Background Pharmacists' interventions to improve outcomes of diabetes management have been promising. However, evidence on using telephone-based interventions in pharmacy practice are limited, particularly in developing countries. Objective To evaluate the efficacy of a telephone-based intervention to improve care and clinical outcomes in type-2 diabetes. Setting A referral community pharmacy and drug information center. Method We conducted a two-armed randomized controlled trial on 100 patients with type-2 diabetes. The intervention consisted of 16 telephone calls in 3 month by a trained pharmacist working in an academic drug information center, while the control group received usual care. Before random allocation, patients attended a live education session delivered by pharmacists to learn the basics of diabetes care and to confirm the eligibility criteria. Assessments were performed at baseline, month-3 (after intervention), and month-9 (follow-up). Main outcome measure Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Results Eighty four patient completed the trial. Baseline variables were comparable between the two groups and the baseline value of hemoglobin A1c was 8.00 ± 1.44 in the study population. HbA1c was significantly improved in both groups at month-3 (6.97 ± 1.41 vs. 7.09 ± 1.78) and remained steady at month-9 (6.96 ± 1.44 vs. 7.26 ± 1.85). Lipid profile showed small improvements in the intervention group but was not significant. The adherence score and self-care score improvement was significantly higher in the intervention group at month-3 and were maintained at month-9. Conclusion Medication adherence and self-care significantly improved in the telephone-based intervention group. However, the improvement of clinical outcomes might have been diluted due to the live diabetes education session.

Objective:To find out whether DTPA-DG complex can enhance clearance of intracellular free iron.Materials and Methods:Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-D-deoxy-glucosamine (DTPA-DG) was synthesized and examined for its activity as a cell-permeable iron chelator in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HEPG2) cell line exposed to high concentration of iron sulfate and compared with deferoxamine (DFO), a prototype iron chelator. The effect of DTPA-DG on cell viability was monitored using the 3-(4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide MTT assay as well.Results:There was a significant increase of iron level after iron overload induction in HEPG2 cell culture. DTPA-DG presented a remarkable capacity to iron burden reducing with estimated 50% inhibitory concentration value of 65.77 nM. In fact, glycosyl moiety was gained access of DTPA to intracellular iron deposits through glucose transporter systems.Conclusion:DTPA-DG, more potent than DFO to sequester deposits of free iron with no profound toxic effect. The results suggest the potential of DTPA-DG in chelating iron and permitting its excretion from primary organ storage.

Datura spp. is a potentially poisonous plant that is widely spread and is simply accessible, which can yield poisoning with a central and peripheral anticholinergic effect. We reported cases of family poisoning caused by the herbal tea with refreshing effects that were identified as Datura spp.

Wilson disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder well recognized by the copper progressive accumulation. Copper accumulation in various organs and tissues causes toxic effects in various tissues including liver, brain, kidneys and eyes. Chelation therapy is the mainstay of treatment for patients with Wilson's disease. Chelators are naturally occurring or chemically designed molecules that bind to specific toxins in the body and promote excretion of them. Diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA) is one of the well-known Chelators which is used in WD treatment but it's main defect is that it cannot enter into the intracellular space. When an amine such as D-glucosamine (DG) was conjugated to DTPA, the resulting compound obtains the ability to enter cells and may be used to treat the intracellular metal overload. Based on the hypothesis, A new compound consisting of D-glucose (1.1 nm) conjugated DTPA, was synthesized and evaluated on HepG2 WD cell model in vitro. Our results revealed that that the copper accumulation significantly P<0.05 decreased in the HepG2 WD cells by DTPA-DG as compared with D-penicillamine (as gold standard treatment) compared with the D-penicillamine (gold standard). Interestingly, no toxicological findings were seen in HepG2 WD cell. Based on our findings, administration of DTPA-DG could be significantly decrease the copper accumulation in HepG2 WD cell model without any toxicity and seems to have a very good prognosis for treatment of WD in the future.

Datura spp. is a potentially poisonous plant that is widely spread and simply accessible, which can yield to poisoning with a central and peripheral anticholinergic effect. We reported cases of family poisoning caused by the herbal tea with refreshing effects that were identified as Datura spp.