Psychotropic Agents Poisoning: Analysis of Cases Reported to Shahid Beheshti Drug and Poison Information Center

Background: Antidepressants, antipsychotics and benzodiazepines overdose events are the most reported poisoning each year from Shahid Beheshti Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC) (a branch of Iran Drug and Poison Information Center in Tehran), which clearly shows the necessity of providing prevention program and instruction plan in taking psychotropic agents.Methods: This survey was a descriptive retrospective study by reviewing 390 reported phone calls from Shahid Beheshti Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC), in Tehran, through 2010 to 2012.Results: 390 reported cases of psychotropic agents including overdoses, medical errors such as extra dose, accidental exposure of medications, especially in children, cases of suicide, and intentional use (were) recorded. The main causes of poisoning calls to the DPIC, were included intentional and suicidal actions (40%), accidental events (27%), drug abuse (26%) and, medical errors (7%), respectively. Up to 50% of calls were about benzodiazepines (BZD) poisoning and the most adverse effects were Central Nervous System (CNS) effects followed by gastrointestinal side effects.Conclusion: According to the results, in order to achieve the proper effect of psychotropic agents and preventing related poisoning, providing pharmaceutical services and awareness of patients are necessary. It should be about the therapeutic effects and side effects of their medications by pharmacists and poison centers and limiting the accessibility of patients to large amounts of these medications by regulatory organizations

Evaluation of anti-parkinsonian activity of Elaeocarpus ganitrus on haloperidol induced Parkinson’s disease in mice

Background: Elaeocarpus ganitrus (Family: Elaeocarpaceae), has been used for the treatment of depression, convulsions and asthma. The existing literature is lacking in studies showing anti-parkinson effect of E. ganitrus. There is increased concern about the side-effects of conventional medicine in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Hence E. ganitrus having anti-oxidative property may be a safer alternative.Methods: To evaluate the anti-parkinson effect of E. ganitrus, rota rod and catalepsy bar tests were used. Assessment of oxidative stress was done by measuring the malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in the striatal region of the brain. One-way ANOVA was used to detect statistical significance, followed by post-hoc Tukey test.Results: E. ganitrus (200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o.) pretreated groups significantly increased the retention time in rota rod test (p<0.001) and significantly decreased the latency period in catalepsy bar test (p<0.001), when compared with haloperidol treated group alone. E. ganitrus (200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o.) pretreated groups showed significant anti-oxidative effect by causing a decrease in brain MDA levels (p<0.001) and a significant increase in GSH levels (p<0.001).Conclusions: Oxidative stress plays a vital role in the pathophysiology of PD. The results of this study conclusively show that E. ganitrus has anti-oxidant activity and neuroprotective activity in haloperidol experimental model of PD

Regulation of sonic hedgehog-GLI1 downstream target genes PTCH1, Cyclin D2, Plakoglobin, PAX6 and NKX2.2 and their epigenetic status in medulloblastoma and astrocytoma

Abstract Background The Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway is critical for cell growth and differentiation. Impairment of this pathway can result in both birth defects and cancer. Despite its importance in cancer development, the Shh pathway has not been thoroughly investigated in tumorigenesis of brain tumors. In this study, we sought to understand the regulatory roles of GLI1, the immediate downstream activator of the Shh signaling pathway on its downstream target genes PTCH1, Cyclin D2, Plakoglobin, NKX2.2 and PAX6 in medulloblastoma and astrocytic tumors. Methods We silenced GLI1 expression in medulloblastoma and astrocytic cell lines by transfection of siRNA against GLI1. Subsequently, we performed RT-PCR and quantitative real time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) to assay the expression of downstream target genes PTCH1, Cyclin D2, Plakoglobin, NKX2.2 and PAX6. We also attempted to correlate the pattern of expression of GLI1 and its regulated genes in 14 cell lines and 41 primary medulloblastoma and astrocytoma tumor samples. We also assessed the methylation status of the Cyclin D2 and PTCH1 promoters in these 14 cell lines and 58 primary tumor samples. Results Silencing expression of GLI1 resulted up-regulation of all target genes in the medulloblastoma cell line, while only PTCH1 was up-regulated in astrocytoma. We also observed methylation of the cyclin D2 promoter in a significant number of astrocytoma cell lines (63%) and primary astrocytoma tumor samples (32%), but not at all in any medulloblastoma samples. PTCH1 promoter methylation was less frequently observed than Cyclin D2 promoter methylation in astrocytomas, and not at all in medulloblastomas. Conclusions Our results demonstrate different regulatory mechanisms of Shh-GLI1 signaling. These differences vary according to the downstream target gene affected, the origin of the tissue, as well as epigenetic regulation of some of these genes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78313/1/1471-2407-10-614.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78313/2/1471-2407-10-614.pdfPeer Reviewe

Coulomb interactions within Halo Effective Field Theory

I present preliminary results of effective field theory applied to nuclear cluster systems, where Coulomb interactions play a significant role.Comment: Talk given at the 20th European Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Pisa, Italy, September 10-14, 200

Development of high-speed directly-modulated DFB and DBR lasers with surface gratings

The conventional distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector edge-emitting lasers employ buried gratings, which require two or more epitaxial growth steps. By using lateral corrugations of the ridge-waveguide as surface gratings the epitaxial overgrowth is avoided, reducing the fabrication complexity, increasing the yield and reducing the fabrication cost. The surface gratings are applicable to different materials, including Al-containing ones and can be easily integrated in complex device structures and photonic circuits. Single-contact and multiple contact edge-emitting lasers with laterally-corrugated ridge waveguide gratings have been developed both on GaAs and InP substrates with the aim to exploit the photon-photon resonance in order to extend their direct modulation bandwidth. The paper reports on the characteristics of such surface-grating-based lasers emitting both at 1.3 and 1.55 μm and presents the photon-photon resonance extended small-signal modulation bandwidth (> 20 GHz) achieved with a 1.6 mm long single-contact device under direct modulation. Similarly structured devices, with shorter cavity lengths are expected to exceed 40 GHz smallsignal modulation bandwidth under direct modulatio

Herbal drugs: knowledge, attitude and practice of its concurrent use with allopathic drugs, scientific testing and effectiveness in common diseases among educated class

Background: Craving for a holistic approach for healthcare and concern about side effect of the chemically produced drug is increasing interest in herbal medicine. There is a favourable perception about its effectiveness in complete cure of certain diseases. Its regulation, concurrent use with allopathic medicine and scientific testing has always been of concern.Methods: Cross sectional descriptive study was done using predesigned questionnaire among the educated class. Socio-demographic data, attitude and practice about simultaneous use, effectiveness in common disease, scientific testing and regulation of herbal medicine were asked. Also a rating of different system of medicine i.e allopathy, unani, ayurveda, homeopathy was asked.Results: Total completed participants were 120. Across level of education use of herbal medicine was 55% in the last 1 year, 56.7% have used or intend to use herbal along with allopathic and only 18.9 % tell it to treating physician. 50% consider concurrent use as safe, 43% believe it cures completely, 31.7% consider equally effective than allopathic and 95% have not encountered any side effect or allergic reaction with it. A majority did not know about any scientific testing and clinical study of herbal drugs.Conclusions: Herbal medicines have very positive perception. The regulatory authorities are also patronising it in many countries. They are also being used along with allopathic medicine and many times even without knowledge of treating doctor. The perception about herbal medicine is historical based on personal or clinical experiences, mostly lacking with good grade of strength of evidence. There is need to have Level Ia or Ib evidence for their effectiveness and safety