A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON PHARMACEUTICAL AND NUTRITIONAL APPLICATIONS OF INULIN

Inulin is a versatile, water-soluble polysaccharide that is commonly available in nature. In the pharmaceutical industry, the non-digestible function of inulin has made it attractive. Inulin is granted with GRAS status by the FDA and more than 30,000 plants in nature store inulin as a carbohydrate. The chicory is the key plant source of inulin out of all sources. It can be used as the sugar or fat replacer in the processed foods to influence the desirable characteristics. Good biocompatibility, essential chemical properties, and a wide variety of bioactivities have rendered inulin an outstanding natural nutrient. Regulating blood sugar, antioxidant, anticancer is some of the biological activities of inulin. Inulin can also be a carrier for colon/tumor targeting, as only specific enzymes in the colon zhydrolyze the inulin. It allows the growth of micro-flora, the good bacteria in the gut. Inulin is considered as a prebiotic as it is fermented by bacteria that normalize the colon. This review offers an in-depth insight into its novel Pharmaceutical applications as well as sources, processing, physicochemical properties, and nutritional and physiological activities. The chemically modified inulin is gaining a specific interest in the pharmaceutical field with its outstanding properties which are discussed in this review

EVALUATION OF CARDIOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF ALLIUM CEPA AERIAL LEAVES

Objective: The present work deals with the study of the ethanolic extract of fruits of Allium cepa aerial leaves for cardioprotective activity.Methods: Cardioprotective activity of the ethanolic extract of aerial leaves of Allium cepa was determined by the administration of isoproterenol (60 mg/kg, s. c) for two days.Results: Pretreatment with ethanolic extract of Allium cepa aerial leaves (200 mg/kg, p. o and 100 mg/kg, p. o) for 28 d in significantly (p<0.01) reduce the levels of serum transaminases, alkaline phosphates, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine kinase, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol and increase the levels of HDL-cholesterol. Histopathological studies of the hearts of isoproterenol treated rats have showed infiltration of inflammatory cells and lacking of continuity in muscle fiber was suggesting an irreversible cell injury.Conclusion: Animals treated with ethanolic extract of Allium cepa aerial leaves showed less degenerative changes compared to isoproterenol-treated animals

Legal and Administerial Overreach by IPO while Considering Proof of Right Requirement

20-30India being a dualist country has to domesticate treaty obligations to enforce the same at domestic level by enacting statutes, which in turn must be construed in the light of the parent treaty. This paper introspects the complexity in identifying the applicable rule concerning the Proof of Right requirement for Indian National Phase Applications under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Rule 4.17. It goes on to highlight the incongruity between the PCT regulations and the domestic law as interpreted and applied by the Indian Patent Office (IPO). A comparative study of legal positions in other countriesare also included for a better understanding of approaches by foreign patent office towards implementing PCT obligations concerning Proof of Right. In essence, this paper sheds light on how the IPO’s demand for proof of right contradicts with several provisions of the PCT Regulations, the recent PCT Applicant’s Guide for the national phase and concludes by mooting some suggestions to resolve the issue

Legal and Administerial Overreach by IPO while Considering Proof of Right Requirement

India being a dualist country has to domesticate treaty obligations to enforce the same at domestic level by enacting statutes, which in turn must be construed in the light of the parent treaty. This paper introspects the complexity in identifying the applicable rule concerning the Proof of Right requirement for Indian National Phase Applications under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Rule 4.17. It goes on to highlight the incongruity between the PCT regulations and the domestic law as interpreted and applied by the Indian Patent Office (IPO). A comparative study of legal positions in other also included for a better understanding of approaches by foreign patent office towards implementing PCT obligations concerning Proof of Right. In essence, this paper sheds light on how the IPO’s demand for proof of right contradicts with several provisions of the PCT Regulations, the recent PCT Applicant’s Guide for the national phase and concludes by mooting some suggestions to resolve the issue

Amendments at Indian National Phase: In Harmony with PCT Standards?

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) under Article 28 / Rule 52 or Article 41 / Rule 78 guarantees the applicant the right to amend claims, description and drawings before each designated/elected office, on national phase entry or at least one month thereafter, further to the amendments submitted during the International phase of the application. The Indian Patent Office (IPO) however refuses to allow amendments while entering the national phase,1 except for deletion2 of one or more claims under Rule 20(1)3 of the Patent Rules 2003. The Patent Offices of other PCT signatories like the European Patent Office(EPO), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)4, the Chinese Patent Office (CNIPA) and the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI)allow this amendment under Article 28/Article 41 PCT. The IPO accepts all other types of amendments such as merging of two or more claims, alteration of the claim language, etc. only during the national phase proceedings. These amendments can be made either through a request for voluntary amendments in Form 13 along with payment of the associated fee, or in response to the examination report. The latter requires, the applicant to wait until the examination report is communicated. In this article, we are attempting to analyze whether India is in line with the above mentioned provisions of PCT in respect of providing the applicants an opportunity to amend the claims further from that on file in the international phase, at the time of filing the national phase application

Amendments at Indian National Phase: In Harmony with PCT Standards?

61-67The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) under Article 28 / Rule 52 or Article 41 / Rule 78 guarantees the applicant the right to amend claims, description and drawings before each designated/elected office, on national phase entry or at least one month thereafter, further to the amendments submitted during the International phase of the application. The Indian Patent Office (IPO) however refuses to allow amendments while entering the national phase,1 except for deletion2 of one or more claims under Rule 20(1)3 of the Patent Rules 2003. The Patent Offices of other PCT signatories like the European Patent Office (EPO), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)4, the Chinese Patent Office (CNIPA) and the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI)allow this amendment under Article 28/Article 41 PCT. The IPO accepts all other types of amendments such as merging of two or more claims, alteration of the claim language, etc. only during the national phase proceedings. These amendments can be made either through a request for voluntary amendments in Form 13 along with payment of the associated fee, or in response to the examination report. The latter requires, the applicant to wait until the examination report is communicated. In this article, we are attempting to analyze whether India is in line with the above mentioned provisions of PCT in respect ofproviding the applicants an opportunity to amend the claims further from that on file in the international phase, at the time of filing the national phase application

In vitro anticancer activity of Sargassum sp. polysaccharides against MCF-7 cell lines

1267-1273Seaweed polysaccharides are compounds with promising chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activities. In this study, polysaccharides isolated from Sargassum seaweeds were tested for their efficiency in cancer therapy. Polysaccharides were isolated, purified, and characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR); and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometric (MALDI-MS). It was found that the polysaccharides from Sargassum sp. branches are sulfated galactose–fucose disaccharides and sulfated galactose monosaccharides attached to the main chain through (1–4) linkages. Further, the polysaccharides were tested for cytotoxicity and anticancer activity against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7) using the Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining method

Extensibility of External Magnetic Potential at High Latitudes - Antarctica

We investigated the external magnetic potential due to solar forcing, with nine years of data during 2001-2009, coveringthe deep solar minimum (2006-2009), at two stations: one is in the polar cap -Vostok (78º27'S, 106º52’E; mag. lat 83oS) andanother is in the subauroral region - Maitri (70º45'S, 11º43'E: mag. lat 67oS) in Antarctica. The significance of the work isassociated with space weather prediction and its impact on planet Earth. We used Advance Composition Explorer (ACE)satellite data for the aforesaid period for a thorough understanding of influences due to solar wind origin and to compare theparameter observed in these regions. We used the spherical cap harmonic analysis (SCHA) function as a tool. The inferenceindicates that at Vostok the magnitude is enhanced throughout and depicts a broad ambient external magnetic potential. Itseems to be essentially the intensification of the region 1 currents whereas at Maitri intense electric fields are producedduring geomagnetic perturbations which drive a system of disturbed time Region 2 currents over the quiet time currents.During this scenario in Maitri there are noticeable peaks or enhancements in the magnetic potential that can be observedmainly during geomagnetic disturbances. Hence the regression relation developed for external magnetic potentialcalculation, in terms of solar wind parameters agrees well with polar cap region and the area is relatively less exploredearlier, the present investigation can be expected to add knowledge about that regime

Systematic Literature Review of the Prevalence and Prognostic Value of Delta-Like Ligand 3 Protein Expression in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3), a member of the Notch pathway, has been identified as a potential therapeutic target as it is highly expressed in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a subtype accounting for 15% of lung cancer cases. Objective: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to understand the prevalence and prognostic impact of DLL3 expression on survival of patients with SCLC and treatment response. Patients and Methods: Systematic literature searches were conducted across multiple databases to capture studies of any SCLC population that evaluated DLL3 expression. Specific outcomes of interest included prevalence of DLL3 expression, method of expression analysis, and impact on outcome, including treatment response and survival (overall, progression-free, disease-free) according to varying levels of DLL3 expression/positivity. Standard risk of bias tools were used to evaluate study quality. Results: Among the 30 included studies, the most common DLL3 testing method was immunohistochemistry (N = 26, 86.7%). For comparability, results focused on the 13 (22.3%) studies that used the Ventana DLL3 (SP347) immunohistochemistry assay. The prevalence of DLL3 positivity ranged from 80.0–93.5% for studies using a threshold of ≥ 1% of tumor cells (N = 4) and 58.3–91.1% for studies with a ≥ 25% threshold (N = 4). DLL3 expression was generally categorized as high using cutoffs of ≥ 50% (prevalence range: 45.8–79.5%; N = 6) or ≥ 75% (prevalence range: 47.3–75.6%; N = 5) of cells with positivity. Two studies used an H-score of ≥ 150 to define high DLL3 expression with prevalence ranging from 33.3–53.1%. No consistent associations were seen between DLL3 expression level and patient age, sex, smoking history, or disease stage. Two studies reported change in DLL3 expression category (high versus low) before and after chemotherapy. No statistically significant differences were reported between DLL3 expression groups and survival (overall, progression-free, or disease-free) or treatment response. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of DLL3 expression in SCLC. Further research and analytical methods may help to characterize different populations of patients with SCLC based on DLL3 expression. While no significant prognostic factor in the included studies was identified, additional cohort studies using standardized methodology, with longer follow-up, are needed to better characterize any potential differences in patient survival or response by DLL3 expression level in SCLC.</p

Changes in plasma levels of N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine and N-palmitoylethanolamine following bariatric surgery in morbidly obese females with impaired glucose homeostasis

Aim: We examined endocannabinoids (ECs) in relation to bariatric surgery and the association between plasma ECs and markers of insulin resistance. Methods: A study of 20 participants undergoing bariatric surgery. Fasting and 2-hour plasma glucose, lipids, insulin, and C-peptide were recorded preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively with plasma ECs (AEA, 2-AG) and endocannabinoid-related lipids (PEA, OEA). Results: Gender-specific analysis showed differences in AEA, OEA, and PEA preoperatively with reductions in AEA and PEA in females postoperatively. Preoperatively, AEA was correlated with 2-hour glucose (r = 0.55, P = 0.01), HOMA-IR (r = 0.61, P = 0.009), and HOMA %S (r = -0.71, P = 0.002). OEA was correlated with weight (r = 0.49, P = 0.03), waist circumference (r = 0.52, P = 0.02), fasting insulin (r = 0.49, P = 0.04), and HOMA-IR (r = 0.48, P = 0.05). PEA was correlated with fasting insulin (r = 0.49, P = 0.04). 2-AG had a negative correlation with fasting glucose (r = -0.59, P = 0.04). Conclusion: Gender differences exist in circulating ECs in obese subjects. Females show changes in AEA and PEA after bariatric surgery. Specific correlations exist between different ECs and markers of obesity and insulin and glucose homeostasis