Appraisal of Anti-Arthritic and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Folkloric Medicinal Plant Peganum harmala.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Peganum harmala has been traditionally used to manage rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory conditions. However, its use against RA has not been scientifically evaluated. The current study was designed to assess the anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract of P. harmala leaves by in vitro and in vivo methods. METHODS: The in vitro assays were carried out to determine the effect of plant extract on inhibition of egg albumin denaturation and human red blood cell membrane (HRBC) stabilization. Moreover, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity was performed to determine the antioxidant potential. In vivo anti-arthritic activity was performed by determining the curative effect against Complete Freund's adjuvant (0.1 ml). The plant extract was administered to rats orally at 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg/day for 21 days. RESULTS: The values of IC50 of plant extract in protein denaturation, stabilization of HRBC and DPPH assays were 77.54 mg/ml, 23.90 mg/ml and 58.09 µg/ml, respectively. Moreover, the plant extract significantly attenuated the poly-arthritis and weight loss, anemia and paw edema. The plant extract restored the level of C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase in poly-arthritic rats. Moreover, the plant extract restored the immune organs' weight in treated rats. Treatment with P. harmala also significantly subdued the oxidative stress by reinstating superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, catalase and malondialdehyde in poly-arthritic rats. The plant extract notably restored the prostaglandin-E2 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the serum of poly-arthritic rats. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that P. harmala extract had potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic activities, which primarily might be attributed to alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols.

Tylophora hirsuta (Wall.) Extracts Ameliorate Diabetes Associated with Inflammation in Alloxan-induced Diabetic Rats.

BACKGROUND: Tylophora hirsuta (Wall) has long been used as traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes. The current study is designed to evaluate the anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory activity of different extracts of aerial parts of Tylophora hirsuta. METHODS: Sequential maceration was conducted to obtain extracts. Total phenolic contents were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau method. The anti-oxidant activity was assessed by DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The extracts were tested for its inhibitory activity against α-amylase in-vitro. In-vivo anti-diabetic assay was conducted using alloxan-induced diabetic model and OGTT was conducted on normal rats. ELISA was used to determine the pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6). The polyphenolic composition of the extract was analyzed using an HPLC system. RESULTS: Aqueous extract exhibited highest total phenolic contents (985.24± 3.82 mg GAE/100 g DW), antioxidant activity (IC50 = 786.70 ± 5.23 µg/mL), and alpha-amylase inhibition (IC50 =352.8 µg/mL). The aqueous extract of Tylophora hirsuta showed remarkable in-vivo anti-diabetic activity. Results were compared with standard drug glibenclamide. Alloxan induced diabetic mediated alterations in liver function enzymes, renal function determinants, and lipid parameters were significantly restored in aqueous extract treated diabetic rats. A significant reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines (p<0.001) was observed when compared to the control group. HPLC analysis confirms the presence of quercetin, gallic acid, cinnamic acid, and p-coumaric acid. CONCLUSION: These results showed that Tylophora hirsuta possesses strong anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory potentials and justify its folklore use for the management of diabetes.

Antioxidant and Wound Healing Potential of Essential Oil from Citrus reticulata Peel and Its Chemical Characterization.

BACKGROUND: Fruit peels are considered as waste and contribute to a major proportion of the biomass. They can be a good source of various therapeutic benefits. Peels biomass of citrus fruits is usually considered as garbage. Such peels may have many important and valuable medicinal components with pharmacological activities. Citrus reticulata, (Rutaceae family, local name tangerine) is a local seasonal fruit in Pakistan, a very good example of wastage of its peels. OBJECTIVE: The study is based on the exploration of a citrus fruit peel derived essential oil, its chemical characterization, identification of various bioactive components and the exploration of pharmacological potentials (antibacterial and wound healing activity). METHODS: Essential oil was recovered by hydro-distillation of freshly collected peels. Chemical constituents of oil were determined by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis. Antioxidant activities were evaluated by total phenolic contents, total flavonoid content, DPPH scavenging activity and reducing power assay. Antibacterial activity was determined using disc diffusion assay. In vivo wound healing potential was determined in rabbits after topical administration of oil. Wound scoring was calculated followed by histological study. RESULTS: GC-MS analysis showed the presence of various components with the greatest proportion of D-Limonene (89.31%). Total flavonoid and phenolic contents were found to be 14.63 ± 0.95 mg CE/g and 17.03 ± 3.24 mg GAE/g respectively, while DPPH activity was found to be 73.32%. A better antibacterial activity was shown against E. coli. In vivo studies showed significant reduction in wound diameter in essential oil treatment groups. Further, the essential oil was found non-irritant in draize scoring. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that essential oil of this fruit peel might be used for antibacterial and wound healing purposes.

Skin Lesion Segmentation from Dermoscopic Images Using Convolutional Neural Network.

Clinical treatment of skin lesion is primarily dependent on timely detection and delimitation of lesion boundaries for accurate cancerous region localization. Prevalence of skin cancer is on the higher side, especially that of melanoma, which is aggressive in nature due to its high metastasis rate. Therefore, timely diagnosis is critical for its treatment before the onset of malignancy. To address this problem, medical imaging is used for the analysis and segmentation of lesion boundaries from dermoscopic images. Various methods have been used, ranging from visual inspection to the textural analysis of the images. However, accuracy of these methods is low for proper clinical treatment because of the sensitivity involved in surgical procedures or drug application. This presents an opportunity to develop an automated model with good accuracy so that it may be used in a clinical setting. This paper proposes an automated method for segmenting lesion boundaries that combines two architectures, the U-Net and the ResNet, collectively called Res-Unet. Moreover, we also used image inpainting for hair removal, which improved the segmentation results significantly. We trained our model on the ISIC 2017 dataset and validated it on the ISIC 2017 test set as well as the PH2 dataset. Our proposed model attained a Jaccard Index of 0.772 on the ISIC 2017 test set and 0.854 on the PH2 dataset, which are comparable results to the current available state-of-the-art techniques.

pH-sensitive polyvinylpyrrolidone-acrylic acid hydrogels: Impact of material parameters on swelling and drug release

In this study, we fabricated pH-sensitive polyvinylpyrrolidone/acrylic acid (PVP/AA) hydrogels by a free-radical polymerisation method with variation in the content of monomer, polymer and cross-linking agent. Swelling was performed in USP phosphate buffer solutions of pH 1.2, 5.5, 6.5 and 7.5 with constant ionic strength. Network structure was evaluated by different parameters and FTIR confirmed the formation of cross-linked hydrogels. X-ray crystallography showed molecular dispersion of tramadol HCl. A drug release study was carried out in phosphate buffer solutions of pH 1.2, 5.5 and 7.5 for selected samples. It was observed that swelling and drug release from hydrogels can be modified by changing composition and degree of cross-linking of the hydrogels under investigation. Swelling coefficient was high at higher pH values except for the one containing high PVP content. Drug release increased by increasing the pH of the medium and AA contents in hydrogels while increasing the concentration of cross-linking agent had the opposite effect. Analysis of the drug release mechanism revealed non-Fickian transport of tramadol from the hydrogels.

Nesse estudo, preparamos hidrogéis de polivinilpirrolidona/ácido acrílico(PVP/AA), sensíveis ao pH, por meio de método de polimerização de radical livre, com variações no conteúdo de monômero, de polímero e de agente de ligação cruzada. O inchamento foi realizado em soluções tampão fosfato USP pH 1,2, 5,5, 6,5 e 7,5, com força iônica constante. A estrutura reticular foi avaliada por diferentes parâmetros e o FTIR confirmou a formação de hidrogéis de ligação cruzada. A cristalografia de raios X mostrou dispersão molecular do cloridrato de tramadol. Realizou-se estudo de liberação do fármaco em soluções tampão fosfato pH 1,2, 5,5 e 7,5 para amostras selecionadas. Observou-se que o inchamento e a liberação do fármaco dos hidrogéis podem ser modificados mudando-se a composição e o grau de ligação cruzada dos hidrogéis em estudo. O coeficiente de inchamento foi alto em pH mais altos, exceto para um deles com alto conteúdo de PVP. A liberação do fármaco aumentou com o aumento do pH do meio e do conteúdo em AA nos hidrogéis, enquanto que o aumento na concentração do agente de ligação cruzada apresentou efeito oposto. A análise do mecanismo de liberação do fármaco revelou transporte não Fickiano do tramadol dos hidrogéis.