Introduction & Objective: Obesity is independently associated with increased oxidative stress in men and women. Natural antioxidants showed substantial antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities in vivo. The aim of this study was to examine the preventive effect of antioxidant supplements and/or restricted diet on the stress oxidative index (8-Iso-PGF2α) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in obese rats induced by a high-fat (HF) diet.

Material and Methods: In this experimental study forty-eight male Wister rats were randomly assigned to HF purified diet (61% kcal from fat) ad libitum, HF restricted (30%), HF supplemented with astaxanthin, vitamin E and C (HFS), HFS restricted (30%) for 12 weeks. Their daily food intake and weekly body weight gain were measured. Serum 8-Iso-PGF2α and TAC measured by EIA methods.

Results: Energy intake was not significant in HF with HFS (58.8 and 58.6 kcal/rat/d, respectively) and in HF restricted with HFS restricted (41.7 and 41.6 kcal/rat/d, respectively). Serum 8-Iso-PGF2α in HF was 1416.2±443.5 and in HF restricted was 1209.4±424.4pg/ml (p>0.05) and equal for other groups. The lowest TAC was seen in HF and highest was in HFS (0.36±0.43 and 3.0±1.13 mM, respectively) (p<0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that antioxidant supplements and caloric restriction may improved TAC and partially suppress stress oxidative index in high fat diet induced obese rats.

Introduction & Objective: In the last decade, indiscriminate self medication has increased in our country that can lead to many complications. The aim of this study was to determine the causes of self-medication among Hamadan province pharmacies visitors.

Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 428 Hamadanprovince pharmacies visitors in the spring and summer of 2012. Sampling was conducted by classification with proportional assignment between pharmacies in different cities in Hamadan province .The data collected by questionnaires were described using SPSS-16.

Results: Pain medications (29.9%), antibiotics (20.6%) and anti-cough and cold medications (12.6%) had the highest rate of consumption. Previous use of medication, symptoms improvement (32.2%) and similar prescription (25.3%) were the main reasons of self-medication among the participants.

Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of self medication, designing and implementing educational programs is essential to enhance perceived risks of self-medication between different groups of society.

Results: The mean ages of the patients in the case and control groups were 34.0±5.1 and 33.8±4.9 years (P=0.439), respectively. Moreover, the results revealed that the serum zinc and serum selenium levels were 110.86±21.32 and 83.60±10.71 micrograms/dl (P<0.001) as well as 78.58±17.75 and 85.61±24.18 micrograms/dl (P=0.102) in the case and control groups, respectively. Furthermore, disease duration and severity had a positive correlation with serum selenium level; however, it was not significant. On the other hand, serum zinc level was negatively correlated with disease duration and severity although it was not statistically significant.