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Diabetes is one of the most prevailed chronic diseases in the world. Pro-inflammatory cytokines play a key role in the type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) has potential anti-inflammatory properties. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the antidiabetic effects of the use of PSO on the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ), pro-inflammatory biomarkers and lipid profile levels in obese type 2 diabetic patients.

In total, 52 patients were randomly assigned to the PSO (n = 26) and placebo (n = 26) groups. Subjects received daily PSO 3 g placebo (paraffin) in 1 g soft-gel capsules (along with breakfast, lunch and dinner meals) for eight weeks.

Serum levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS) decreased from 161.46 ± 34.44 to 143.50 ± 24.2 mg/dL (p = 0.008), IL-6 decreased from 5.17 ± 2.25 to 4.52 ± 1.90 (p = 0.049) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) significantly decreased from 9.17 ± 4.13 to 7.74 ± 2.44 pmol/mL in PSO group (p = 0.030). However, changes in the expression of PPAR-γ gene, serum levels of hs-CRP and lipid profile levels were not significant.

Lack of PSO concentration measurements and the short duration of the study were the key limitations. Future randomized clinical trials with a longer period of follow-up are needed to assess the potential anti-diabetic effects of PSO.

Administration of PSO in obese type 2 diabetic patients reduced the levels of FBS, interleukin 6 and TNF-α; nevertheless, changes in the insulin, lipid profiles and hs-CRP were not significant.

This paper aims to investigate the potential relationship between depression, diabetes knowledge and self-care management with quality of life in diabetic patients.

This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 309 diabetic patients in Tabriz, Iran in 2015-2017. Quality of life was assessed by a validated questionnaire. The Persian version of the Beck Aeron questionnaire was used to assess the depression status. Knowledge and self-care management was evaluated by the health belief model questionnaire. Simple and multiple regression models were used to determine the relationship between the mentioned factors and the quality of life in diabetic patients.

Thirty-six per cent of the patients suffered from depression. The mean score of the total quality of life was 33.75 ± 8.72. The scores of the three domains of the quality of life were less than the normal range (“complication of diabetes” domain: 9.93 ± 3.16, “diagnosis, therapy and follow-up” domain: 10.91 ± 3.31, “psycho-social effect of diabetes” domain: 12.93 ± 4.41). The score of “complication of diabetes” score in males was significantly higher than females (p = 0.001). There was a significant relationship between depression (p < 0.001), self-care management (p = 0.019) and two parameters of knowledge (diet: p = 0.006 and diabetes: p = 0.004) with quality of life of diabetic patients.

The obtained results presented an unfavorable status of knowledge, physical and mental health in diabetic patients and a strong relationship between health-related factors with quality of life. Therefore, it is suggested to hold community-based health-promoting programs to enhance the overall life satisfaction in people with diabetes.

The existing halal tourism literature has paid insufficient attention in discussing the COVID-19 protocol as a marketing strategy tool for tourism managers. The COVID-19 protocol is one of the considerations for tourists in determining their destination when the global society enters the new normal era and people start to travel. This study aims to interpret the relationship between halal reputation, fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 protocols and tourist’s revisit intention, as well as to describe and discuss the empirical evidence. This study expands the theory on halal tourism while also offering critical insights into marketing practice in the tourism industry.

The population of this study was Muslim tourists who have visited West Sumatra before the COVID-19 outbreak. The data were collected online for three months and received 451 responses, but after verification, only 395 respondents could be used for data processing. Hierarchical regression was applied to examine the direct relationship and moderating effect of the studied variables which met the sampling criteria.

This study proves that halal tourists’ revisit intention is determined by a destination’s halal reputation. Subsequently, halal destinations should increase their reputation as excellent halal tourism providers. Furthermore, the COVID-19 protocol can reduce the fear of tourists visiting a tourist destination. Thus, this study gives some contribution to the tourism sector, especially on halal tourism, COVID-19 fear, and protocols and also tourist’s revisit intention.

This paper explores the adoption of the COVID-19 protocol as a marketing strategy. Furthermore, there are still few papers that discuss the effects of COVID-19 on halal tourism. This paper attempts to fill this gap. This paper expands halal tourism literature by assessing the direct relationship and moderating effect of the variables related to COVID-19 on halal tourists’ revisit intention.