Pharmacological activation of heme oxygenase (HO)-1/carbon monoxide pathway prevents the development of peripheral neuropathic pain in Wistar rats.

Recent studies have emphasized the contribution of neuroinflammation and oxido-nitrosative stress to neuropathic pain. Both, heme oxygenase (HO)-1 and carbon monoxide (CO) play an important role in regulating free radical generation and inflammation. Herein, we investigated the role of HO-1/CO pathway, by using hemin, a selective HO activator, and CO-releasing molecule (CORM)-2, a CO-releasing agent, in rat sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced neuropathic pain.

Colloidal carriers: a rising tool for therapy of tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the second most deadly infectious disease, caused mainly by M. tuberculosis in humans, usually affecting the lungs; it also attacks other parts of the body. The design of novel antibiotics attempts to overcome drug resistance, to shorten the treatment course, and to reduce drug interactions with antiretroviral therapies.

Effect of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-γ inhibitor CAY10505 in hypertension, and its associated vascular endothelium dysfunction in rats.

This study has been designed to investigate the role of phosphatidyl-inositol 3-kinase-γ (PI3Kγ) in deoxycorticosterone acetate salt (DOCA) hypertension induced vascular endothelium dysfunction. Wistar rats were uninephrectomised and DOCA (40 mg·(kg body mass)(-1), subcutaneous injection) was administered twice weekly for 6 weeks to produce hypertension. Rats with mean arterial blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 133.

Delivery to mitochondria: a narrower approach for broader therapeutics.

Introduction: Research has revealed a relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and diseases such as diabetes, ischemia-reperfusion injury, cancer and many more. As a result, mitochondria have gained attention as a target organelle for the treatment of many diseases. Successful delivery of the drug molecule to the mitochondria could be achieved by keeping in mind the normal intracellular trafficking fate of molecules in cell as well as through the mitochondria and exploring the new possibilities to reach the target in an efficient manner.

Chitosan-alginate microcapsules of amoxicillin for gastric stability and mucoadhesion.

Amoxicillin-loaded microcapsules were prepared by ionotropic gelation of sodium alginate (ALG) with chitosan (CS) in presence of calcium chloride as gastroretentive delivery system. The effect of pH, concentration of ALG, CS and calcium chloride, and drug : ALG ratio were optimized in this study for minimizing the degradation of drug in acidic environment and increasing the loading efficacy and mucoadhesive efficiency of microcapsules. The optimum condition for prepared CS-ALG microcapsules was 2%w/v ALG, 0.

Evaluation of thyroid hormone induced pharmacological preconditioning on cardiomyocyte protection against ischemic-reperfusion injury.

Objectives: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been demonstrated to make myocardium transiently more resistant to deleterious effect of prolonged ischemia. The opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) at the time of myocardial reperfusion is a critical determinant of cell death. L-thyroxine pre-treatment increases the tolerance of the heart to ischemia and produces cardioprotection similar to ischemic precondition.

Effect of dipyrone and thalidomide alone and in combination on STZ-induced diabetic neuropathic pain.

Diabetic neuropathy is recognized as one of the most common complications of chronic diabetes, but its pathophysiological mechanism is complex and yet to be completely explored. Monotherapy with conventional analgesics fails to provide adequate pain relief in peripheral diabetic neuropathy. There are a number of evidence suggesting that tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of peripheral diabetic neuropathy.

Possible mechanism of protective effect of thalidomide in STZ-induced-neuropathic pain behavior in rats.

Introduction: Diabetes-induced neuropathic pain is recognized as one of the most difficult type of pain to treat and conventional analgesics are well known to be partially effective or associated with potential toxicity. Recently, it has been demonstrated that thalidomide, besides its teratogenic potential, reduced chronic pain in an SNL experimental pain model.

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the effect of thalidomide on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced neuropathic pain in rats.

Possible role of epidermal growth factor receptors in the therapy of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is considered an 'orphan' cancer because of its relative low incidence. Unfortunately, even with early diagnosis, mortality rates are high and it ranks eighth in the worldwide ranking of deaths due to cancer. The administration of chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of advanced disease has failed, and current research focuses on the understanding of molecular pathways in order to investigate the role of targeted therapy.

Amoxicillin loaded chitosan-alginate polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles as mucopenetrating delivery system for h. Pylori.

The present study has been undertaken to apply the concept of nanoparticulate mucopenetrating drug delivery system for complete eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), colonised deep into the gastric mucosal lining. Most of the existing drug delivery systems have failed on account of either improper mucoadhesion or mucopenetration and no dosage form with dual activity of adhesion and penetration has been designed till date for treating H.

Development and evaluation of tripalmitin emulsomes for the treatment of experimental visceral leishmaniasis.

The antifungal and antileishmanial agent amphotericin B (AmB) was formulated in tripalmitin based nanosize lipid partices (emulsomes) for macrophage targeting for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Emulsomes were modified by coating them with macrophage-specific ligand (O-palmitoyl mannan, OPM). The antileishmanial activity of AmB (0.

EGFR targeted PLGA nanoparticles using gemcitabine for treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The present study aimed to prepare and characterize anti EGFR monoclonal antibody (mab) conjugated Gemcitabine loaded PLGA nanoparticles for their selective delivery to pancreatic cells and evaluation of the systems in vitro. It was observed that direct covalent coupling of antibodies to glutaraldehyde activated nanoparticles is an appropriate method to achieve cell-type specific drug carrier systems based on polymeric nanoparticles that have potential to be applied for targeted chemotherapy in EGFR positive cancer.

Development and characterization of doxorubicin loaded microparticles against experimental visceral leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most severe of all the forms of leishmaniasis and usually lethal if untreated. The present work aimed to develop and characterize doxorubicin loaded mannan conjugated microparticles against experimental visceral leishmaniasis for selective and targeted delivery of doxorubicin to the macrophages of liver and spleen for the effective chemotherapy of VL. Macrophage targeting using doxorubicin loaded PLGA-microparticles would certainly improve the chemotherapy with reduced side effects against VL.

Possible attenuation of nitric oxide expression in anti-inflammatory effect of Ziziphus jujuba in rat.

The hydroalcoholic extract of fruits of Ziziphus jujuba (ZJ) was investigated for its anti-inflammatory effect using acute and chronic models of inflammation in rat. Wistar albino rats of either sex were employed in the present study (n = 6). Acute inflammation was induced by subplantar administration of carrageenan (1%) in rat hind paw.

Involvement of vascular endothelial nitric oxide synthase in development of experimental diabetic nephropathy in rats.

Endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) acts as a common pathogenic pathway in diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, its functional consequences are still not fully understood. Caveolin, a membrane protein, inhibits the eNOS by making caveolin-eNOS complex, and its expression is upregulated during diabetes mellitus (DM).

Antioxidant potential of n-butanol fraction from extract of Jasminum mesnyi Hance leaves.

Methanolic extract of Jasminum mesnyi Hance leaves having antidiabetic activity was subjected to fractionation to obtain antioxidant and antihyperglycemic rich fraction. Different concentrations of ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions were subjected to antioxidant assay by DPPH method, nitric oxide scavenging activity and reducing power assay. The fractions showed dose dependent free radical scavenging property in all the models.

Possible involvement of α1-adrenergic receptor and K(ATP) channels in cardioprotective effect of remote aortic preconditioning in isolated rat heart.

Background: Remote preconditioning is a phenomenon in which brief episodes of ischemia and reperfusion to remote organs protect the target organ against sustained ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury. Protective effects of remote aortic preconditioning (RAPC) are well established in the heart, but their mechanisms still remain to be elucidated.

Objective: This study has been designed to investigate the possible involvement of α-1-adrenergic receptor (AR) and K(ATP) channels in cardio-protective effect of RAPC in isolated rat heart.

Carbopol/chitosan based pH triggered in situ gelling system for ocular delivery of timolol maleate.

The poor bioavailability and therapeutic response exhibited by conventional ophthalmic preparations due to rapid precorneal elimination, dilution and nasolacrimal drainage of the drug may be vanquished by the use of in situ gelling systems that are instilled as drops in to the eye and undergo a sol-gel transition in the cul-de-sac. Timolol eye drops may cause systemic side effects in glaucoma patients due to absorption of the drug into systemic circulation. In situ gelling system of this drug can provide localized effect with reduced contraindications, improved patient compliance and better therapeutic index.

Emerging role of vesicular carriers for therapy of visceral leishmaniasis: conventional versus novel.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a systemic protozoan infection that infects a million people living in subtropical and tropical areas. Drugs are the major treatment available against this fatal infection. Conventional chemotherapy of VL involves treatment with pen- tavalent antimonials, pentamidine, paromomycin, miltefosine, etc.

Antidiabetic activity of Cassia occidentalis (Linn) in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

Objective: To evaluate the hypoglycemic activity of various extracts, petroleum ether, chloroform and aqueous extract of Cassia occidentalis in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

Materials And Methods: Petroleum ether, chloroform and aqueous extract of whole plant of Cassia occidentalis were orally tested at the dose of 200 mg/kg for hypoglycemic effect in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. In addition, changes in body weight, serum cholesterol, triglyceride and total protein levels, assessed in the ethanol extract-treated diabetic rats, were compared with diabetic control and normal animals.

Mechanism of cardioprotective effect of erythropoietin-induced preconditioning in rat heart.

Objective: The cardioprotective potential of human recombinant erythropoietin (alpha) (Epo) against ischemia-reperfusion-induced injury is well known. But, the underlying mechanisms are not well elucidated. The aim of this study was to characterize the mechanism involved in the cardioprotective effect of Epo-induced preconditioning in isolated rat heart.

SP600125, a competitive inhibitor of JNK attenuates streptozotocin induced neurocognitive deficit and oxidative stress in rats.

Activated JNK has been reported to be located in nucleus in mild cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but is exclusively in cytoplasm in more advanced stages of AD and implicated in its pathogenesis, suggesting that activation and re-distribution of JNK correlate with the progress of AD. The present study was designed to investigate the role of JNK in intracerebroventricular streptozotocin (i.c.

Modulation of the cardioprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning in hyperlipidaemic rat heart.

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) produces cardioprotection by phosphorylation of glycogen synthaes kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) that inhibits the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP), and this cardioprotective action of IPC is attenuated by hyperlipidaemia. The present study investigated the role of GSK-3beta in attenuation of cardioprotective effect of IPC, by hyperlipidaemia in the rat heart. Hyperlipidaemia was produced in rat by feeding high fat diet for six weeks.

Novel drug delivery systems: desired feat for tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis has claimed its victims throughout much of known human history and is currently the most devastating human bacterial disease. The ability to infect human population on a global scale, combined with the widespread emergence of multi-drug resistant strains, has led to the placement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) list of Biodefence and Emerging Infectious Disease Threats Agents. The resurgence of interest in tuberculosis (TB) has stemmed because of increased evidences from developed countries.

Clinical aspects of acute post-operative pain management & its assessment.

Management of postoperative pain relieve suffering and leads to earlier mobilization, shortened hospital stay, reduced hospital costs, and increased patient satisfaction. An effective postoperative management is not a standardized regime rather is tailored to the needs of the individual patient, taking into account medical, psychological, and physical condition; age; level of fear or anxiety; surgical procedure; personal preference; and response to therapeutic agents given. The major goal in the management of postoperative pain is to minimize the dose of medications to lessen side effects & provide adequate analgesia.