Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the extracts from different parts of Etlingera sayapensis (Zingiberaceae)

The rhizomes, stems and leaves of Etlingera sayapensis were extracted with ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol and methanol to give 12 extracts. The total phenolic content (TPC) of the extracts was measured in this study, together with their antioxidant activity. Assays used were radical scavenging activity (RSA), β-carotene bleaching (BCB), ferrous ion chelating (FIC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Among the assays, the leaf methanolic extract showed the highest activity with 35.67 mg GAE/g (mg of gallic acid per gram of extract) for TPC, IC50 of 53.43 μg/mL for RSA, 83.24% for BCB, IC50 of 242.43 μg/mL for FIC (second highest) and 19.53 mg TrE/g (mg of Trolox per gram of extract) for FRAP. The measured BCB values for the four leaf extracts were higher than those of the positive controls of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), gallic acid (GA) and ascorbic acid (AscA) and slightly lower than that of α-tocopherol (Toc). The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was also measured using disc-diffusion (DD) and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) assays. Among the extracts, only ethanolic and methanolic extracts showed specific bacterial inhibition against Bacillus subtilis. Only stem methanolic extract exhibited specific fungal inhibition against Candida parapsilosis. The highest activity was shown by this with 9.9 mm and 1.04 mg/mL for DD and MIC assays respectively

Essential oil of three air-dried parts of Etlingera brevilabrum

Essential oil from the air-dried rhizomes, stems and leaves of Etlingera brevilabrum were hydrodistilled using a Clevenger-type apparatus and identified by GC and GC-MS. Monoterpene hydrocarbons dominated the oils from the stems and leaves (66.8 and 89.8 % respectively) whereas oxygenated monoterpenes were dominant in the rhizomes (40.2 %). Eucalyptol (27.6 %), β-pinene (13.4 %), caryophyllene oxide (10.5 %) and α-thujene (10.1 %) were the major compounds in the rhizomes oil; limonene (28.6 %), β-pinene (21.6 %), α-thujene (13.9 %) and caryophyllene oxide (4.6 %) in the stems; and β-pinene (52.6 %), α-thujene (28.6 %) and o-cymene (7.8 %) in the leaves

Thiamine as a peripheral neuro-protective agent in comparison with N-acetyl cysteine in axotomized rats

Objective(s): In this study, the impact of thiamine (Thi), N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), and dexamethasone (DEX) were investigated in axotomized rats, as a model for neural injury.Materials and Methods: Sixty-five axotomized rats were divided into two different experimental approaches, the first experiments included five study groups (n=5): intrathecal Thi (Thi.it), intraperitoneal (Thi), NAC, DEX, and control. Cell survival was assessed in L5DRG in the 4th week by histological assessment. In the second study, 40 animals were engaged to assess Bcl-2, Bax, IL-6, and TNF-α expression in L4-L5DRG in the 1st and 2nd weeks after sural nerve axotomy under treatment of these agents (n=10).Results: Ghost cells were observed in morphological assessment of L5DRG sections, and following stereological analysis, the volume and neuronal cell counts significantly were improved in the NAC and Thi.it groups in the 4th week (P<0.05). Although Bcl-2 expression did not show significant differences, Bax was reduced in the Thi group (P=0.01); and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio increased in the NAC group (1st week, P<0.01). Furthermore, the IL-6 and TNF-α expression decreased in the Thi and NAC groups, on the 1st week of treatment (P≤0.05 and P<0.01). However, in the 2nd week, the IL-6 expression in both Thi and NAC groups (P<0.01), and the TNF-α expression in the DEX group (P=0.05) were significantly decreased. Conclusion: The findings may classify Thi in the category of peripheral neuroprotective agents, in combination with routine medications. Furthermore, it had strong cell survival effects as it could interfere with the destructive effects of TNF-α by increasing Bax

Antifungal properties of phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids and their copper complexes synthesized based on canola and palm kernel oils

Phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids (PFHAs) were synthesized by phenyl hydroxylaminolysis of canola or palm kernel oils using lipozyme TL IM as catalyst. Copper complexes of phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids (copper phenyl fatty hydroxamate (Cu-PFHs)) acids were prepared by stirring the phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids which were dissolved in hexane and copper(II) nitrate solution. The antifungal properties of phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids and its copper(II) complex Cu-PFHs based on canola and palm kernel oils were separately investigated against Candida parapsilosis, Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus by the disc diffusion method using Mueller-Hinton agar. The results showed that antifungal activity of Cu-PFHs is higher than phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids do and also the activity of phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids and Cu-PFHs increase while their concentrations increase. The antifungal activity of phenyl fatty hydroxamic acids and Cu-PFHs are significantly higher than nystatin while use against the A. fumigatus, C. parapsilosis and C. albicans and also are significantly higher than ketoconazole while use against the A. fumigatus

Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells-Derived Exosomes Can Alleviate the Proctitis Model Through TLR4/NF-Κb Pathway

Background: Proctitis is a significant concern of inflammatory bowel diseases, especially ulcerative colitis. Exosomes are a new method for treating many diseases by their immunosuppressive and tissue-repairing potential. Here, we tried Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-derived Exosomes for treating the proctitis model of rats. Materials and Methods: Rats were assigned into four groups: sham, control group, rectal, and intraperitoneal exosome injection. The proctitis model was induced by rectal administration of 4% acetic acid. The exosome was derived from human MSCs isolated from human umbilical cords. After seven days, rectum samples were assessed for histopathological, IHC, and PCR analysis. Results: The histopathologic scores, collagen deposition, and the expression of NF-κB, TLR4, TNFα, IL-6, and TGFβ were decreased in intraperitoneal exosome compared to controls. The result was not promising for the rectal administration of exosomes. Conclusion: Exosomes can suppress the inflammatory response in the proctitis model and improve the rectum's healing process. Exosomes can inhabit the NF-κB/TLR4 pathway and downstream pro-inflammatory cytokines. This study implicates the therapeutic benefits of exomes in treating proctitis

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Protective properties of AgNPs green-synthesized by Abelmoschus esculentus on retinal damage on the virtue of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in diabetic rat

Eye retinopathy means damage to the retina of the eye, which can have various causes, both congenital and acquired. Diabetes is one of the important causes of eye retinopathy. Retinopathy can develop slowly or quickly, get better on its own, or lead to permanent damage. No treatment is recommended in the early and mild stages. However, close monitoring is essential. Severe form of the disease may require treatment. Recently, the researchers have focused on new options for the treatment of the retinal damages. Present investigation discloses the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) biosynthesizing capability of the leaves of pharmacologically important Abelmoschus esculentus. Rapid, cost-effective, one-step process of formulation has been achieved. New genre AgNPs were characterized by involving ultraviolet- visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. Effect of AgNPs@Abelmoschus esculentus was assessed on the retinal injury of diabetic rats in this study. After inducing the diabetes by STZ, all rats were separated in to seven different groups (n = 20) including control, diabetic retinopathy group receiving saline solution, and AgNPs@Abelmoschus esculentus treated group receiving AgNPs@Abelmoschus esculentus (20, 40, and 80 µg/kg) for a duration of 8 weeks. After completion of the treatment protocol, the body weight and blood glucose were determined. Leukocytosis, retinal vascular permeability, fundus photography, and retinal vessel diameter, the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione (GSH), and concentrations of IL10, NF-κB, and TNFα in the retina were assessed. AgNPs@Abelmoschus esculentus in all doses reduced significantly (p ≤ 0.01) the weight, glucose, NF-κB, and TNFα concentrations, retinal leukocytosis, and vascular permeability and increased the concentrations of SOD, CAT, GSH, and IL10. Thus, the present research concludes that AgNPs@Abelmoschus esculentus effectively manages the diabetic retinopathy at the best

Antimicrobial activity of consecutive extracts of etlingera brevilabrum

Disc diffusion (DD), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays were used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of 21 consecutive extracts of different aerial parts of Etlingera brevilabrum against 18 microorganisms that included six Gram-positive [(+)], ten Gram-negative [(-)] bacteria and two fungi. Among the plant parts, the stolon extracts showed numerous activity than the other parts in which they inhibited Gram-positive of Staphylococcus aureus (ethyl acetate extract: diameter of inhibition zone 12.2±0.3 mm, MIC 3.12 mg/mL, MBC 6.25 mg/mL), methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (ethyl acetate extract: 12.1±0.2 mm, 12.5 mg/mL, 25 mg/mL), S. epidermidis (ethanol extract: 11.4±0.5 mm, 3.12 mg/mL, 3.12 mg/mL), Bacillus thuringiensis (acetone extract: 13.3±0.5 mm, 12.5 mg/mL, 25 mg/mL) and one Gram-negative of Vibrio paraehaemolyticus (water extract: 14.3±0.4 mm, 1.56 mg/mL, 6.25 mg/mL). The highest activity in MIC was shown by the methanol-water (1:1) and water extracts on Gram-negative Aeromonas hydrophila (1.56 mg/mL: leaf water extract) and V. paraehaemolyticus (1.56 mg/mL: methanol-water and water extracts of stolons and leaves and stem water extract)