Hepatoprotective role of fruit extract of Terminalia arjuna in acetaminophen intoxicated mice

Background: Liver injury and dysfunction is one of the major health concerns throughout the world. Several herbal formulations are reported to exert beneficial effects on the biochemistry of the liver.Methods: Therefore, the current project is conducted to evaluate the hepatocurative and hepatoprotective potential of Terminalia arjuna by using albino mice.Results: The fruit extract (400 mg/Kg) of the plant showed hepatoprotective effects upon pre-treatment for 5, 10 and 15 days and later challenged with acetaminophen (400 mg/Kg) for 3 days. The results showed substantial protective properties as there was comparatively less damage to the liver. Furthermore, the fruit extract of T. arjuna also exhibited hepatocurative effects when animals were given acetaminophen (400 mg/Kg) for 3 days to damage the liver followed by the treatment with the plant extract (400 mg/Kg) for 5, 10 and 15 days. The results also indicated hepatocurative activities, as the elevated serum levels of hepatic enzymes were inclining to normal ranges in a time-dependent manner.Conclusion: In conclusion, the fruit extract of T. arjuna possesses hepatoprotective plus hepatocurative activities.Keywords: Acetaminophen; Hepatocurative; Hepatoprotective; Serum Enzymes; Terminalia arjun

DRUG RELATED PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH POLYPHARMACY: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Any fluctuation from the intended beneficial effects of the drug results in drug related problems. The risk of development of drug related problems associated with polypharmacy increases with increase in age. Females are more vulnerable to these problems due to their lighter physique which can lead to ADRs. Polypharmacy can result in drug interactions, wastage of health budget, impaired quality of life of the patient, and confusion and mismanagement on the part of the physician. ADRs with polypharmacy in older age are more pronounced and effect badly the quality of life and cause drug related morbidities and mortalities. These also increase cost of therapy. The number of drugs is considerably more important in causing drug related problems as compared to age and gender. The number of drugs, doses used, drug related problems and total cost burden to patient can be reduced by pharmacist’s interventions. These interventions also increases patient’s adherence to therapy and improve quality of lif

Effect of Plant Growth Hormones on Shoot and Root Regeneration in Rose under In Vitro Conditions

Background: Rose is a commercially important shrub. This research aimed to observe the influence of different plant growth hormones on development of shoots and roots of Rosa Indica L. in tissue culture.Methods: Various concentrations of N6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP), 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) were used in the study. The different concentrations of BAP (2.00, 3.00, and 4.00 mg l-1) and IAA (2.00 and 3.00 mg l-1) were tested for shoot induction. While varying concentrations of IAA and IBA were analyzed for root proliferation.Results: The results of the study indicated that the fastest shoot initiation (17.77 days), the highest number of shoots bottle-1 (3.55), the maximum shoot length (4.72 cm), and the utmost number of leaves bottle-1 (53.67) were observed on MS media containing 3.00 mg l-1 BAP, 3.00 mg l-1 IAA, and 30 g l-1 sugar, while the highest number of shoots bottle-1 were produced under MS + 2.00 mg l-1 BAP + 3.00 mg l-1 IAA + 30 g l-1 sugar. Regarding root induction, the maximum number of roots (4.67) and root length (2.60 cm) were observed under half strength MS media supplemented with 30 g l-1 sugar.Conclusion: The study suggested that MS media containing 3.00 mg l-1 BAP and IAA could be used for tissue culturing rose plants. For root induction, half-strength MS media, along with sugar, could be used. The study gives an insight into potential media compositions for the propagation of rose. The suggested media can have promising uses in commercial multiplication of this important plant.Keywords: Rose; Tissue culture; Micropropagation; MS media; Shoot developmen

Redesigned immunization card and center-based education to reduce childhood immunization dropouts in urban Pakistan: A randomized controlled trial

In Pakistan during 2000-2004, about 11-13% of children who received the first close of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT1) failed to complete its third dose (DPT3). We assessed the effect of a redesigned immunization card and center-based education to mothers on DPT3 completion. We enrolled 1500 mother-child units at DIM, randomized them to three intervention and one standard care groups, and recorded their DPT3 visits during a 90-day follow-up. In multivariable analysis, a significant increase of 31% (adjusted RR =1.31, 95% CI = 1.18-1.46) in DPT3 completion was estimated in the group that received both redesigned card and center-based education compared with the standard care group

Morbidity in Late Preterm Birth: A Retrospective Cohort Study Assessing the Role of Immaturity versus Antecedent Factors

Introduction: Late preterm infants (LPIs) are infants born between 340/7 and 366/7 weeks gestation. Morbidities in these infants are commonly considered a result of prematurity; however, some research has suggested immaturity may not be the sole cause of morbidities. We hypothesize that antecedents leading to late preterm birth are associated with different patterns of morbidities and that morbidities are the result of gestational age superimposed by the underlying etiologies of preterm delivery. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of late preterm neonates born at a single tertiary care center. We examined neonatal morbidities including apnea of prematurity, hyperbilirubinemia, hypoglycemia, and the requirement for continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the risk of each morbidity associated with 3 categorized antecedents of de- livery, that is, spontaneous preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and medically indicated birth. We calculated the predictive probability of each antecedent resulting in individual morbidity across gestational ages. Results: 279 LPIs were included in the study. Decreasing gestational age was associated with significantly increased risk of apnea of prematurity, hyperbilirubinemia, and requirement of CPAP. In our cohort, the risk of hypoglycemia increased with gestational age, with the great- est incidence at 360−6 weeks. There was no significant association of risk of selected morbidities and the antecedents of late preterm delivery, with or without adjustment for gestational age, multiple gestation, small for gestational age (SGA), antenatal steroids, and delivery method. Discussion and Conclusion: This study found no difference in morbidity risk related to 3 common antecedents of preterm birth in LPIs. Our research suggests that immaturity is the primary factor in determining adverse outcomes, intensified by factors resulting in prematurity

New ferrocene integrated amphiphilic guanidines: Synthesis, spectroscopic elucidation, DFT calculation and in vitro α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition combined with molecular docking approach

Three N, N’, N″-trisubstituted ferrocenyl guanidines (MG-10, MG-12 and MG-14) were synthesized, characterized by several analytical methods such as FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR, elemental analysis and UV–visible spectroscopy. These compounds have long chain aliphatic groups therefore their aliphatic nature has been evaluated by determining their critical micelle concentration (CMC). CMC point decreases from 0.036 mM to 0.013 mM with increase in the aliphatic chain length. The quantum mechanical parameters such as the energy of frontier molecular orbitals (EHOMO and ELUMO) and the Mulliken charge distribution on the optimized structures were determined using a DFT/B3LYP method combined with the 6-31G (d,p) basis set in the gas phase. The in vitro antidiabetic activity of synthesized compounds showed that MG-12 has IC50value 23.10 μg/mL against α-amylase while MG-10 has IC50value 27.32 μg/mL against α-glucosidase with the respective standard Acarbose (IC50value 20.12 μg/mL). Theoretical docking analysis demonstrated that MG-10 and MG-12 interacted with α-amylase by 3 types of interaction, including hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions and electrostatic interactions

Genetic gain and G × E interaction in bread wheat cultivars representing 105 years of breeding in Pakistan

It is important to understand the genetic gain achieved through selection of key yield traits for planning future breeding strategies in high yielding wheat cultivars. The aim of the present study was to characterize the genetic changes in morphological, physiological, and yield component traits under five irrigated and rain-fed environments using 24 wheat cultivars released from 1911 to 2016 in Pakistan. We evaluated these cultivars for genotype-by-environment (G×E) interaction by additive main effect and multiplicative interactions (AMMI) in five environments. There was a significant increase in grain yield (9.03 kg ha–1 year–1, 0.37%). Plant height was reduced linearly (-0.26 cm year−1, -0.33%). The traits waxiness, leaf rolling, harvest index, spike length and grains per spike significantly increased but the gain was only 0.16-2% per year. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that genotype, environment, and G×E interaction were highly significant (P 40% and >20% of the G×E interaction, respectively. Gene-specific markers identified the durable resistance gene Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/Pm46 in obsolete cultivars as early as 1910, whereas the photoperiod-insensitive allele Ppd-D1a and reduced height alleles Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b were present only in the post-1965 cultivars. Diversity analysis based on a 50 K SNP genotyping array clearly differentiated temporal patterns in 24 cultivars, which was correlated with the agronomic performance of the cultivars. This dataset provided detailed insight about the performance of historical wheat cultivars and could help in devising future wheat breeding strategies to focus on the traits contributing to grain yield and have slower rate of genetic progress

Ionic liquid functionalized nano-zerovalent cerium for catalytic degradation of carbamazepine and colorimetric sensing of H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e

© 2021 Elsevier Ltd This study reported the chemical reduction method based synthesis of ionic liquid (IL) functionalized nano-zerovalent cerium (nZVCe) for the degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ) and colorimetric detection of H2O2. Carbamazepine is an important class of emerging water pollutants while H2O2 is produced as a major by-product by living organisms during metabolism. The synthesized IL-nZVCe showed high efficiency towards CBZ degradation and H2O2 detection. The use of advanced characterization techniques showed the prepared material to be highly crystalline and of high surface area, i.e., 85 m2/g. The IL-nZVCe caused 56% removal of CBZ, however, the use of H2O2 and IL-nZVCe promoted the removal of CBZ to 85% under 80 min treatment time using [IL-nZVCe]0, [CBZ]0 and [H2O2]0 as 0.5 g/L, 10 mg/L and 40 mg/L, respectively. IL-nZVCe/H2O2 yielded ●OH which showed high reactivity of 5.40 × 109 (M s)–1 with CBZ and played active role in CBZ degradation. Removal of CBZ was inhibited in the presence of ●OH scavengers. The IL-nZVCe/H2O2–mediated removal of CBZ was promoted under the conditions of high [H2O2]0, high [IL-nZVCe]0 and low [CBZ]0. IL-nZVCe/H2O2 was also highly effective in TOC removal of CBZ. The IL-nZVCe showed high reusability than nZVCe. The acute and chronic toxicities of CBZ degradation products identified by LC–MS analysis were estimated. The conversion of CBZ into non-toxic acetate suggests high potential of the IL-nZVCe/H2O2 into remediation and detoxification of CBZ