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This paper aims to evaluate the prevalence of general obesity (GO) and abdominal obesity (AO) in the north-west of Iran and investigate the association with food choices and socioeconomic status (SES).

In this cross-sectional study, 500 subjects aged ≥ 18 years were studied. Data on their basic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, dietary habits and physical activity were collected. The authors examined the association between GO and AO with SES and food choices using multiple logistic regression analysis.

The prevalence of GO and AO was 26.6 and 43.4%, respectively. A positive association was observed between age and GO (p for trend <0.001) and AO (p for trend 0.005) in both sexes. However, a negative correlation was detected between education and income with GO and AO (p for trend <0.001). Two or more servings of fruit consumption a day were associated with lower odds of obesity. It was observed that the odds of GO and AO decreased by three or more servings of daily fruit. The consumption of dairy products in two or more servings a day led to a reduction in odds of GO and AO. The consumption of five or more servings of legumes, beans and nuts a week was associated with lower odds of GO and AO.

Educational attainment, greater income and a higher intake of some specific food groups were associated with lower odds of obesity in the area. More population-based investigations are required to develop effective preventive strategies to control the status of being overweight and obesity in different regions.

Herbal medicine has been used for the management of complications of diabetes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the anti-diabetic effects of Achillea millefolium extract on diabetic rats.

To this aim, 32 male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into four groups in which each group comprised eight rats. The four experimental groups were as follows: control group, diabetic control (DC) group (STZ; 50 mg/kg), diabetic rats, receiving 250 mg/kg hydro-alcoholic extract of the A. millefolium (DAM) and diabetic rats, receiving 5 mg/kg glibenclamide (DG). After 21 days of the treatment course, tissues of the kidney and blood samples were collected for histopathological, biochemical and molecular analysis.

The concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glucose serum were markedly reduced in the DC group while significantly increased in DG and DAM groups (1.11 ± 0.57 to 19.4 ± 3.5 and 17.8 ± 1.2 p =0.002 and 325 ± 0.18 to 223 ± 0.11 and 211 ± 0.32 p =0.02, respectively). Also, the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were markedly reduced in the DC group while significantly increased in DAM and DG groups (9.1 ± 2.21 to 18.7 ± 3.81 and 14.9 ± 3.1 p = 0.03 and p =0.02, respectively). The concentrations of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urea were substantially decreased in DAM and DG groups as compared with the DC group (0.49 ± 0.02 to 0.27 ± 0.01 and 0.25 ± 0.01 p =0.01, 15.6 ± 2.1 to 7.2 ± 0.68 and 8.6 ± 1.2 p =0.02 and 114 ± 9.4 to 59.8 ± 5.2 and 64 ± 5.2 p =0.03, respectively). Also, Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX) expression was significantly decreased in DAM and DG groups as compared with the DC group (1.3 ± 0.32 to 0.91 ± 0.03 and 0.93 ± 0.02 p = <0.01) and Bcl-2 expression were significantly increased in DAM and DG groups as compared with the DC group (0.42 ± 0.05 to 0.88 ± 0.07 and 0.85 ± 0.06 p =0.01).

Diabetes led to degenerative damages in the kidney of rats and increased the mRNA level of Bax, while treatment with A. millefolium could protect the kidney tissue against diabetes complications and increased the mRNA expression of Bcl-2. This study indicated that A. millefolium extracts not only improves renal function as a result of anti-oxidant activity but also modulates some biochemical factors in diabetic rats.