Ameliorative effect of daidzein: A caveolin-1 inhibitor in vascular endothelium dysfunction induced by ovariectomy

28-34Estrogen deficiency was produced in female Sprague-Dawley rats by surgical removal of both the ovaries and these animals were used 4 weeks later. Endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent relaxations due to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were observed respectively, in isolated rat thoracic aortic ring preparation. Extent of lipid peroxidation was measured by estimating serum TBARS. Integrity of vascular endothelium was assessed using hematoxylin and eosin staining. Generation of nitric oxide was measured indirectly, by estimating serum and urinary nitrite/nitrate concentration. Ovariectomy produced significant vascular endothelial dysfunction, measured in terms of reduced acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, serum and urinary nitrite/nitrate concentration and impairment of integrity of vascular endothelium. Administration of daidzein (0.2 mgkg-1day-1, sc 0.4 mgkg-1day-1, sc and 0.8 mgkg-1day-1, sc) and Atorvastatin (30 mgkg-1day-1, po Positive Control) for one week markedly improved vascular endothelial dysfunction due to increase in nitric oxide bioavailability perhaps by inhibiting caveolin-1 and activation of PI3K-AKT pathway

Bioequivalence study of two enteric coated capsule formulations of omeprazole in healthy volunteers

Medical profession has realized the problem of wide variations in the therapeutic effectiveness of various brands of oral formulations containing the same active ingredient in equal amounts. The study was conducted as an open label, balanced, randomized, two-treatment, two-period, two-sequence single-dose crossover study to determine the bioequivalence of Lomac 20-mg and Protoloc 20-mg enteric coated capsules under fasting conditions. A group of 12 healthy, adult, male human subjects participated in the study. The bioavailability was compared using pharmacokinetic parameters Cmax, Tmax, AUC0-t, and AUC0-∞. Moreover, the 90% confidence interval (CI) for the ratio of logarithmic transformed Cmax, AUC0-t and AUC0-∞ was also used to determine bioequivalence. A washout period of seven days was kept between each study period. Serial blood samples were collected at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12 h post dose during each study. The samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) by liquid-liquid extraction method using lansoprazole as a reference standard. The 90% CI for the log transformed data for Cmax, AUC0-t, and AUC0-∞ for the test product were 72.13-152.7, 58.49-144.28 and 61.77-136, respectively. The T/R (test/reference) ratio of the product was quite close to the prescribed limits of bioequivalence i.e., 94% (95-105%). There was no period, sequence, formulation effect as indicated by the p values. The test product of omeprazole i.e., Lomac was not bioequivalent to the reference product i.e. Protoloc but bioavailability of the test product was quite satisfactory i.e. 94%. Keywords: bioequivalence, omeprazole, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, healthy volunteers Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Journal Vol. 23 2005: 45-5

Quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) of piperine analogsfor bacterial NorA efflux pump inhibitors

Quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) analysis of piperine analogs as inhibitors of efflux pump NorA from Staphylococcus aureus has been performed in order to obtain a highly accurate model enabling prediction of inhibition of S. aureus NorA of new chemical entities from natural sources as well as synthetic ones. Algorithm based on genetic function approximation method of variable selection in Cerius2 was used to generate the model. Among several types of descriptors viz., topological, spatial, thermodynamic, information content and E-state indices that were considered in generating the QSAR model, three descriptors such as partial negative surface area of the compounds, area of the molecular shadow in the XZ plane and heat of formation of the molecules resulted in a statistically significant model with r

Investigation of gain characteristics of GRIN-InGaAsP/InP nano-heterostructure

447-455The modal gain characteristics along with optical losses theoretically within TE and TM polarization modes for GRIN-In0.90Ga0.10As0.59P0.41/InP lasing nano-heterostructure by taking into account the number of quantum wells as active layers inserted between barriers, have been investigated in the present paper. In addition, the behaviour of saturated modal gain, transparency current density and maximum optical loss for the single and multiple quantum wells based nano-heterostructures, has also been studied. Moreover, temperature and GRIN dependence of modal gain characteristics with in TE and TM mode have been studied. Under simulation, the anti-guiding factors (a substantial parameter for optical gain) along with modal gain as a function of photonic energy and lasing wavelength at different temperatures have also been investigated. The maximum gain is achieved in the NIR (near infrared) regions at the wavelengths ~1.40 µm and ~1.25 µm in TE and TM polarization modes, respectively in the present paper. Hence, the nano-structure studied in this work is very useful as a light source for the optical fiber based communication system functioning in the NIR region due to less attenuation. </span

Improved access to early diagnosis and complete treatment of malaria in Odisha, India.

BackgroundIn 2013, the Comprehensive Case Management Programme (CCMP) was initiated to assess the impact of universal access to diagnosis and treatment and improved surveillance on malaria transmission in different settings in Odisha state, India.MethodsPairs of intervention and control sub-districts (blocks), matched on malaria incidence were selected in four districts with different transmission intensities. CCMP activities included training and supervision, ensuring no stock-outs of malaria tests and drugs, analysing verified surveillance data, stratifying areas based on risk factors, and appointing alternative providers to underserved areas. Composite risk scores were calculated for each sub-centre using principal component analysis. Post-pre changes (2013-2015 versus 2011-2012) for annual blood examination rates (ABER) and annual parasite incidence (API) across intervention and control groups were assessed using difference-in-difference (DID) estimates, adjusted for malaria transmission risk.ResultsIn the intervention sub-centres, the mean increase in ABER was 6.41 tests/sub-centre (95%CI 4.69, 8.14; pConclusionsIntensive intervention activities targeted at improved access to malaria diagnosis and treatment produced a substantial increase in blood examination and case notification, especially in inaccessible, hard-to-reach pockets. CCMP provides insights into how to achieve universal coverage of malaria services through a routine, state-run programme