Comparative Efficacy of Various Antiviral Agents against Avian Influenza Virus (Type H7N3/Pakistan/2003)

Abstract.-Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H7 type) is of greater importance due to its economic impact and public health significance. Drugs available to vanish this pathogens are very limited and having high prices. Therefore a study was planed to check the comparative efficacy of the Herbs' extract as compared to the standard available drug in the market. There were used three different concentrations (2%, 4% and 8%) of each of amantadine HCl, extracts of fresh leaves of opuntia herb, papaya and dried powdered leaves of green tea in distilled water and were evaluated for their antiviral activity, by injecting through chorioallantoic sac route into 10 days old live embryonated broiler chicken eggs. Group A is negative control with no haemagglutination activity and group B as positive control with positive Haemagglutination activity. For each drug to be tested, 40 eggs were assigned to 8 groups (i.e. A, B, C1, C2, C3, D1, D2, D3) with 5 eggs in each group. Embryonated eggs in each of C1, C2 and C3 subgroups were treated only with 3 different concentrations of each compound to evaluate toxicity respectively. Whereas embryonated eggs of SUB-GROUPS D1, D2 and D3 were treated with suspensions of three different concentrations of each compound with 4HA titer of Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) type H7N3/Pakistan/2003, to check antiviral efficacy respectively. Positive and negative controls were also run side by side under similar experimental conditions. In case of amantadine HCl out of 50, 500 and 1000 µg/ml concentrations, only 500ug/ml was found to be an ideal concentration, as in addition to stop virus growth it also did not kill the embryos. In case of Opuntia dellinii all the 3 concentrations used were not toxic for embryos, but antiviral effect was observed only at 4g and 8g/100ml concentrations. Green tea extract was found to be effective against AIV only at 8g/100ml concentration with no damage to chick embryos. Papaya leaves extract as a whole failed to check virus replication at all the three concentrations used in this experiment i.e. 2, 4 and 8g/100ml. All these dose levels were not lethal for chick embryos

Synergistic antibacterial activity of carvacrol loaded chitosan nanoparticles with Topoisomerase inhibitors and genotoxicity evaluation

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a significant healthcare crisis with substantial socioeconomic impact on global community. The development of new antibiotics is both costly and time-consuming prompting the exploration of alternative solutions such as nanotechnology which represents opportunities for targeted drug delivery and reduced MIC. However, concerns have arisen regarding genotoxic effects of nanoparticles on human health necessitating an evaluation of nanoparticle induced DNA damage.This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial potential of already prepared, characterized chitosan nanoparticles loaded with carvacrol and their potential synergism with Topoisomerase II inhibitors against S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhi using agar well diffusion, microdilution and checkerboard method. Genotoxicity was assessed through comet assay.Results showed that both alone and drug combinations of varying concentrations exhibited greater zones of inhibition at higher concentrations. Carvacrol nanoparticles combined with ciprofloxacin and doxorubicin significantly reduced MIC compared to the drugs used alone. The MIC50 values for ciprofloxacin were 35.8 µg/ml, 48.74 µg/ml, 35.57 µg/ml while doxorubicin showed MIC50 values of 20.79 µg/ml, 34.35 µg/ml, 25.32 µg/ml against S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhi respectively. The FICI of ciprofloxacin and doxorubicin with carvacrol nanoparticles found ≤ 0.5 Such as 0.44, 0.44,0.48 for ciprofloxacin and 0.45, 0.45, 0.46 for doxorubicin against S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhi respectively revealed the synergistic effect. The analysis of comet assay output images showed alteration of DNA at high concentrations.Our results suggested that carvacrol nanoparticles in combination with Topoisomerase inhibitors may prevent and control the emergence of resistant bacteria with reduced dose

Anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-diabetic evaluation of ethanolic leaf extract of Catharanthus roseus alone and in combination therapy

The use of plants in disease treatment is cost effective and relatively safe. This study was designed to investigate anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-diabetic activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Catharanthus roseus alone and in combination therapy in hyperlipidemic & diabetic mice. Eight groups comprising five mice each were used. Group A was hyperlipidemic control, group B, C, D received atorvastatin (20 mg/kg), leaf extract (200 mg/kg) and leaf extract in combination with atorvastatin (200 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg) orally for 15 days. Group E was diabetic control. Group F, G, H received sitagliptin (40 mg/kg), leaf extract (200 mg/kg) and extract in combination with sitagliptin (200 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg) orally for 7 days. Blood cholesterol levels were measured at 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th day and fasting blood sugar levels were measured at 2, 12, 24, 72 and 168 hours during treatment. One-way ANOVA with tukey- kramer multiple comparison test was used. The chemical characterization of ethanolic extract of Catharanthus roseus leaves showed presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins and flavonoids. Ethanolic extract of Catharanthus roseus has significant anti-hyperlipidemic & anti-diabetic effects (p<0.05, p<0.01) when compared with control but had not cause significantly increase in anti-hyperlipidemic effects of atorvastatin. While significantly increased the antidiabetic effect of sitagliptin (p<0.05)

Insights into the Prognostic Role of Serum Interleukin-6 and Hematobiochemical Alterations in Cattle during Recent Outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease in Lodhran District, Pakistan

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a highly infectious disease of cattle caused by a virus of the Poxviridae family, genus Capripoxvirus. The present study was designed to determine the prognostic ability of serum IL-6 in LSD using a binary logistic regression model at baseline sampling. A 17-day cohort study was conducted on a recent outbreak of LSD among cattle in the Lodhran District of Punjab, Pakistan. Infected cattle were divided into two categories based on their clinical status on day 17 as recovered (n = 33) or unrecovered (n = 17). Nodular lesions and scab specimens (n = 50) were used for the isolation of the lumpy skin disease virus and were confirmed by PCR. In recovered animals, hematological results showed marked leukocytosis, eosinophilia, lymphocytosis, neutrophilia, and monocytopenia. However, marked erythrocytosis, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia were observed in the unrecovered animals at the final sampling point of the study. Serum levels of total protein, albumin, and glucose were significantly higher in the recovered animals. Meanwhile, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine phosphokinase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin were found considerably higher in the unrecovered group. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis for serum IL-6 at baseline predicts the extended clinical conditions at the cut-off value of 85.16 pg/mL (55% specificity, 94% sensitivity, area under the curve 0.8039, respectively). In conclusion, the disease-induced hematological and biochemical alterations were significantly ameliorated in the recovered animals. In addition, the study revealed that serum IL-6 can be used as a valid marker for predicting the clinical worsening of LSD in cattle

Evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness of prescribed medications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: findings from a tertiary care hospital, Lahore, Pakistan

Aim: The present study was aimed to highlight the current prescribing pattern of oral hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus and to evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of these therapeutic categories in achieving target glycemic control. Methods: This is a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study of 6 months' duration conducted in a tertiary care hospital of Lahore, Pakistan. Results: The current research recruited 145 patients presented in diabetes management center of a tertiary care hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. Mean age of the participants was 50.2 (± 8.5) years. Out of the 145 patients, 63% were females and 37% were males. Most patients were diagnosed to have diabetes within the past 5 years. Diabetes-induced neuropathy was the most common complication (71.7%) among the patients. A large proportion of these patients (70.3%) were also suffering from other comorbidities among which the most common one is hypertension. The average number of prescribed medications was 1.31. Metformin was prescribed to a majority of patients (64%) as monotherapy while 28.96% received combination therapy. Mean glycated hemoglobin (HBA1c) before and after 3 months of treatment was 8.5 (± 2.3) and 8.04 (± 2.1), respectively. Inferential statistics show a strong association between HBA1c and life style modifications and adherence to medication therapy (P = 0.05). However, the correlation between HBA1c and Morisky score and duration of disease was inverse and weak (P = 0.6, 0.4). The t-test values show a small difference between HBA1c values before and after 3 months (t = 0.440 and 0.466, respectively). Conclusion: Optimization of medication regimen and continuous patient education regarding life style modification and adherence to medication therapy are necessitated to bring HBA1c values near to targe

Anti-Nematodal Efficacy of Ivermectin (Oral) and Extracts of Coriandrum sativum in Sheep in Barani Livestock Production Research Institute (BLPRI) Kherimurat, District Attak Punjab Pakistan

Anthelmentic resistance (AR) is one of the major problems of livestock industry in developing countries. Using indigenous medicinal plants may be an alternate way to overcome this problem. Total 60 sheep nematode positive were selected and divided into 6 groups having 10 sheep each. Group A as un-treated control, group B was given Ivermectin at the dose rate of 0.2mg/kg body weight Group C and Group D was given the Chloroformic extract while Group E and F was given the Methalonic extract of Coriandrum sativum whole plant at the dose rate of 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg body weight respectively. After treatments, fecal eggs count reduction test (FECRT) (eggs/g) was carried out on day 7, 14 and 28. The EPG in untreated group at day 28 was increased 21.6%. Significant decrease in EPG was only observed at day 28 in Ivermectin treated group (92.6%) and Methanolic extract at a dose rate of 100 mg/kg body weight (60.69%). No significant results were recorded in remaining groups. It was concluded that 100 mg/kg body weight Methalonic extract of Coriandrum sativum would be a best alternative as anti-nematodal drug

Anti-Nematodal Efficacy of Ivermectin (Oral) and Extracts of Coriandrum sativum in Sheep in Barani Livestock Production Research Institute (BLPRI) Kherimurat, District Attak Punjab Pakistan

Anthelmentic resistance (AR) is one of the major problems of livestock industry in developing countries. Using indigenous medicinal plants may be an alternate way to overcome this problem. Total 60 sheep nematode positive were selected and divided into 6 groups having 10 sheep each. Group A as un-treated control, group B was given Ivermectin at the dose rate of 0.2mg/kg body weight Group C and Group D was given the Chloroformic extract while Group E and F was given the Methalonic extract of Coriandrum sativum whole plant at the dose rate of 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg body weight respectively. After treatments, fecal eggs count reduction test (FECRT) (eggs/g) was carried out on day 7, 14 and 28. The EPG in untreated group at day 28 was increased 21.6%. Significant decrease in EPG was only observed at day 28 in Ivermectin treated group (92.6%) and Methanolic extract at a dose rate of 100 mg/kg body weight (60.69%). No significant results were recorded in remaining groups. It was concluded that 100 mg/kg body weight Methalonic extract of Coriandrum sativum would be a best alternative as anti-nematodal drug