Anxiolytic Effects of Flower Extracts from Sour Orange (Citrus aurantium L.) in Rats

Proceedings of the 9th International Multidisciplinary Conference «Stress and Behavior» Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 16–19 May 2005.Citrus aurantium L. is commonly known as sour orange is one of the important medicinal herbs in traditional Iranian medicine used for treatment of anxiety and insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of extracts of the above plant on anxiety behavior using an experimental animal model.Methods: Aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts sour orange flowers (SOF) were obtained. NMRI male rats were treated intraperitoneally with 5 doses of these extracts (62.5, 125, 250 mg/ kg from aqueous extract, 62.5 and 125 mg/ kg from hydroalcoholic extracts) along with saline and Diazepam (1 mg/kg) as control and standard solutions respectively, 30 min prior to assessment of anxiolytic activity in the elevated plus maze (EPM). In this model, during a 5-min test period the percentage of time spent in and percentage of entries into either open or closed arms were recorded. Data were expressed as mean ±SEM and statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal–Walis H followed by Mann–Whitney U test (P = 0.05).Results: The result of this study indicated that the aqueous extract of SOF at the doses of 62.5 and 125 mg/kg and Diazepam significantly increased the percentage of time spent in and percentage of entries into open arms and decreased these parameters for closed arms comparing to control group (P = 0.05). However, the hydroalcoholic extracts have no effect in this regard.Discussion and conclusions: As mentioned in the Results, COF extracts showed a significant anxiolytic effect during the stay on the EPM in rats. The flavonoids identified in SOF, including neohespridine, may be attributed to these effects. In this regard, It has been reported that flavonoids have a affinity to bind to central benzodiazepine receptors. The results of this study are in accord with ethnopharmacological use of sour orange flower, which could be useful in primary medical care, after toxicological investigations

Photokeratitis induced by ultraviolet radiation in travelers: A major health problem

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is one of the several environmental hazards that may cause inflammatory reactions in ocular tissues, especially the cornea. One of the important factors that affect how much ultraviolet radiation (UVR) humans are exposed to is travel. Hence, traveling is considered to include a more acute UVR effect, and ophthalmologists frequently evaluate and manage the ocular manifestations of UV irradiation, including UV-induced keratitis. The purpose of this paper is to provide an evidence-based analysis of the clinical effect of UVR in ocular tissues. An extensive review of English literature was performed to gather all available articles from the National Library of Medicine PubMed database of the National Institute of Health, the Ovid MEDLINE database, Scopus, and ScienceDirect that had studied the effect of UVR on the eye and its complications, between January 1970 and June 2014. The results show that UVR at 300 nm causes apoptosis in all three layers of the cornea and induces keratitis. Apoptosis in all layers of the cornea occurs 5 h after exposure. The effect of UVR intensity on the eye can be linked to numerous factors, including solar elevation, time of day, season, hemisphere, clouds and haze, atmospheric scattering, atmospheric ozone, latitude, altitude, longitudinal changes, climate, ground reflection, and geographic directions. The most important factor affecting UVR reaching the earth's surface is solar elevation. Currently, people do not have great concern over eye protection. The methods of protection against UVR include avoiding direct sunlight exposure, using UVR-blocking eyewear (sunglasses or contact lenses), and wearing hats. Hence, by identifying UVR intensity factors, eye protection factors, and public education, especially in travelers, methods for safe traveling can be identified

Inhibition of protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) ameliorates cognitive performance and synaptic plasticity impairments in animal model of Alzheimer�s diseases

Introduction: Alzheimer�s disease (AD) is a progressive brain disorder accompanied with synaptic failures and decline in cognitive and learning processes. Protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) is the major thrombin receptor in the brain that is implicated in synaptic plasticity and memory formation. In the current study, we hypothesized that inhibition of PAR1 would theoretically prevent amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation in the brain and then contribute to reduce risk of AD. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of PAR1 inhibition by using SCH (as an inhibitor of PAR1) on spatial learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in rat model of Alzheimer�s disease. Methods: For the induction of Alzheimer�s disease, amyloid beta (Aβ) 1�42 was injected in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The rats were divided into four groups: group I (surgical sham); group II rat mode of Alzheimer�s disease (AD); group III (SCH) (25 μg/kg) intraperitoneally (i.p.), and group IV (AD + SCH). After 14 days of protocol, the rats in group III received SCH and 30 min after injection behavioral and electrophysiological tests were performed. Learning and memory ability was assessed by Morris water maze and novel object recognition tests. Extracellular evoked field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) were recorded in the stratum radiatum of the CA1 area. Results: Our results showed that AD rats showed impairments in learning and memory, and long-term potentiation (LTP) was not induced in these rats. However, injection of SCH overcame the AD-induced impairment in LTP generation in the CA1 area of the hippocampus and improved learning and memory impairment. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature

An evaluation of antibacterial activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract on the growth of Salmonella, Shigella and ETEC E. coli

In the present study, the in vitro inhibitory effects of G. glabra extract against the growth of Salmonella typhi, S. paratyphi B, Shigella sonnei, S. flexneri and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC E. coli) was investigated using well and disc diffusion method. Shigella spp. and enterotoxigenic E. coli but Salmonella paratyphiB showed no susceptibility to liquorice with concentrations lower than 7.5, however all tested bacterial strains exhibited susceptibility to high concentration of liquorice. Results obtained from present study showed that G. glabra can be considered as an alternative herbal antibacterial agent against the bacterial strains tested. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Specific PCR Assay for Rapid and Direct Detection of Neisseria meningitidis in Cerebrospinal Fluid Specimens

Background: Neisseria meninigitidis is one of the most frequently encountered microorganisms associated with central nervous system infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate a PCR-based assay for specific and rapid detection of N. meninigitidis in CSF specimens.  Methods: Since April 2002 to July 2006, 130 CSF specimens were collected from patients suspected of having bacterial meningitis. Bacterial isolation and identification was carried out according to the standard bacteriological methods.  The PCR was used to amplify a 101bp fragment of capsular transport gene A (ctrA) of N. meningitidis. Results: PCR yielded an amplified product with the expected size of 101 base pair fragment. Sensitivity test proved 500 ng of N. meningitidis DNA as the final detection limit and specificity test revealed no cross-reaction for a wide range of res­pira­tory pathogenic organisms. Conclusion: The PCR assay was more sensitive than the bacterial culturing. It might be possible to apply this procedure for rapid diagnosis of meningococci in clinical samples