Evaluation of antioxidant effect of Salacia oblonga against aluminum chloride induced visceral toxicity in albino rats

Background: Aluminum is present in several manufactured foods and medicines and is also used in water purification. It is known that aluminum induces an oxidative stress characterized by an increase in lipid peroxidation and depletion of antioxidants. Therefore, the present experiment was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of hydroalcoholic extract of root bark of Salacia oblonga (SOHE) in modulating the aluminum chloride (AlCl3) induced oxidative stress in rats.Methods: Animals were assigned into four groups: control; AlCl3 300 mg/kg b.w.; Salacia 67 mg/kg; AlCl3 (300 mg/kg b.w.) plus Salacia (67 mg/kg b.w.), respectively. Rats were orally administered their respective doses daily for 36 days. The effect of these treatments in influencing the aluminum induced biochemical changes on liver, kidney, lungs, and heart were studied.Result: The results showed that S. oblonga produced significant (p<0.05) reduction of malondialdehyde, while the activities of superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, glutathione S-transferase and catalase were positively modulated.Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that S. oblonga protects against aluminum-induced oxidative stress, which is an important finding that further reinforces the antioxidant properties of this natural product

Clinical study on Profile and Spectrum of Bacterial and Fungal Corneal Ulcers in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Chennai

AIM OF THE STUDY: To study the demography of various corneal ulcers and to study the aetiology, risk factors and clinical presentation of various Corneal ulcers. OBJECTIVES: To study the incidence, predisposing factors and epidemiological characteristics of Corneal ulcers and to study the various modes of presentation of Corneal ulcers. METHODS AND MATERIALS: 100 patients who presented with various forms of infectious corneal ulcers were evaluated and Detailed history was obtained from each patient. Baseline visual acuity were checked and subjected to detailed anterior segment examination with slit lamp biomicroscopy and findings were documented with colour coded diagrams. Corneal scraping was done and sent for gram staining and KOH mount. Patients’ stay in the hospital was documented and the complications/ recovery were monitored. All patients were followed up consecutively after the initial examination was done. Further follow up visits was decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on disease severity. RESULTS: Aong 100 patients, 71 patients were males and 29 were females, the major presentation age group is between 41-50 years. Majority of them (35/100) were labourer and farmers(22/100) by occupation, illiterate (93/100), People coming from rural areas (61/100) was commonly associated. A majority of them (67/100) were diabetic, majority of them (36/100) presented within 3 days of symptom onset. During presentation (77/100) many patients had hypopyon. 83 patients gave a definite source of traumatic agent, with plant material being the most common offending agent (37/100). 17 patients did not know the offending agent. On analysing the ulcer location, we found a majority (42/100) patients presented with central corneal ulcer. 30 had paracentral ulcers and 28 patients presented with peripheral corneal ulcer. With syringing, we observed that 34/100 patients had mucoid regurgitation.Of the culture positive cases, (n=50), bacterial colonies could be recovered in 32 patients. 25 were gram positive 7 were gram negative. Fungal colonies were grown in 13 patients, who were KOH positive in staining. Mixed bacterial and fungal colonies were found in 25 patients. Pure bacterial colonies were isolated in 7 patients. The remaining 5 patients had acanthamoebal growth in staining and culture methods. None of them were contact lens users. With successful medical management, 63 patients responded well, some of them needed intrastromal voriconazole injections. 47 patients progressed to perforation/impending perforation, inspite of all modalities of medical management, required Therapeutic keratoplasty. 15 of these patients required regraft due to multiple reinfection. This was found to be significantly higher in those patients who presented late and had mixed organisms in microbiological analysis CONCLUSION: Corneal ulceration is a common problem,, and often followed by corneal injuries. Demography and risk factors of infections vary but predominantly involves males and is frequently related to trauma. Mixed ulcers are the commonest infection. The Study emphasises the need for microbiological diagnosis for treatment. Early presentation and the nature of organism plays a major role in healing of ulcer. Our results highlight the importance of microbiologic diagnosis for infectious keratitis. The vast majority of corneal ulcers seen clinically have mixed bacterial and fungal etiology. Empirical treatment based on clinical examination alone will not be sufficient. Corneal ulcer is an ophthalmic emergency. In a developing country like ours, the impact of corneal blindness is huge. Subjecting corneal scraping samples for microbiological investigation is crucial for instituting appropriate treatment. Creating awareness among public regarding eye hygiene will go a long way in avoiding corneal blindness

Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical and Pharmacological Evaluation of Andrographis Echioides(L.) Nees. (Acanthaceae).

Herbal drugs have been used as medicines for the treatment of various ailments since time immemorial and hence plants always have an ever green role in the health care system. Each and every plant is similar to a factory which has a ability to synthesize a sizable amount of unusual phytoconstituents which are highly complex in structures Plants are the only economic source of a member of well-established and important drugs. In spite of tremendous advances made in the modern system of medicine, there are still certain disease conditions for which suitable drugs are not available in the Allopathic system. Moreover, the modern system of medicine produces lot of side effects to the patients, Nowadays herbs have been the main source of medicine throughout the human history, about 25 to 30% of today’s prescription drugs contains chemical derived from herbs. Pharmacognostical evaluation deals with various parameters in order to substantiate and identify the plant for future work. This study establishes not only pharmacognostic and characterization of leaves but also microscopic and fluorescence analysis of the powder. These characteristics can be used as identification, authentication parameters of the plant

IN VITRO EVALUATION OF CYTOTOXICITY, OXIDATIVE STRESS, DNA DAMAGE AND INFLAMMATION INDUCED BY DIESEL EXHAUST PARTICLES IN HUMAN A549 LUNG CELLS AND MURINE RAW 264.7 MACROPHAGES

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the in vitro oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, inflammation and DNA damage induced by Diesel Exhaust Particles (DEPs). Methods: Alveolar macrophages (murine RAW 264.7 cells) and cultured type II epithelium cells (human A549 lung cells) were exposed to various concentrations of Diesel Exhaust Particles for 24 h. The experiment was evaluated for cell viability, oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, inflammation and DNA damage parameters. Results: The results showed that overall both cell lines had similar patterns in response to the oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, inflammation and DNA damage parameters induced by DEPs. Vehicle control showed no changes compared to the control. Both cells showed significant changes at the dose of 20 μg/mL and significant changes were found in cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, DNA damage and inflammation indexes. Conclusion: Hence, exposure to DEPs resulted in doseâ€dependent toxicity in cultured A549 cells and RAW264.7cells and was closely correlated to increased inflammation and oxidative stress

A Design Thinking Based Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Teaching on Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Organ Donation Among Non-Health Professional Students at Selected College in Coimbatore

Design thinking is generally defined as an analytic and creative process that engages a person in opportunities to experiment, create and prototype models, gather feedback, and redesign. Design Thinking Approach is adopted to carry out the research to correlate the knowledge and attitude among non-health professional students. Objectives: (a) To assess the pre-test and post-test level of knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation among non-health professional students. (b) To assess the effectiveness of computer assisted teaching on knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation among non-health professional students. (c)To find out the association between post-test level of knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation and the selected demographic variables among non-health professional students. (d)To assess the correlation between knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation. Methodology: The research design used was a pre-experimental one group pretest and posttest design. The samples for the study were chosen by using convenient sampling technique, The sample size was 50. Results: Karl Pearson correlation test was used. It reveals that there is effectiveness present in the group. Conclusion: Organ donation is a huge public health concern worldwide. The biggest advantage to organ donation is, it saves lives that would otherwise be lost. A single organ donor has the chance to save the lives or improve the quality of life for several people. So, the organ donation should be encouraged and the people should be motivated to donate their organs by conducting periodical educational programmed regarding organ donation

EFFECT OF THE NITRATE FERTILIZER UREA ON THE ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE GILL OF FRESHWATER FISH CATLA

Ultrastructural study of the gill of Catla catla on exposure to 10% LC 50 sublethal concentration of nitrate fertilizer urea was carried out. Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the lamellar cells in combination with epithelial lifting and edema were noticed. Necrosis of pillar system with lamella resulted in blood congestion and even an aneurism. Hyper secretion of mucous on the epithelium is to protect against environmental alteration was also determined. Infiltrated macrophages and leucocytes in the lamellar tissue were observed which was a compensatory repair response to tissue damages. Apoptotic condition of the cell is evident by clumping of chromatin, swelling of nucleus and mitochondria

QUERCETIN, ENCAPSULATED QUERCETIN AND ITS APPLICATION- A REVIEW

Flavonoids are plant secondary metabolite shows a wide range of pharmacological and biological functions. Among the flavonoids, quercetin gained special attention for its potential therapeutic activities. The aim of this work was to summarize the medicinal property of quercetin, role of quercetin in synthesizing the silver and gold nanoparticles, pros and cons of quercetin, nanoencapsulation of quercetin and its advantages. This review article summarizes the published experimental research and scientific literature from the databases including PubMed, Google and local library searches. The results of these studies provide a complete understanding of the biological action of quercetin. Pharmaceutical effects of quercetin such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-toxic and immunomodulatory effects prove that quercetin has potential therapeutic value, though it has several beneficial effects on human health, it possesses some disadvantages like poor solubility, low bioavailability, the hydrophobic nature and poor permeability. To overcome the disadvantages of quercetin, it is encapsulated in the polymers to enhance its bioavailability and to increase its solubility. In this paper, a brief description about the encapsulation of quercetin and its application were focused

PROTECTIVE ROLE OF FENUGREEK LEAF EXTRACT AND QUERCETIN AGAINST PETROL EXHAUST NANOPARTICLE INDUCED LIPID PEROXIDATION AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN RAT ERYTHROCYTES IN VITRO

Objective &amp; Methods: Inhaled nanoparticles of air borne origin enter the bloodstream and react with the circulatory system leading to cardiovascular and systemic events. Fenugreek (Trigonella foecum-graecum) and quercetin are known for their antioxidant and antitoxic potentials. To understand this mechanism we studied in detail the interaction of petrol exhaust nanoparticles (PEPs) treated with or without aqueous fenugreek leaf extract (EXT) or quercetin (Q) in rat erythrocytes (RBC) invitro.Results: Incubation of RBCs with PEP alone (1, 10 and 100 µg/ml) for 60 mins caused highest hemolytic activity (~upto 46%). Erythrocyte susceptibility to lipid peroxidation (invitro) measured by malondialdehyde content (MDA) showed significant dose dependent increase in MDA. The superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) activities were found to significantly decrease (p&lt;0.05) in a dose dependent manner when compared to the control. The glutathione S transferase (GST) levels was found to increase significantly (p&lt;0.05) in the PEP treated groups. Prior treatment with the EXT or Q showed replenishments of antioxidant levels and brought the values to near normal, hence proving the protective effect of EXT or Q.Conclusion: The phytochemicals in the EXT could play a key role in protecting the RBC cells against the petrol exhaust nanoparticle induced toxicity. Thus, the study demonstrates PEP induced erythrocyte toxicity in a dose dependent manner and the alleviative effects of the EXT and Q