In silico design of potent agonists for human PPAR γ

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR γ) acts as a key regulator on adipocyte differentiation and glucose homeostasis. PPAR γ has been implicated in the pathology of type 2 diabetes. As human PPAR γ activity is considered important in improving insulin sensitivity, in silico screening was carried out to find potent agonists for human PPAR γ protein. The co-crystal structure of PPAR γ, solved through X-Ray diffraction method was retrieved from the protein data bank. Four PPAR γ agonists selected from literature were submitted to subsequent 2D searching protocol using Ligand.Info, which yielded 1699 structural analogs. The PPAR γ co-crystal structure and ligand dataset were preprocessed using protein preparation wizard and LigPrep, respectively. Further, docking was performed by using three phased docking protocol of Maestro v9.2 that implements Glide v5.7. The obtained thirteen leads through docking were compared with the existing inhibitors and seven leads with good binding affinity with PPAR γ were proposed. The binding orientations of the seven leads were coinciding well with the native co-crystal structure of human PPAR γ. Thus, the proposed seven leads can be suggested as potential agonists for improving insulin sensitivity in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus if synthesized and validated in animal model

IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF THE FRACTIONS OF COCCINIA GRANDIS L. LEAF EXTRACT

The present study was aimed at investigating the antioxidant activities of the various fractions of the hydromethanolic extract of the leaves of Coccinia grandis L. Voigt. (Cucurbitaceae). The antioxidant activities of the fractions have been evaluated by using nine in vitro assays and were compared to standard antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, curcumin and butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT). All the fractions showed effective H-donor activity, reducing power, free radical scavenging activity, metal chelating ability and inhibition of β-carotene bleaching. None of the fractions exerted an obvious pro-oxidant activity. The antioxidant property depends upon concentration and increased with increasing amount of the fractions. The free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities may be attributed to the presence of phenolic and flavonoid compounds present in the fractions. The results obtained in the present study indicate that the leaves of C. grandis are a potential source of natural antioxidant

A Study on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Multi Objective LPP into LCP with Neutrosophic Triangular Numbers Approach

In this paper Principal pivoting method is proposed to solve the Fuzzy Linear Complementarity Problems (FLCP). Then we solve the Fuzzy Linear Complementarily Problem with Neutrosophic Triangular Fuzzy numbers. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is illustrated by means of a Numerical example. This problem finds many applications in several areas of science, engineering and economics and is also an important tool for the solution of some NP-hard structured and non convex optimization problems, such as bilevel, bilinear and non convex quadratic programs

Global health concern of cyanotoxins in surface water and its various detection methods

Water is an absolutely required resource for life nourishment especially for the purpose of drinking, domestic and farming. People in various part of the world are under prodigious threat due to unenviable changes in the physical-chemical and biological properties of an ecosystem. Due to anthropogenic causes like industrialization, the use of fertilizers and urbanization leads to highly polluted water bodies that include fresh and brackish water. These changes influence the harmful growth of cyanobacteria that is blue green algae. cyanoHABs (Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms)  became a worldwide threat to drinking and recreational purpose due to its adopting nature according to the temperature fluctuations. In this study, a basic introduction to cyanotoxins as well as the entanglement of public health that includes route of exposure health effects and the pervasive impact of cyanotoxins and alleviation efforts in the waterbodies along with that the toxicosis. Cyanobacterial toxins such as hepatotoxicosis, neurotoxicosis, gastrointestinal disturbances respiratory and allergic reactions were reviewed. Their detection process and the treatment techniques with various physicochemical methods and bioassay methods were also reviewed

Metabolic Syndrome amongst Polycystic Ovarian Disease

INTRODUCTION: The most common form of anovulatory infertility is polycystic ovary syndrome1. The most typical form, the association of hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation without specific underlying diseases of the adrenal or pituitary glands. The principle underlying disorder is insulin resistance resulting in hyper insulinemia and hyperandrogenism2,3 in later on life results in metabolic Syndrome which predisposes to cardiovascular disease and NIDDM in later life4. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of several factors which may share a common etiology and each of which is a risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The clustering of Insulin resistance, dysglycemia, dyslipidemia and hypertension was originally defined as syndrome X in 19885 Metabolic syndrome includes general obesity (as reflected by BMI defined as wt in kg/ht in m2 central obesity as reflected by waist circumference or waist hip ratio) dyslipidemia (as reflected by Low HDL and High TGL levels) hyperglycemia, high blood pressure and resistance to action of insulin. The risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease with polycystic ovarian syndrome necessitates the awareness to detect it at an earlier stage. The identification of these insults in the preclinical state will lead on to delay in clinical manifestation and the postponement of metabolic morbidity. The current study focuses this problem to identify early markers and to set guidelines for defining the metabolic syndrome among PCOS patients. AIM OF THE STUDY: To study the significance of: 1. Anthropometric Measurements, 2. Insulin Resistance (Fasting Glucose), 3. Lipid Profile (TGL/HDL Ratio), 4. Hypertension (Blood Pressure) in Polycystic ovarian disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who attended the Endocrinology OPD, Institute of Obstetric and Gynecology with history and clinical examination suggestive of polycystic ovaries were analyzed and those who fit in inclusion criteria were taken for study numbering one hundred and nine. A control group consisting of hundred women were also studied. The group had spontaneous, regular cylical menstrual flow and with out hyperandrogenic features. All were euthyroid and euprolactinemic. Study and Control group were in the age group 16-35. Period of study was between Oct 2005 to Sep 2006. Inclusion Criteria: 1. Less than 40 years 2. USG findings of Polycystic ovaries 3. Hyperandrogenic features 4. Menstrual disorders. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Prior known endocrine or medial disorder 2. Patients with chronic infection 3. Patients on hormone therapy. CONCLUSION: PCOS, a clinical entity is a complex association of metabolic disturbances expressing in different ways both clinically and chemically. The focus of our study is to unreveil its association. Compared to the western literature, PCOS, has profoundly present in our Asian population. Body weight has direct correlation with the presence of PCOS as weight, BMI, waist hip ratio increasing which tells us the importance of documenting anthropometic measurements. Clinical scenerio inclusive of Hypertention, fasting lipid abnormality goes hand in hand amongst PCOS Patients. The Significane of elevated fasting glycemic status was not appreciably present which precludes the importance of documenting post glucose challenge which will unmask the impairment of glucose tolerance. The role of treating physician is expanded in cases of polycystic orarian syndrome after realising its close association whith chemical abberations resulting in the Misery of Systemic abnormalities. Till we understand the real etiological factor which result in PCOS, the responsibility to detect and treat the tentacles of morbid associations as highlighted in our study

Assessment of medical students’ attitude towards didactic lectures taken in pharmacology in a private medical college

Background: To assess the attitude of second year medical students towards the teaching Principles in Pharmacology didactic lecture classes.Methods: It was a descriptive epidemiological and questionnaire based study. Second year students who were attending pharmacology lecture classes for a period of one month (nearly 8 lectures) were given questionnaire and ask to fill it by assessing the theory classes which was conducted throughout that month. Each question was graded with mark and finally total score was converted to 50 marks. Five-level Likert’s criteria were used to analyze few questions in the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by frequency distribution.Results: Out of 115 students who attended the questionnaire session, 61% students were having a very good and better attitude towards the faculty talking Pharmacology lecture classes and remaining students have a few lacking areas in the teaching mode which should be analyzed.Conclusions: Students have good attitude towards the faculty taking didactic lectures and the lacking areas can be future improved by efficient planning of interactive and interesting lecture methods for the usefulness of students as well as the teacher

In vitro antioxidant activity of Vetiveria zizanioides root extract

Free radicals induce numerous diseases by lipid peroxidation and DNA damage. It has been reported that some of the extracts from plants possess antioxidant properties capable of scavenging free radicals in vivo. Vetiveria zizanioides belonging to the family Gramineae, is a densely tufted grass which is widely used as a traditional plant for aromatherapy, to relieve stress, anxiety, nervous tension and insomnia. In this regard, the roots of V. zizanioides was extracted with ethanol and used for the evaluation of various in vitro antioxidant activities such as reducing power ability, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, deoxyribose degradation assay, total antioxidant capacity, total phenolics and total flavonoid composition. The various antioxidant activities were compared with suitable antioxidants such as butyl hydroxy toluene, ascorbic acid, quercetin, alpha tocopherol, pyrocatechol and curcumin respectively. The generation of free radicals O2-, H2O2, OH and NO were effectively scavenged by the ethanolic extract of V.zizanioides. In all these methods, the extract showed strong antioxidant activity in a dose dependent manner. The results obtained in the present study clearly indicates that V. zizanioides scavenges free radicals, ameliorating damage imposed by oxidative stress in different disease conditions and serve as a potential source of natural antioxidant. The study provides a proof for the ethnomedical claims and reported biological activities. The plant has, therefore, very good therapeutic and antioxidant potential

Type 2 Diabetic Prediction Using Machine Learning Algorithm

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most important chronic disease  and  has  become  a  major  public  health challenge in the recent world. Currently Machine Learning approaches have been used to analyze and  predict the probability of people getting affected by diabetes. Diabetes can  be effectively identified using the proposed Machine  Learning  technique.  Many techniques  and algorithms were used before for the  prediction of  type 2 diabetes  prediction ,one such model was Multinomial Logistic Regression .Moving a step ahead to improve the diagnostic efficiency, this paper  proposes the use of  Weighted K –Nearest  neighbor  for detecting  the  type-2 Diabetes.  This new approach proves higher effectiveness when compared to Multinomial Logistic Regression. Using Pima Indian Dataset the experiments were performed and it shows that efficiency is higher for weighted KNN when compared to Multinomial Logistic Regression.

Zinc intake, status and indices of cognitive function in adults and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In developing countries, deficiencies of micronutrients are thought to have a major impact on child development; however, a consensus on the specific relationship between dietary zinc intake and cognitive function remains elusive. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the relationship between zinc intake, status and indices of cognitive function in children and adults. A systematic literature search was conducted using EMBASE, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library databases from inception to March 2014. Included studies were those that supplied zinc as supplements or measured dietary zinc intake. A meta-analysis of the extracted data was performed where sufficient data were available. Of all of the potentially relevant papers, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria, 12 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs; 11 in children and 1 in adults) and 6 were observational studies (2 in children and 4 in adults). Nine of the 18 studies reported a positive association between zinc intake or status with one or more measure of cognitive function. Meta-analysis of data from the adult’s studies was not possible because of limited number of studies. A meta-analysis of data from the six RCTs conducted in children revealed that there was no significant overall effect of zinc intake on any indices of cognitive function: intelligence, standard mean difference of <0.001 (95% confidence interval (CI) –0.12, 0.13) P=0.95; executive function, standard mean difference of 0.08 (95% CI, –0.06, 022) P=0.26; and motor skills standard mean difference of 0.11 (95% CI –0.17, 0.39) P=0.43. Heterogeneity in the study designs was a major limitation, hence only a small number (n=6) of studies could be included in the meta-analyses. Meta-analysis failed to show a significant effect of zinc supplementation on cognitive functioning in children though, taken as a whole, there were some small indicators of improvement on aspects of executive function and motor development following supplementation but high-quality RCTs are necessary to investigate this further