Anti-Arthritic Activity of Bartogenic Acid Isolated from Fruits of Barringtonia racemosa Roxb. (Lecythidaceae)

The fruits of Barringtonia racemosa are prescribed in the ayurvedic literature for the treatment of pain, inflammation and rheumatic conditions. In present investigation, activity guided isolation of bartogenic acid (BA) and its evaluation in the Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis in rats is reported. Among the various extracts and fractions investigated preliminarily for carrageenan-induced acute inflammation in rats, the ethyl acetate fraction displayed potent anti-inflammatory activity. Large-scale isolation and characterization using chromatography and spectral study confirmed that the constituent responsible for the observed pharmacological effects was BA. Subsequently the BA was evaluated for effectiveness against CFA-induced arthritis in rats. The results indicate that at doses of 2, 5, and 10 mg kg−1 day−1, p.o., BA protects rats against the primary and secondary arthritic lesions, body weight changes and haematological perturbations induced by CFA. The serum markers of inflammation and arthritis, such as C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor, were also reduced in the BA-treated arthritic rats. The overall severity of arthritis as determined by radiological analysis and pain scores indicated that BA exerts a potent protective effect against adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. In conclusion, the present study validates the ethnomedicinal use of fruits of B. racemosa in the treatment of pain and inflammatory conditions. It further establishes the potent anti-arthritic effects of BA. However, additional clinical investigations are needed to prove the efficacy of BA in the treatment of various immuno-inflammatory disorders

A unique case report of occupation associated recurrent loculated hydro-pneumothorax with interstitial lung disease

Hydro-pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of fluid and air in the pleural space.  The knowledge of hydro-pneumothorax dates back to the days of ancient Greece when the Hippocratic succussion was used to be performed for the diagnosis Generally patient with hydro-pneumothorax presents with heaviness of the chest with chest pain, shortness of breath, dry cough and early fatigue. The patient in this case report presented with the above complaints along with that he was having structural thoracic kyphosis and grade 3 gynecomastia. He was working in a diamond industry as a diamond polisher. This case explains the role of occupation and hormones on the presentation and prognosis of respiratory disease

Studies on equilibrium and kinetics of ACRY Red 4G removal from aqueous solutions using low cost adsorbents

425-429Applications of low cost adsorbents have been investigated as a replacement for the current expensive methods of reducing COD and colours from dyes/intermediate industrial wastewaters. Presently, PAC (powdered activated charcoal) is widely used in the industries. However, it is costly. Hence, other options have been explored which are low in cost. Effective adsorbents have been developed from bagasse fly ash, thermal fly ash, rice husk, jute thread and sawdust and successfully employed for the removal of dye, ACRY red 4G from aqueous solutions. Factors influencing the adsorption process, e.g., pH, contact time, adsorbent doses and adsorbent particle size are investigated. The experimental data fits well to the second-order kinetic model, which indicates that the chemical sorption is the rate-limiting step. A continuous method for removal of ACRY red 4G from industrial wastewater without prior treatment using all solid adsorbents such as bagasse fly ash, thermal fly ash, rice husk, jute thread and sawdust has also been proposed. An important aspect of the proposed method is that the removal is performed at a pH range in which the dye ACRY red 4G undergo an adsorption process, making the method useful for wastewater treatment

Hyaline fibromatosis syndrome: A rare inherited disorder

Hyaline fibromatosis syndrome (HFS) is rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by the deposition of amorphous hyaline material in skin and visceral organs. It represents a disease spectrum with infantile systemic hyalinosis (ISH) being the severe form and juvenile hyaline fibromatosis (JHF) being the mild form. Dermatologic manifestations include thickened skin, perianal nodules, and facial papules, gingival hyperplasia, large subcutaneous tumors on the scalp, hyperpigmented plaques over the metacarpophalangeal joints and malleoli, and joint contractures. ISH shows a severe visceral involvement, recurrent infections, and early death. We report a case of 2.5-year-old female patient who presented with HFS who had overlapping features of both ISH and JHF. To the best of our knowledge, very few cases of HFS have been reported in Indian literature till date

Scalable, Semicontinuous Production of Micelles Encapsulating Nanoparticles via Electrospray

Nanoparticle encapsulation within micelles has been demonstrated as a versatile platform for creating water-soluble nanocomposites. However, in contrast to typical micelle encapsulants, such as small molecule drugs and proteins, nanoparticles are substantially larger, which creates significant challenges in micelle synthesis, especially at large scale. Here, we describe a new nanocomposite synthesis method that combines electrospray, a top-down, continuous manufacturing technology currently used for polymer microparticle fabrication, with bottom-up micellar self-assembly to yield a scalable, semicontinuous micelle synthesis method: i.e., micellar electrospray. Empty micelles and micellar nanocomposites containing quantum dots (QDs), superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), and their combination were produced using micellar electrospray with a 30-fold increase in yield by weight over batch methods. Particles were characterized using dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning mobility particle sizing, with remarkable agreement between methods, which indicated size distributions with variations of as little as ∼5%. In addition, new methodologies for qualitatively evaluating nanoparticle loading in the resultant micelles are presented. Micellar electrospray is a broad, scalable nanomanufacturing approach that should be easily adapted to virtually any hydrophobic molecule or nanoparticle with a diameter smaller than the micelle core, potentially enabling synthesis of a vast array of nanocomposites and self-assembled nanostructures

Animal Models of Inflammation for Screening of Anti-inflammatory Drugs: Implications for the Discovery and Development of Phytopharmaceuticals

Inflammation is one of the common events in the majority of acute as well as chronic debilitating diseases and represent a chief cause of morbidity in today’s era of modern lifestyle. If unchecked, inflammation leads to development of rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and atherosclerosis along with pulmonary, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Inflammation involves a complex network of many mediators, a variety of cells, and execution of multiple pathways. Current therapy for inflammatory diseases is limited to the steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. The chronic use of these drugs is reported to cause severe adverse effects like gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal abnormalities. There is a massive need to explore new anti-inflammatory agents with selective action and lesser toxicity. Plants and isolated phytoconstituents are promising and interesting sources of new anti-inflammatories. However, drug development from natural sources has been linked with hurdles like the complex nature of extracts, difficulties in isolation of pure phytoconstituents, and the yield of isolated compounds in minute quantities that is insufficient for subsequent lead development. Although various in-vivo and in-vitro models for anti-inflammatory drug development are available, judicious selection of appropriate animal models is a vital step in the early phase of drug development. Systematic evaluation of phytoconstituents can facilitate the identification and development of potential anti-inflammatory leads from natural sources. The present review describes various techniques of anti-inflammatory drug screening with its advantages and limitations, elaboration on biological targets of phytoconstituents in inflammation and biomarkers for the prediction of adverse effects of anti-inflammatory drugs. The systematic approach proposed through present article for anti-inflammatory drug screening can rationalize the identification of novel phytoconstituents at the initial stage of drug screening programs