T HE survival of organisms is threatened with a variety of pollutants and chemical compounds and population growth. Natural phenomena and human activities, especially industrial activities increase contamination of water, soil and air. Population growth leads to increased exploitation of the sea and oceans, thus the consumption of seafood increases. In addition, the main food of the people in some areas is fish. Consumption of fish has numerous benefits to healthy for humans, but the existence of some heavy metals including lead, cadmium, and etc. may cause toxicity to marine organisms. The degree of heavy metal toxicity depends on their chemical form of metals. Some forms of metals are rapidly excreted and do not have the opportunity to be absorbed and stored in body tissues, accordingly they are not very toxic, while some forms of metals are highly toxic and lethal. These forms are slowly excreted from metals and have the ability to be absorbed and accumulated in fish muscles and other organs. Heavy metals cause harmful effects such as carcinogenesis, malformations, damage to the nervous system, damage to the reproductive system and infertility in men, liver failure and cardiovascular disease and so on. Therefore, in this review focused on concentration of heavy metals in fish muscle is essential to ensure the safety of this type of food.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is recognized as a life-threatening disease with numerous dangerous complications. Several medicinal plants have been identified for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Hence, the aim of this article was to conduct an ethnobotanical study about medicinal plants used for the management of diabetes mellitus in the East of Khuzestan, South Iran. Methods: This study was performed in the East of Khuzestan, Southwest Iran. Ethnobotanical information was collected through interviews and questionnaires among 20 traditional healers. Demographic information was also received from traditional healers. Ultimately, the data were analyzed in Excel. Results: Our findings showed the most effective medicinal plants, such as Trigonella foenum- graecum L., Citrullus colocynthis, Urtiandrum dioica L., Solanum nigrum L., Arctium lappa L., Ranunculus arvensis L., and Amygdalus scoparia Spach in managing diabetes. We also observed that leaves, aerial parts, root and seeds of these plants play important roles in the management of diabetes. Furthermore, 60% of preparation methods of medicinal plants were based on decoction form. Infusion (40%) was observed as another type of preparation method. Conclusion: The identified medicinal plants displayed valuable effects against diabetes mellitus. Hence, more studies about the therapeutic role of phytochemical constituents presented in these medicinal plants could determine their therapeutic ability.