Effect of the chronic treatment with aqueous extract of Caesalpinia ferrea and Chrysobalanus icaco on the vascular reactivity of diabetic rats

Caesalpinia ferrea and Chrysobalanus icaco are plants commonly used by the folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. In this work, the effects of the chronic treatment with aqueous extracts of C. ferrea (AECF) and C. icaco (AECI) on the vascular reactivity of alloxan-induced diabetic rats were evaluated. In rings of mesenteric artery, AECF and AECI were not able to modify the contractions induced by phenylephrine or relaxations induced by carbachol. However, treatment with AECI was able to prevent the potentiation of the relaxations induced by sodium nitroprusside in diabetic rats. In brief, this study found possible benefits of the treatment with C. icaco on the reactivity vascular of diabetic rats.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Beneficial effects of the ethanol extract of Caesalpinia pyramidalis on the inflammatory response and abdominal hyperalgesia in rats with acute pancreatitis

AbstractEthnopharmacological relevanceCaesalpinia pyramidalis Tul. (Fabaceae) is a plant found in the Northeast of Brazil that is popularly used to treat inflammation. Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disease for which abdominal pain is a relevant symptom. As there is no specific therapy for AP, we investigated the effect of the ethanol extract from the inner bark of C. pyramidalis (EECp) on the AP induced by common bile duct obstruction (CBDO) in rats.Material and methodsAP was induced in male Wistar rats (200–250g, n=6–8) through laparotomy and subsequent CBDO. Animals were euthanized after 6 (G6h) or 24h (G24h) of induction. In the G6h protocol, animals were pretreated with EECp (100–400mg/kg, p.o.) or vehicle (Tween 80; 0.2%) 1h before CBDO or sham surgery. For the G24h protocol, rats were pretreated with EECp (400mg/kg, 1h before CBDO or 1h before and 12h after CBDO) or vehicle. The following parameters were measured: inflammatory/oxidative (myeloperoxidase activity and malondialdehyde formation in the pancreas and lung, leukocyte counts in the blood and serum nitrate/nitrite), enzymatic (serum amylase and lipase levels) and nociceptive (abdominal hyperalgesia).ResultsInduction of AP by CBDO significantly increased all the parameters evaluated in both G6h and G24h protocols when compared with the respective sham group. In the G6h protocol, the EECp pretreatment (400mg/kg) significantly reduced all these parameters, besides completely inhibiting abdominal hyperalgesia. The same profile of reduction was observed from two administrations of EECp in the G24h protocol, while one single dose of EECp was able to significantly reduce pancreatic MDA, serum lipase levels, leukocyte counts in the blood and abdominal hyperalgesia without affecting the other parameters in the G24h protocol. Furthermore, rutin was found in the EECp.ConclusionsOur results demonstrated that EECp decreases inflammation, lipoperoxidation and hyperalgesia in CBDO-induced AP, making it of interest in future approaches to treat this condition

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

The effect of active learning methodologies on the teaching of pharmaceutical care in a Brazilian pharmacy faculty.

BackgroundIn recent years, pharmacists have been involved in expanded patient care responsibilities, for example patient counseling in self-medication, medication review and pharmaceutical care, which require graduates to develop the necessary competences. Consequently, reorientation of pharmacy education has become necessary. As such, active learning strategies have been introduced into classrooms to increase problem-solving and critical thinking skills of students. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and perceptions of competency of students in a new pharmaceutical care course that uses active learning methodologies.MethodsThis pharmaceutical care course was conducted in the first semester of 2014, in the Federal University of Sergipe. In the pharmaceutical care course, active learning methods were used, consisting of dialogic classroom expository, simulation and case studies. Student learning was evaluated using classroom tests and instruments that evaluated the perception of competency in pharmaceutical care practice. Furthermore, students' satisfaction with the course was evaluated.ResultsThirty-three students completed the four evaluations used in the course (i.e., a discursive written exam, seminars, OSCE, and virtual patient); 25 were female (75.75%), and the median age was 23.43 (SD 2.82) years. The overall mean of student scores, in all evaluation methods was 7.97 (SD 0.59) on a scale of 0 to 10 points, and student performance on the virtual patient method was statistically superior to other methods. With respect to the perception of competency in pharmaceutical care practice, a comparison of pre- and post-test scores revealed statistically significant improvement for all evaluated competences. At the end of the semester, the students presented positive opinions of the pharmaceutical care course.ConclusionsThe results suggest that an active learning course can enhance the learning of pharmaceutical care competences. In future studies it will be necessary to compare active learning to traditional methods

Evaluation of the antidiabetic potential of five medicinal plants in rats

O presente estudo investigou o potencial antidiabético de extratos aquosos de cinco plantas medicinais indicadas popularmente para o tratamento do diabetes. Foram avaliados os efeitos anti-hiperglicemiantes agudos da metformina (500 mg/kg) e dos extratos da entrecasca de Bowdichia virgilioides Kunth (EABV), das folhas de Costus spicatus Swartz (EACS), das folhas de Chrysobalanus icaco L. (EACI), da entrecasca de Bumelia sartorum Mart (EABS) e da casca de Caesalpinia ferrea Mart (EACF) administrados em doses únicas de 200 mg/kg no teste oral de tolerância à glicose em ratos normoglicêmicos. Neste teste, somente o EABV, EACF e a metformina foram capazes de promover uma inibição da hiperglicemia induzida por sobrecarga de glicose em até 46,5, 51,7 e 48,3%, respectivamente. Estes resultados demonstram que das cinco espécies estudadas, duas apresentaram efeitos anti-hiperglicemiantes significativos que pode indicar uma possível ação antidiabética, o que reforça o indicativo popular.Potential antidiabetic activity of five medicinal plants indicated to diabetes was evaluated in normoglicemic rats. Metformin (500 mg/kg) and aqueous extract of Bowdichia virgilioides Kunth (EABV), Costus spicatus Swartz (EACS), Chrysobalanus icaco L. (EACI), Bumelia sartorum Mart (EABS) and Caesalpinia ferrea Mart (EACF), in a single dose of 200 mg/kg, were tested on the curve of glucose tolerance oral test. In this test, only metformina, EABV and EACF were able to inhibit the glucose-induced hyperglycemia up to 46.5, 51.7 e 48.3%, respectively. In conclusion, of the five plants tested, two plants showed anti-hyperglycemic effect that can indicate possible antidiabetic action, in according with popular use.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Natural products assessed in animal models for orofacial pain – a systematic review

Orofacial pain is related to tissues of the head, face, neck and all the intraoral structures; it is rather debilitating to the patient and also difficult to treat. There are relatively few studies dedicated to the use of natural products to alleviate orofacial pain in preclinical experiment models (performed in experimental animals which provide support for clinical trials). Main objectives of the present systematic review summarize the studies on natural products assessed in animal models for orofacial pain seeking to give evidence to future development of new pharmaceutical products to manage the orofacial pain. Our review includes a thorough search of literature using the terms of orofacial pain, facial pain, medicinal plants and natural products. This search was performed using to retrieve English language articles in Medline-PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. A total of eighteen studies were included in our survey for the inclusion criteria. Firstly, this review identified 210 citations from electronic search, after removal of duplicates and screening for relevant titles and abstracts, a total of eighteen articles were selected to the inclusion criteria established. Our findings suggest that natural products can be a promising or a trump tool for the development of new drugs to treat orofacial pain conditions, but the researchers that deal with experimental preclinical trials of new drugs (including natural products or synthetic drugs) for orofacial pain conditions urgently need to show translational evidence (with clinical approach) of these compounds. Keywords: Medicinal plants, Natural products, Orofacial pain, Pain, Animal model

Specific lessons in the Pharmaceutical Care course and their corresponding teaching methods and learning strategies.

<p>Specific lessons in the Pharmaceutical Care course and their corresponding teaching methods and learning strategies.</p

Assessment of Pharmaceutical Care discipline, of teacher and student self-assessment (N = 30).

<p>(1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neither Agree Nor Disagree; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree)</p><p>Assessment of Pharmaceutical Care discipline, of teacher and student self-assessment (N = 30).</p