Evaluation of clinical outcomes in neuropathic pain with combinations of anti-neuropathic drugs

Background: Much of the pharmacological treatment modalities especially individual drugs for treating neuropathic pain have unwanted side effects, multiple day to day dosing, modest efficacy of topical treatments, and their local side effects. Combination drug regimen has the advantage of offering relatively better pain relief at lower drug doses and lesser side effects.Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Neurology at NRI General Hospital, Guntur. The patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled and assigned into 3 groups of the study drug combinations. The baseline characteristics and post interventional scores of Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS), visual analogue scale (VAS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Medical outcome of sleep scale (MOS) and were analyzed using t test and mean difference.Results: A statistically significant reduction in neuropathic pain in all the three groups was found. The mean difference between the baseline and post interventional scores of TCSS and VAS of group I, II and III were 2.97, 2.75, and 1.97; 2.32, 1.12, and 0.95 respectively. There was a statistically significant improvement of HAM-A in all the three groups, HAM-D and MOS sleep scale were found significant only in group II.Conclusions: The study findings revealed that all the three drug combinations were effective in the management of neuropathic pain with pregabalin and oxcarbazepine combination being better with respect to efficacy and tolerability. Regarding the treatment of depression and sleep disturbances associated with NP pregabalin and duloxetine was more effective

Brucellosis a review on the diagnostic techniques and medicinal plants used in the management of the brucellosis

Brucellosis is an important re-emerging infectious bacterial zoonotic disease. The symptoms of the disease are pathognomonic with much clinical manifestation that makes its diagnosis complicated. Brucellosis continues to pose a human health risk globally despite several eradication programs for the control of disease from domestic animals. Contact with infected animals, ingestion of contaminated animal products and handling of Brucella isolates in laboratories are risk factors. The diagnostic tests are applied with different goals, such as national screening, confirmatory diagnosis, certification, and international trade. The validation of such diagnostic tests is still an issue, particularly in wildlife. The choice of the testing strategy depends on the prevailing brucellosis epidemiological situation and the aim of testing. The most widely used methods of diagnosis are based on serology, which measures the ability of the serum (antibody) to agglutinate a standardised amount of killed Brucella abortus (antigen) containing O-side chain. These tests are most commonly used because they are safe to handle. However, they are prone to false-positive results due to other cross-reacting bacteria, and also, they are not useful in the detection of Brucella canis and Brucella ovis which lack the O-side chain. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been found to be a useful and more sensitive test, but has not been validated for standard laboratory use. A safe and effective vaccine in humans is not yet available. Prevention is dependent upon the control of the disease in animal hosts, effective heat treatment of dairy produce and hygienic precautions to prevent occupational exposure. Because of high rates of treatment failure or relapses due to emerging resistance, the treatment of brucellosis is still problematic. Thus, new antibacterial compounds are becoming necessary for brucellosis treatment. This review will summarize different conventional, advanced molecular techniques used in clinical laboratories for direct detection and identification of Brucella spp. and management of the disease using the different Medicinal plants

Antibrucellosis activity of medicinal plants from Western Ghats and characterization of Bioactive Metabolites

Background: Brucellosis is one of the most prevalent bacterial zoonosis which is transmitted to humans from animals. As an alternative to conventional antibiotics, medicinal plants are valuable resources for new agents against antibiotic-resistant strains. Objective: To evaluate the antibrucellosis activity of different medicinal plants collected from the Western Ghats against Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis, Brucella suis. Identification and characterization of the bioactive metabolites of the potent antibrucellosis agent by Thin Layer Chromatography and Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. Methods: Antibacterial assay was carried for the ethanolic extract of different medicinal plants, the potential and effective medicinal plants extract was subjected for purification by TLC and the bioactive metabolites were characterized by the GC MS analysis. Results: Acacia nelotica, Terminalia arjuna, Eugenia jambolana and Callistemon citrinus showed the antibrucellosis activity comparatively Callistemon citrinus had the strong antibrucellosis activity. Further the crude sample was purified by TLC profiling, compounds with different retention factor were screened for antibrucellosis activity, and the bioactive metabolites were identified by GC-MS analysis. Conclusion: For the first time the different medicinal plants from Western Ghats were screened for the antibrucellosis activity. The crude and TLC purified Callistemon citrinus ethanolic extract exhibited strong antibrucellosis activity. The bioactive compounds identified were reported for the first time and the bioactive metabolites identified exhibited as potential antibacterial agents against brucellosis and other Human pathogens

Antibrucellosis activity of medicinal plants from Western Ghats and characterization of Bioactive Metabolites

Background: Brucellosis is one of the most prevalent bacterial zoonosis which is transmitted to humans from animals. As an alternative to conventional antibiotics, medicinal plants are valuable resources for new agents against antibiotic-resistant strains. Objective: To evaluate the antibrucellosis activity of different medicinal plants collected from the Western Ghats against Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis, Brucella suis. Identification and characterization of the bioactive metabolites of the potent antibrucellosis agent by Thin Layer Chromatography and Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. Methods: Antibacterial assay was carried for the ethanolic extract of different medicinal plants, the potential and effective medicinal plants extract was subjected for purification by TLC and the bioactive metabolites were characterized by the GC MS analysis. Results: Acacia nelotica, Terminalia arjuna, Eugenia jambolana and Callistemon citrinus showed the antibrucellosis activity comparatively Callistemon citrinus had the strong antibrucellosis activity. Further the crude sample was purified by TLC profiling, compounds with different retention factor were screened for antibrucellosis activity, and the bioactive metabolites were identified by GC-MS analysis. Conclusion: For the first time the different medicinal plants from Western Ghats were screened for the antibrucellosis activity. The crude and TLC purified Callistemon citrinus ethanolic extract exhibited strong antibrucellosis activity. The bioactive compounds identified were reported for the first time and the bioactive metabolites identified exhibited as potential antibacterial agents against brucellosis and other Human pathogens

Epidemiological studies of Bovine Brucellosis in rural villages of Mandya District Karnataka, India

Bovine Brucellosis is one of the devastating zoonotic diseases that affects the multiple livestock species and causes great economic losses. Therefore, appropriate detection and characterization of brucella species in farm animals to control the spread of infection, and obtain epidemiological data for planning disease control strategies are required. The present study was conducted to estimate the bovine brucellosis prevalence and possible risk factors associated with it in different villages of Mandya District, Karnataka. Blood and Milk samples collected from 210 animals of different villages of Mandya District Karnataka, were examined by the Rose bengal test (RBT) and Milk ring test(MRT).The overall seropositivity was 4.3 % for RBT and 3.3 % for MRT. The seropositive samples were further validated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and differentiation by Bruce ladder PCR. The prevalence of bovine brucellosis by Polymerase chain reaction was found to be 4.3 %. Bruce ladder polymerase chain reaction showed that the isolated samples are Brucella abortus. This study indicated an urgent need of policy for prevention and control of brucellosis in dairy animals

A rapid method for isolation of genomic DNA from food-borne fungal pathogens

Food contaminated with fungal pathogens can cause extremely harmful effects to human even when present in low concentrations. Researchers now pay more attention towards rapid DNA extraction for the quick screening, which is highly demanded in diverse research field. Molecular description of many fungal species is identified by different molecular characteristics. Hence, the efficient isolation of genomic DNA and amplification using PCR is a prerequisite for molecular characterization. Here, we used an improved Sodium dodecyl sulfate-Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide-Chloroform-isoamyl alcohol method by combining Sodium dodecyl sulfate with cetyl methylammonium bromide without addition of proteinase K, RNase K, and β-mercaptoethanol. To analyze the quality of recovered DNA, this method was compared with the other four routine methods. The present method has been chosen in the study as a preferred method because of easy adaptation to routine laboratories/food industries considering its rapid, sensitivit,y and cost effectiveness involved in the method

Epidemiological and molecular characterization of Brucella species in cattle

Background: Bovine brucellosis is a severe threat to livestock and mankind as it is a food-borne and occupational zoonosis. Rapid transmission, high morbidity and mortality are the main features of zoonotic diseases, leading to great personal and economic losses within a short period of time. Therefore, this study aimed for prompt identification and characterization of Brucella species in livestock to control the spread of infection and epidemiological data for the planning of disease control strategies is required. Methodology: Five hundred milk and blood samples were collected from cattle from different regions of Karnataka. All milk and blood samples were examined by Milk Ring Test (MRT) and Rose Bengal Test (RBT) to detect Brucella antibodies, polymerase chain reaction to detect Brucella specific DNA. Low-stringency Single Specific Primer Polymerase Chain Reaction (LSSP-PCR) gene signatures and Single-Strand Chain Polymorphism Polymerase Chain Reaction (SSCP-PCR) were used to study polymorphic variations of Brucella species. Results: Amongst a total of 500 blood and 500 milk samples, 4.6% prevalence of brucellosis was found in Karnataka. The PCR assay was affirmative with the Rose Bengal Test (RBT) (4.6%) and Milk Ring Test (MRT) which yielded (3.4%) lower prevalence. The positive samples were confirmed as Brucella abortus by Bruce-ladder multiplex PCR. The LSSP-PCR, SSCP-PCR gene signatures showed high genetic similarity and intraspecific similarity which are reproducible. Conclusion: Symptoms of brucellosis are not pathognomonic, diagnosis rely mostly on the laboratory tests. Hence, the SSCP-PCR, LSSP-PCR gene signatures can be used as an alternative for detection of brucellosis, screening a large number of clinical samples and identify epidemiological diversity. It also minimizes the drawback of cross-reactivity and only suspected mutants can be sequenced

Evidences for diabetes and insulin mimetic activity of medicinal plants: Present status and future prospects

ABSTRACTDiabetes mellitus (DM) is a considerable systemic metabolic disorder to exhibit various metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, mainly hyperglycemia. The global projected estimate of diabetes in 2030 will be about 439 million adults, out of which 300 million expected are of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The present knowledge revealed responsible factors, occurrence and mechanism of these factors involved in the DM diseases. Hence, the aim of this review is to address and summarize the causes, plant resources, importance, present status and future programmes for diabetes control. The present review answers the contemporary present questions raised in the scientific field on DM. Two major problems are explained in detail about the autoimmune attack or dysfunction of β-cell and insulin resistance involved for Type 1 and Type 2 DM, respectively. Though there are various approaches to reduce the ill effects of diabetes and its secondary complications, many preferred herbal formulations due to lesser side effects and low cost. For this reason still it is getting increased attention in searching antidiabetic medicinal plants for hot research and to develop targeted medicine. Recurrence of islet autoimmunity lesson from pancreatic islet cell transplantation to cure T1D was outlined. With these highlights, the review summarizes the current knowledge on diabetes occurrence, factors (environmental and genetics), and types (I, II, gestation, and secondary DM), antidiabetic plants, sources for insulin mimetic plant principle compounds and their target mechanism with current and future trusted research areas for controlling of DM

Aflatoxins and food pathogens: impact of biologically active aflatoxins and their control strategies

Abstract Globally disease outbreaks as a result of the consumption of contaminated food and feedstuffs are a regular primary problem. The foremost elements contributing to contamination are microorganisms, particularly fungi, which produce low-molecular weight secondary metabolites, with demonstrated toxic properties that are referred to as mycotoxins. Aflatoxins contaminate agricultural commodities and may cause sickness or fatality in humans and animals. Moreover, poor conditions of storage and a deficiency in regulatory measures in food quality control aggravate the main issue. For that reason, mycotoxin-related illness of nutrition represents a major health hazard for local populations. Government policies should make regulations aiming to avoid the entry of aflatoxins into food stuffs. For consumer safety, control and management strategies should be developed and implemented by regulatory authorities. There is the need for attention from farmers, scientists, government and collaborative minds throughout the country to ensure aflatoxin-free food. The present review is informative not only for health-conscious consumers, but also for relevant authorities with respect to paving the way for future research aiming to fill the existing gaps in our knowledge with regard to mycotoxins and food security. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industr