Antidiabetic activity of Plumeria rubra L. in normal and alloxan induced diabetic mice

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major source of morbidity in developed countries. In spite of the introduction of hypoglycemic agents, diabetes and related complications continue to be a major medical problem. Our present study aims to investigate the antidiabetic activity of aqueous extract of plumeria rubra (PR) in experimental animals.Methods: PR extract was subjected to antidiabetic study in alloxan induced diabetic model at three-dose levels 100,200 and 400 mg/kg respectively. It was also tested for hypoglycemic activity at same dose levels. Diabetes was induced by alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg, i.p.). PR extracts and standard drug glibenclamide (10 mg/kg, p.o.) was administered to animals for 28 days. The blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, glycosylated hemoglobin. Body weights were assessed in the experimental animals. Histopathological observations during 28 days treatment were also evaluated.Results: PR extract induced significant reduction (P<0.001) in fasting blood glucose levels in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Significant differences were observed in serum lipid profiles, glycosylated haemoglobin by extract treated-diabetic animals, when compared with the diabetic control and normal animals. The protective effect of PR was also evident from the histopathological examination on pancreas, liver and kidney. It reduced the injuries induced by alloxan.Conclusions: PR exhibited significant antihyperglycemic activity in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The results of the present study provide support to the traditional usage of the plant in diabetes

Evaluation of Pharmacodynamic interaction between Tinospora Cordifolia Alcoholic extract and Gliclazide : An herb-drug interaction study

Many diabetic people today consume herbs or herbal formulations along with prescription and non-prescription medications which may result in the herb-drug interaction Tinospora Cordifolia, with berberine being one of the most abundant active phytoconstituent widely used as an antidiabetic While Gliclazide is indicated to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus whichacts asan insulin secretagogue .T. Cordifolia is a potent inhibitor of CYP2C9 and Gliclazide is known to be metabolized by this enzyme. Potential Pharmacodynamic herb drug interaction might be possible in case of co administration of both. The pharmacodynamic interaction between TCE and Gliclazide was evaluated on hypoglycemic activity in normal and streptozotocinnicotinamide-induced diabetic rats. The study was conducted in 2 parts viz. acute study and sub-acute study in both normal and diabetic animals. The serum triglyceride level and histopathology of pancreawas performed to assess effect on glucose metabolism and pancreas.FTIR Analysis was also carried out to evaluate the interaction between functional groups. The combination showed pharmacodynamic interaction as reduction the time of onset of action and increasing the duration of action of gliclazide when administered in combination with T. cardiofolia. In FTIR studies of combination showed no physical interaction betweenfunctional groups suggesting both drugs might be acting on the different receptors. The study concludes that the combination of Gliclazide with TCE showed an increase in the hypoglycemic effect as compared to the gliclazide alone in STZ-NIC induced diabetic rats. This might be utilized clinically as a beneficial drug interaction in patients after thorough investigations in clinical studie

Quantitative Determination of Norepinephrine by HPLC in Rodent Urine Sample

Abstract Norepinephrine, a key neurotransmitter that has been linked to a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases. However, there is limited work on employing HPLC-UV to estimate monoamines in biological samples using HPLC-UV method. The present study explores the detection of norepinephrine in rat urine sample, developing a easy, precise validated HPLC method. The o-phosphoric acid (80%):acetonitrile (70:30) combination was used as the mobile phase, and a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min was used to produce the chromatographic separation on a C8 column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 m). The detection was observed at λmax 275 nm with better sensitivity. According to the parameters indicated in the ICH guidelines (Q2A; Q2B), the procedure was verified. The linearity range was selected from 10-35 µg/mL, r2 =0.966, LOD (1.17 µg/mL), LOQ (3.55 µg/mL), ret. time (4 min). The technique has demonstrated that it is repeatable and recoverable within the given range. Thus can be used for routine analysis of norepinephrine in urine samples

Preliminary Pharmacognostic, Physicochemical and Phytochemical Evaluation of Plumeria Obtuse Seed Pods

Plumeria obtuse L. (Apocynaceae) is an ornate outdoor plant. The plant was traditionally used during accidentalinjuries. However, the pharmacognosy of this plant is very poorly explored. Therefore, we have conducted this study to assess the distinctive qualities of the P. obtusa. To investigate P. obtusa seed pods’ preliminary pharmacognostic, physical-chemical, phytochemical, microscopic, and phytoconstituent potential. Initially, the shape and microscopic characteristics of plant seed pods were assessed. Physicochemical analysis was used for the standardization. Utilizing several chemical techniques, phytoconstituents were evaluated qualitatively. This was followed by quantitative estimation and analytical profiling of various phytoconstituents. The basic characteristics of the seed pod have been documented by macroscopy to be its brown color, sweet aroma, bitter flavor, coarse texture, and rough fracture. Microscopy showed the existence of vascular bundles, lignified fibers, calcium oxalate crystals and arteries. The results of the physicochemical analysis revealed no foreign organic matter, 2.8 % weight-average moisture content and a high total ash value of 14.80 compared to an acid insoluble ash value of 0.70, which indicated that there was less inorganic matter in the plant. The extractive values were 3.93, 6.03 and 10.16 % w/w for water soluble, alcohol soluble and hydro-alcoholic soluble extracts respectively. Flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, phenolic constituents, tannins and carbohydrates were found during early phytochemical analysis. Instrumental analysis has given an idea about functional groups present whereas GCMS technique helped in identification of phytoconstituents. The results of this study can be significantly used as a reference support for quality control and standardization of P. obtusa and preparation of a monograph of plant

Antidiabetic activity of Plumeria rubra L. in normal and alloxan induced diabetic mice

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major source of morbidity in developed countries. In spite of the introduction of hypoglycemic agents, diabetes and related complications continue to be a major medical problem. Our present study aims to investigate the antidiabetic activity of aqueous extract of plumeria rubra (PR) in experimental animals.Methods: PR extract was subjected to antidiabetic study in alloxan induced diabetic model at three-dose levels 100,200 and 400 mg/kg respectively. It was also tested for hypoglycemic activity at same dose levels. Diabetes was induced by alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg, i.p.). PR extracts and standard drug glibenclamide (10 mg/kg, p.o.) was administered to animals for 28 days. The blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, glycosylated hemoglobin. Body weights were assessed in the experimental animals. Histopathological observations during 28 days treatment were also evaluated.Results: PR extract induced significant reduction (P&lt;0.001) in fasting blood glucose levels in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Significant differences were observed in serum lipid profiles, glycosylated haemoglobin by extract treated-diabetic animals, when compared with the diabetic control and normal animals. The protective effect of PR was also evident from the histopathological examination on pancreas, liver and kidney. It reduced the injuries induced by alloxan.Conclusions: PR exhibited significant antihyperglycemic activity in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The results of the present study provide support to the traditional usage of the plant in diabetes

Rational drug repurposing for alzheimer’s treatment using in-silico ligand and structure-based approaches

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline. New AD treatments are essential, and drug repositioning is a promising approach. In this study, we combined ligand-based and structure-based approaches to identify potential candidates among FDA-approved drugs for AD treatment. We used the human acetylcholinesterase receptor structure (PDB ID: 4EY7) and applied Rapid Overlay of Chemical Structures and Swiss Similarity for ligand-based screening.Computational shape-based screening revealed 20 out of 760 FDA approved drugs with promising structural similarity to Donepezil, an AD treatment AChE inhibitor and query molecule. The screened hits were further analyzed using docking analysis with Autodock Vina and Schrodinger glide. Predicted binding affinities of hits to AChE receptor guided prioritization of potential drug candidates. Doxazosin, Oxypertine, Cyclopenthiazide, Mestranol, and Terazosin exhibited favorable properties in shape similarity, docking energy, and molecular dynamics stability.Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the stability of the complexes over 100 ns. Binding free energy analysis using MM-GBSA indicated favourable binding energies for the selected drugs. ADME, formulation studies offered insights into therapeutic applications and predicted toxicity.This comprehensive computational approach identified potential FDA-approved drugs (especially Doxazosin) as candidates for repurposing in AD treatment, warranting further investigation and clinical assessment

On the brink of transformation: Clinical research

The research on drug development life cycle and bringing sole new drug to the market is a million dollar question for pharmaceutical organization. Any clinical trial consumes average of 10 to 15 years and USD 1.5-2.0 billion with uncertainty of medications for its effectiveness for human use. Hardly, one out of 10 compounds entering into the clinical trial that reaches to the market rendering a major loss to pharmaceutical or biotech company in case of trial failure. Conversely, with changing time and an increase in the number of medicines approved by regulatory authorities, the regulatory teams are increasing networks for monitoring and assembling adverse event reports from varied sources. This in turn, has increases annual exponential rise in data volumes and the companies are facing a huge challenge in processing it. To meet such challenges, organizations must sharpen their ability to introduce new wearables for clinical trials and provide advanced cognitive solution to handle large and complex datasets. This has summoned concepts like Artificial Intelligence to expedite medical science and clinical trial and pharmacovigilance attain success

A Current Perspective on the Potential of Nanomedicine for Anti-Tuberculosis Therapy

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the ten infectious diseases that cause the highest amount of human mortality and morbidity. This infection, which is caused by a single pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, kills over a million people every year. There is an emerging problem of antimicrobial resistance in TB that needs urgent treatment and management. Tuberculosis treatment is complicated by its complex drug regimen, its lengthy duration and the serious side-effects caused by the drugs required. There are a number of critical issues around drug delivery and subsequent intracellular bacterial clearance. Drugs have a short lifespan in systemic circulation, which limits their activity. Nanomedicine in TB is an emerging research area which offers the potential of effective drug delivery using nanoparticles and a reduction in drug doses and side-effects to improve patient compliance with the treatment and enhance their recovery. Here, we provide a minireview of anti-TB treatment, research progress on nanomedicine and the prospects for future applications in developing innovative therapies

In-vitro anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant study of Sansevieria cylindrica Bojer ex. Hook and Plumeria obtusa L. plants using different methods

Background: Sansevieria cylindrica and Plumeria obtusa are used as a medicinal plant during intentional and unintentional accidental injuries. However, limited investigations have been performed to study pharmacological activities of these plants. Objectives: The current study designed at examining in-vitro anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effect of both plant extracts. Material &amp; Method: Initially, the collection and authentication of both the plants performed. Phytochemical screening was done thereafter. Sansevieria cylindrica leaves and Plumeria obtusa seed pods were extracted using a combination of water and ethanol. Anti-inflammatory effect was assessed using membrane stabilization and protein denaturation assays. Anti-oxidant activity was measured by free radicals scavenging method using different reactive oxygen species producing reagents. Results: The dose dependent increase in anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities were reported by both plants. Overall, Sansevieria cylindrica has shown higher rate of prevention of inflammation and oxidation compared to Plumeria obtusa extract. Both plants showed comparable anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity in combination with that of reference drugs. Conclusion: The hydro-alcoholic extracts of Sansevieria cylindrica and Plumeria obtusa individually and also as 1:1 blend might be responsible for an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities.

Safety and Protective Effects of Influenza Vaccination in Pregnant Women on Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes in Pune, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Maternal influenza vaccination provides effective protection against influenza infections in pregnant women and their newborns. In India, the influenza vaccine has not yet been offered through immunization programs, owing to the lack of sufficient safety data for pregnant Indian women. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study enrolled 558 women admitted to the obstetrics ward of a civic hospital in Pune. Study-related information was obtained from the participants through hospital records and interviews using structured questionnaires. Univariate and multivariable analysis was used, and the chi-square test with adjusted odds ratio was estimated to account for vaccine exposure and the temporal nature of each outcome, respectively. Results: Women not vaccinated against influenza during pregnancy had a higher risk of delivering very LBW infants, and possible protective effects were suggested (AOR 2.29, 95% CI 1.03 to 5.58, p = 0.03). No association was observed between maternal influenza vaccination for Caesarean section (LSCS) (AOR 0.97, 95% CI, 0.78, 1.85), stillbirth (AOR 1.8, 95% CI 0.18, 24.64) and NICU admission (AOR, 0.87, 0.29 to 2.85), and congenital anomaly (AOR, 0.81, 0.10 to 3.87). Interpretation: These results show that the influenza vaccine administered during pregnancy is safe and might lower the risk of negative birth outcomes