HYMENOPTERA TOXINS: BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY, PHARMACEUTICAL AND THERAPEUTIC USES

The present review article explains the salient features of hornet venom toxins, their physiological, biological and pharmacological effect on animals and man. Hornets sting very fast and inflict venom, which is more dangerous than those of bees. Hornet venom contains both proteinaceous and non-proteinaceous peptides i.e. scapin, adolapin, mellitin, mastoparans and enzymes, mainly phospholipase and hyaluronidase, which show multiple biological effects i.e. cytolytic, hemotoxic, neuro-inhibitor, anticancer, anti-parasitic, immune hypersensitive, inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-insect activities. Hornet stings are more painful to humans than typical wasp stings because hornet venom contains a large amount (5%) of acetylcholine. Hornet toxin components interact with receptors, ion channels and gated channels and affect the permeability functions of cells. Heavy envenomation shows quick pathophysiological lethal effects in man and pet. This article emphasizes the use of various hornet venom components for the production of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic and analgesic, anticancer drugs and insecticides. Hornet venom allergens could be used to prepare the rational design of component-resolved diagnosis of allergy and venom immunotherapy of inflicting patients

COELENTERATE TOXINS, ITS PHARMACEUTICAL AND THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS

Present review article emphasizes species specific coelenterate toxins, its pharmaceutical and therapeutic effects. Most of the coelenterates inflict venom accidently by using nematocysts found on arms. These animals very quickly do massive and multiple inflictions of venom which causes cardiotoxicity that leads to the death of human beings. Coelenterate venom toxin groups differ in their composition and show diverse biological activity i.e. cytolytic or neurotoxic, hemolytic, anti-parasitic activity, α-amylase inhibitor activity, and analgesic activity anti-cancerous and antitumor activity, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. Coelenterate venom initiates toxic and immunological reactions exert their effects by modifying the properties of the ion channels involved in action potential generation in nerve, heart, and skeletal muscles. This article suggests available information, on coelenterate toxins could be used to develop potential therapeutic interventions for various human diseases and disorders

TOXIC AND IMMUNE ALLERGIC RESPONSES OF ANT VENOM TOXINS: A REVIEW

Present review article explains ant venom components and its allergic and biological effects in man and animals. Red ants or small fire ants secrete and inject venom very swiftly to defend their nest against predators, microbial pathogens, and competitors and to hunt the prey. Ant venom is a mixture of various organic compounds, including peptides, enzymes, and polypeptide toxins. It is highly toxic, allergic, invasive and venomous. It imposes sever paralytic, cytolytic, haemolytic, allergenic, pro-inflammatory, insecticidal, antimicrobial, and pain-producing pharmacologic activities after infliction. Victims show red ring-shaped allergic sign with regional swelling marked with intense pain. Ant venom also contains several hydrolases, oxidoreductases, proteases, Kunitz-like polypeptides, and inhibitor cysteine knot (ICK)-like (knottin) neurotoxins and insect defensins. Ant venom toxins/proteins generate allergic immune responses and employ eosinophils and produce Th2 cytokines, response. These compounds from ant venom could be used as a potential source of new anticonvulsants molecules. Ant venoms contain many small, linear peptides, an untapped source of bioactive peptide toxins. The remarkable insecticidal activity of ant venom could be used as a promising source of additional bio-insecticides and therapeutic agents

THERAPEUTICS APPROACHES OF INVERTEBRATE ANIMAL TOXINS: A REVIEW

The present review article describes invertebrate venoms and various toxins secreted by them. Animal venoms are stores of novel peptides which exhibit a wide variety of biological effects and actively interact with pathogen and parasites. Animal toxins selectively bind to ion channels and receptors and display show hemolytic, cytolytic, proteolytic, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial and analgesic activity. These generate allergic and inflammatory responses in victims. These disrupt cell membranes and inhibit bacterial growth and kill them. Animal toxins inhibit virus entry into host cells and obstruct virus replication. These were also found highly effective against protozoan and fungal pathogens. By using bioinformatics tools, methods and approaches, both structural and functional diversity of toxin peptides could be harnessed to develop highly effective broad-spectrum drugs for therapeutics. Animal venoms are an inexhaustible source of bioactive molecules, which could be used for the development of immune diagnostics, various pharmaceuticals for therapeutics and bio-insecticides. Present article tries to explore the exceptional specificity and high potency of animal toxins for drug development

To study the antihyperglycaemic and lipid lowering effect of garlic as an adjunct to metformin in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with obesity

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of multiple aetiology characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia associated with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. The treatment constitutes  lifestyle management, exercise, weight control and antihyperglycaemic drugs like sulfonylureas, biguanides, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, thiazolidinediones, and meglitinide. Garlic has shown to have anti-hyperglycaemic and lipid lowering effects in various animal and human studies. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the antihyperglycaemic and lipid-lowering properties of Garlic in type2 diabetes patients with obesity.Methods: This was an open labelled prospective comparative study conducted on Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with obesity where a total of 60 patients divided into two groups of 30 each (of either sex) were enrolled. Group 1 was given Tab. metformin 500mg BD/TDS after meals. Group 2 was given Tab. metformin in a dose of 500mg BD/TDS after meals along with Cap. Garlic (Allium sativum) 250mg BD. Patients were routinely investigated for fasting blood sugar, HbA1c and lipid profile i.e. Serum Cholesterol, HDL-C, Triglycerides and LDL-C at the start of the study. Patients were followed up at an interval of two weeks upto 12 weeks. Data obtained at the end of the study was statistically analysed using Student’s –t test.Results: It was observed that both metformin and garlic reduced FBG and HbA1c significantly but percentage reduction in FBG was more with garlic but, change in HbA1c was not significant. Fall in total CHL, TG, LDL and an increase in HDL were more pronounced in patients treated with Garlic when given along with Metformin.Conclusions: Therefore, garlic showed better results as an antihyperglycaemic and lipid lowering agent

Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of Triclosan Induce Cyto-Genotoxicity and Biochemical Alterations in the Hatchlings of Labeo rohita

Xenobiotic Triclosan (TCS) is of great concern because of its existence in a variety of personal, household and healthcare products and continuous discharge in water worldwide. Excessive use of TCS-containing sanitizers and antiseptic products during the COVID-19 pandemic further increased its content in aquatic ecosystems. The present study deals with the cyto-genotoxic effects and biochemical alterations in the hatchlings of Labeo rohita on exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of TCS. Three-days-old hatchlings were exposed to tap water, acetone (solvent control) and 4 environmentally relevant concentrations (6.3, 12.6, 25.2 and 60 µg/L) of TCS for 14 days and kept for a recovery period of 10 days. The significant concentration-dependent decline in cell viability but increase in micronucleated cells, nucleo-cellular abnormalities (NCAs) and DNA damage parameters like tail length, tail moment, olive tail moment and percent of tail DNA after exposure persisted till the end of recovery period. Glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, uric acid and urea (except for an increase at 60 µg/L) showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) concentration-dependent decrease after 14 days of exposure. The same trend (except for triglycerides, albumin and total bilirubin) continued till 10 days post exposure. In comparison to control, transaminases (alanine and aspartate aminotransferases) increased (p ≤ 0.05) after exposure as well as the recovery period, while a decline in alkaline phosphatase after exposure was followed by a significant increase during the recovery period. The results show that the environmentally relevant concentrations of TCS cause deleterious effects on the hatchlings of L. rohita

Functional finishing of woven fabric with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets decorated with Ag-N doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles

333-340An innovative approach has been made to impart self-cleaning and antibacterial properties to woven fabrics. Reduced graphene oxide/Ag-N TiO2 nanocomposites are successfully prepared by simple mixing and sonication for finishing of woven fabric with prepared nanocomposites. The physiochemical properties of prepared samples are analysed by X-ray diffraction, UV-Visible spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared radiation spectroscopy. The prepared nanocomposite (rGO/ 1% Ag-N TiO2) shows lower bandgap of 2.3 eV as compared to individual nanomaterials, and hence the improved photocatalytic performance, leading to high self-cleaning and antibacterial activity

Menopausal Transition and the Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis An Overview

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory illness caused by an accumulation of inflammatory infiltration in the synovial membrane, which leads to the progressive deterioration of joint architecture. Women are three times more likely than men to have RA, with more severe functional loss and disability. The purpose of this review is to study the shifts in the hormonal system brought on by menopause and their potential links with RA. Females are more likely to develop RA as a result of hereditary and environmental interactions of sex hormones and their effects on the immune system. Rapid declines in ovarian function and systemic estrogen have been linked to postmenopausal increases in proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β. The majority of the data from the literature review imply that female hormone characteristics that can be influenced by hereditary and environmental variables impact the development of autoimmune illnesses, including RA.&nbsp

Coronary calcium scoring on virtual non-contrast and virtual non-iodine reconstructions compared to true non-contrast images using photon-counting computed tomography

Objectives: To compare coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores measured on virtual non-contrast (VNC) and virtual non-iodine (VNI) reconstructions computed from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) using photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) to true non-contrast (TNC) images. Methods: We included 88 patients (mean age = 59 years ± 13.5, 69% male) who underwent a TNC coronary calcium scan followed by CCTA on PCCT. VNC images were reconstructed in 87 patients and VNI in 88 patients by virtually removing iodine from the CCTA images. For all reconstructions, CAC scores were determined, and patients were classified into risk categories. The overall agreement of the reconstructions was analyzed by Bland–Altman plots and the level of matching classifications. Results: The median CAC score on TNC was 27.8 [0–360.4] compared to 8.5 [0.2–101.6] (p &lt; 0.001) on VNC and 72.2 [1.3–398.8] (p &lt; 0.001) on VNI. Bland–Altman plots depicted a bias of 148.8 (ICC = 0.82, p &lt; 0.001) and − 57.7 (ICC = 0.95, p &lt; 0.001) for VNC and VNI, respectively. Of all patients with CAC TNC = 0, VNC reconstructions scored 63% of the patients correctly, while VNI scored 54% correctly. Of the patients with CAC TNC &gt; 0, VNC and VNI reconstructions detected the presence of coronary calcium in 90% and 92% of the patients. CAC VNC tended to underestimate CAC score, whereas CAC VNI overestimated, especially in the lower risk categories. According to the risk categories, VNC misclassified 55% of the patients, while VNI misclassified only 32%. Conclusion: Compared to TNC images, VNC underestimated and VNI overestimated the actual CAC scores. VNI reconstructions quantify and classify coronary calcification scores more accurately than VNC reconstructions. Clinical relevance statement: Photon-counting CT enables spectral imaging, which might obviate the need for non-contrast enhanced coronary calcium scoring, but optimization is necessary for the clinical implementation of the algorithms. Key Points: • Photon-counting computed tomography uses spectral information to virtually remove the signal of contrast agents from contrast-enhanced scans. • Virtual non-contrast reconstructions tend to underestimate coronary artery calcium scores compared to true non-contrast images, while virtual non-iodine reconstructions tend to overestimate the calcium scores. • Virtual non-iodine reconstructions might obviate the need for non-contrast enhanced calcium scoring, but optimization is necessary for the clinical implementation of the algorithms.</p

Astreaks: Astrometry of NEOs with trailed background stars

The detection and accurate astrometry of fast-moving near-Earth objects (NEOs) has been a challenge for the follow-up community. Their fast apparent motion results in streaks in sidereal images, thus affecting the telescope's limiting magnitude and astrometric accuracy. A widely adopted technique to mitigate trailing losses is non-sidereal tracking, which transfers the streaking to background reference stars. However, no existing publicly available astrometry software is configured to detect such elongated stars. We present Astreaks, a streaking source detection algorithm, to obtain accurate astrometry of NEOs in non-sidereal data. We validate the astrometric accuracy of Astreaks on 371 non-sidereally tracked images for 115 NEOs with two instrument set-ups of the GROWTH-India Telescope. The observed NEOs had V-band magnitude in the range [15, 22] with proper motion up to 140$^{\prime\prime}$/min, thus resulting in stellar streaks as high as 6.5$^\prime$ (582 pixels) in our data. Our method obtained astrometric solutions for all images with 100% success rate. The standard deviation in Observed-minus-Computed (O-C) residuals is 0.52$^{\prime\prime}$, with O-C residuals <2$^{\prime\prime}$(<1$^{\prime\prime}$) for 98.4% (84.4%) of our measurements. These are appreciable, given the pixel scale of $\sim$0.3$^{\prime\prime}$ and $\sim$0.7$^{\prime\prime}$ of our two instrument set-ups. This demonstrates that our modular and fully-automated algorithm helps improve the telescope system's limiting magnitude without compromising astrometric accuracy by enabling non-sidereal tracking on the target. This will help the NEO follow-up community cope with the accelerated discovery rates and improved sensitivity of the next-generation NEO surveys. Astreaks has been made available to the community under an open-source license.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure