Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 1, Feb 2016

The heterocyclic compounds have a great importance in medicinal chemistry. One of the most important heterocycles in medicinal chemistry are quinazolines possessing wide spectrum of biological properties like antibacterial, antifungal, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV, anticancer and analgesic activities. This skeleton is an important pharmacophore considered as a privileged structure. This review highlights the recent advances in the synthesis of quinazolines and quinazolinone derivatives with potent antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities.

Croton guatemalensis Lotsy (CGL), known as “copalchi” in Chiapas, Mexico, is used for the treatment of fever, abdominal pain and malaria and also as a remedy for chills and for treating rheumatism. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether aqueous extracts from the bark of this plant possesses indeed antinociceptive properties by using two different animal models of nociception, the acetic acid-induced writhing test and the hot plate model. The results showed that i.p. administration of this extract (0, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) 30 min prior testing had significant dose-dependent antinociceptive effects in the acetic acid-induced writhing test and that the reduction of writhings (85.5 % as compared to the control) at the highest dose tested is similar to that exhibited by dipyrone (250 mg/kg). This effect was not reversed by naloxone, a non-selective opioid receptor antagonist, suggesting that the endogenous opioid system does not underlie the antinociceptive effects of CGL in the acetic acid-induced writhing test. No effects were however observed in the hot-plate model. Our results indicate that aqueous extracts from Croton guatemalensis bark contain pharmacologically active constituents endowed with antinociceptive activity. It is suggested that cyclooxygenase inhibition might be at least partially involved in the antinociceptive effects of this extract.

α-Amylase inhibitors play a critical role in the control of diabetes and many of medicinal plants have been found to act as α-amylase inhibitors. Swertia genus, belonging to the family Gentianaceae, comprises different species most of which have been used in traditional medicine of several cultures as antidiabetic, anti-pyretic, analgesic, liver and gastrointestinal tonic. Swertia longifolia Boiss. is the only species of Swertia growing in Iran. In the present investigation, phytochemical study of S. longifolia was performed and α-amylase inhibitory effects of the plant fractions and purified compounds were determined. Aerial parts of the plant were extracted with hexane, chloroform, methanol and water, respectively. The components of the hexane and chloroform fractions were isolated by different chromatographic methods and their structures were determined by 1H NMR and 13C NMR data. α-Amylase inhibitory activity was determined by a colorimetric assay using 3,5-dinitro salysilic acid. During phytochemical examination, α-amyrin, β-amyrin and β-sitosterol were purified from the hexane fraction,while ursolic acid, daucosterol and swertiamarin were isolated from chloroform fraction. The results of the biochemical assay revealed α-amylase inhibitory activity of hexane, chloroform, methanol and water fractions, of which the chloroform and methanol fractions were more potent (IC50 16.8 and 18.1 mg/ml, respectively). Among examined compounds, daucosterol was found to be the most potent α-amylase inhibitor (57.5% in concentration 10 mg/ml). With regard to α-amylase inhibitory effects of the plant extracts, purified constituents, and antidiabetic application of the species of Swertia genus in traditional medicine of different countries, S. longifolia seems more appropriate species for further mechanistic antidiabetic evaluations.

Pycnocycla caespitosa is an essential oil-containing plant naturally growing in southwest of Iran. The extract of this plant has been used as remedy in traditional medicine. Another species of Pycnocyla (P. spinosa) possessed antispasmodic activity. The pharmacological objective of this study was to look for relaxant effect of hydroalcoholic extract and essential oil of P. caespitosa on rat isolated ileum contractions for comparison with loperamide. The essential oil and the hydroalcoholic extract were prepared by hydrodistillation and percolation techniques, respectively. For antispasmodic studies a section of rat ileum was suspended in an organ bath containing Tyrode’s solution. The tissue was stimulated with electrical field stimulation (EFS), KCl (80 mM) and acetylcholine (ACh 0.5 µM). The tissue was kept under 1 g tension at 37 °C and continuously gassed with O2. The essential oil content in the aerial parts of P. caespitosa was found to be 0.16 % ml/g. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography– mass spectrometry. Seventy constituents, representing 97 % of the oil were identified. The major components of the oil were carvacrol (7.1%), β-eudesmol (6.4 %), ρ-cymene (5.7%), caryophyllene oxide (3.6%), α-pinine (1.4%) and α-phelandrene (1.1%). The hydroalcoholic extract of P. caespitosa inhibited the response to KCl (IC50 = 48 ± 3 µg/ml), ACh (IC50 = 61 ± 14.7 µg/ml) and EFS (IC50 = 77 ± 17 µg/ml) in a concentration-dependent manner. The essential oil of P. caespitosa also inhibited rat ileum contractions. The IC50 values for KCl, ACh and EFS were 9.2 ± 1.2 µg/ml, 7.6 ± 0.8 µg/ml and 6.4 ± 0.8 µg/ml, respectively. The inhibitory effect of both the essential oil and the extract were reversible. This research confirms the antispasmodic activity of both the essential oil and the extract of P. caespitosa on smooth muscle contraction of ileum.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF), a growth factor involved in cell growth and differentiation, is a small polypeptide with molecular weight of approximately 6 kDa known to be present in a number of different mammalian species. Experimental studies in animals and humans have demonstrated that the topical application of EGF accelerates the rate of epidermal regeneration of partial-thickness wounds and seconddegree burns. Due to its commercial applications, Human EGF (hEGF) has been cloned in several forms. In the present study, adenoviral based expression system was used to produce biologically active recombinant hEGF. The presence of secreted recombinant hEGF was confirmed by a dot blot and its expression level was determined by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay. Moreover, biological activity of secreted hEGF was evaluated by a proliferation assay performed on A549 cells. For production of hEGF in a secretory form, a chimeric gene coding for the hEGF fused to the signal peptide was expressed using adenoviral based method. This method enables the production of hEGF at the site of interest and moreover it could be used for cell proliferation and differentiation assays in tissue engineering research experiments instead of using commercially available EGF.

Tramadol hydrochloride, a synthetic opioid, acts via a multiple mechanism of action. Tramadol can potentially change the behavioral phenomena. The present study evaluates the effect of tramadol after single or multiple dose/s on the spatial memory of rat using object recognition task (ORT). Tramadol, 20 mg/kg, was injected intraperitoneally (i.p) as a single dose or once a day for 21 successive days considered as acute or chronic treatment respectively. After treatment, animals underwent two trials in the ORT. In the first trial (T1), animals encountered with two identical objects for exploration in a five-minute period. After 1 h, in the T2 trial, the animals were exposed to a familiar and a nonfamiliar object. The exploration times and frequency of the exploration for any objects were recorded. The results showed that tramadol decreased the exploration times for the nonfamiliar object in the T2 trial when administered either as a single dose (P

Pinus eldarica Medw. (Iranian pine) is native to Transcaucasian region and has been vastly planted in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Various parts of this plant have been widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases including infectious conditions (e.g. infectious wounds). In this study we aimed to investigate the antibacterial activity of P. eldarica bark extract, essential oil and proanthocyanidins on three important bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antibacterial analysis was performed using standard disk diffusion method with different concentrations of essential oil, bark total hydroalcoholic extract, and bark proanthocyanidins (0.5, 1, 2 and 3 mg/ml). After incubation at 37 °C for 24 h, the antibacterial activity was assessed by measuring the zone of growth inhibition surrounding the disks. The results indicated that the essential oil, total hydroalcoholic extract, and proanthocyanidins of the bark of the P. eldarica were effective against the gram negative bacteria, P. aeruginosa, and significantly inhibited its growth in disk diffusion method (P

The angiotensin 1-7 (Ang 1-7), is abundantly produced in kidneys and antagonizes the function of angiotensin II through Mas receptor (MasR) or other unknown mechanisms. In the current study, the role of MasR and steroid hormone estrogen on renal blood flow response to Ang 1-7 administration was investigated in ovariectomized (OV) female rats. OV female Wistar-rats received estradiol (500 µg/kg/week) or vehicle for two weeks. In the day of the experiment, the animals were anesthetized, cannulated, and the responses including mean arterial pressure, renal blood flow (RBF), and renal vascular resistance at the constant level of renal perfusion pressure to graded infusion of Ang 1-7 at 0, 100 and 300 ng/kg/min were determined in OV and OV estradiol-treated (OVE) rats, treated with vehicle or MasR antagonist; A779. RBF response to Ang 1-7 infusion increased dose-dependently in vehicle (Pdose

Because of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer potential, Salvia chorassanica Bunge (Lamiaceae) has been considered as a popular herb in Iranian traditional medicine. Previous studies have shown remarkable cytotoxic properties of the methanol, n-hexane and dichloromethane extract of S. chorassanica on human cervical cancer cells. To seek the therapeutic potentials of S. chorassanica, this study was undertaken to evaluate the cytotoxic activities of various extracts of this plant on human breast MCF-7 and prostate cancer DU 145 cells. The DU 145 cells were exposed to different concentrations of plant extracts (1-200 µg/ml). Cytotoxic activities were examined using alamarBlue® assay and apoptosis was assessed by acridine orange/propodium iodide double staining and evaluation of DNA fragmentation by flow cytometry. Our findings indicated that n-hexane and dichloromethane extracts had more cytotoxic activities against DU 145 and MCF-7 cell lines compared with other extracts (P

Blood pressure rises rapidly upon awakening and maybe responsible, in part, for the increased incidence of myocardial infarction and stroke during the morning hours. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to develop a novel chronotherapeutic formulation of metoprolol tartrate (MT) for night time dosing providing maximum effect in the morning hours. Core tablets contained MT, sodium chloride, lactose, Avicel® and starch. Powders were mixed, sieved and directly compressed in to tablets using a single punch tablet machine. Core tablets were then coated with 5 or 10% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose as swelling layer and subsequently outer membrane with the mixture of various ratios of Eudragit® RS to RL at different coating levels 5, 10, 15% as semi-permeable water insoluble outer coat by conventional pan-spray method. The best formulation with regard to release behavior was chosen and subjected to further release studies in various rotational speed and pHs. Both lag time and release rate were dependent on the coating levels and the osmotic pressure of dissolution medium. A linear relationship between lag time and outer coating levels was observed. The lag time was prolonged with an increase in the coating levels. Both diffusion and osmotic pumping effect were involved in drug release from the device. Significant increases in drug release behavior was not observed using dissolution medium with various pH and different agitation rates. It was found that the release rate was independent of pH, rotational speed and gastric motility and may not be altered due to changes of pH and peristaltic movement along the GI tract.