Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research
Volume:5 Issue: 3, Sep 2019

Cassia singueana (Delile) Lock from the family Fabaceae is a well-known medicinal plant that grows abundantly in Nigeria and other African countries, and has long been used in the treatment of various ailments including malaria and other infectious diseases. The present study aimed at assessing the composition, and bioactivity of the essential oil of the flowers of C. singueana collected from Nigeria. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation and the chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and GC coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The bioactivity of the oil was determined using the brine shrimp lethality assay, agar diffusion antimicrobial test, the 2, 2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl, metal chelation, and superoxide anion antioxidant assays. The essential oil yield and the percentage of identified compounds were 1.58% and 97.91%, respectively. More than 20 compounds were identified. The major component was geranyl acetone (36.82%) followed by phytol (18.12%). The essential oil showed lethality against the brine shrimp larvae with an LC50 value of 18.7 µg/ml, and antimicrobial activity with largest inhibition zones of 32-33 mm against Candida albicans, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus. The oil also exhibited considerable antioxidant activity as evident from its ability to scavenge free-radicals such as DPPH, superoxide anions, and metal-chelation.

Capparis spinosa L. (caper) is an aromatic plant, commonly used in the Mediterranean diet, possessing numerous antioxidant compounds, such as phenols, rutin, tocopherols, carotenoids, and vitamin C in its leaves. Thus, the present study investigated the effects of Iranian caper leaves extract on oxidative stress caused by CCl4 in the mice’s liver.This study was conducted on 42 male mice in seven groups. The control group, the sham group, the CCl4 group, the Iranian caper leaves extract 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg + CCl4 groups. Then, Biochemicals, oxidative stress, and hepatic histopathology parameters were evaluated. The co-administration of Iranian caper leaves extract, and CCl4 significantly decreased the levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde (P<0.001) and significantly increased the levels of glutathione and catalase in comparison with the group treated with CCl4 alone (P<0.01). Furthermore, Iranian caper leaves extract improved histopathological changes such as the the inflammation and necrosis of hepatocytes. Iranian caper leaves extract has protective effects on hepatotoxicity induced by CCl4, mainly through suppressing oxidative stress.

Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) are used for biomedical research, diagnosis, treatment, production, and the quality control of biological products. mAbs are also very helpful in poliovirus research studies because it is still one of the major public health problems in developing countries. The main objective of this study was the production of mAbs against Poliovirus Type 2 (PV2) to be prepared and respond to the re-emergence of this virus. After fusion of immunized B cells prepared from mice with myeloma tumor cells and screening of about 250 hybridoma colonies, 22 with the highest antibody titer and without cross-reaction with others types were selected and cloned by limiting dilution. In the end, two colonies capable of secreting mAbs against epitopes of  PV2  were used to produce mAbs. The mAbs were characterized by antibody assays, isotyping, and epitopes analysis using western blotting test, the cross-reactivity with other types, as well as stability, sterility, and mycoplasma tests. The results indicated that the produced mAbs had high specificity, sensitivity and stability against PV2 without any cross-reactivity and were of IgG1 Kappa chain with similar bands at 26 kDa during electrophoresis associated with viral protein VP3 neutralization. These mAbs were specific in serum neutralization tests for PV2 vaccine strain, and therefore, they are potentially valuable for routine polio research, diagnosis, isolation, production, and control of poliovirus vaccines.

Irrational use of medicines is a major problem worldwide. Since iodixanol (Visipaque®) was categorized in Category I based on the ABC-VED analysis in our hospital, we evaluated the amount of visipaque use and estimated the incremental cost based on the Maximum Contrast Dose (MCD) following irrational use of contrast media.This retrospective study was conducted on 100 admitted patients aged 18 to 80 years old undergoing elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) who received visipaque during February 2016 to January 2017. All of the patients’ information was collected from medical records and Hospital Information System (HIS). MCD was calculated by using the formula proposed by Cigarroa and colleagues: MCD (mL) =5× body weight (kg)/ Serum Creatinine (SCr) (mg/dl). The amount of contrast media administered ranged from 200 to 600 mL (mean, 348 mL ± 80). 57 % of patients received the visipaque more than MCD. Only 25 patients were evaluated SCr after PCI and in 11 (44%) of these patients SCr increased and 3 (12%) patients developed CI-AKI. Consumption of the contrast media was 2 to 3 times more than previous studies which could be the cause of acute kidney injury besides the extra cost. In our study about six liters more of contrast agent was used which is more than standard values with a cost of approximately $2,000 for 100 patients. Therefore, in order to reduce costs and complications, appropriate clinical protocol of contrast media, more supervision on medical residents and contrast infusion pumps, as well as a periodic evaluation study are highly recommended.

Adhesion band is one of the most important challenges after the operation. Regarding to the use of corticosteroid medications in inflammatory conditions, no studies have been conducted on the topical application, even though limited success have been reported with the systemic therapy. Since the systemic therapy of corticosteroids has its own limitation, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of using topical betamethasone on the prevention of peritoneal adhesion in an animal model. A total of 24 rats were randomly divided into two groups (control and betamethasone) and underwent laparotomy. Then, the adhesion was induced with the abrasion of dry gauze on the small intestine in both groups. In the betamethasone group, 0.1% betamethasone ointment was applied on the site of abrasion. After the 14 days, the animals were sacrificed, laparotomy was then performed with a U-shaped incision, and the number and location of the adhesions were reported. Histological parameters such as inflammatory reactions and collagen precipitations were evaluated, and neovascularization, abnormal mucosal proliferation, foreign body granulation, fibroblastic maturation were also observed. The results showed that the mean number of adhesions in the betamethasone and control groups were 1.08 and 1.17, respectively. Though betamethasone reduced the number of adhesions, the decrease was not statistically significant. Likewise, the results of histopathological evaluations showed no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). Our study demonstrated that the local application of betamethasone ointment in a single dose after laparotomy could not be effective in preventing peritoneal adhesion and inflammatory processes. Further investigations with larger sample sizes treated with higher doses of corticosteroids are required to find better the effects of topical betamethasone ointment on the peritoneal adhesion and inflammation following laparotomy.

The present study aimed to evaluate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities of Aloe vera mucilage in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Adult male Wistar rats were assigned into 4 groups (6 rats/group), as follows: the first group (C) served as the controls. The second group of rats (AL) received a single subcutaneous dose of alloxan at 120 mg kg-1bw. These groups received 1 mL of NaCl 9%. The third group (AL+Av) represented diabetic rats treated with 1 mL of mucilage extracted from Aloe vera leaves. The fourth group (C+Av) corresponded to control rats administered with 1 mL of Aloe vera mucilage. NaCl or Aloe vera mucilage were intraparenterally injected to the rats.
Diabetic rats exhibited significant hyperglycemia accompanied by glycosuria. We also observed a significant reduction in the liver weight and glycogen content of the specimen. A reduced level of serum insulin was also observed among diabetic rats. However, the levels of serum triglycerides and total cholesterol increased in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Aloe vera mucilage administration to diabetic rats partially and totally corrected glycaemia and liver glycogen content and serum insulin level, respectively. The rats’ lipid status has also been improved. Medicinal plants, including Aloe vera, are expected to correct hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in diabetic patients to prevent the adverse effects of synthetic drugs.

Free radical production from different biological and environmental sources is due to an imbalance of natural antioxidants, which further leads to inflammation. Antioxidant metabolites are often characterized by anti-inflammatory and anticoagulation activity. Mangrove plants synthesize different classes of metabolites, including antioxidants, to minimize the devastating effect of oxidation resulting from the elevated salinity, UV, and other unique geochemical components. Accordingly, this study aimed at investigating the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulation properties, as well as polyphenol content of the two selected mangrove plant species: Aegiceras corniculatum and Acanthus ilicifolius. We used the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, reducing power, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching assay (BCB), total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid  content (TFC) and total tannin content (TTC) to determine antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of A. corniculatum bark and leaves and A. ilicifolius leaves. Furthermore, human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization assay, lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibition assay, and prothrombin time (PT) test were performed for determining anti-inflammatory activity of the samples. A. corniculatum bark is a potent antioxidant (IC50 20.49 ± 2.14 µg/mL in DPPH assay) with anti-inflammatory (IC50 23.58 ± 1.75 µg/mL in LOX inhibition assay) and anticoagulation activity (18.19 ± 0.13 min in prothrombin time assay) compared to other extracts. All extracts were found with significant (P<0.001) antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulation properties. Further studies on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis, anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulation are recommended.

Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 as a safe and well-tolerated antidepressant; the use of it may result in rare and sometimes dangerous side effects. Diplopia is a rare adverse effect of citalopram that comes with double vision and disrupts daily living. Currently, only two cases of citalopram-related diplopia have been internationally reported. The current paper presents a third reported case of diplopia following citalopram use in a healthy subject. A 47-year-old man involved in an accident was subsequently affected by serious depression. Following 6 months of a 40-mg daily dose of citalopram, the patient complained of itchy irritated eyes and double vision symptomatic of diplopia. He was referred to an eye specialist, who confirmed no apparent problems following an examination of the eye. After a decrease in the dose of citalopram, the eye symptoms steadily decreased and eventually disappeared. The rapid disappearance of diplopia subsequent to the discontinuing use of citalopram suggests an association between the adverse reaction and the medicine. As a result, it is recommended that physicians inform patients of the possibility of induction of diplopia related to the use of citalopram and other SSRIs. In the future, the prescription of SSRIs at higher doses may be ordered with and on the recommendation of patients, who have been aware of the risks of the drug.