PURPOSE: Ginseng has been reported to reduce blood glucose levels in diabetic animals and patients, and it is also reported to slow the aging process by acting as an anti-atherosclerotic agent or as an anti-oxidant. This study was designed to investigate whether ginseng and irbesartan can prevent the development of diabetic nephropathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced in 7 week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats by intravenous injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin. Ginseng(1 g/kg/day) or irbesartan (20 mg/kg/day) was given to diabetic rats for 25 weeks. Blood glucose and body weight were checked weekly and urinary albumin excretion was evaluated every 6 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the kidneys were weighed and sliced for microscopic examination. Glomerular size and hyaline deposition were measured on light microscopy(on Masson' trichrome stain and PAS stain) and thickness of glomerular basement membrane(GBM) on electron microscopy. Renal histologic findings of ginseng or irbesartan treated rats were compared with those of normal control and diabetic control groups. RESULTS: The weight gain in diabetic rats was significantly reduced, and the final body weight of diabetic rats was lower than that of normal control rats. There was no significant difference in body weights between the diabetic control, ginseng, and irbesartan treated groups. Mean levels of blood glucose were significantly increased in diabetic rats compared to normal rats, but there was no significant difference in blood glucose among the three groups of diabetic rats. Urinary albumin excretion was increased in the diabetic groups compared to the normal control group, and it was significantly decreased in the irbesartan treated group compared to the diabetic control group at 13th week of treatment. At the end of the experiment, the kindeys of the diabetic rats were examined and showed significantly enlarged than those of the normal rats, and the ratio of kidney weight to body weight was decreased in the ginseng treated group compared to the diabetic control and irbesartan treated group. There was no significant difference in the size of glomerulus, the thickness of GBM, and glomerular hyaline deposition among the three diabetic groups. CONCLUSION: There was no significant hypoglycemic effect of ginseng in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Renal hypertrophy was relatively milder in the ginseng-treated group, but there was no difference in findings of renal histology between the treatment groups.
Aging ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Body Weight ; Diabetic Nephropathies* ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Hypertrophy ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Injections, Intravenous ; Kidney ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron ; Panax* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Streptozocin ; Weight Gain

The level of reproductive hormone analyis with Cryptorchidism boys Backgrounds: The prevalence of Cryptorchidism is 1-5% of among pediatric abnormalities. Cryptorchidism is congenital abnormality in which one or two testis can be found in inguinal and abdominal cavities (Undescended testis). According to they last year statistics; 10% of annual visits to surgical cabinet and 22% of impatient in surgical department were children with cryptorchidism. Study objective: To identify risk factors and level of reproductive hormones. Materials and method: The case control study which was done. Cases were 81 cases with cryptorchidism aged 4-18 years. Controls 77 healthy children visited to adolescent cabinet. Results: Median age of children at the time of surgery 92.64 year. The 66.7% children had orchidopexy in between ages of 5-15 years. Hormone profiles had should no significant difference between cases and controls of children aged 11 years. But, there was significant difference were found in FSH and testosterone levels older than 11 years old. It meanest higher FSH-(2.40.14U/l) (p=0.018), and lower testosterone-4.80.22nmol/l (p=0.09) level in children with cryptorchidism. Correliation analysis had should that possible risk factors for cryptorchidism are premature births (23.7%), severe gestose (72.8%), pregnancy associated medical condition(46.9%). There was no significant difference of hormone levels in children with inguinal and abdominal cryptorchidism. Conclusion: On the basis of above study, it is recommended that early screening and early correction before 2 years will prevent from further atrofic changes of testis. It is also recommended that reproductive hormone level screening more useful for the children older than 11 years old.