ABSTRACT

Nardostachys jatamansi is a perennial herb found mainly in temperate and alpine Himalayas. It is used as medicine in ayurveda, homeopathy, ethno medicine and Indian system of medicine as well as in modern medicine industry. The essential oil as well as hydro-alcoholic extract of plant has been found to contain many therapeutically important chemicals. This review article summarizes some chemical constituents of plant and some pharmacological uses as reported by various studies in recent years.

Keywords: Nardostachys jatamansi, Chemical constituents, Pharmacological uses. 

ABSTRACT

Incidents of anaphylaxis are on a rise globally, which calls for its immediate recognition and proper management. Till date, there have been a very few studies addressing the issue of etiology of anaphylaxis with varying age-groups in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to collect data about common causes of anaphylaxis and categorize them according to their prevalence in different age groups at a hospital in Jeddah.  Data was collected from emergency department staff of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, in the form of a questionnaire including queries about anaphylaxis based on most common causes, age group, symptoms and frequency of its occurrence in each age group. A total of 112 cases of anaphylaxis were reported; adults were the most common representing 33% of the studied population. Food allergy was the most prevalent trigger for anaphylaxis (42.8%) overall. The most common cause of anaphylaxis was food and drug allergy (45.45% and 40.9 %) in children aged 6-12 years and food allergy in pre-school kids (59.25%). No significant cause of anaphylaxis could be observed among teenagers. In infants, food allergy and insect bite were the most significant triggers of anaphylaxis (43.4% and 52.1%). Anaphylaxis due to latex was the least prevalent cause among all age groups. In Saudi Arabia, anaphylaxis mostly occurred among adults, drug allergy being most common cause. Food allergy was a common general trigger of anaphylaxis which also remained the most common cause in children along-with drug allergy, preschool kids and infants along-with insect bite.

Keywords: Anaphylaxis, age-groups, causes, management, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Ulcers are the sores occurring on the lining of the digestive tract. The anti-ulcer activity of aqueous extract of seeds of Trigonella foenum graceum in combination with honey in rat ulcer models was performed. This was investigated in experimental rats by ethanol induced ulcer models and stress induced models. In both models the common parameter determined was ulcer index. Aqueous extract of Trigonella foenum graceum in combination with honey at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg produced significant inhibition of the gastric lesions in ethanol induced gastric ulcer and stress induced ulcer. The extract (250 mg/kg & 500 mg/kg) showed significant reduction in gastric volume and ulcer index as compared to control. This present study indicates that aqueous extract of Trigonella foenum graceum have potential antiulcer activity in the both the models. These results may further suggest that the extract was found to possess anti-ulcerogenic as well as ulcer healing properties, which might be due to its antisecretory activity.

Keywords: Trigonella foenum graceum, Honey, Anti-ulcer activity, Ethanol induced ulcer model, Stress induced ulcer model.

ABSTRACT

In 2010, a premium rewards system for the promotion of innovative drug discovery was introduced in Japan, which aimed to further the development of innovative new medicines to meet the high level of unmet medical needs present in Japan. Previous research indicated that anti-cancer agents, immune-suppressants, and neuroscience drugs comprised the drug categories that significantly contributed to receive this reward premium. In this study, the number of new molecule entities (NMEs) approved in Japan between 2000 and 2015, along with their review times by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), were investigated to elucidate the actual clinical development status in Japan under this reward system. The dataset used in this study was created from publicly-available information on the PMDA website. For analysis, univariate regression analysis and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used. Significant upward trends were observed in the total number of NMEs approved by the Offices of New Drug III, IV, V, and the Vaccines and Blood Products Office. No significant differences in the number of NMEs between 2000 and 2015 for each New Drug Office were observed. The median review time was 14 months; the maximum review time was 21 months (Office of New Drug III) and the minimum review time was 12 months (Offices of New Drug IV and V), excluding the Office of Vaccines and Blood Products (11 months). The review period was significantly shortened over time in the Offices of New Drug I and II. Our study suggests that the development of new drugs in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs has been adequately promoted in Japan, along with reasonably shortened PMDA review times.

Keywords: Japanese pharmaceutical companies, clinical development, drug development, drug pricing, PMDA

ABSTRACT

To stimulate clinical development, the Japanese government introduced “pricing premium for the promotion of new drug development and elimination/resolution of off-label use” in 2010. Using statistical analysis, we aimed to verify the acceleration of clinical development in therapeutic areas that are positive factors for receiving reward premiums. We defined “encouragement for clinical development” as the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) review time in each therapeutic area compared with that in all therapeutic areas together. The dataset for this research was created from publicly available information on the PMDA website. New molecule entities (NMEs) between 2000 and 2016 in Japan were selected as the drugs of interest. Univariate regression analysis, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and logistic regression analysis were conducted. The number of NMEs has been decreasing over time except for B (blood and blood-forming organs). The review time was significantly shorter for A (alimentary tract and metabolism), B, J (anti-infective for systemic use), and L (antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents) compared with that for all anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) codes together. The review time was significantly longer for C (cardiovascular system), and S (sensory organs). From logistic regression analysis, A, B, J, and L were identified as significant positive factors to shorten the review time. In conclusion, the present study has demonstrated that clinical development in Japan has been encouraged in therapeutic areas with unmet medical needs as the PMDA review time is shortened. This study assessing the review time per ATC code is consistent with our first report where the review time per office of new drug was investigated.

Keywords: review time, clinical development, regulatory science, drug pricing, PMDA

ABSTRACT

Many new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have become available in recent years. Investigations of prescription patterns and exposure of AEDs to different patient groups are important regarding drug safety aspects. To evaluate the drug use pattern of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and other medications in a representative population attending tertiary care rural teaching hospital. Methodology: The prospective observational study was conducted during a period of 6 months at tertiary care hospitals at Palakkad. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. Patient data collection forms were prepared based on the study objectives. The data collection forms are filled which included all the demographic and relevant clinical information like Name, age, gender, marital status, epilepsy diagnosis, antiepileptic medications, duration of therapy etc. 30% (n=67) of patients were prescribed with combination of two drug. Sodium valproate and levetiracetam is the most frequently used (n=18, 8.07%) followed by Sodium valproate and clobazam (n=11, 4.93%). In this study two drug combinations have a better production against epileptic patients. In our study concluded that the combination therapy may seem costlier than monotherapy in the short term, but when used appropriately, it causes significant savings: lower treatment failure rate, lower case-fatality ratios, and fewer side-effects than monotherapy, slower development of resistance and consequently, less money needed for the development of new drugs.

Keywords: AEDs, Drug use pattern

ABSTRACT

Alphamethrin is an important type II pyrethroid, a cyano-derivative that exhibits toxic response in the mutants of Drosophila melanogaster which has been adjudged on the basis of LC₅₀ values. The concentrations to assess LC₅₀ value of alphamethrin were the same for double mutants (sepia ebony and sepia vestigial) and single mutants (ebony, sepia, vestigial). Double mutant (sepia vestigial) have been adjudged most resistant whereas single mutant (sepia), the most susceptible. The observed difference in LC₅₀ among single and double mutants are due to some genetic consequences which include single chromosome with mutation on one arm, two chromosome with mutation on both the arms, distance of mutation site from centromere, nucleotide bases, pigmentation, wing pattern and rate of mutation, effect of pesticide toxicity on cell survival and metabolism.

Keywords : Alphamethrin, LC₅₀, sepia, ebony, vestigial

ABSTRACT

K-Ras serves as an important component of signalling pathways involved in cell cycle control. Proper functioning K-Ras is regulated by phosphodiesterase δ (PDEδ). Deltarasin binds to this prenyl-binding protein thus inhibiting its interaction with K-Ras and hence disrupting Ras signalling. The objective of this study is to use Deltarasin as a template for further iteration of the design of novel drugs with potential clinical use in the management of malignancies. Deltarasin was constructed using SYBYL-X^® V1.2, followed by analysis of the critical interactions with the amino acids lining the Ligand Binding Pocket (LBP). Seeds were modelled based on the Deltarasin scaffold and Virtual Screening (VS) was used to identify ‘hits’, using the same molecule as a template. SYBYL-X^®, X-SCORE^®, LigBuilder^®, Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD), Accelrys^® Draw, Accelrys^® Discovery Studio v3.5, Protein Data Bank and ZINCPharmer^® were all used to generate results. The main outcome measures of this research project are to discover and optimise in silico high binding affinity of PDEδ inhibitory drug molecules, as well as molecule display, Ligand Binding Affinity (LBA) and Ligand Binding Energy (LBE) calculations, seed generation and ultimately de novo design. Based on reviewed SAR studies, nine seeds were generated using SYBYL-X^® V1.2. The POCKET and GROW algorithm of LigBuilder^® V1.2 were used to generate in silico molecules for each seed. Surflex-docking in SYBYL-X^® V1.2 resulted in five molecules with a total docking score of six or greater. De novo molecules created and optimized, present viable leads for high-throughput screening, leading to identification of novel PDEδ inhibitors for use as anti-cancer agents.

Keywords: K-Ras, phosphodiesteraseδ (PDEδ), Deltarasin, in silico, de novo molecules.

ABSTRACT

A microwave bench operating within X-band frequency range 8.2-12.4 GHz is tuned to a desired constant frequency. Dielectric constant (e’) and dielectric loss (e’’) of coconut oil are measured at four different constant frequencies, with varying temperature. The dielectric constant (e’) of coconut oil decreases with increase in frequency, while dielectric loss (e”) increases with increase in frequency. The dielectric constant (e’) of coconut oil decreases with increase in temperature while the dielectric loss (e”) increases with increase in temperature. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of coconut oil samples are in good agreement with results reported by other researchers.

Keywords: Dielectric constant, dielectric loss, coconut oil

ABSTRACT

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are derivatives of testosterone being abused by athletes and non-athletes. The present investigation aims to evaluate the impact of one of the AAS compounds Stanozolol (ST) on antioxidant system, AChE activity in brain and histopathology of kidney in female mice. Adult female mice were assigned to four experimental groups (n=5) and different doses of ST (0.5, 5.0 and 7.5 mg/kg bwt, respectively) were administrated s.c. for 30 days. On 30^th day the brain and kidney were removed, frozen and stored at -80 ⁰C, for antioxidant and AChE enzyme activities. Kidney was processed for histopathological analysis.   A significant decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) as well as glutathione (GSH) and augmented level of malondialdehyde (MDA) activity in brain and kidney homogenates of medium and high dose treated groups were noticed as compared to control. Significant reduction in AChE activity was perceived in the brains of entire treatment group as compared to control. The degree of impact of ST is more pronounced in brain in contrast to kidney. Histopathological analysis of kidney encountered changes in histoarchitecture of kidney that include shrunken glomeruli with minimized capillary tuft and increased glomerular space.  At certain regions enlarged glomeruli with infiltration of endothelial cells leading to hyperplasia, hemorrhage and tubular necrosis were noticed in high dose treatment group. It is inferred that ST induces alterations in local redox antioxidant cascade in brain and kidney in dose dependent fashion. Besides, it alters neurotransmitter activity and impairs renal function in female mice.

Keywords: Anabolic-androgenic steroids, Stanozolol, AChE activity, Stress biomarkers, Histopathology, Brain and Kidney.