Mohamed Awad

Autologous Bone Marrow-Derived Cell Therapy Combined With Physical Therapy Induces Functional Improvement in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) cause sensory loss and motor paralysis. They are normally treated with physical therapy, but most patients fail to recover due to limited neural regeneration. Here we describe a strategy in which treatment with autologous adherent bone marrow cells is combined with physical therapy to improve motor and sensory functions in early stage chronic SCI patients. In a phase I/II controlled single-blind clinical trial (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00816803), 70 chronic cervical and thoracic SCI patients with injury durations of at least 12 months were treated with either intrathecal injection(s) of autologous adherent bone marrow cells combined with physical therapy or with physical therapy alone. Patients were evaluated with clinical and neurological examinations using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS), electrophysiological somatosensory-evoked potential, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and functional independence measurements. Chronic cervical and thoracic SCI patients (15 AIS A and 35 AIS B) treated with autologous adherent bone marrow cells combined with physical therapy showed functional improvements over patients in the control group (10 AIS A and 10 AIS B) treated with physical therapy alone, and there were no long-term cell therapy-related side effects. At 18 months posttreatment, 23 of the 50 cell therapy-treated cases (46%) showed sustained functional improvement. Compared to those patients with cervical injuries, a higher rate of functional improvement was achieved in thoracic SCI patients with shorter durations of injury and smaller cord lesions. Therefore, when combined with physical therapy, autologous adherent bone marrow cell therapy appears to be a safe and promising therapy for patients with chronic SCI of traumatic origin. Randomized controlled multicenter trials are warranted.

Utility of 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole for development of a highly sensitive stability indicating spectrofluorimetric method for determination of salmeterol xinafoate; application to human plasma

A new, simple and rapid spectrofluorimetric method was developed and validated for determination of salmeterol xinafoate in dosage form and spiked plasma. The method is considered as the first attempt for the spectrofluorimetric determination of the investigated drug. The proposed method is based on nucleophilic substitution reaction between salmeterol xinafoate and 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) at pH (9) to form a highly fluorescent product that can be measured at 543 nm after excitation at 473 nm. The fluorescence–concentration plot was rectilinear over the concentration range (100–1500 ng mL−1) with a detection limit of 19 ng mL−1. The suggested method was validated according to ICH guidelines and successfully applied for determination of salmeterol xinafoate in its pharmaceutical dosage form and spiked human plasma. The developed method was further extended for a stability study of salmeterol xinafoate under different stress circumstances including alkali, acid, oxidative and photodegradation conditions and the method was proved to be able to determine the intact drug in the presence of its degradation products.

Identification of effective DNA barcodes for Triticum plants through chloroplast genome-wide analysis

The Egyptian flora is rich with a large number of Triticum plants, which are very difficult to discriminate between in the early developmental stages. This study assesses the significance of using two DNA Barcoding loci (matK and rbcL) in distinguishing between 18 different Triticum accessions in Egypt. We isolated and sequenced 15 rbcL and six matK fragments, but our analysis of the resultant sequences demonstrated a limited ability of matK and rbcL in distinguishing between Triticum accessions. Therefore, we pursued a bioinformatics approach to determine the most useful loci which may be used as DNA barcodes for the Triticum spp. We obtained the 10 available chloroplast genomes of the 10 Triticum species and sub-species from NCBI, and performed chloroplast genome-wide analysis to find the potential barcode loci. A total of 134 chloroplast genes, gene combinations, intergenic regions and intergenic region combinations were tested using a Tree-based method. We were unable to discriminate between Triticum species by using chloroplast genes, gene combinations and intergenic regions. However, a combination of the intergenic region (trnfM-trnT) with either (trnD-psbM), (petN-trnC), (matK-rps16) or (rbcL-psaI) demonstrated a very high discrimination capacity, suggesting their utilization as DNA barcodes for the Triticum plants. Furthermore, our novel DNA barcodes demonstrated high discrimination capacity for other Poaceae members.

Effect of massed practice and somatosensory stimulation on the upper extremity function in patients with incomplete cervical spinal cord injury

Abstract Impaired hand function significantly limits the activities of daily living of individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Objective Our aim was to determine the effect of massed practice (MP) versus MP with somatosensory stimulation (SS) on upper extremity function in patients with incomplete cervical SCI. Patients and methods This study included 25 patients with incomplete cervical SCI divided into three groups. Group I: 10 patients received MP training. Group II: 10 patients received SS besides the massed practice. Group III: 5 patients received traditional rehabilitation program. Results Our results revealed that Group II patients demonstrated a highly significant greater increase in motor score post-treatment when compared with pre-treatment values than group III (p < 0.001). Group I demonstrated a significantly greater increase in motor score than group III (p < 0.05). There was a statistically non significant difference between the three groups as regards the the change in the post-treatment as compared to the pre-treatment values (p > 0.05) of the light touch and pinprick scores. Group II patients demonstrated a significantly greater increase in pinch grip strength than group I and group III (p < 0.05). WMFT and JTHFT showed a significant decrease in time after treatment in groups I and II (p < 0.05) more than patients in group III, but the difference was of no statistical significance. Conclusion These results suggest that MP may be useful to improve upper extremity function in individuals with SCI; especially when combined with SS.

New enhanced spectrofluorimetric approach for picogram detection of Fenoterol hydrobromide through Von Pechman synthesis of coumarins

A new, specific, precise and very sensitive spectrofluorimetric methodology has been established and approved for determination of Fenoterol hydrobromide (FEN) in its pharmaceutical forms and spiked plasma. The strategy utilized the phenolic nature of FEN and its capacity to undergo Von Pechman synthesis of coumarin. In this study, Fenoterol hydrobromide reacts with ethyl acetoacetate in presence of concentrated sulfuric acid to form an extremely fluorescent coumarin derivative measured at 480 nm (λex: 420 nm). Different reaction variables affecting development and stability of the formed coumarin derivative were precisely examined and enhanced to guarantee greatest sensitivity of the strategy. The recommended procedure was found to obey Beers law in concentration range of (300-2000) pg mL-1 with quantitation limit 130 pg mL-1, revealing high sensitivity of the suggested method. The proposed procedure was completely examined and approved through the ICH guidelines and was efficiently applied for the determination of the cited drug in spiked plasma and its dosage forms.