Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
Life expectancy is increasing as a result of advancement in medical science and the availability of better healthcare services. As the risk of dementia increases with increasing age, the number of persons with dementia in the general population is also rising. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for approximately 70% of the dementia cases. So far, efforts to find a cure for Dementia have been disappointing, and the drugs currently available to treat the disease address only its symptoms and with limited effectiveness. Apart from genetic susceptibility, chronic exposure to other toxins, free -radical damage, Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, high homocysteine level are the major risk factors for Alzheimer’s and stroke-related dementia. Reducing oxidative stress by anti-oxidants, protecting brain inflammatory lesions using anti-inflammatory drugs and facilitation of brain cholinergic neurotransmission with anti-cholinesterase are some positive approaches to management for dementia especially in Alzheimer’s disease. Saraswata ghrita, a polyherbal medhya compound drug used in traditional medicine for cognition and memory related problems is...
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Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
In contrast to the problematic health and economic effects of acute and chronic smoke exposure on lung function and airway inflammation, there are still few data dealing with the effects of smoking. Smoke exposurecan result in aberrant cell growth. In our experiments, pyrolyzed components of cigarettes have been shown to induce a strong stress response in cultured cells. We used human embryonic lung (HEL) cells, which respond with an altered expression of a broad spectrum of genes. Therefore we performed a systematic analysis of the genetic expression behaviour, using the established whole genome microarray-technology which should be able to reveal the cellular effects. With these data we aim to generate a qualitative spectrum of cellular stress response activity. It is noticeable that after cells’ exposure to pyrolyzed tobacco smoke components the products of the most affected genes, e.g. ID1, inhibitor of DNA binding, are up-regulated as a rapid response after 2 h with a factor 3.8 and RPS2, ribosomal protein S2, is down-regulated to nearly 50 % after 24...
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Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide which is widely exploited for its various applications. It has received much attention as a functional biopolymer especially in pharmaceutics and medicine because of its better biodegradability, biocompatibility, versatility and availability. The unique biological applications of chitosan are attributed to these specific properties. The chemical and biological modification of chitosan is mainly done to increase its solubility in aqueous solutions and absorbability in the in vivo system. A variety of chemical modifications are employed to modify this carbohydrate polymer. The modifications of chitosan are influenced by several factors such as molecular weight of chitosan, viscosity, reaction conditions etc. The selective biological applications include antimicrobial, hypocholesterolemic, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, excluding toxins from the intestines, reducing heavy-metal poisoning in humans, mucoadhesive haemostatic, analgesic, radio-protective properties, preventing tooth decay and tooth diseases and immunity enhancing activities. It is also widely useful in biomedical industries and food industries. The present paper reviews the current trend of investigation on various useful modifications on chitosan and their applications...
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Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
Arthritis is a major cause of disability conventionally treated for long term with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids. NSAIDs are nonselective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase and cause GI toxicity, antiplatelet effects, cardiotoxicity, renal toxicity and anaphylactic reactions in selected patients. Corticosteroids have multiple side effects, including gastrointestinal bleeding, upset stomach, thinning of bones, high blood pressure, cataracts, and increased infections. The currently available dosage forms of NSAIDs and steroids possess inherent risk of adverse effects in many different tissues in patients. The most satisfactory delivery system that overcomes the difficulties cited above shall be capable of delivering appropriate concentration of drug at site of action without involvement of other tissue and organs. This review focuses on current trends of development of drug delivery system in particular carriers, with enhanced localization to the target site and sustained drug release. The most prominent advantage of nanoscaled drug carriers such as liposomes, transferosomes, and niosomes over conventional drug delivery systems is the option to improve selective delivery of drugs to the site of...
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Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals; free radicals damage may lead to cancer and other diseases. Some of the example of antioxidants are like β-carotene, lycopene, Vit. C, E & A and other substances which are found in variety of fruits, vegetables, algae (spirulina) & other medicinal plants. Spirulina (Blue green algae) is a microscopic single cell alga which grows in fresh water and has a simple structure but a complex composition. It is a concentrated source of food containing nutraceutical, antioxidants, probiotics and phytonutrients. It has been subjected to through screening for its biological role; some of the finding is promising. It has immunostimulant activities. It stimulates the production and activity of bone marrow stem cells, macrophages, T-cells, spleen & thymus gland shows enhanced function. In-vitro studies on spirulina indicate that it enhances the cell nuclease activity and DNA repair & hence, it has possible role in cancer treatment. Spirulina has the potential to be accepted...
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