Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2014 in |
Interferons were the first cytokines to be used therapeutically as naturally derived and as recombinant forms in humans. Their broad biological activity has resulted in clinical benefits in diseases ranging from infectious (such as viral hepatitis), autoimmune (in particular multiple sclerosis) to neoplastic (lymphomas and carcinomas). Since Interferons enhance the immune system in many ways, they are used for many diseases that involve the immune system. For example; Interferon alfa-2a (Roferon-A) is FDA-approved to treat hairy cell leukemia, AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Interferon alfa-2b is approved for the treatment of hairy cell leukemia, malignant melanoma, condylomata acuminata, AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma chronic hepatitis C, and chronic hepatitis B. Ribavirin combined with interferon alfa-2b, interferon alfacon-1 (Infergen), pegylated interferon alfa-2b, or pegylated interferon alpha-2a, all are approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Interferon beta-1b (Betaseron) and interferon beta-1a (Avonex) are approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Interferon alfa-n3 (Alferon-N) is approved for the treatment of genital and perianal warts caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Interferon...
Read More
Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2014 in |
An imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants generates the oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the major cause of many diseases like cardiovascular, respiratory disease, renal diseases, neurological diseases, cancer, and aging. Cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of mortality in patients so the purpose of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. N-acetylcysteine is an antioxidant which confers its protective effect by minimizing oxidative stress and oxidative stress associated problems. A search using the Pub Med database was conducted using the keywords N-acetylcysteine and mice heart. All research articles related to the use of N-acetylcysteine in protection of mice heart were discussed. A total of 93 articles were identified during this broad search while 30 articles were included for review recommending the N-acetylcysteine for protection of heart. This review proved that N-acetylcysteine has a positive role in management of multiple heart...
Read More
Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2014 in |
Thuja occidentalis called the tree of life is an endemic plant in eastern North America and cultivated in northern Europe and in Brazil as ornamental tree. According to the popular use of this plant has been used in herbal and homeopathic preparations for acute and chronic infections of the upper respiratory tract, warts, as adjunctive antibiotic, immunostimulant. However, these and other data are old or unavailable, and in view of the therapeutic potential of the species, it was necessary to upgrade the recently published studies and not included in previous reviews about the botanical, pharmacological, toxicological and technological aspects. In this review article, it was noted that for many years the phytochemistry studies on the species concentrated their efforts around essential oils, highlighting the monoterpene thujone, which is attributed to the pharmacological and toxicological activities. Recently, preclinical studies have identified the presence of polysaccharides, flavonoids, tannins and proteins in the ethanol fraction, which showed antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antitumor, hypolipidemic, antidiabetic and antiulcerative activity. The clinical studies proving its immunostimulant and...
Read More
Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2014 in |
Since Dr. Tsuneji Nagai of Hoshi University, Japanin the early 1980’s used the concept of bio adhesion for the delivery of insulin across the buccal mucosa in beagle dogs; several researchers tried a large number of drugs for administration through buccal mucoadhesive dosage forms. The potential of these dosage forms have been found to be tremendous because of their ability to improve the bioavailability of many such drugs by bypassing the hepatic first pass metabolism. Because of the growing number of newer molecules in the form of peptides and proteins, the research in this field has gained the centre stage for the non-invasive drug delivery as an alternative to parenteral route. The novel design of the buccal delivery system can be achieved by the help of polymers of synthetic and natural polymers. The purpose of this review article is to establish the developments and highlight the importance of mucoadhesive buccal delivery for low bio available...
Read More
Posted by admin on Mar 1, 2014 in |
Liver, the largest gland functioning as an organ of storage, manufacturing and biotransformation is a vulnerable target for injury. Chronic alcohol consumption, exposure to toxic chemicals and certain drugs like paracetamol, tetracycline, antitubercular drugs, chemotherapeutic agents, NSAIDS, damage the liver cells (hepatocytes) in long run. Drug induced liver injury is a major health problem, the manifestations of which are highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic elevation of liver enzymes to fulminant liver failure. Modern medicine has provided us many drugs that alleviate liver diseases but compared to it herbal medicine is preferred because the latter is cost effective and considered to be a safe approach for treatment with minimal side effects. Through the decades many scientists, researchers have reported hepatoprotective activity of many medicinal plants mostly in the form of plant extracts. The present review is aimed at compiling data on different medicinal plants with hepatoprotective activity on various models of...
Read More
