Publications by authors named "Dora Benjumea"

Currently, cannabis is considered an attractive option for the treatment of various diseases, including pain management. Thus, developing new analgesics is paramount for improving the health of people suffering from chronic pain. Safer natural derivatives such as cannabidiol (CBD) have shown excellent potential for the treatment of these diseases.

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The transcriptome of the venom glands of the spider was analyzed using RNA-seq with an Illumina protocol, which yielded 86,424 assembled transcripts. A total of 682 transcripts were identified as potentially coding for venom components. Most of the transcripts found were neurotoxins (156) that commonly act on sodium and calcium channels.

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(Zingiberaceae), a medicinal plant of tropical rainforests, is used to treat snakebites and other injuries and also as a febrifuge, analgesic, antiemetic, antiulcer, and anticonvulsant. The dichloromethane extract of leaves showed potent inhibition of human monoamine oxidases- (MAOs-) A and B. Phytochemical studies yielded six known compounds, including pinostrobin , 4'-methyl ether sakuranetin , sakuranetin , pinostrobin chalcone , yashabushidiol A , and desmethoxyyangonin .

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Background: Bipolar I disorder (BD-I) is a chronic illness characterized by relapses alternating with periods of remission. Pharmacists can contribute to improved health outcomes in these patients through pharmaceutical care in association with a multidisciplinary health team; however, more evidence derived from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is needed to demonstrate the effect of pharmaceutical care on patients with BD-I.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a pharmaceutical intervention using the Dader Method on patients with BD-I, measured by the decrease in the number of hospitalizations, emergency service consultations, and unscheduled outpatient visits from baseline through 1 year of follow-up.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pinostrobin, a flavanone from the plant Renealmia alpinia, was tested for its ability to inhibit the activities of a PLA2 enzyme from Crotalus durissus cumanensis venom, showing significant inhibitory effects on enzymatic, myotoxic, and edema-inducing activities.
  • The compound exhibited IC50 values of 1.76mM and 1.85mM for PLA2 activity, and could inhibit myotoxicity by up to 87% when administered before PLA2 exposure, although its effectiveness decreased when given afterward.
  • Investigative studies indicated that pinostrobin interacts directly with PLA2 by forming hydrogen bonds and stacking interactions with specific amino acid residues, providing insights into its mechanism of action
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Article Synopsis
  • Renealmia alpinia extracts, obtained through micropropagation and from wild forms, have demonstrated the ability to inhibit the toxic effects of Bothrops asper snake venom when administered prior to the venom injection in a mouse model.
  • The study revealed that both wild and in vitro extracts of R. alpinia significantly increased survival rates and reduced lethal activity at a dose of 75 mg/kg, effectively prolonging the survival time of mice.
  • Additionally, R. alpinia extracts showed a reduction in pulmonary hemorrhage and bleeding in organs like the heart and kidneys, indicating its potential as a protective agent against snakebite, which warrants further investigation.
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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Renealmia alpinia is native to the American continent and can be found from Mexico to Brazil, and in the Caribbean islands. It is known as "matandrea" in Colombia, and it has been commonly used in traditional medicine to treat painful diseases and ailments. Based on its traditional uses, it is of interest to evaluate the pharmacologic effects of this plant and its secondary metabolites.

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Renealmia alpinia (R. alpinia) typically occurs in the tropical rainforests of Mexico to Peru, Brazil through the Antilles, Guyana, Suriname, Colombia and Venezuela. It has traditionally been used against snakebite in Colombia.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Renealmia alpinia has been traditionally used to treat snakebites by indigenous Embera-Katíos tribes belonging to the regions of Antioquia and Chocó, Colombia, and it has been shown to inhibit the enzymatic and biological activities of Bothrops venoms and their purified phospholipase A2 (PLA2) toxins. In addition to its common local usage against snakebites, Renealmia alpinia is commonly used to treat pain. To evaluate the inhibitory ability of pinostrobin, the main compound in the dichloromethane extract of Renealmia alpinia, on the toxic effects of Bothrops asper venom through in vitro and in vivo models and to evaluate its activity against pain and edema.

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Background: Bipolar I disorder (BD-I) is a chronic mental illness characterized by the presence of one or more manic episodes, or both depressive and manic episodes, usually separated by asymptomatic intervals. Pharmacists can contribute to the management of BD-I, mainly with the use of effective and safe drugs, and improve the patient's life quality through pharmaceutical care. Some studies have shown the effect of pharmaceutical care in the achievement of therapeutic goals in different illnesses; however, to our knowledge, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials designed to assess the effect of pharmacist intervention in patients with BD.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Diuretic plants are widely used in traditional medicine in many countries. However, many of these species have not been subjected to experimental studies to confirm that property. In this paper, a simple new method is proposed to evaluate the diuretic activity of plants.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The plant Renealmia alpinia has been used in folk medicine to treat snakebites in the northwest region of Colombia. In addition, it has been shown to neutralize edema-forming, hemorrhagic, lethal, and defibrin(ogen)ating activities of Bothrops asper venom. In this work, extracts of Renealmia alpinia obtained by micropropagation (in vitro) and from specimens collected in the wild were tested and compared in their capacity to inhibit enzymatic and toxic activities of a snake venom metalloproteinase isolated from Bothrops atrox (Batx-I) venom and a serine proteinase (Cdc SII) from Crotalus durissus cumanensis venom.

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Introduction: Traditional medicine is an invaluable source of research into new medicines as a supplement for the treatment of snakebite, considered as a serious public health problem worldwide. The extracts of the medicinal plant, Renealmia alpina, have been used traditionally by indigenous people of Chocó (Colombia) against Bothrops asper snakebite, a snake responsible for the majority of snakebite accidents in Colombia.

Objective: The ability of extracts of R.

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A hemorrhagic metalloproteinase, named Batx-I, was isolated from the venom of Bothrops atrox specimens (from Southeastern Colombian region) by a combination of CM-Sephadex C25 ion-exchange and Affi-gel Blue affinity chromatographies. This enzyme accounts for about 45% of venom proteins, and it has an ESI-MS isotope-averaged molecular mass of 23296.2 Da and a blocked N-terminus.

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Among methods which involve the flow of electric current, the electro-remediation techniques have shown useful both for the removal of polluting species, and for obtaining a series of parameters in relatively laboratory simple experiments which can be used to characterize soils. This technique was applied in the present study to obtain experimental results with two soils from Tenerife. The capacity of the method as methodology for the measurement of the buffering capacity of these soils during electrokinetic experiments was analyzed.

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