Median lethal dose (LD50) evaluation of some polyherbal formulations marketed in northern Nigeria

The polyherbal preparations reported here are traditionally used in Northern Nigeria for the treatment of wide range of illnesses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity potential of 70% ethanol extracts of forty polyherbal products by determining their median lethal dose (LD50) estimates intraperitoneally and orally using the Lorke’s method in mice. Overall 90% of the extracts indicated values that were either less toxic or slightly toxic intraperitoneally, while 10 % had values that were practically non toxic using the same route. Oral administration of the extracts showed that 25% had values that were only slightly toxic while 75 % of the herbal products had median lethal dose values that were practically non toxic. From our results this could imply that most of the extracts tested may be safe for oral use and this could explain the continuous use of the polyherbal preparations by the local people in traditional management of various ailments in the Northern part of Nigeria.Keywords: Herbal products, AcuteToxicity, Lorke’s method, Northern Nigeri

Available patient-centered Internet information on peri-implantitis. Can our patients understand it?

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality, readability, and popularity of patient-oriented online information about peri-implantitis. Materials and methods: The term “peri-implantitis” was searched in Google® and in Yahoo!®. The first 100 websites of each search engine were considered for further analysis. Quality was measured by DISCERN tool, and JAMA benchmarks. Readability was analyzed by Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kinkaid Reading Grade (FKRG), Gunning Fog index (GFI), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) index. Popularity was assessed by Alexa Popularity Rank (APR). Results: Only 28 websites remained after applying the exclusion criteria. The median overall DISCERN rating was 2.0 [2.0–3.0], which demonstrates the low quality of the information related to peri-implantitis. None of the websites achieved all the four JAMA benchmarks. Legibility indices showed ranges within the scores of difficult to read (FRES, 37.3 [26.9–53.9]; FKRGL, 12.8 [10.5–15.4]; GFI, 15.3 [12.5–18.0]; and SMOG, 11.1 [8.8–13.0]). Median APR was 2,228,599.0 [302,352.0–8,125,885.5]. Conclusions: Available English-written e-health information on peri-implantitis is poor in terms of quality and the analyzed websites are beyond the reading level recommended for comprehension. The popularity measurement showed great divergences between different Web pages. Clinical relevance: Information about peri-implantitis on the Internet is difficult to read by patients, which they are not capable of understand

Autophagy in periodontal disease: Evidence from a literature review

Objective To summarize evidence and data relating to the implications of autophagy in periodontal disease (PD) and to describe potential nutraceuticals or pharmaceuticals that could modulate this cell death subtype. Design Literature searches of various electronic databases (Medline via PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and EMBASE) using appropriate keywords (e.g., periodontal disease, periodontitis, alveolar bone loss, periodontal infection, tooth loss, autophagy, programmed cell death, and type 2 cell death) were performed. Then, a comprehensive literature review of the current understanding of this link was elaborated. Results Autophagy plays a pivotal role in PD, and its regulation seems to be an interesting avenue for future periodontal research, according to several in vivo and in vitro reports. Conclusion Today’s research has ascertained the role of autophagy in PD, especially its role in the host’s defence against periodontal disease drivers. A bulk of the research recognised several pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals that could potentially modulate this kind of cell death and serve as useful therapies. However, further research is warranted to reach a clinical translation, which could help in the discovery of novel host modulation therapies for PD

"Nobody would really talk that way!": the critical project in contemporary ordinary language philosophy

This paper defends a challenge, inspired by arguments drawn from contemporary ordinary language philosophy and grounded in experimental data, to certain forms of standard philosophical practice. There has been a resurgence of philosophers who describe themselves as practicing "ordinary language philosophy". The resurgence can be divided into constructive and critical approaches. The critical approach to neo-ordinary language philosophy has been forcefully developed by Baz (2012a,b, 2014, 2015, 2016, forthcoming), who attempts to show that a substantial chunk of contemporary philosophy is fundamentally misguided. I describe Baz's project and argue that while there is reason to be skeptical of its radical conclusion, it conveys an important truth about discontinuities between ordinary uses of philosophically significant expressions ("know", e.g.) and their use in philosophical thought experiments. I discuss some evidence from experimental psychology and behavioral economics indicating that there is a risk of overlooking important aspects of meaning or misinterpreting experimental results by focusing only on abstract experimental scenarios, rather than employing more diverse and more ecologically valid experimental designs. I conclude by presenting a revised version of the critical argument from ordinary language