Investigation on hypoglycemic effects of ethanol extract of Alpinia nigra (Gaertn.) in animal model

Background: Our study aims at exploring the hypoglycemic effect, efficacy, and possible mode of action of ethanol extract of Alpinia nigra (EEAN) as an antidiabetic agent in an animal model. Methods: Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was used to identify primary hypoglycemic effect in mice. Three tests (glucose absorption, sucrose absorption, and disaccharidase activity) were carried out by gut perfusion and six segments studies to assess carbohydrate absorption and glucose utilization. Results: In OGTT, at 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg dose of EEAN extract significantly improved oral glucose tolerance among normal mice at 60 min and 90 min with compared to control. Both doses of extract significantly (P < 0.01) reduced blood glucose level and showed the hypoglycemic effect by retarding 11.43% and 20.82% of blood glucose level after 2 h of administration in glucose-induced mice, respectively. In situ perfused rat intestinal model demonstrated reduced glucose absorption at a 500 mg/kg dose. Inhibition of intestinal disaccharidase was also found by the extract. This was confirmed, yet again, via the six segment study. Throughout the length of the gastrointestinal tract, sucrose digestion was found to be inhibited which is also evident in the six segment study. Conclusions: This study suggests that the EEAN has hypoglycemic effects in a dose-dependent manner by inhibiting intestinal glucose absorption, and these may be effective in the treatment of diabetes. Further study is required to explicate the effect this extract or the active compounds have on the individual glucose transporters and the precise mechanism

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology: Strategies and Techniques of Drug Therapy, Disease and Delivery through Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

The health industry is enormous today and will only get larger as the babyboomers reach old age. With such a huge customer based and an increasing demand, pharmaceutical industries will respond to patient’s demands by expanding their technologies. As drugs become more complex and increasingly toxic, new modes of drug delivery systems are necessary to transport them to the desired sites in the body. For this reason the renowned pharmaceutical companies are applying new methods and technologies. One of the most comprehensive technology is pharmaceutical nanotechnology. Pharmaceutical nanotechnology offers new tools, opportunities and scopes, on many areas in diagnostics and therapeutics. Pharmaceutical nanotechnology is now well-established as specialized area for drug delivery, diagnostics, prognostic and treatment of diseases through its nano-engineered tools. Pharmaceutical nanotechnology provides opportunities to improve materials, medical devices and help to develop new technologies where existing and more conventional technologies may be reaching their limits. In short, recent development, market realization of various pharmaceutical nano-tools and global interest shown by scientists, governments and industries ensure that there is tremendous potential and scope of nano-based drug delivery system in near future.Keywords: Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Drug delivery, Diagnosis, Prognostic, Nano-engineered Tool

In silico-based vaccine design against Ebola virus glycoprotein

Raju Dash,1 Rasel Das,2 Md Junaid,3 Md Forhad Chowdhury Akash,4 Ashekul Islam,5 SM Zahid Hosen1 1Molecular Modeling and Drug Design Laboratory (MMDDL), Pharmacology Research Division, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Chittagong, Bangladesh; 2Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Center, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 4Department of Pharmacy, BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Chittagong, Bangladesh; 5Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh Abstract: Ebola virus (EBOV) is one of the lethal viruses, causing more than 24 epidemic outbreaks to date. Despite having available molecular knowledge of this virus, no definite vaccine or other remedial agents have been developed yet for the management and avoidance of EBOV infections in humans. Disclosing this, the present study described an epitope-based peptide vaccine against EBOV, using a combination of B-cell and T-cell epitope predictions, followed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation approach. Here, protein sequences of all glycoproteins of EBOV were collected and examined via in silico methods to determine the most immunogenic protein. From the identified antigenic protein, the peptide region ranging from 186 to 220 and the sequence HKEGAFFLY from the positions of 154&ndash;162 were considered the most potential B-cell and T-cell epitopes, correspondingly. Moreover, this peptide (HKEGAFFLY) interacted with HLA-A*32:15 with the highest binding energy and stability, and also a good conservancy of 83.85% with maximum population coverage. The results imply that the designed epitopes could manifest vigorous enduring defensive immunity against EBOV. Keywords: Ebola virus, epitope, glycoprotein, vaccine desig

In silico-based vaccine design against Ebola virus glycoprotein

Ebola virus (EBOV) is one of the lethal viruses, causing more than 24 epidemic outbreaks to date. Despite having available molecular knowledge of this virus, no definite vaccine or other remedial agents have been developed yet for the management and avoidance of EBOV infections in humans. Disclosing this, the present study described an epitope-based peptide vaccine against EBOV, using a combination of B-cell and T-cell epitope predictions, followed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation approach. Here, protein sequences of all glycoproteins of EBOV were collected and examined via in silico methods to determine the most immunogenic protein. From the identified antigenic protein, the peptide region ranging from 186 to 220 and the sequence HKEGAFFLY from the positions of 154-162 were considered the most potential B-cell and T-cell epitopes, correspondingly. Moreover, this peptide (HKEGAFFLY) interacted with HLA-A*32:15 with the highest binding energy and stability, and also a good conservancy of 83.85% with maximum population coverage. The results imply that the designed epitopes could manifest vigorous enduring defensive immunity against EBOV