Journal of Reports in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Jan-Jun 2014

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia has become one of the most severe progressive socio-economical and medical burdens facing countries all over the world. The drugs are currently available just able to delay the symptom progression of disease. This study try to evaluate protein profile of the effects of aqueous extract of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) on spatial performance of AD rats. Male Wistar rats were first divided into control and AD groups. Rat model of AD was established by intracerebroventricular injection of 10 mg Ab 1-42 20 d prior to administration of the lavender extract. Rats in both groups (control (CO) and Alzheimeric (ALZ) rats that did not receive the herbal extract) were then introduced to task learning in Morris water maze. After the first stage of spatial learning, control (CE200) and AD (AE200) animals received 200 mg/kg of the lavender extract. Hippocampus tissues of four groups are separated and protein profile was determined by 2DE. By using progenesis same spot software totally 950 spots are detected in 4 gel groups. The CO and ALZ displayed different performance in learning the spatial task. 111 proteins just express in CO group. This is illustrated that inducing of Alzheimer could suppress expression of 111 proteins while it can express 67 new proteins. The lavender treated animals in both control and Alzheimer groups demonstrated a tendency of better function in memory consolidation. Progressive Effect of lavender extract on spatial memory and maze learning task can be clear by finding difference gene expression in both ALZ and AE200 groups. 49 protein spots were observed in ALZ but not in AE200, in contrary, 26 proteins were only observed in AE200 but not in ALZ group. Comparison between CO and CE200 groups show that CE200 spent less time locating the hidden platform. This positive influence maybe refers to present 80 new proteins that expressed and 104 protein that suppressed in CE200. Direct effect of lavender on AD rats refer to 16 spots newly expressed and 36 spot that suppressed. These findings can disclose that efficiency of lavender on improving memory and learning in normal and alzheimric brain related to suppression and expression of some principal proteins. Applying more proteomics techniques to better understanding of protein changes at the system level can lead to the development of new drug treatments for dementia.

Abstract: Theuse of plant compounds to treat infection is an age-old practice in a large partof the world, especially in developing countries, where there is dependence ontraditional medicine for a variety of diseases. According to World HealthOrganization medicinal plants would be the best source to obtain a variety ofdrugs. Rheum ribes is among the Polygonaceae family which is endemic inIran and a few neighboring countries. In this investigation, antimicrobialeffects ofroot, stalk and leaves methanol extracts of R. ribes against Staphylococcusaureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas auregnosa,Shigella flexneri were studied,using well diffusion method. Methanolextracts obtained from root, stalk and leaves of R. ribes exhibitedantimicrobial activity against test microorganisms. R. ribes extracts were found to be most active against S. flexneri and K.pneumoniae with inhibitory, 13.75 and 13.5 mm. Theresults suggested that extracts of R. ribes could be effectively usedagainst diseases caused by selected human pathogens.

Neovascularization of the normally avascular cornea was associated with a notable increase in the expression of the major pro-angiogenic factors, inflammatory cytokines and proteases. The data supporting a causal role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) are extensive. Anti-angiogenic/anti-inflammatory therapy is considered as a possible tool for controlling corneal neovascularization. Mushroom Ganoderma Lucidum extracts containing materials that significantly reduced the number of newly formed vessels and expression of inflammatory cytokines and angiogenic factors production from various cells. This study aimed to elucidate anti-angiogenic activity of Ganoderma Lucidum extract for inhibiting corneal neovascularization and restoration of corneal neovascularization and restoration.

Acrolein (ACR) is α, β unsaturated aldehyde that exists extensively in the environment and (thermally processed) foods. It can also be generated through endogenous metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective role of Pentoxifylline (PTX) is a non-selective phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor on toxicity of ACR. In this study, oxidative damage were measured by markers liver mitochondrial, such as, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and total glutathione (GSH) in rats. Effective doses of ACR (2mg/kg/day) and PTX (50mg/kg/day) and vitamin E (15mg/kg/day) were administered alone or in combination for 14 days by intraperitoneal injection. At the end of the experiment, the liver mitochondria of the animals were separated. PTX ameliorated LPO, SOD and GPx in liver mitochondria of ACR-induced changes. Co-administration of PTX with ACR improved LPO in liver mitochondria. In conclusion, intracellular cAMP-elevating agents like PTX, may be considered beneficial for the protection or recovery of ACR-induced toxic damage in liver mitochondria.

Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff. is an Iranian endangered endemic edible plant with enormous use in the middle region of Iran as food and spice especially yogurt seasoning, and as medicinal herb for anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular purposes. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic properties of kelussia suggest that it may have beneficial effects on inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis. In the present study, the effect of this herbal extract on a model of acute colitis was evaluated. Different doses of hydroalcoholic extract of kelussia (125,250,500 mg/kg) were administered orally (p.o.) to the separate groups of male Wistar rats (n=6). It was started 4h before induction of colitis and continued daily for 3 consecutive days. Wet colon weight/ length ratio and tissue damage scores and area as well as indices of colitis and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were evaluated for each specimen. Two lower doses of extract (125, 250 mg/kg) were effective to reduce all the indices of colitis and MPO activity in different assays. By increasing the dose (500mg/kg) the efficacy was declined suggesting a possible reverse dose related effect. It is concluded that Kelussia odoratissima has anti-inflammatory action in rat model of colitis but further detailed studies are recommended to identify the mechanisms are involved and the active constituents are responsible for these findings.

Malaria as one of the most recurrent infectious diseases caused by parasites of the genus plasmodium, kills several hundred thousand peopleespecially in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world annually. Terpenoids have served as the lead compounds to develop new antimalarial agents. The aromatic monoterpenoid, cuminaldehyde, isolated from the fruits of Buniumpersicumwas evaluated for antimalarial activity using cell-free β-hematin formation assay. The purified compound showed no inhibitory performance with respect to β-hematin formation. It is presumably due to structural differences between cuminaldehyde and other known active terpenoids.

Despite a quite short early history, computational drug design and discovery methods can now be efficient in reducing costs and speeding up drug developing procedure. Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) is a G protein-coupled receptor implicated in the regulation of body weight. Despite its clinical reputation, there is a lack of in-depth knowledge about structure and behavior of MC4R in lipid bilayer due to the absence of a crystal structure. In this context, a computational investigation was presented to study the Melnocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) receptor integrating homology modeling (HM) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A homology-based model of the MC4R receptor was produced. The resulting homology model of the receptor was then used for molecular dynamics simulation studies in explicit POPC. The receptor structure that ensued was refined and the final native conformation was obtained.

Difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia) is common among all age groups, especially in elderly and children. Orally Disintegrating tablets constitute an innovative dosage form that overcomes the problems of swallowing and provides a quicksetof action. The purpose of this study was to formulate and evaluate an orally Disintegrating Tablet (ODT) containing captopril while using croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone and two natural superdisintegrants: karaya gum and natural agar. For the preliminary study 12 batches were prepared. A 32 full factorial design was applied to optimize the formulation and 9 batches were prepared and evaluated. From the preliminary study it was found that ODTs containing karaya gum showed a better disintegration time and hence it was considered for further studies.

Development of phytotherapies aimed at angiogenesis inhibition, in combination with classical anti-cancer therapies, is among the most intensively studied approaches for treatment of cancer. Epidemiological and animal studies have indicated that consumption of Allium species like shallot is associated with a reduced risk of cancer development. As a continuation of our efforts to study and characterize the effective anti-angiogenic agents from Allium species, here, we investigated the effects of aqueous extract of shallot on critical steps and mediators of in vitro angiogenesis. The anti-proliferation, -migration, and -tubulogenesis properties of the aqueous extract of shallot (at 100 - 1500 µg/ml) were evaluated using three-dimensional capillary tube formation as well as a wound-healing assay in endothelial cell-based experimental systems. In addition, the effect of the extract on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2 and -9) expression was assayed using ELISA, gelatin zymography, and RT-PCR techniques. Treatment with the aqueous extract of shallot at ≥ 500 µg/ml concentrations resulted in significant decreases in endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and tubulogenesis. Moreover, the extract caused a dose-related inhibition of VEGF secretion and MMP-2/-9 expression. Taking all the data into account, the current study indicated that shallot – containing potent anti-angiogenic properties - exerts its inhibitory effect mainly through down-regulation of VEGF and MMP-2/-9; essential angiogenic mediators in many malignant and chronic inflammatory diseases.

The DNA molecule has been known to be the cellular target for many cytotoxic anticancer agents for several decades. Understanding how drug molecules interact with DNA has become an active research area in the interface between chemistry, molecular biology and medicine. DNA extraction has been suggested as a main step affecting molecular DNA technology such as PCR and PCR-based methods. Therefore, researchers have used several modified protocols for efficient DNA extraction from whole blood. In this study, we focused on a fast and reliable protocol with inexpensive and non-poisonous reagents for DNA extraction from whole blood. Current method was optimized based on a combination of conventional salting-out and boiling methods. Also the quality and quantity of the extracted DNA were surveyed by gel electrophoresis and Nanodrop spectrophotometry methods, respectively. Results showed that high quantity and quality of isolated DNA by this method is enough to do hundreds of PCR-based reactions and also to be utilized in other DNA manipulation assay such as restriction digestion, drug- DNA interaction and methylation detection survey. In conclusion, we described a fast, low-cost, non-toxic and enzyme free protocol for high yield genomic DNA extraction from whole blood.