Antilithiatic activity of a non-pharmacopoeial Unani formulation in chemically induced urolithiasis in rats.

OBJECTIVES: Parshioshan (Adiantum capillus-veneris L.), Duqu (Peucedanum grande C.B. Clarke), Kaknaj (Physalis alkekengi L.) and Kharekhasak (Tribulus terresteris L.) have been selected for this study as they have been associated with medicinal actions for litholytic activity. METHODS: The experiment was carried out in Sprague Dawley rats divided into seven groups, serving as plain control, disease control, standard control, curative A and B and preventive A and B groups. Animals of plain control received distilled water. Remaining six groups received Ethylene glycol 0.75% and Ammonium chloride 1% by adding in the drinking water for the first three days followed by 0.75% Ethylene glycol for 18 days. From 8th day till 21st day, standard control received Cystone in the dose of 750 mg/kg. Preventive and curative test groups were treated with hydroalcoholic extract of the test drug in the dose of 132 mg/kg and 264 mg/kg from 1st to 21st day and 8th to 21st day of calculi induction. RESULTS: Test drug reduced the number of calcium oxalate crystals in the urine; the level of urinary calcium, creatinine, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and chloride decreased significantly in standard and test groups. The urine volume increased significantly in all the test groups. The level of serum calcium, urea, phosphorus and creatinine were significantly reduced in all the test groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that the test drug reduced and prevented the growth of urinary stones. Moreover, the test drug also possessed significant antiurolithiatic activity. However, the protective effect was found more than its curative effect.

Mutational profiles of marker genes of cervical carcinoma in Bangladeshi patients.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a gynecologic cancer type that develops in the cervix, accounting for 8% mortality of all female cancer patients. Infection with specific human papillomavirus (HPV) types is considered the most severe risk factor for cervical cancer. In the context of our socioeconomic conditions, an increasing burden of this disease and high mortality rate prevail in Bangladesh. Although several researches related to the epidemiology, HPV vaccination, and treatment modalities were conducted, researches on the mutation profiles of marker genes in cervical cancer in Bangladesh remain unexplored. METHODS: In this study, five different genomic regions within the top three most frequently mutated genes (EGFR, KRAS and PIK3CA) in COSMIC database with a key role in the development of cervical cancers were selected to study the mutation frequency in Bangladeshi patients. In silico analysis was done in two steps: nucleotide sequence analysis and its corresponding amino acid analysis. RESULTS: DNA from 46 cervical cancer tissue samples were extracted and amplified by PCR, using 1 set of primers designed for EGFR and 2 sets of primers designed for two different regions of both PIK3CA and KRAS gene. In total, 39 mutations were found in 26 patient samples. Eleven different mutations (23.91%), twenty-four different mutations (52.17%) and four mutations (8.7%) were found in amplified EGFR, PIK3CA and KRAS gene fragments, respectively; among which 1 (EGFR) was common in seven patient samples and 2 (PIKCA) were found in more than 1 patient. Our study shows that except for KRAS, the frequency of observed mutations in our patients is higher than those reported earlier in other parts of the world. Most of the exonic mutations were found only in the PIK3CA and EGFR genes. CONCLUSIONS: The study can be used as a basis to build a mutation database for cervical cancer in Bangladesh with the possibility of targetable oncogenic mutations. Further explorations are needed to establish future diagnostics, personalized medicine decisions, and other pharmaceutical applications for specific cancer subtypes.