On-Pump versus Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in The Surgical Management of High-Risk Patients, A Clinical Randomized Study

Background: Surgical treatment modalities of coronary artery diseases (CAD) include on-pump or off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). CABG performed on the beating heart can avoid complications that might occur on cardiopulmonary bypass. Our objective was to compare the effectiveness of on-pump versus off-pump CABG in high-risk patients stratified according to the EuroSCORE scoring system.  Methods: This randomized clinical study included 80 high-risk patients who underwent CABG and assigned into two groups; each contains 40 patients. Patients with valvular affection, ischemic ventricular septal defect or left ventricle and aortic aneurysms, and/or those exhibiting significant neurological pathology were excluded from the study. Study outcomes were blood loss, length of ICU and hospital stay, inotropic use, re-exploration rate, and operative mortality. Results: The study showed significant higher use of inotropic drugs intra and post-operatively (57.5% vs 40%, p = 0.021), more low cardiac output (12.5% vs 2.5%, p = 0.031), lower blood loss (337±67 vs 498±68 ml, p = 0.01), lower blood transfusion (1.1±0.2 vs 1.2±0.4 unit, p = 0.024), more prolonged ICU stay (4.0±1.6 vs 3.0±0.9 day, p = 0.001) and the higher re-exploration rate (17.5% vs 7.5%, p = 0.035) in the on-pump group. Hospital stay (8.7±2 vs 8.1±1, p = 0.121) and early mortality (7.5% vs 2.5%, p = 0.451) did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusion: Management of coronary artery disease is still challenging, and there is still a place for off-pump CABG in CAD in high-risk patients due to its advantages in the early complications while has the same total hospital stay when compared with on-pump CABG

Spongionella secondary metabolites protect mitochondrial function in cortical neurons against oxidative stress

Accepted: 8 January 2014 This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Acknowledgments The research leading to these results has received funding from the following FEDER cofunded-grants: From Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain: AGL2009-13581-CO2-01, AGL2012-40485-CO2-01. From Xunta de Galicia, Spain: 10PXIB261254 PR. From the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA—Research Executive Agency (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement Nos. 265896 BAMMBO, 265409 µAQUA, and 262649 BEADS, 315285 CIGUATOOLS and 312184 PHARMASEA. From the Atlantic Area Programme (Interreg IVB Trans-national): 2009-1/117 Pharmatlantic. MER thanks the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt for a PhD Scholarship. MJ thanks the Scottish University Life Science Alliance which provided funding to set up the compound library.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Production and characterization of antimicrobial active substance from some macroalgae collected from Abu- Qir bay (Alexandria) Egypt

The antimicrobial activity of three different macroalgal species [Jania rubens (Linnaeus) Lamouroux; Ulva fasciata Delile and Sargassum vulgare C. Agardh] belonging to Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta and Phaeophyceae, respectively, were collected seasonally in 2007 to 2008 from Abu-Qir bay (Alexandria, Egypt). The different macroalgal species were tested against pathogenic microbes such as Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus aureus as gram-positive bacteria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella pneumoniae as gram-negative bacteria and one yeast strain, Candida albicans. The influence of sampling season on the antimicrobial activity of the collected seaweeds showed strong activity in spring followed by winter, summer and autumn, respectively. However, the strongest antimicrobial activity was recorded in 70% acetone extract of U. fasciata collected during winter against all the tested microorganisms. This extract was purified using column chromatography (CC) and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The nature of this purified antimicrobial material was detected using different chemical analysis (UV, IR,1H NMR and MS) which indicated that it is an aromatic compound and has different active groups (-NH2, -C=O, -NO2, phenyl ring and -CH3). The molecular weight of the compound was determined (662) and its structure was characterized as a derivative of phthalate ester [(E)-1-(10-acetamido-2-nitrodec-9-enyl) 2-(10-acetamido-2-nitrodecyl) 4-methylphthalate]. This is the first evidence of the isolation of phthalate esters derivative from green seaweeds (U. fasciata) that has broad antimicrobial activity.Key words: Antimicrobial, pathogenic microbes, season, seaweeds

Potentiometric determination of oxybutynin hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations at modified carbon paste electrodes

324-332New potentiometric sensitive and selective modified carbon paste (MCPE) electrodes based on ion pair formation between phosphotungestic acid (PTA), sodium tetraphenyl borate (NaTPB), phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) or ammonium reineckate (RN) and oxybutynin hydrochloride (Ox.HCl) has been developed. The proposed electrodes have Nernstian slope values of 58.50±0.71, 58.71±1.20, 54.80±1.30 and 59.20±0.70 mV decade−1 for electrodes modified with 20, 10, 5 and 10 mg of Ox-TPB (electrode I), Ox-RN (electrode II), Ox-PMA (electrode III) and Ox-PTA (electrode IV) ion pairs, respectively. It is found that the dynamic drug concentration range at 25 °C is 1.0×10−5–1.0×10−2 mol L−1. The response of MCPEs is pH independent in the range 2.0–6.0 with a fast response time of 10 s for electrode I and 12 s for electrodes II-IV. These electrodes have good Nernstian response in the temperature range 10–60 °C with slope (isothermal coefficient) equal 0.791×10−3, 0.769×10−3, 0.629×10−3 and 1.277×10−3 V/°C for electrodes I, II , III and IV respectively. These small values indicate the high thermal stability of the electrodes. The MCPEs have shown a relatively long life time of 36 days. A pure and pharmaceutical formulation of Ox.HCl has quantified using calibration and standard addition methods and the obtained results agreed with that of the official HPLC method. Validation parameters have been optimized according to ICH recommendations. Limits of detection and quantification are calculated under the optimized conditions. For the analytical applications, pharmaceutical dose form has performed. Various interferents have been used to investigate the interference in the analytical application and found that the proposed method would be well adopted for real sample analysis

Potentiometric determination of oxybutynin hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations at modified carbon paste electrodes

324-332New potentiometric sensitive and selective modified carbon paste (MCPE) electrodes based on ion pair formation between phosphotungestic acid (PTA), sodium tetraphenyl borate (NaTPB), phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) or ammonium reineckate (RN) and oxybutynin hydrochloride (Ox.HCl) has been developed. The proposed electrodes have Nernstian slope values of 58.50±0.71, 58.71±1.20, 54.80±1.30 and 59.20±0.70 mV decade−1 for electrodes modified with 20, 10, 5 and 10 mg of Ox-TPB (electrode I), Ox-RN (electrode II), Ox-PMA (electrode III) and Ox-PTA (electrode IV) ion pairs, respectively. It is found that the dynamic drug concentration range at 25 °C is 1.0×10−5–1.0×10−2 mol L−1. The response of MCPEs is pH independent in the range 2.0–6.0 with a fast response time of 10 s for electrode I and 12 s for electrodes II-IV. These electrodes have good Nernstian response in the temperature range 10–60 °C with slope (isothermal coefficient) equal 0.791×10−3, 0.769×10−3, 0.629×10−3 and 1.277×10−3 V/°C for electrodes I, II , III and IV respectively. These small values indicate the high thermal stability of the electrodes. The MCPEs have shown a relatively long life time of 36 days. A pure and pharmaceutical formulation of Ox.HCl has quantified using calibration and standard addition methods and the obtained results agreed with that of the official HPLC method. Validation parameters have been optimized according to ICH recommendations. Limits of detection and quantification are calculated under the optimized conditions. For the analytical applications, pharmaceutical dose form has performed. Various interferents have been used to investigate the interference in the analytical application and found that the proposed method would be well adopted for real sample analysis

In vitro screening of antimicrobial activity of extracts of some macroalgae collected from Abu-Qir bay Alexandria, Egypt

Ethanol, methanol and acetone extracts of nine marine macroalgae (Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta) from Abu-Qir bay (Alexandria, Egypt) were evaluated for antimicrobial activity by agar well diffusion methods against pathogenic microbes (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus aureus as gram-positive bacteria, and (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella pneumoniae as gram-negative bacteria) and one yeast strain Candida albicans. All pathogenic microorganisms were obtained from Culture Collection of Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University. The best results were obtained by acetone extracts with inhibition activity (36.7%), followed by the methanol extracts (32.9%), and then ethanol extracts (30.2%) for all tested microorganisms. The tested species of Chlorophyta were the most active followed by Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta. The most active seaweeds was Ulva fasciata (chlorophyceae) against all tested microorganisms.Key words: Seaweeds, antimicrobial activity, extracts, pathogenic microbes

The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility evaluation of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants

The current study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls, and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants. The fresh green almond hulls (GAH) and leaves (GAL) were harvested and spread under a shade to dry. Dry almond leaves (DAL) were collected from under the trees where as dry almond hulls (DAH) were collected 4 weeks after harvesting the fresh samples. The chemical composition of substrates was determined using standard approaches and the metabolisable energy (ME), in vitro dry matter (DMD) and in vitro organic matter (OMD) digestibility were measured using the in vitro gas production (GP) technique. The GAL contained 81 g crude protein (CP) kg-1 DM while DAH contained 103 g CP kg-1 DM. The CP was higher (P = 0.0003) in dry (leaves and hulls) than in green (leaves and hulls) samples. The ash content ranged from 99.2 to 181.5 g kg-1 DM in DAH and DAL, respectively, (P = 0.0041). The ether extract content ranged from 27 for DAH to 65 g kg-1 for DAL (P = 0.0018). The acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre content ranged from 185 to 304 and 444 to 620 g kg-1 DM (P = 0.04), for GAL and DAH, respectively. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) GP24 and GP96. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) potential GP (i.e., b), while the GP rate was highest for GAL and GAH (P = 0.034), ME was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001), and in vitro OMD was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001). The highest DMD (P = 0.0001) values were obtained with DAH followed by GAL, DAL and GAH, respectively. It can be concluded that almond hulls and leaves have a good nutritional potential to cover the maintenance nutrient requirements of small ruminants. Almond hulls and leaves can also be used as supplement to low quality mature pasture and/or crop residues. However, more studies are warranted to better characterize these feeds in in vivo animal feeding trials