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  Background: Obese patients are at high risk of numerous chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, dyslipidemia and stroke. Recently researchers focused on complementary medicine along with routine treatments to reduce obesity complications. Therefore we aimed to investigate the effects of omega 3 fatty acids supplementation on serum lipid profiles, C-peptide and fasting blood glucose in obese individuals.

  Methods: In this randomized clinical trial 56 obese volunteers with the mean age of 33.94±8.15 years were assigned into the supplemented (n=30) and placebo (n=26) groups, given two omega 3 fatty acids soft gel (360 mg EPA and 240 DHA) or placebo respectively for 4 weeks. At the onset and the end of the intervention, blood samples were collected after overnight fasting and serum lipid profiles, C-peptide and fasting blood glucose were measured. Data were analyzed with SPSS program and p-value less than 0.05 considered as significant.

  Results: In comparison with placebo group, omega 3 supplementation resulted in a significant decrease in the mean triglyceride (108.37±11.22 mg/dl vs 148.84±59.40 mg/dl). After 4 weeks, the mean C-peptide concentrations increased in both groups but elevation in omega 3 group was more dramatic (p<0.01). However, we didn’t find any significant changes in the mean total cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C levels.

  Conclusion: Our finding indicated that 4 weeks Omega 3 supplementation leads to amelioration in some of serum lipid profiles indices and insulin secretion in

  obese individuals. Although, further studies are needed to achieve precise results.

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Background & objectives: Iron overload is involved in the pathophysiology of many diseases including diabetes. In fact, the excess iron by creating free radicals makes damage to pancreas and leads to insulin resistance and diabetes. Andrographolide extract has hypoglycemic and antioxidant properties. This study has surveyed the effects of andrographolide on blood glucose and lipid profile in rats with secondary iron overload.

Methods: In this experimental study, 36 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: the healthy control group, secondary iron overload group, secondary iron overload groups treated with a dose of 3.5 and 7 mg/kg of andrographolide extract, and andrographolide groups treated with a dose of 3.5 and 7 mg/kg of extract. Iron and extract were injected for 6 and 12 days, respectively. Blood samples were taken for measurement of blood glucose and lipid profiles. Data were analyzed using ANOVA test.

Results: The pathological results of samples from liver of animals receiving iron showed that the iron was deposited in the liver tissues. Iron injection significantly increased blood glucose levels compared to healthy control group (p<0.05). In the iron overload group, andrographolide extract with a dose of 3.5 mg/kg or 7 mg/kg significantly decreased blood glucose levels (p<0.05). Iron injections did not increase the serum triglyceride and cholesterollevels. Injections of andrographolide extract with a dose of 3.5 mg/kg and 7 mg/kg, significantly decreased the cholesterol levels compared to iron receiving group (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Results of this study showed that the andrographolide with different doses may be effective in the treatment of diabetes by reducing serum glucose and cholesterol levels.

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Background & objective: Aloe-vera is an herb   that has long been used in traditional medicine. Using high-fat diet and fatty liver disorder cause obesity and hyperlipidemia. So, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Aloe - vera gel extract on the body weight and lipid profile in adult male rats treated with high-fat diet.
Methods: In this experimental study, 40 adult male rats were included in the control group (no treatment), sham group (treated with high-fat diet 10 ml/kg) and three experimental groups receiving high-fat diet (10ml/kg) along with 150, 300 and 600 mg/kg Aloe- vera gel extracts. Prescriptions were conducted by gavage, for 60 days. At the end, after anesthetizing the rats and phlebotomizing their heart, the serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL were measured.   The obtained results were analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan tests.
Results: The results showed that high-fat diet significantly increased the serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL (p<0.001) and weight gain (p<0.01) but had no significant effect on the serum level of HDL. However, in the groups receiving Aloe -vera gel and   high-fat diet, there was a significant decrease in the weight and serum levels of cholesterol, triglyceride (p<0.05) and LDL (p<0.01).
Conclusion: High-fat diets increase the weight and serums levels of triglycerides, LDL and cholesterol.  Also, the Aloe- vera gel extract causes weight loss and improves lipid profiles in the rats treated with Aloe -vera gel extract.

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Background & objectives: Due to the widespread use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and their possible unwanted effects in biological environments, we made an attempt to investigate the effect of ZnO-NPs on the blood lipid profile.
Methods: In this study, 24 male Wistar rats were used. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group, the group receiving ZnO-NPs at 25 mg/kg (ZnO-NPs 25 mg/kg) and the group receiving ZnO-NPs at 50 mg/kg (ZnO-NPs 50 mg/kg). The duration of the test was two weeks. The blood samples were taken and the serums were separated. Serum levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, VLDL, LDL and HDL were determined using standard kits and methods.
Results: Based on the findings of this study, serum levels of triglyceride and VLDL in both ZnO-NPs receiving groups were significantly increased in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). Also,  the serum levels of HDL , LDL and LDL/HDL ratio decreased significantly in both ZnO-NPs receiving groups compared to the control group (p<0.05), while the  serum cholesterol levels did not change compared with the control group.
Conclusion: Our results showed that 25 and 50 mg/kg doses of ZnO-NPs had both harmful (increase triglyceride and VLDL and reduction of HDL) and beneficial (reduction of LDL and LDL/HDL ratio) effects on the blood lipid profile.

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Background & objectives: Recent evidence suggests that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are involved in regulating of adipose tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of three resistance training methods on bone morphogenetic protein 2 and lipid profile in obese men.
Methods: In a semi-experimental trial, 44 obese men (23-32 years) were selected and randomly divided into four groups, including control, interval resistance training, traditional resistance training and circuit resistance training. Interval, traditional and circuit resistance training performed with an intensity of 50% of maximum repetition and active rest, 3-time sessions per week for 12 weeks. Serum BMP-2 levels were measured using an ELISA kit. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test at the p<0.05.
Results: The results showed that interval, traditional and circuit resistance training were associated with a significant decrease in bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), LDL, cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in interval, traditional and circuit resistance training groups, and also a significant increase in HDL concentration in interval and circuit resistance training groups in comparison with   the pretest (p<0.001). BMP-2 levels were significantly lower in the interval resistance training group than in the traditional resistance training group (p<0.001). The HDL and LDL, cholesterol and triglycerides levels in obese men in the interval and circuit resistance training groups were significantly higher and lower than in the interval resistance training group, respectively (p<0.001).
Conclusion: 12 weeks of the interval, circuit and traditional resistance training were associated with decreased BMP-2 and improved lipid profile in obese men, and interval resistance training may be more effective on BMP-2 and lipid profile in obese men.