The traditional use of papaya to treat many diseases, especially skin conditions and its prohibition for consumption during pregnancy has prompted us to determine whether papaya extracts both from green and ripe fruits improve wound healing and also produce foetal toxicity. Aqueous extracts of green papaya epicarp (GPE) and ripe papaya epicarp (RPE) were applied on induced wounds on mice. GPE treatment induced complete healing in shorter periods (13 days) than that required while using RPE (17 days), sterile water (18 days) and Solcoseryl ointment (21 days). Extracts were administered orally (1 mg/g body weight/day) to pregnant mice from day 10 and onwards after conception. 3 (n=7) mice and 1 (n=6) mice given RPE and misoprostol, an abortive drug, respectively experienced embryonic resorption while this effect was observed in none of the mice given GPE (n=5) and water (n=5). The average body weight of live pups delivered by mice given GPE (1.12+/-0.04 g) was significantly lower than those delivered by mice given water (1.38+/-0.02 g). In SDS-PAGE, proteins were distributed in three bands (Mr range approximately 8-29 kDa). Band intensity at Mr approximately 28-29 kDa was higher in GPE than in RPE. In contrast, band intensity at low Mr (approximately 8 kDa) was found to be higher in RPE than in GPE. Notably, the band corresponding to Mr approximately 23-25 kDa was absent in RPE. These differences in composition may have contributed to the different wound healing and abortive effects of green and ripe papaya.
Evidence based on average patient data, which occupies most of our present day information databases, does not fulfil the needs of individual patient-centred health care. In spite of the unprecedented expansion in medical information we still do not have the types of information required to allow us to tailor optimal care for a given individual patient. As our current information is chiefly provided in disconnected silos, we need an information system that can seamlessly integrate different types of information to meet diverse user group needs. Groups of certain individual medical learners namely patients, medical students and health professionals share the patient's need to increasingly interact with and seek knowledge and solutions offered by others (individual medical learners) who have the lived experiences that they would benefit to access and learn from. A web-based user-driven learning solution may be a stepping-stone to address the present problem of information oversupply in medicine that mostly remains underutilized, as it doesn't meet the needs of the individual patient and health professional user. The key to its success would be to relax central control and make local trust and strategic health workers feel more engaged in the project such that it is truly user-driven.
The existing clinical teaching in small group sessions is focused on the patient's disease. The main dual limitation is that not only does the clinical skill testing become secondary but there is also a slackening of student involvement as only 1 student is evaluated during the entire session. A new methodology of small group teaching being experimented shifted the focus to testing students' clinical skills with emphasise on team participation by daily evaluation of the entire team. The procedure involved was that the group underwent training sessions where the clinical skills were taught demonstrated and practiced on simulated patients (hear-see-do module). Later the entire small group, as a team, examined the patient and each student was evaluated for 1 of 5 specific tasks--history taking, general examination, systemic examination, discussion and case write-up. Out of 170 students, 69 students (study) and 101 students (control) were randomly chosen and trained according to the new and existing methods respectively. Senior faculty (who were blinded as to which method of teaching the student underwent) evaluated all the students. The marks obtained at 2 examinations were tabulated and compared for tests of significance using t-test. The difference in the marks obtained showed a statistically significant improvement in the study group indicating that the new module was an effective methodology of teaching. The teaching effectiveness was evaluated by student feedback regarding improvement in knowledge, clinical and communication skills and positive attitudes on a 5-point Likert scale. Psychometric analysis was very positively indicative of the success of the module.
Dermal absorption of chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide is important because of its use in agriculture and control of household pests. The objectives of this study are to investigate firstly, the biochemical changes in the blood and secondly, histomorphometric changes in the hippocampus of adult mice following dermal application of chlorpyrifos in sub-toxic doses. Male Swiss albino mice (60 days) were segregated into one control and two treated groups (n=10). Chlorpyrifos, diluted with xylene, was applied in doses of 1/2 of LD(50) (E1) and 1/5 of LD(50) (E2) over the tail of mice of the two treated groups, 6 hours daily for 3 weeks. AChE levels in the serum and brain were estimated using a spectrophotometric method (Amplex Red reagent). Coronal serial sections were stained with 0.2 % thionin in acetate buffer and pyramidal neurons of Cornu Ammonis of hippocampus were counted at 400x magnification using Image Pro Express software. At the end of 3 weeks, body weights were reduced significantly in E1 group. Serum AChE concentrations were reduced by 97 % in E1 and 74 % in E2 groups compared to controls. The neurons of CA 3 and CA 1 in the hippocampus showed evidences of morphological damage in both treated groups. Furthermore, the neuronal count was significantly reduced in CA 3 layer of hippocampus in E1 group.
A liposome preparation that is amenable to receptor-mediated endocytosis has been developed to enhance the oral bioavailability of poorly absorbable peptidomimetic drugs by use of folic acid as the mediator of liposomal uptake.
Orthosiphon stamineus Benth., which is used as a gastroprotective herbal remedy in Malaysia, was assessed for its anti-ulcerogenic activity against ethanol-induced ulcers in rats. Fifty percent methanol was used to extract the oven-dried O. stamineus leaves. The extract was then lyophilized with a rotary evaporator and freeze-dried. Oral administration of O. stamineus methanolic extract (OSME) (125, 250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg) was found to significantly decrease the ulcer index (P < .01, P < .001, P < .001, and P < .001, respectively). Histological study of a section of the rat stomach also showed a marked improvement in the gastric mucosal damage in groups receiving OSME. In order to further investigate the gastroprotective mechanism of OSME, mucus secretion and lipid peroxidation level were estimated in vitro and ex vivo. OSME exhibited dose-dependent stimulation of mucus secretion (r = 0.718, P < .001) and inhibition of lipid peroxidation in rat gastric mucosal homogenates (both in vitro [r = 0.819, P < .05] and ex vivo [r = 0.981, P < .05]). It was concluded that the gastroprotective mechanism of OSME was partly due to its ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation and stimulate gastric mucus secretion.
Chronic stress has been shown to cause oxidative damage in the central nervous system. Although stress-induced impairments in learning and memory have been studied extensively, very few studies have investigated possible ways to prevent their ill effects. The present work was designed to study the protective effects of ascorbic acid in memory loss induced by chronic restraint stress.
Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the development of diabetic complications. The aims of this study were to investigate whether honey could reduce hyperglycemia and ameliorate oxidative stress in kidneys of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
1. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supposedly unpleasant physical treatment on broiler performance, small intestinal development and ameliorating role of probiotics. 2. The following treatments were applied from day one: (1) chicks exposed to normal human contact fed basal diet (control); (2) chicks were exposed to unpleasant physical treatment and fed basal diet (UPT-BD); and (3) chicks were exposed to unpleasant physical treatment and fed basal diet supplemented with Lactobacillus (UPT-BDL). Chicks were exposed to UPT from days 1 to 21. Different segments of gastrointestinal tract were sampled at 14, 28, 35 and 42 d of age. 3. Broilers of UPT-BD had lower feed consumption compared with control group at 7 d of age. Overall, UPT-BDL birds showed higher body weight gain (BWG) and better feed conversion ratio (FCR) over the course of the experiment. 4. Birds of UPT-BD had lower concentrations of lactic, propionic and butyric acids in the caecum as compared with other groups at 14 d of age. Acetic acid concentration was profoundly decreased in both UPT groups compared to the control. 5. Duodenal villus height of UPT-BD broilers showed a slight reduction compared to the control and UPT-BDL birds at 14 d of age. Afterwards until day 42, UPT-BDL birds showed the highest villus height among treatments in different parts of the small intestine. 6. The results suggested that, even though UPT did not have significant inhibitory effects on the development of the small intestine and broiler performance, it negatively affected bacterial metabolic end products in the caecum, which could be ameliorated by the addition of Lactobacillus.
A wealth of information concerning the essential role of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in the regulation of renal function and mean arterial blood pressure homeostasis has been established. However, many important parameters with which RSNA interacts are yet to be explicitly characterized. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of acute renal denervation (ARD) on sodium and water excretory responses to intravenous (iv) infusions of either norepinephrine (NE) or angiotensin II (Ang II) in anaesthetized spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).
Aftermath in several air pollution episodes with high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons did not significantly affect health and performance of broilers despite its renowned sensitivity to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The aim of the study was to elucidate the previous lack of response in birds exposed to such severe episodes of air pollution. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) was used to simulate the influence of air pollution on hematology, selected organ function, and oxidative stress in broilers. One-day-old chicks were assigned to 5 equal groups composed of a control group, tricaprylin group, and 3 groups treated with BaP (at 1.5 microg, 150 microg, or 15 mg/kg of BW). The BaP was intratracheally administered to 1-d-old chicks for 5 consecutive days. The hematology, liver and kidney function, P450 activity, and malondialdehyde level especially in the group receiving 15 mg of BaP/kg of BW demonstrated evidence of hemato- and hepatoxicity via BaP-induced oxidative stress. The deleterious effect of exposure to high concentration of BaP in broiler chickens was probably due to the anatomy of this species and the half-life of BaP. Although the effect of BaP may be transient or irreversible, pathogen challenges faced during the period of suppression may prove fatal.
Bone is a specialized connective tissue that functions as the load-bearing structure of the body. Free radicals may affect bone remodeling by regulating osteoclast activity in either the physiological or pathological condition. Vitamin E, a lipid-soluble antioxidant, has been demonstrated to offer protection against osteoporosis and to improve the bone material and structure of animal models. The aim of this study was to observe and compare the effects of alpha-tocopherol (alpha-tocopherol), delta-tocotrienol (delta-tocotrienol), and gamma-tocotrienol (gamma-tocotrienol) on the static and dynamic bone histomorphometric parameters in normal male rats. Thirty-two normal Sprague-Dawley male rats aged 3 months and weighing 200-250 g were randomly divided into four groups. The control group was supplemented with oral gavages of olive oil (vehicle), whereas the alpha-tocopherol, delta-tocotrienol, and gamma-tocotrienol groups were given oral gavages of 60 mg/kg alpha-tocopherol, delta-tocotrienol, and gamma-tocotrienol, respectively. The rats were injected twice with calcein to fluorochrome-label the bones. After 4 months of treatment, the rats were killed, and the left femurs were dissected out and prepared for bone histomorphometry. Both the static and dynamic parameters of the vitamin E-treated groups were better than those of the normal control group. Among the vitamin E-treated groups, the tocotrienol groups showed better histomorphometry results compared to the α-tocopherol group, with the γ-tocotrienol group demonstrating the best effects on both sets of parameters. We concluded that vitamin E can promote bone formation in normal rats, with gamma-tocotrienol being the most potent form of vitamin E.
The metabolic syndrome, known also as the insulin resistance syndrome, refers to the clustering of several risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Dyslipidaemia is a hallmark of the syndrome and is associated with a whole body reduction in the activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), an enzyme under the regulation of the class of nuclear receptors known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR). Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a triterpenoid saponin, is the primary bioactive constituent of the roots of the shrub Glycyrrhiza glabra. Studies have indicated that triterpenoids could act as PPAR agonists and GA is therefore postulated to restore LPL expression in the insulin resistant state.
Full-thickness burn wounds require excision and skin grafting. Multiple surgical procedures are inevitable in managing moderate to severe full-thickness burns. Wound bed preparations prior to surgery are necessary in order to prevent wound infection and promote wound healing. Honey can be used to treat burn wounds. However, not all the honey is the same. This study aims to evaluate the wound contraction and antibacterial properties of locally-produced Tualang honey on managing full-thickness burn wounds in vivo.
Poor control of blood pressure leads to hypertension which is a major risk factor for development of cardiovascular disease. The present study aimed to explore possible mechanisms of elevation in blood pressure following consumption of heated vegetable oil.
Chlorella vulgaris (CV) is a green microalgae enriched with nutrients, vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll. The aim of our study was to evaluate the potential wound healing effects of CV as a dressing while comparing it to sodium alginate dressing.
BACKGROUND: Sunitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor to treat GIST and mRCC may interact with paracetamol as both undergo P450 mediated biotransformation and P-glycoprotein transport. This study evaluates the effects of sunitinib-paracetamol coadministration on liver and renal function biomarkers and liver, kidney, brain, heart and spleen histopathology. ICR male mice (n = 6 per group/dose) were administered saline (group-A) or paracetamol 500 mg/kg IP (group-B), or sunitinib at 25, 50, 80, 100, 140 mg/kg PO (group-C) or coadministered sunitinib at 25, 50, 80, 100, 140 mg/kg PO and paracetamol IP at fixed dose 500 mg/kg (group-D). Paracetamol was administered 15 min before sunitinib. Mice were sacrificed 4 h post sunitinib administration.
RESULTS: Group-A serum ALT and AST levels were 14.29 ± 2.31 U/L and 160.37 ± 24.74 U/L respectively and increased to 249.6 ± 222.7 U/L and 377.1 ± 173.6 U/L respectively in group-B; group-C ALT and AST ranged 36.75-75.02 U/L and 204.4-290.3 U/L respectively. After paracetamol coadministration with low sunitinib doses (group-D), ALT and AST concentrations ranged 182.79-221.03 U/L and 259.7-264.4 U/L respectively, lower than group-B. Paracetamol coadministration with high sunitinib doses showed higher ALT and AST values (range 269.6-349.2 U/L and 430.2-540.3 U/L respectively), p < 0.05. Hepatic histopathology showed vascular congestion in group-B; mild congestion in group-C (but lesser than in group-B and D). In group-D, at low doses of sunitinib, lesser damage than in group-B occurred but larger changes including congestion were observed at high sunitinib doses. BUN levels were higher (p < 0.05) for group-B (33.81 ± 5.68 mg/dL) and group-D (range 35.01 ± 6.95 U/L to 52.85 ± 12.53 U/L) compared to group-A (15.60 ± 2.17 mg/dL) and group-C (range 17.50 ± 1.25 U/L to 26.68 ± 6.05 U/L). Creatinine remained unchanged. Renal congestion and necrosis was lower in group-C than group-B but was higher in group-D (p > 0.05). Mild cardiotoxicity occurred in groups B, C and D. Brain vascular congestion occurred at high doses of sunitinib administered alone or with paracetamol. Hepatic and renal biomarkers correlated with histopathology signs.
CONCLUSIONS: Paracetamol and sunitinib coadministration may lead to dose dependent outcomes exhibiting mild hepatoprotective effect or increased hepatotoxicity. Sunitinib at high doses show renal, cardiac and brain toxicity. Liver and renal function monitoring is recommended.
There is little data concerning the ability of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (EL) to reverse the inhibitory effects of estrogen on testosterone production and spermatogenesis. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of EL on testicular histology and sperm count in estrogen-treated male rats.
Mitragyna speciosa Korth. leaves have been used for decades as a traditional medicine to treat diarrhea, diabetes and to improve blood circulation by natives of Malaysia, Thailand and other regions of Southeast Asia. Mitragynine is the major active alkaloid in the plant. To date, the role of mitragynine in psychological disorders such as depression is not scientifically evaluated. Hence, the present investigation evaluates the antidepressant effect of mitragynine in the mouse forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), two models predictive of antidepressant activity and the effect of mitragynine towards neuroendocrine system of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis by measuring the corticosterone concentration of mice exposed to FST and TST. An open-field test (OFT) was used to detect any association of immobility in the FST and TST with changes in motor activity of mice treated with mitragynine. In the present study, mitragynine at dose of 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg i.p. injected significantly reduced the immobility time of mice in both FST and TST without any significant effect on locomotor activity in OFT. Moreover, mitragynine significantly reduced the released of corticosterone in mice exposed to FST and TST at dose of 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg. Overall, the present study clearly demonstrated that mitragynine exerts an antidepressant effect in animal behavioral model of depression (FST and TST) and the effect appears to be mediated by an interaction with neuroendocrine HPA axis systems.