal herbs and compounds are known to target cancer cells, but the success of them as anticancer compounds depends to a large extent on their ability to activate pathways that kill cancer cells by arresting cell cycle and inducing apoptosis. The aim of the present study was to determine the anticancer effects of Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch....

Background and study aims Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of most important gastro-duodenal diseases, such as gastritis, peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and gastric cancer. H. pylori upregulates the expression and activity of several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the gastric mucosa, but the role of MMP-3 and...

Brucellosis is an old, infectious and common zoonosis whose causative agents are Gramnegative bacteria from the Brucella genus. Brucellosis is transmitted through direct contact with infected animals or using unpasteurized dairy products of goats, pigs, camels, sheep, buffalo and cows. Brucellosis is still the most common zoonosis in the world, wit...

In this study, the effects of Urtica dioica hydro-alcoholic extract were investigated on the blood glucose and lipid profiles of female ovariectomized and non-ovariectomized rats. In total, 32 adult female rats were divided into four groups (eight each) including control and ovariectomy groups as well as non-ovariectomy and ovariectomy groups treat...

Background and Aim: Currently, Giardia lamblia is the most common parasitic protozoan in many countries, including Iran, and the most important cause of diarrhea among travelers, children, and homosexuals. Chemical drugs could be used to treat giardiasis. These drugs can have carcinogenic effects and can lead to drug resistance, which is being repo...

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory vascular disease that is characterized by progressive accumulation of cholesterol in the arterial walls and it is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. Issues related to the side effects of synthetic drugs have in recent times, led to the misuse of drugs, a lack of patient consultations, and consequently, a dis...

Atherosclerosis is a chronic arterial disease responsible for the majority of vascular-related deaths throughout the world. Immune cells and inflammation in conjunction with hyperlipidemia play a key role in atherosclerosis development. Regarding the low efficacy of the synthetic drugs and also the associated negative side effects which can adverse...

Introduction: Royal jelly is a natural product that has antioxidant properties and has protective effects against gentamicin-induced renal toxicity. Objectives: In this study, antioxidant effect of royal jelly were investigated against gentamicininduced nephrotoxicity. Materials and Methods: Fifty adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into f...

Purpose of Review This systematic review describes evidence concerning medicinal plants that, in addition to exerting hypoglycemic effects, decrease accompanying complications such as nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, hypertension, and/or hyperlipidemia among individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Recent Findings Studies on the antidiabetic...

Background and aim: Several studies have shown that many pregnant women use medicinal plants without knowing that some of them have abortificient and teratogenic effects during pregnancy. One of these plants is Stachys lavandulifolia that is used for many health problems such as anxiety. The abortificient effect of this plant has not been establish...

Secreted inflammatory cytokines are considered as critical mediators in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer cells play a significant role in the differentiation of effector T cells to exhausted T cells through mediator production. Effector T cells that undergo tumor microenvironment become terminally differentiated into exhausted T cells. These chan...

Herbs have played an important role in the health and wellness of human. Nowadays, medicinal herbs are at the forefront of studies of medical science because of their importance in public health. Understanding the traditional and therapeutic effects of medicinal plants is important because they can be effective as a source of medication. Based on t...

The thyroid gland regulates a wide range of physiological activities such as growth, metabolism, homeostasis, and cell proliferation and differentiation through the secretion of thyroid hormones (THs). Thyroid diseases are among the most common endocrine disorders, hypothyroidism is the most common clinical thyroid dysfunction. Hyperthyroidism mean...

Plant-based extracts, as alternatives to chemical compounds, are commonly use in pharmaceutical and food industries. Antibacterial properties of extracts are mainly considered in medicine. Because of the high incidence of infectious diseases, it is helpful to identify more agents that are able to treat diseases. Antioxidant effects have been report...