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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.