Treatment of the common cold with herbs used in Ayurveda and Jamu: monograph review and the science of ginger, liquorice, turmeric and peppermint.

Background: The common cold is typically managed with decongestants, antihistamines, antitussives and antipyretics. In addition to these established medications, herbal ingredients have been used over centuries to help treat common cold symptoms. The Ayurveda and Jamu systems of medicine, originating from India and Indonesia, respectively, have leveraged herbal therapies to treat many illnesses.

Management of acute upper respiratory tract infection: the role of early intervention.

Introduction: Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is an illness caused by an acute infection by viruses or bacteria of the nose, sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. Most URTIs are short, mild, and self-limiting, but some can lead to serious complications, resulting in heavy social and economic burden on individuals and society.

Areas Covered: This article presents the management guidelines and consensus established through the Delphi method during an expert roundtable conducted in November 2020 and results of a targeted literature review.

Multi-echo susceptibility-weighted imaging and histology of open-field blast-induced traumatic brain injury in a rat model.

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury is on the rise, predominantly as a result of the use of improvised explosive devices, resulting in undesirable neuropsychological dysfunctions, as demonstrated in both animals and humans. This study investigated the effect of open-field blast injury on the rat brain using multi-echo, susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI). Multi-echo SWI provided phase maps with better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), making it a sensitive technique for brain injury.

Potential biomarker panel for predicting organ dysfunction and acute coagulopathy in a polytrauma porcine model.

Traumatic injury remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and patients who survived the initial insult are susceptible to an overwhelming inflammatory dysfunction that will lead to acute coagulopathy of trauma (ACOT) and subsequently multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome-related scoring systems, although they measure organ dysfunction, present clinical markers, and single-cytokine estimates are unable to predict accurately the events of MODS in the clinical setting to aid risk stratification. In this study, a pig model comprising the lethal triad of trauma was used to determine prognostic patterns of early circulating trauma markers so as to predict the development of MODS and ACOT.

Creation of consistent burn wounds: a rat model.

Background: Burn infliction techniques are poorly described in rat models. An accurate study can only be achieved with wounds that are uniform in size and depth. We describe a simple reproducible method for creating consistent burn wounds in rats.

Ultrashort peptide nanofibrous hydrogels for the acceleration of healing of burn wounds.

There is an unmet clinical need for wound dressings to treat partial thickness burns that damage the epidermis and dermis. An ideal dressing needs to prevent infection, maintain skin hydration to facilitate debridement of the necrotic tissue, and provide cues to enhance tissue regeneration. We developed a class of 'smart' peptide hydrogels, which fulfill these criteria.

Parecoxib reduces systemic inflammation and acute lung injury in burned animals with delayed fluid resuscitation.

Burn injuries result in the release of proinflammatory mediators causing both local and systemic inflammation. Multiple organ dysfunctions secondary to systemic inflammation after severe burn contribute to adverse outcome, with the lungs being the first organ to fail. In this study, we evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of Parecoxib, a parenteral COX-2 inhibitor, in a delayed fluid resuscitation burned rat model.

Des-aspartate-angiotensin-I and angiotensin IV improve glucose tolerance and insulin signalling in diet-induced hyperglycaemic mice.

Although clinical studies suggested that blockade of the renin-angiotensin system may prevent diabetes, the mechanism is uncertain. As a follow-up to an earlier study, we investigated how des-aspartate-angiotensin-1 (DAA-1) and its metabolite, angiotensin IV (Ang-IV) improved glucose tolerance in diet-induced hyperglycaemic mice. Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat-high-sucrose (HFD) or normal (ND) diet for 52 weeks.

Hypoglycemic action of chicken meat extract in type-2 diabetic KKAy mice and GK rats.

This study researched the effects of chicken meat extract on blood glucose and insulin level, membrane glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4), and tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) in type 2 diabetic KKAy mice and GK rats. Eight-week-old KKAy mice and GK rats and euglycemic control animals, C57BL/6J mice and Wistar rats, were orally administered a liquid commercial chicken meat extract, BRAND'S Essence of Chicken (BEC), for up to 8 weeks. BEC (1.

Des-aspartate-angiotensin I exerts hypoglycemic action via glucose transporter-4 translocation in type 2 diabetic KKAy mice and GK rats.

The present study investigated the hypoglycemic action of des-aspartate-angiotensin I (DAA-I), a metabolite of angiotensin I, in two animal models of type 2 diabetes. The rationale was based on our earlier studies demonstrating that DAA-I acts on the angiotensin AT(1) receptor and exerts responses opposing those of angiotensin II and on recent reports that curtailment of angiotensin II formation by angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and blockade of the AT(1) receptor attenuate hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetics and diabetic animals. Diabetic KKAy mice and GK rats were administered orally (by gavage) one of the following doses of DAA-I: 400, 600, or 800 nmol/kg.