Ex Vivo Evaluation of Insulin Nanoparticles Using Chitosan and Arabic Gum

Polymeric delivery systems based on nanoparticles have emerged as a promising approach for peroral insulin delivery. The aim of the present study was to investigate the release of insulin nanoparticulate systems and ex vivo studies. The nanoparticles were prepared by the ion gelation method. Particle size distribution, zeta potential, and polydispersity index of the nanoparticles were determined. It was found that the nanoparticles carried positive charges and showed a size distribution in the range of 170–200 nm. The electrostatic interactions between the positively charged group of chitosan and negatively charged groups of Arabic gum play an important role in the association efficiency of insulin in nanoparticles. In vitro insulin release studies showed an initial burst followed by a slow release of insulin. The mucoadhesion of the nanosystem was evaluated using excised rat jejunum. Ex vivo studies have shown a significant increase in absorption of insulin in the presence of chitosan nanoparticles in comparison with free insulin

Food Insecurity, Health and Nutritional Status among Sample of Palm-plantation Households in Malaysia

Food insecurity is a worldwide problem and has been shown to contribute to poor health and nutritional outcomes. In Malaysia, poor dietary intake, overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolaemia have been reported to be more prevalent in females compared to males and in Indians compared to other ethnic groups. A cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and health and nutritional status among 169 Indian women (19-49 years old, non-pregnant, and non-lactating) from randomly-selected palm-plantation households in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Subjects were interviewed for socioeconomic and demographic data, and information on household food security and dietary intake. They were examined for weight, height, waist-circumference, blood pressure and lipids, and plasma glucose levels. For analysis of data, descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and logistic regression were used. Majority (85.2%) of the households showed food insecurity as assessed using the Radimer/Cornell Hunger and Food Insecurity Instrument. The food-secure women had significantly higher mean years of education and lower mean number of children than food-insecure groups (p<0.05). There was a significant decrease in the mean household income and income per capita as food insecurity worsened (p<0.05). Women who reported food security had significantly higher mean diet diversity score (11.60\ub14.13) than child hunger (9.23\ub13.36). The group of subjects with higher intake of meat/fish/poultry/legumes (crude odds ratio [OR]=0.53, confidence interval [CI]=0.29-0.95) and higher diet diversity score (crude OR=0.87, CI=0.78-0.97) was more likely to have <3 health risks. Diet diversity score remained a significant protective factor against heath risks even after adjusting for other variables. The present study showed that food insecurity is indirectly associated with poor health and nutritional status. Therefore, appropriate communitybased interventions should be designed and implemented to address the problems of food insecurity and possible health and nutritional outcomes

Chitosan-based Nanoparticles in Mucosal Vaccine Delivery

Most infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic infiltrations from the mucosal tract. Nowadays, the use of vaccines has been widely investigated for the prevention of different infectious diseases, infertility, immune disorders, malignancies, and allergies. Broad-spectrum adjuvant substances have been studied for immune system stimulation with a greater efficiency against specific antigens. Various adjuvants have been developed such as inorganic, oil-based, and emulsion adjuvants, bacterial products and their derivatives, cytokines, cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) motifs, and particulate systems. Mucosal vaccine delivery is an alternative route to induce both humoral and cellular immune responses. Applying nanoparticles in vaccine formulations allows not only improved antigen stability and immunogenicity, but also targeted delivery, and consequently, more specific release of the agent of interest. Chitosan nanoparticles have immunological activity and mucoadhesive properties. They have been used as a mucosal vaccine delivery system for many antigens. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in chitosan nanoparticles as a novel mucosal vaccine delivery system

Experimental Evaluation of Mouse Hind Paw Edema Induced by Iranian Naja oxiana Venom

Iranian Naja oxiana (the Elapidae family) known as cobra snake inhabits in the northwestern part of Iran. This study aimed to evaluate the edematogenic potency of the crude venom with intraplantar injection into mice. Additionally, the inhibitory effects of three different drugs (i.e., promethazine, dexamethasone, and piroxicam) on paw edema were examined. Moreover, the gelatinase activity of this venom was assessed using the zymography method. Paw edema was induced by the intraplantar injection of different concentrations of the venom (0.5-5 μg dissolved in 50 μl of normal saline) into the mice (six in each group). It was estimated through the measurement of the increase in the paw thickness (%) with a digital caliper. The paws were pretreated and the rate of changes was measured after the venom injection. Pathological findings in the treated paws were evaluated with hematoxylin and eosin staining. Paw thickness reached its maximum amount within 5 min and resolved after 1 h. This venom had no gelatinase activity using the zymography method ruling out its role in edema. It caused non-hemorrhagic diffuse edema with the infiltration of inflammatory cells (i.e., leukocytes and lymphocytes) in the dermis. Intraperitoneal pretreatment with drugs significantly inhibited the venom-induced (1 μg/paw) edema; however, all the mice died unexpectedly a day after piroxicam injection. This in vitro and in vivo preliminary study demonstrated for the first time that N. oxiana venom-induced non-hemorrhagic edema in a short time. Dexamethasone (phospholipase A2 inhibitor; 1 mg/kg) and promethazine (H1 inhibitor; 5 mg/kg) decreased the venom-induced edema (p <0.001). It is suggested to carry out further studies to identify different mediators in venom-induced edema formation

INVESTIGATION THE ANTI-HYPERLIPIDEMIC EFFECTS OF SAFFRON PETALS' OF HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT IN RATS

The use of medicinal herbs has been customary in traditional medicine since very long ago and according to the intolerances exhibited by some of the patients for chemical drugs due to the emergence of side effects, the medicinal herbs can be utilized as alternative treatments through adhering to evidence-based medical principles. The current research paper investigates the effects of saffron petal hydroalcoholic extract on the lipid profiles. Thirty Wistar rats were assigned to six groups: a control group and a sham group that received ordinary dietary regime and high cholesterol (2) dietary regime, respectively, and experimental groups one to four that, besides the high cholesterol dietary regime, were also, correspondingly, treated by 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of their body weights saffron petal hydroalcoholic extract per day and 10 mg/kg of the body weight lovastatin per day. Blood samples were collected of the animals after eight weeks to determine their serum lipid profiles. SPSS (version16) was employed to perform the analysis. The serum levels of cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-C were found significantly increased in sham group and experimental group three (high cholesterol dietary regime plus 200 mg/kg of the extract) in contrast to the control group (P<0.001). The significance level was found lower in experimental group 1 (high cholesterol regime plus 50 mg/kg of the extract) (P<0.05, P<0.001 and P<0.05, respectively). The serum levels of these three factors and HDL-c were not found significantly different in experimental groups two and four in comparison to the control group. The results are indicative of the favorable effects of saffron petal hydroalcoholic extract, especially in lower dosages, on the regulation and correction of the serum lipid profile

Fracture risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and possible risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have an increased risk of bone fractures. A variable increase in fracture risk has been reported depending on skeletal site, diabetes duration, study design, insulin use, and so on. The present meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between T2DM with fracture risk and possible risk factors. Methods: Different databases including PubMed, Institute for Scientific Information, and Scopus were searched up to May 2016. All epidemiologic studies on the association between T2DM and fracture risk were included. The relevant data obtained from these papers were analyzed by a random effects model and publication bias was assessed by funnel plot. All analyses were done by R software (version 3.2.1) and STATA (version 11.1). Results: Thirty eligible studies were selected for the meta-analysis. We found a statistically significant positive association between T2DM and hip, vertebral, or foot fractures and no association between T2DM and wrist, proximal humerus, or ankle fractures. Overall, T2DM was associated with an increased risk of any fracture (summary relative risk = 1.05, 95 confidence interval: 1.04, 1.06) and increased with age, duration of diabetes, and insulin therapy. Conclusion: Our findings strongly support an association between T2DM and increased risk of overall fracture. These findings emphasize the need for fracture prevention strategies in patients with diabetes

The association of diabetes mellitus and gender with risk of bone fractures: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Bone fracture shows a growing trend. This increase is a result of several factors occurs. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to examine the relationship of fracture risk with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and gender. For this purpose, we searched the credible databases including PubMed, ISI, and Scopus for the related epidemiologic studies that were published up to May 2016. The data provided in these articles was extracted and then analyzed by a random-effects model. Funnel plot was used to check for publication bias. Statistical analyses were carried out by R version 3.2.1 and STATA (version 11.1). After filtering irrelevant articles, 30 studies were selected for meta-analysis. The analyses showed that type 2 diabetes mellitus is positively associated with overall fracture risk (summary RR. 1.05, 95 CI: 1.04, 1.06). The incidence of fractures was higher in men than in women (Phet=0.043). The interpretation of the meta-regression showed that no significant relationship exists between the gender risk factor in diabetic patients and years of study (P=0.280). The results highlight the importance of adopting suitable strategies for prevention of bone fracture in T2DM patients

Investigating the Effect of Saffron Petal Extract on Antioxidant Activity and Inflammatory Markers in Hypercholesterolemic Rats

Introduction: High-cholesterol diet is one of the major causes of cardiovascular disease leading to the death of millions of people annually. One of the ways to prevent this risk is the use of chemical drugs, but herbal compounds at controlled levels have less adverse effects than chemical compounds. In the present study, we investigated the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of a saffron petal on malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes, inflammatory markers and lipid profile and compared it with lovastatin in hypercholesterolemic rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 equal groups (n = 5). Group 1 (sham) received a normal diet and Group 2 (control) received only a high-cholesterol diet (2). Group 3 to 6 were treated with a high-cholesterol diet (2) in the first 4 weeks and 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg of saffron petal extract and 10 mg/kg of lovastatin, respectively, in the second 4 weeks. At the end of the study, the level of activity of antioxidant enzymes and the level of lipid profile and inflammatory markers were measured. Results: The mean plasma MDA level, SOD enzyme activity of red blood cell, lipid profile and inflammatory markers were significantly increased in the control group (high-cholesterol diet) compared to the sham group (P <0.001). However, these cases in the other groups treated with hydroalcoholic extract of the saffron petal (groups 3, 4 and 5) and lovastatin drug (group 6) showed a significant decrease (minimum significant difference, P <0.05), despite receiving high-cholesterol diet (p<0.05) compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a non-toxic dose o f saffron petal extract has an effective role in preventing cardiovascular diseases by reducing the risk factors associated with these diseases