SUN PROTECTIVE POTENTIAL OF POLYHERBAL SKIN CARE CREAM

Objective: Evaluation of sun protective potential of polyherbal skin care cream Methods: In vitro sun protection factor of polyherbal cream of Centella asiatica, Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum and Hibiscus rosa sinensis was determined by spectrophotometric method using UV visible spectrophotometer. Results: The formulation F4 was found most satisfactory in all parameter evaluated with good sun protection potential, so it could be used as effective sun protective agent. Conclusion: Herbal cosmetics were recognised as a safe, better and effective alternative of synthetic cosmetics that could help to protect and promote skin health naturally without any side effects. The herbal cream F4 was found good sun protection potential against the damaging effects of UV radiations

Cross sectional study on prevalence and medication adherence of hypertension and diabetes in a tertiary care hospital in Karimnagar, India

Background: The study aimed to assess the prevalence of Hypertension (HTN), Diabetes mellitus(DM) and other diseases along with comorbid conditions, disease complications and also to assess medication adherence in a tertiary hospital in Karimnagar, Telangana, India.Methods: A Cross sectional study is performed by analysing a total of 500 patient’s individual case safety reports (ICSR). Prevalence of Hypertension and Diabetes along with most prescribed drugs are analysed. Medication adherence is analysed by using Morisky Medication adherence questionnaire scale (MMAS-4).Results: Patients with past history of DM, HTN and other diseases which was found to be 245 (49%) patients. Patients with highest disease prevalence were found to be with HTN (56.73%), DM (31.83%) followed by other diseases like asthma (8.57%), Cerebrovascular accident (4.89%) etc., Total of 66 Patients were ruled out with comorbid diseases. Patients with HTN+DM (47) were found to be highest followed by DM+HTN+CVA (4). MMAS-4 revealed 208 patients were using medication out of 245 patients with previous history. According to MMAS-4 most of the patients were with medium adherence (76). Prevalent drug used for HTN include Amlodipine and for DM Telmisartan+Hydrochlorthiazide.Conclusions: The study revealed that almost half of the admitted patients were with HTN and DM. The patients were counselled properly to adhere strictly to the prescription. Medication adherence to HTN and DM was found to be good in this study. Since the disease complications were also ruled out, the health care professionals are recommended to spread awareness on DM and HTN and disease management in order to control disease and improve health outcomes

A prospective observational study on incidence of adverse drug reactions in a tertiary care teaching hospital: a pharmacovigilance study

Background: An adverse drug reaction (ADRs) is determined as response to a drug that is noxious unintended excludes therapeutic failures, overdose, drug abuse, noncompliance, and medication errors. The main aim of the study is to detect, understand and report ADR’S.Methods: This study is prospective observational study conducted for 6 months in in-patient setting in a tertiary care hospital. Naranjo’s, WHO causality scale, Siegel scale, Schumock and Thornton scale are used to assess ADR. Graph Pad Prism and SAS software’s are used.Results: Data was collected from a total of 1000 patients of which 121 (12.1%) patients were effected with 150 ADRs. Among 121 patients AdrAd was 60.66% and AdrIn was 39.33%. Of 121 patients 97 patients with single ADR, 28 patients with 2 ADRs, 10 patients were with three ADRs. ADR onset divides acute (10%), Latent (39%) and sub-acute (51%). ADR occurred are recovered (54%), Recovering (13%). Naranjos scale interprets definite (0.9%), probable (50.9%), possible (42.97%). According to WHO scale certain (2.7%), unlikely (2.7%), possible (38.84%). Hartwig and Siegel scale results are mild (12.4%), moderate (66.12%) and severe (12.4%). Schumock and Thornton preventability results are definitely (25.45%), probably (68.18%) and not preventable (6.36%).Conclusions: Every health care professional should be aware of the Pharmacovigilance principles and also should be aware of suspected ADR reporting form of PVPI. By applying the above scales it is easy for health care professionals to assess an ADR

Classification and applying pharmacovigilance principles to study adverse drug reaction and its management

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is an unwanted, undesirable effect of medication resulting in mild to severe effect on the patient. This review explains definitions of ADR and it differentiation with adverse drug event, medication error. ADRs may cause increased length of stay or initial reason for admission and are major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Risk factors for ADR occurrence include age, gender, patients with multiple diseases and multiple drug therapy (polypharmacy). ADRs are classified into different types based on the mechanism and onset of reaction. The causal relation between suspected drug and reaction can be assessed by using causality assessment scales. The severity and preventability of ADR can be assessed by severity assessment scale and preventability scale respectively. Clinical Pharmacists play an important role in monitoring and management of ADRs

Effect of fungicidal contamination on survival, morphology, and cellular immunity of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Pesticide residues have been reported in hive-stored products for long periods. Larvae of honey bees experience oral or contact exposure to these products during their normal growth and development inside the cells. We analyzed various toxicological, morphogenic, and immunological effects of residue-based concentrations of two fungicides, captan and difenoconazole, on the larvae of worker honey bees, Apis mellifera. Selected concentrations (0.08, 0.4, 2, 10, and 50 ppm) of both fungicides were applied topically at a volume of 1 µL/larva/cell as single and multiple exposures. Our results revealed a continuous, concentration-dependent decrease in brood survival after 24 h of treatment to the capping and emergence stages. Compared to larvae with a single exposure, the multiply exposed youngest larvae were most sensitive to fungicidal toxicity. The larvae that survived higher concentrations, especially multiple exposures, showed several morphological defects at the adult stage. Moreover, difenoconazole-treated larvae showed a significantly decreased number of granulocytes after 1 h of treatment followed by an increase after 24 h of treatment. Thus, fungicidal contamination poses a great risk as the tested concentrations showed adverse effects on the survival, morphology, and immunity of larval honey bees

The evolutionary dynamics of variant antigen genes in Babesia reveal a history of genomic innovation underlying host-parasite interaction

Babesia spp. are tick-borne, intraerythrocytic hemoparasites that use antigenic variation to resist host immunity, through sequential modification of the parasite-derived variant erythrocyte surface antigen (VESA) expressed on the infected red blood cell surface. We identified the genomic processes driving antigenic diversity in genes encoding VESA (ves1) through comparative analysis within and between three Babesia species, (B. bigemina, B. divergens and B. bovis). Ves1 structure diverges rapidly after speciation, notably through the evolution of shortened forms (ves2) from 5′ ends of canonical ves1 genes. Phylogenetic analyses show that ves1 genes are transposed between loci routinely, whereas ves2 genes are not. Similarly, analysis of sequence mosaicism shows that recombination drives variation in ves1 sequences, but less so for ves2, indicating the adoption of different mechanisms for variation of the two families. Proteomic analysis of the B. bigemina PR isolate shows that two dominant VESA1 proteins are expressed in the population, whereas numerous VESA2 proteins are co-expressed, consistent with differential transcriptional regulation of each family. Hence, VESA2 proteins are abundant and previously unrecognized elements of Babesia biology, with evolutionary dynamics consistently different to those of VESA1, suggesting that their functions are distinct

Timing of host feeding drives rhythms in parasite replication

Circadian rhythms enable organisms to synchronise the processes underpinning survival and reproduction to anticipate daily changes in the external environment. Recent work shows that daily (circadian) rhythms also enable parasites to maximise fitness in the context of ecological interactions with their hosts. Because parasite rhythms matter for their fitness, understanding how they are regulated could lead to innovative ways to reduce the severity and spread of diseases. Here, we examine how host circadian rhythms influence rhythms in the asexual replication of malaria parasites. Asexual replication is responsible for the severity of malaria and fuels transmission of the disease, yet, how parasite rhythms are driven remains a mystery. We perturbed feeding rhythms of hosts by 12 hours (i.e. diurnal feeding in nocturnal mice) to desynchronise the hosts' peripheral oscillators from the central, light-entrained oscillator in the brain and their rhythmic outputs. We demonstrate that the rhythms of rodent malaria parasites in day-fed hosts become inverted relative to the rhythms of parasites in night-fed hosts. Our results reveal that the hosts' peripheral rhythms (associated with the timing of feeding and metabolism), but not rhythms driven by the central, light-entrained circadian oscillator in the brain, determine the timing (phase) of parasite rhythms. Further investigation reveals that parasite rhythms correlate closely with blood glucose rhythms. In addition, we show that parasite rhythms resynchronise to the altered host feeding rhythms when food availability is shifted, which is not mediated through rhythms in the host immune system. Our observations suggest that parasites actively control their developmental rhythms. Finally, counter to expectation, the severity of disease symptoms expressed by hosts was not affected by desynchronisation of their central and peripheral rhythms. Our study at the intersection of disease ecology and chronobiology opens up a new arena for studying host-parasite-vector coevolution and has broad implications for applied bioscience

Evaluation of Wound Healing Activity of Polyherbal Skin Care Cream

Plants have long history of use to cure and prevention of various human ailments. In the present study Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum, Centella asiatica and Hibiscus rosa sinensis extracts have been used to formulate skin care cream with varied proportion of individual extract. The formulations F3 and F4 have been selected for evaluation of wound healing study on the basis of preliminary evaluation results of parameter evaluated for Polyherbal cream. The formulation F3 and F4 were compared with negative control and standard treated group. It was found that the formulation F4 has greater wound contraction and efficiently reduced the time of epithelization campared to negative control with significant level P<0.050 and P>0.001, results indicated that the formulation F4 could be used as  effective agent in wound healing. Keywords: Herbal cream, Wound healing, Flavonoids, Phytochemica

Electrochemical and computational investigations of the Thysanolaena latifolia leaves extract: An eco-benign solution for the corrosion mitigation of mild steel

The development of eco-benign corrosion inhibitors is gaining increased attention due to the non-biodegradability and toxic effects of conventional inhibitors. In this study, the anti-corrosive efficacy of Thysanolaena latifolia leaves extract (TLLE) has been evaluated on mild steel in an acidic solution (0.5 M HCl) by employing various approaches including gravimetric assessment, electrochemical measurements, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The outcomes demonstrated that with the increased concentration of TLLE from 50 ppm to 1000 ppm, the inhibition efficiency (IE%) elevated up to 93.90 % and the corrosion rate decreased significantly from 2.513 mm/yr to 0.203 mm/yr at 298 K. Moreover, it was revealed that at a higher concentration (1000 ppm), the Rp values increased from 30.784 Ω to 157.83 Ω with an Rct in value of 159.627 Ω cm2 suggesting the defensive film formation by TLLE molecules over the metallic surface. The quantum chemical analytics further underpinned the empirical findings, showing a high ΔE(eV) value of 0.239 and interaction and binding energies of −995.45 and 995.45 for TLLE molecules upon Fe (110) substrate. The findings indicate that TLLE has a promising prospect as an eco-benign and efficient inhibitor for preventing the corrosion of mild steel in corrosive environments