Retracted: Effect of Paris polyphylla extract on seconddegree burns in rats

This article previously published in Volume 15 Issue 10 of this journal in October 2016 has beenretracted in line with the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE,http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines)Retracted: Ma Z, Yin W, Hu G, Zhu Z, Huang Z. Effect of Paris polyphylla extract on second-degree burns in rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2016; 15(10):2131-2135 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v15i10.11From the EditorOur attention was drawn to the falsification of the data published in this article which was confirmed.The corresponding author, Zhi-jian Huang, failed to respond to communication in this respect.26 January 201

Effect of Paris polyphylla extract on second-degree burns in rats

Purpose: To investigate the healing effect of Paris polyphylla extract (PPE) on second-degree burns in rats.Methods: Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, weighing 200 – 220 g, were subjected to deep seconddegree skin burns by electrical scald instrument. The animals were divided into three groups as follows: (1) second-degree burn model (control) group, (2) burn model treated with 1 % silver sulfadiazine (SSD) group, and (3) burn model treated with 120 mg·mL-1 PPE group. On days 3, 7 and 14 following the administration of the drug/extract, wound area and histopathological changes in rat epidermis were evaluated for the three groups. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of PPE on Staphyloccocus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli were also assessed.Results: On day 14, the mean wound area of PPE treatment group (0.21 ± 0.04 cm2) was significantly smaller than that of the control rats (2.78 ± 0.18 cm2, p < 0.01). Histological results indicate that inflammatory cells disappeared and were replaced by new granulation tissue in the group treated with 120 mg·mL-1 PPE by day 14. Compared with SSD group rats, the inflammatory cells and fibroblast and granulation tissues of burnt rats with burns and treated with 120 mg·mL-1 PPE decreased significantly. The antibacterial data revealed that the MIC of PPE against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli was 2.35, 8.2 and 4.70 mg·mL-1, respectively.Conclusion: Paris polyphylla is an effective medicinal herb that holds promise for the treatment of second-degree burns.Keywords: Paris polyphylla, Second-degree burns, Wound healing, Antibacterial, Inflammatory cells, Granulation tissues, Silver sulfadiazin

Cobrotoxin from Naja naja atra

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) becomes a global health problem with high morbidity and mortality. Adriamycin- (ADR-) induced rodent chronic nephropathy is a classic experimental model of human minimal lesion nephrotic syndrome. The present study investigated the effect of cobrotoxin (CTX) on ADR-induced nephropathy. Rats were given 6 mg/kg ADR once through the tail vein to replicate ADR nephropathy model. CTX was administered to rats daily by placing a fast dissolving CTX membrane strip under the tongue starting from 5 days prior to ADR administration until the end of experiment. The results showed that CTX ameliorated the symptoms of ADR nephropathy syndrome with reduced body weight loss, proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, dyslipidemia, serum electrolyte imbalance, oxidative stress, renal function abnormities, and kidney pathological lesions. Anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 expression was elevated after CTX administration in ADR nephropathy model. CTX inhibited the phosphorylation of IκB-α and NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation. Meanwhile, CTX upregulated the protein level of podocyte-specific nephrin and downregulated the level of fibrosis-related TGF-β. These findings suggest that CTX may be a potential drug for chronic kidney diseases

Tramadol Pretreatment Enhances Ketamine-Induced Antidepressant Effects and Increases Mammalian Target of Rapamycin in Rat Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex

Several lines of evidence have demonstrated that acute administration of ketamine elicits fast-acting antidepressant effects. Moreover, tramadol also has potential antidepressant effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pretreatment with tramadol on ketamine-induced antidepressant activity and was to determine the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in rat hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Rats were intraperitoneally administrated with ketamine at the dose of 10 mg/kg or saline 1 h before the second episode of the forced swimming test (FST). Tramadol or saline was intraperitoneally pretreated 30 min before the former administration of ketamine or saline. The locomotor activity and the immobility time of FST were both measured. After that, rats were sacrificed to determine the expression of mTOR in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Tramadol at the dose of 5 mg/kg administrated alone did not elicit the antidepressant effects. More importantly, pretreatment with tramadol enhanced the ketamine-induced antidepressant effects and upregulated the expression of mTOR in rat hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Pretreatment with tramadol enhances the ketamine-induced antidepressant effects, which is associated with the increased expression of mTOR in rat hippocampus and prefrontal cortex