Pranay Wal

Biological Activities of Lupeol

Pentacyclic lupane-type triterpenes, exemplified by lupeol [lup-20(29)-en-3b-ol], principally found in common fruit plants such as olive, mango, strawberry, grapes, etc., were reported to possess beneficial effects as a therapeutic and preventive agent for a range of disorders. Although lupeol exhibits an array of biological activities like anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activities both in in vitro and in vivo systems, extensive exploration to establish its role as a chemopreventive compound is warranted. Last 15 years have seen tremendous efforts by researchers worldwide to develop this wonderful molecule for its clinical use toward the treatment of a variety of disorders. These studies also provide insight into the mechanism of action of lupeol and suggest that it is a multi-target agent with immense anti-inflammatory potential targeting key molecular pathways which involve nuclear factor kappa B (NF-jB), cFLIP, Fas, Kras, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase in a variety of cells. It is noteworthy that lupeol at its effective therapeutic doses exhibits no toxicity to normal cells and tissues. The perception of chemoprevention lies still in its infancy. Intervention to slow down, arrest or reverse the process of carcinogenesis by the use of either natural or synthetic substances individually or in combination therapy has emerged as a promising and pragmatic medical approach to reduce cancer risk.

Medicinal Value of Euphorbia Tirucalli

Natural products play an important role in drug discovery and many approved therapeutics as well as drug candidates have been derived from natural sources. They have been the source of most of the active ingredients of medicines. The beneficial medicinal effects of plant materials typically result from the combinations of secondary products present in the plan. These secondary metabolites constitute the medicinal value of a drug plant, which produces a definite physiological action on human body. The plant of Euphorbia tirucalli belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae, which is commonly known as Barki-thohar. This plant is native of America but has become acclimatized and grows freely in all parts of India. This is a common medicinal plant of India; the plant′s milky juice and stem bark are used. Milky juice in small doses is a purgative but in large doses it is acrid, counter-irritant, and emetic. E. tirucalli latex seems to reduce the specific cellular immunity associated with the virus Epstein-Barr injection by activating the virus lytic cycle. The bark/latex of E. tirucalli presents pharmacological activities as anantibacterial, molluscicide, antiherpetic, and antimutagenic. It also shows cocarcinogenic and anticarcinogenic activities. In the northeast of region in Brazil, the latex of E. tirucalli is used as a folk medicine against syphilis. As an antimicrobial; a laxative agent to control intestinal parasites to treat asthma, cough, earache, rheumatism, verrucae, cancer, epithelioma, sarcoma, and skin tumors. E. tirucalli contains a large quantity of terpenes and sterols among its constituent and the following substances, which have been isolated; alcohol eufol, alfaeuforbol, and taraxa sterol e tirucallol (Imai, 1994; This review highlights on the existing information particularly on the phytochemistry and various pharmacological properties of E. tirucalli, which may provide incentive for proper evaluation of the plant as a medicinal agent.

Aliskiren: An orally active renin inhibitor

Renin inhibitors are antihypertensive drugs that block the first step in the renin-angiotensin system. Their mechanism of action differs from that of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor antagonists, but like these drugs, renin inhibitors interrupt the negative feedback effects of angiotensin II on renin secretion. The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) has long been recognized to play a significant role in hypertension pathophysiology. Certain agents that modify the RAAS can control blood pressure and improve cardiovascular outcomes. Optimization of this compound by Novartis led to the development of aliskiren – the only direct renin inhibitor which is clinically used as an antihypertensive drug. Aliskiren is the first of a new class of antihypertensive agents. Aliskiren is a new renin inhibitor of a novel structural class that has recently been shown to be efficacious in hypertensive patients after once-daily oral dosing. In short-term studies, it was effective in lowering blood pressure either alone or in combination with valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide, and had a low incidence of serious adverse effects. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007 for the use as a monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensives. Greater reductions in blood pressure have been achieved when aliskiren was used in combination with hydrochlorothiazide or an angiotensin-receptor blocker. The most common adverse effects reported in clinical trials were headache, fatigue, dizziness, diarrhea, and nasopharyngitis. Aliskiren has not been studied in patients with moderate renal dysfunction; as an RAAS-acting drug, it should be prescribed for such patients only with caution.

Pharmacovigilance of Herbal Products in India

Herbal formulations being widely accepted therapeutic agents as antidiabetics, antiarthritics, hepatoprotectives, cough remedies, memory enhancers, and adaptogens. The commonest myth regarding herbal medicines is that these medicines are completely safe, and can therefore be safely consumed by the patient on his/her own, without a physician′s prescription. This belief has led to large-scale self-medication by people all over the world, often leading to disappointing end-results, side-effects, or unwanted after-effects. There is an increasing awareness at several levels of the need to develop pharmacovigilance practices for herbal medicines. The current model of pharmacovigilance and its associated tools have been developed in relation to synthetic drugs, and applying these methods to monitoring the safety of herbal medicines presents unique challenges in addition to those described for conventional medicines. Several problems relate to the ways in which herbal medicines are named, perceived, sourced, and utilized. This may be because of differences in the use of nonorthodox drugs (e.g., herbal remedies) which may pose special toxicological problems, when used alone or in combination with other drugs. The purpose of pharmacovigilance is to detect, assess, and understand, and to prevent the adverse effects or any other possible drug-related problems, related to herbal, traditional, and complementary medicines.

Pharmacognostic Evaluation of Roots of Benincasa Hispida (Thunb.) Cogn.(Cucurbitaceae)

Received: September 13, 2017 Revised: January 22, 2018 Accepted: March 05, 2018 Abstract: Background: Herbals have been proven to be offering a wide number of medicinal uses and are having multiple benefits when considered as a complete system of medicine. Benincasa plant is rich in phytoconstituents, present almost in every part of the plant. Roots are the parts on which minimum work has been done.

Development, Characterization and Transdermal Delivery of Dapsone and an Antibiotic Entrapped in Ethanolic Liposomal Gel for the Treatment of Lapromatous Leprosy

Received: November 30, 2017 Revised: April 5, 2018 Accepted: April 16, 2018 Abstract: Background and Objective: Applying Ethosomal Gels (EGs) in transdermal drug delivery systems has evoked considerable interest because of their good watersolubility and biocompatibility. The aim of present study was to prepare and characterize ethosomes of antileprotic drug Dapsone (DAP) together with an antibiotic Cloxacillin Sodium (CLXS) which may deliver these drugs to targeted site more efficiently than marketed gel preparation of DAP and also overcome the problems related with oral administration of CLXS.

Sub Chronic and Sub-acute Toxicity Studies of Carbofuranon in Wistar Rat: Application to Neurobehavioral Evaluation

Carbofuran is a carbamate pesticide used in fields for promoting crop yield as it cuts down the expectancy of pests. It has been contaminating water in the nearby water sources which ultimately drained into water supply of towns and villages. It is a pollutant and is hazardous if consumed directly. We have conducted sub-acute and sub chronic toxicity studies on wistar rat for studying neurobehavioral effects using carbofuran as the key toxicant. The sub-acute studies were carried out daily dosing and experimenting toxicity studies on 7, 14, 21, 28 and 42 days of study and the sub chronic studies were carried out on giving repeated doses for 90 days and studying the toxic effects. The dose was administered in subsequent groups as 1 mg/kg b.wt, 2.5 mg/kg b.wt, 5 mg/kg b.wt dissolved in olive oil respectively. A control group of animal receiving saline was also established to compare the results and evaluate a clear outcome of the effects and toxicities. The neurobehavioral tests were performed using grip strength test, rota rod test, pain threshold, water consumption evaluation and weight evaluation were monitored during the course of experiment. So as to understand the behavior patterns exhibited by the Wistar rats during the course of experiment in comparison to the control group and the treated groups. The extent of damage was being evaluated by studying various doses of the pesticide and three groups were divided which were administered three different doses of Carbofuran drug at different concentrations.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DRUG INTERACTION AND SIDE-EFFECT OF DRUG FOR TREATMENT OF DIABETES MELLITUS: A REVIEW

The objective of this review paper is to examine diabetes and via the modifying drugs treatment how to improve the patient condition and related risks. The review mentions the different types of comparative drugs which are useful for diagnosis or prevention of diabetes. Treatment modification can play a major role in the decreasing the diabetic patients. In India, a concerning 1-5% by population affected by diabetes or related difficulty. So there is required to use medications to cure the disease. If a patient suffers from diabetes used anti-diabetic drugs. These drugs are recommended for lowering the blood glucose levels. Metformin, Acarbose, thiazolidinedione etc. Most of the drugs are administered via orally so that called oral hypoglycemic or oral antihyperglycemic agents. Present days for treatment of diabetes available, different classes of anti-diabetic drugs and their choice depending on the patient diabetic type or the condition, age as well as other factors. Type 1 diabetes mainly caused by deficiency of insulin secretion the body. Researcher around the world focused on oral hypoglycemic agents and presents various types of comparative study to control the diabetes mellitus. The present review summarizes the comparative study of anti-diabetic drugs for the treatment of diabetes. This review article has shown a comparative study of drugs which are metformin more popular drug treatment of diabetes and they have the less side effect or higher efficacy, mention in the recently

A DEEP INSIGHT ON THE CAUSATIVE AGENTS SYMPTOMS AND CURE FOR SKIN CANCER: A REVIEW

The main objective of this review is to evaluate the current knowledge about the interrelation of skin and nutrient, particularly the influences of nutrients on cutaneous immune responses, the photo protective effects of nutrients and the therapeutic actions of nutrients in skin disorders. The review encompasses some medicinal plants used for the treatment of cancer disease. The plant sources of India likely provide effective anticancer agents. In this article, we have covered the information which is gathered from the plants used recently identified in the cancer treatment. The focused nutrients are carotenoids, vitamins, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

A REVIEW ON IMPLICATIONS OF BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS ON LONG-HAUL TRAVELLERS IN DIFFERENT TIME ZONES AND SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE: WORSENING OF DIABETES MELLITUS

Incidences of Diabetes mellitus (DM) gets worsen on frequent long-haul travel in different time zones and sedentary lifestyle. An extensive review of the published articles related to diabetes, the effect of lifestyle modification (exercise and diet) and travelling of diabetic people across different time zones were done and these were accessed from Pubmed-Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Lancet and Diabetes Care. The study done by different scientists were compared and interpreted for the worsening of cases of DM. For long-haul travel in different time zones, it was observed that, due to metabolic disturbances, serious consequences of DM were observed in flight, but that can be prevented if pre-advice are taken by the patients and strictly followed. The cumulative incidences of diabetes of 10 cases were compared and mean cumulative incidences of control group (following sedentary lifestyle) was 42.77% and of intervention group (following healthy diet and moderate physical activity) was 22.11% confirming that implementation of the healthy diet and exercise as regular physical activity caused the lowering of cumulative incidences of diabetes. According to the research conducted on frequent flyers and sedentary lifestyle, the hypothesis quoted by various scientists is that DM is a metabolic disorder which easily gets affected by the frequent changes in the metabolism leading to its high incidences. Thus, the concept of chronobiology comes into light that requires more research to correlate the disturbed biological rhythm (Circadian cycle) to the incidences and severity of DM condition (worsening or increased incidences of DM).