Recent Advances in Gastro Retentive Drug Delivery Systems

The issues with oral conventional dose forms can be resolved with the use of gastroretentive drug delivery systems (GRDDS). GRDDS is a way to prolong the stomach residence time, which allows for the release of drugs and the possibility of local or systemic effects in the upper gastrointestinal tract. To enhance treatment, some potent medications are employed with gastro-retentive dose forms for longer. By producing a high concentration of medication in the stomach that can be sustained for an extended amount of time, gastroretentive formulations (GRFs) greatly improve stomach pharmacotherapy. As a result, a wide range of dosage forms have been developed for medications that break down at alkaline pH but remain stable at acidic pH. Therefore, medications have limited absorption.&nbsp

Role of Gold Nanoparticles in Drug Delivery

Recent developments in nanotechnology offer a multitude of approaches for investigating and tracking diverse biological and medical processes at the nanoscale. Nanoparticles can deliver medications directly to cancer cells, aiding in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases like cancer. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are incredibly small gold particles, usually fewer than 100 nanometers in size. They are measured in nanometers. AuNPs are one type of nanoparticle that has shown promise as a medication delivery platform. Their outstanding stability, adjustable chemical and physical characteristics, and biocompatibility make them incredibly beneficial for drug delivery applications. The physical and chemical features of AuNPs' natural characteristics were studied. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), radioactivity, and a high X-ray absorption coefficient are among the physical characteristics of AuNPs that are commonly used in diagnosis and treatment. Compared to many other nanoparticles, AuNPs can create stable chemical interactions with groups that contain S and N. As a result, AuNPs can bind to a broad range of chemical ligands or polymers used for particular purposes. According to recent research, AuNPs can be easily modified to allow the delivery of pharmaceutical drugs directly to the target tissue. This article provides a brief overview of the more effective synthesis method for AuNPs and how they can be utilized as drug carriers to improve precision medicine.&nbsp

Oral Disintegrating Films: A Review

The oral route stands out as a preferred method for drug administration due to its cost-effectiveness and ease, contributing to enhanced patient compliance. Some individuals, particularly the geriatric and pediatric populations, encounter difficulties swallowing conventional tablets and hard gelatin capsules. To address this, oral disintegrating drug delivery systems are established as substitutes for tablets, capsules, and syrups. Notably, fast-dissolving oral thin films offer a practical solution for patients such as those in pediatric, bedridden, or developmentally disabled categories, as well as the geriatric population who struggle with a tablet or hard gelatin capsule ingestion. This innovative dosage form involves the creation of thin films consuming water-soluble polymers that quickly disintegrate and dissolve in the mouth cavity. It serves as a substitute stage for those particles that undergo significant metabolism of drugs in the liver. This study provides an overview of numerous dosage form-formulations, preparation approaches, and quality control measures related to fast-disintegrating films

Cannabinoid Type 2 (CB2) Receptors Activation Protects against Oxidative Stress and Neuroinflammation Associated Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration in Rotenone Model of Parkinson's Disease

The cannabinoid type two receptors (CB2), an important component of the endocannabinoid system, have recently emerged as neuromodulators and therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease (PD). The downregulation of CB2 receptors has been reported in the brains of PD patients. Therefore, both the activation and the upregulation of the CB2 receptors are believed to protect against the neurodegenerative changes in PD. In the present study, we investigated the CB2 receptor-mediated neuroprotective effect of β-caryophyllene (BCP), a naturally occurring CB2 receptor agonist, in, a clinically relevant, rotenone (ROT)-induced animal model of PD. ROT (2.5 mg/kg BW) was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) once daily for four weeks to induce PD in male Wistar rats. ROT injections induced a significant loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and DA striatal fibers, following activation of glial cells (astrocytes and microglia). ROT also caused oxidative injury evidenced by the loss of antioxidant enzymes and increased nitrite levels, and induction of proinflammatory cytokines: IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, as well as inflammatory mediators: NF-κB, COX-2, and iNOS. However, treatment with BCP attenuated induction of proinflammatory cytokines and inflammatory mediators in ROT-challenged rats. BCP supplementation also prevented depletion of glutathione concomitant to reduced lipid peroxidation and augmentation of antioxidant enzymes: SOD and catalase. The results were further supported by tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry, which illustrated the rescue of the DA neurons and fibers subsequent to reduced activation of glial cells. Interestingly, BCP supplementation demonstrated the potent therapeutic effects against ROT-induced neurodegeneration, which was evidenced by BCP-mediated CB2 receptor activation and the fact that, prior administration of the CB2 receptor antagonist AM630 diminished the beneficial effects of BCP. The present study suggests that BCP has the potential therapeutic efficacy to elicit significant neuroprotection by its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities mediated by activation of the CB2 receptors

A Look at the Translation Process in Afghanistan's Higher Education Institutions in 2019

In this research, an analytical-statistical method was used, and our main goal was to show the extent of the use of the translation process in the academic system of Afghanistan. The findings of this research indicate that the year (2019) had the highest number of subjects registered for translation compared to recent years. So, a difference of about 30% can be seen between the mentioned year and the previous year. Although the number of translated works has not been impressive so far, it is a good step towards strengthening the materials and resources for the researches of the country's academic system. The main question that was addressed was how to start the translation process in Afghanistan's higher education institutions in order to use the works and researches of other nations. So, it can be seen that the restoration process in the year (2019) was unprecedented in Afghanistan's higher education institutions compared to the 90s.Keywords: Translation, Goals, Motivation, Scientific Needs, Higher Education Institutions.   IntroductionTranslation is considered an excellent and vital approach in the process of teaching and transferring data and solving problems from one language and culture to another language and culture.Also, translation causes the sharing of theories, viewpoints, mindsets, and methods of scientific-literary studies among nations.Today's Afghanistan society, especially the academic and scientific generation needs access to academic texts more than ever. Undoubtedly, it is translation that can give a suitable answer to many of these needs and introduce relevant, enriched, and important texts for us.Translation has a history of thousands of years. Humans have used this approach since time immemorial to exchange their thoughts and opinions. Translation has always been used as a principle of interaction between living languages. But sometimes, due to its necessity, translation becomes an important matter, the denial of which causes unforeseeable losses in that society. Although many books from other languages have been translated into Farsi and other languages in different eras, in the mentioned periods, the passion for translation was so great that the activity of translation in those periods was called (translation movement). After the arrival of Islam, Muslim translators have played a very prominent role in translating from other languages into Arabic as the language of government, religion, and science. The process of translation has had many ups and downs in different periods of history. However, the chaotic situation and the ever-increasing disturbances have always prevented translation activity in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that some people called Afghan translators residing in other countries or within Afghanistan have tried to translate, there has been no effort to meet the needs of the society. If it is carefully considered, the practice of translation in other countries has specific goals and motivations that have made it flourish. In the absence of goals and motivation, one can never reach the destination, for example, Mohammad Ghazi says his motivation for translation is primarily (love for translation) and then (material needs). Languages are limited. In the same way, whoever has done the act of translation has also expressed his motivation. Although the historical course of translation in Afghanistan has been examined from different perspectives by translators abroad, we have explored and examined the translations of 2019 in state institutions of higher education led by the Ministry of Higher Education. The result obtained from it showed that in the early 90s due to the problems that affected the people of Afghanistan, the translation process was not taken care of much, but in the last half of this decade, we have witnessed the relative growth of this process; a number of books have been translated from international languages into the national languages of Pashto and Dari Farsi, for example, we can refer to books translated from Arabic, for example, Türkiye Meydan al-Sara' bein al-Sharq va al-Gharb was translated by a professor at Badakhshan University. From a literary point of view, this translation has some errors, because the translator is a history professor and does not know much about Persian grammar, which is why it has some literary errors. I have read this work once. Similarly, other works that have been translated into Pashto in other universities of the country are not free of literary errors. Because those who translate the books are not experts in the mentioned languages in terms of expertise. For example, the following books have been translated from Arabic to Pashto: the rules of fasting and philosophy in Dhu al-Qur'an and Sunnah, al-Zahreh fi fan al-Takhrij and Drasa al-Asatid, Taysir al-Qava'ed al-Narhulllambtadiin and the book of al-Qava’ed al-Ulama, Al-Adab and Fanoonah, Nizam al-Syasi fi al-Islam, which were translated by professors in Nangarhar and Kandahar universities, the only flawless translations that have been translated by language experts, among which the number of language experts is limited.Literature ReviewWe did not come across any articles about translation in Afghanistan's higher education institutions. Therefore, we decided to write an article about the activities carried out regarding the translation from other living languages to national languages.Significance of the StudyThis article has examined and researched the process of scientific-research translations in Afghanistan's higher education institutions in the year (2018). Moreover, it discussed some points about the translation services in higher education institutions which are done for scientific promotion of professors. For this reason, the present article is new in terms of content and is of great importance.Purpose of the StudyThe main purpose of translation research in higher education institutions is to reveal the services of Afghanistan's higher education academic staff members. Its partial goals are to estimate the amount of translation services provided according to the conditions, whether it is in accordance with the needs of the present age or not. Whether so many different works from living languages have been translated by the academic staff members of Afghan universities to meet the academic needs or not.Another secondary goal of this research has been to reveal this process with its importance and path along with objective evidence, so that every student and researcher can easily understand how many necessary works have been translated by the scientific staff members of higher education.Research Questions:What was the main purpose of starting translation in Afghanistan's academic institutions?How many of the desired works of Afghanistan's academic field have been provided through translation so far?To what extent can works translated from foreign languages into national languages of Afghanistan help in the scientific process of Afghanistan?MethodologyA statistical method has been used to investigate the problem. The statistical population of the mentioned research was the source of data from the Department of Research, Compilation, and Translation of the Ministry of Higher Education. Our way of working was that we first presented each university in separate tables, and then at the end of it, we analyzed the received data of works translated in all universities of Afghanistan in the year (2019).FindingsSo, we talked about the definition, literature review, purpose, significance, and questions of translation. The findings of this research show that the motivation for translation has increased among the academic staff members of some universities. This increase will bring hope for the translation process in the following years.Among the educational institutions, the professors of Kabul University have the highest motivation for translating the work from international languages to the national language, and in the second step is Nangarhar University, followed by academic members of Harat and Balkh universities. The experience of academic members and researchers shows that there have been significant considerations in the quantity and quality of the translated works. The most frequent and expressive translations in the year (2019) are the translations that have been translated using the semantic method (free meaning).The Importance of the Translation Process in Academic FieldsTranslation, as one of the simplest and most effective tools and means of communication between humans, has always received special and public attention throughout history. The requirements of the current era (technology) and the revolution of communication in the current century have made the lives of countries dependent on each other. The multi-dimensional reliance of the age of communication has forced contemporary people to be aware of each other's conditions and understand each other's needs.Therefore, the universities of Afghanistan, which are the cradle of science, and the members of its scientific staff are considered among the scientific and academic assets of the same society and expected to play their valuable part in the development of this process.ConlusionAfter many efforts for the present research and due to an agreement with the translation management department Research, Compilation, and Translation Department of the Ministry of Higher Education, we were able to obtain a relative database in which the scientific topics of the professors are recorded. The works of professors are registered in the database of scientific subjects based on the name of the translator, academic institution, and academic rank. But we proceeded by removing some things, and we only mentioned the name of the works, faculty, group, and year. Regarding the translated topics, it should be said that most of the translated topics are specialized and they have been translated according to the expertise of the group or field that was mentioned. In general, it can be said that the most translated works are from English and then from Arabic. Translators of works in Afghanistan's institutions of higher education have mostly used semantic methods (conceptual translation) and this is the usual and acceptable method of the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan. The results obtained from the present research show that the most works for translation in the year (2019) were first registered at Kabul University, followed by Nangarhar University, Harat University, University of Medical Sciences, Sheikh Zayed University, Balkh University, and others, which is summarized in the diagram below

The neuroprotective effects of histamine H3 receptor antagonist E177 on pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in rats

Epilepsy is a multifaceted neurological disorder which severely a ects neuronal function. Some patients may experience status epilepticus (SE), a life-threatening state of ongoing seizure activity linked to cognitive dysfunction, necessitating an immediate intervention. The potential of histamine H3 receptors in several neuropsychiatric diseases including epilepsy is well recognized. In the current study, we aimed to explore the e ect of H3R antagonist E177 on prevention and termination of pilocarpine (PLC)-induced SE in rats as well as evaluating the e ects of E177 on the levels of oxidative stress in hippocampus tissues. The results showed that the survival rate of animals pretreated with E177 (5 and 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)) was significantly increased during the first hour of observation, and animals were protected from SE incidence and showed a prolonged average of latency to the first seizure when compared with animals pretreated with PLC (400 mg/kg, i.p.). Moreover, the protective e ect of E177 (10 mg/kg) on SE was partially reversed when rats were co- administered with H3R agonist R-( )-methylhistamine (RAM) and with the H2R antagonist zolantidine (ZOL), but not with the H1R antagonist pyrilamine (PYR). Furthermore, pretreatment with E177 (5 and 10 mg/kg) significantly decreased the abnormal levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), and increased levels of glutathione (GSH) in the hippocampal tissues of the treated rats. However, E177 failed to modulate the levels of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), or acetylcholine esterase activity (AChE). Our findings suggest that the newly developed H3R antagonist E177 provides neuroprotection in a preclinical PLC-induced SE in rats, highlighting the histaminergic system as a potential therapeutic target for the therapeutic management of SE

Withania coagulans Fruit Extract Reduce Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Kidneys of Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The present study was carried out to investigate the changes in oxidative and inflammatory status in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat’s kidneys and serum following treatment with Withania coagulans, a popular herb of ethnomedicinal significance. The key markers of oxidative stress and inflammation such as inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) and immunoregulatory cytokines (IL-4 and IFN-γ) were increased in kidneys along with significant hyperglycemia. However, treatment of four-month diabetic rats with Withania coagulans (10 mg/kg) for 3 weeks significantly attenuated hyperglycemia and reduced the levels of proinflammatory cytokines in kidneys. In addition, Withania coagulans treatment restored the glutathione levels and inhibited lipid peroxidation along with marked reduction in kidney hypertrophy. The present study demonstrates that Withania coagulans corrects hyperglycemia and maintained antioxidant status and reduced the proinflammatory markers in kidneys, which may subsequently reduce the development and progression of renal injury in diabetes. The results of the present study are encouraging for its potential use to delay the onset and progression of diabetic renal complications. However, the translation of therapeutic efficacy in humans requires further studies.This study was supported by grants from College of Medicine & Health Sciences, UAE University, UAE

Antagonism of histamine H3 receptors alleviates pentylenetetrazole-induced kindling and associated memory deficits by mitigating oxidative stress, central neurotransmitters, and c-Fos protein expression in rats

Histamine H3 receptors (H3Rs) are involved in several neuropsychiatric diseases including epilepsy. Therefore, the e ects of H3R antagonist E177 (5 and 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)) were evaluated on the course of kindling development, kindling-induced memory deficit, oxidative stress levels (glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD)), various brain neurotransmitters (histamine (HA), acetylcholine (ACh), -aminobutyric acid (GABA)), and glutamate (GLU), acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity, and c-Fos protein expression in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ, 40 mg/kg) kindled rats. E177 (5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly decreased seizure score, increased step-through latency (STL) time in inhibitory avoidance paradigm, and decreased transfer latency time (TLT) in elevated plus maze (all P < 0.05). Moreover, E177 mitigated oxidative stress by significantly increasing GSH, CAT, and SOD, and decreasing the abnormal level of MDA (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, E177 attenuated elevated levels of hippocampal AChE, GLU, and c-Fos protein expression, whereas the decreased hippocampal levels of HA and ACh were modulated in PTZ-kindled animals (all P < 0.05). The findings suggest the potential of H3R antagonist E177 as adjuvant to antiepileptic drugs with an added advantage of preventing cognitive impairment, highlighting the H3Rs as a potential target for the therapeutic management of epilepsy with accompanied memory deficits

Attenuated EAN in TNF-α Deficient Mice Is Associated with an Altered Balance of M1/M2 Macrophages

The role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and its receptors in neuroautoimmune and neuroinflammatory diseases has been controversial. On the basis of our previous studies, we hereby aimed to further clarify TNF-α’s mechanism of action and to explore the potential role of TNF-α receptor (TNFR)1 as a therapeutic target in experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN). EAN was induced by immunization with P0 peptide 180–199 in TNF-α knockout (KO) mice and anti-TNFR1 antibodies were used to treat EAN. Particularly, the effects of TNF-α deficiency and TNFR1 blockade on macrophage functions were investigated. The onset of EAN in TNF-α KO mice was markedly later than that in wild type (WT) mice. From day 14 post immunization, the clinical signs of TNF-α KO mice were significantly milder than those of their WT counterparts. Further, we showed that the clinical severity of WT mice treated with anti-TNFR1 antibodies was less severe than that of the control WT mice receiving PBS. Nevertheless, no difference with regard to the clinical signs of EAN or inflammatory infiltration in cauda equina was seen between TNF-α KO and WT mice with EAN after blockade of TNFR1. Although TNF-α deficiency did not alter the proliferation of lymphocytes in response to either antigenic or mitogenic stimuli, it down-regulated the production of interleukin (IL)-12 and nitric oxide (NO), and enhanced the production of IL-10 in macrophages. Increased ratio of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and reduced production of interferon (IFN)-γ in cauda equina infiltrating cells, and elevated levels of IgG2b antibodies against P0 peptide 180–199 in sera were found in TNF-α KO mice with EAN. In conclusion, TNF-α deficiency attenuates EAN via altering the M1/M2 balance of macrophages