Association of the Antidepressants and the Periodontal Status: An Original Research.

Antidepressants have anti-inflammatory effects and boost immunity, and dentists should be aware. This case-control study included only those patients who consented to take part and had a ham-d score of at least 16 and a diagnosis of moderate-to-severe depression. Inclusion criteria included adults, those experiencing moderate to severe depression, taking fluoxetine or venlafaxine, and those with twenty or more teeth. Exclusion criteria included tobacco chewers, smokers, women expecting or nursing, periodontal treatment, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medication, or vitamin/nutritional supplements. Patients who had had surgery or other therapy were excluded from the study. Three groups of patients were created: Control, venlafaxine, and fluoxetine. A periodontist assisted in the dental examination, and indices were observed. The analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Number, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used to present the values. Results showed that antidepressants may be a risk factor for periodontal health, with increased periodontal parameters, and concluded that It is crucial to frequently check the periodontal health of depressed people using fluoxetine or venlafaxine since these drugs put good periodontal tissues at risk.

Vitamin D intervention as a curative measure for glucose intolerance in obese children and adolescents: a systematic review on randomized control trials.

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with obesity and its associated metabolic disorders, as specified in many epidemiological studies. The assertion that vitamin D can mitigate insulin insensitivity in obese children and adolescents lacks adequate empirical substantiation. Thus, the study utilized some clinical trials on vitamin D interventions to examine the impact of vitamin D supplementation on insulin resistance in obese children and adolescents. The literature was extracted by applying the PRISMA method through electronic databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, Medline, the Cochrane Library, and PubMed from 2012 to 2022. All the articles were in English, and the inclusion criteria for each article were based on the study design and the anthropometric and biochemical parameters of the subjects. A total of 572 research articles were acquired, out of which only seven closely adhered to the inclusion criteria of the study. The studies in this systematic review are based on randomized control trials. The age range of the children in this study spans from 2 to 19 years, and the follow-up period ranges from 3 to 12 months. The range of daily vitamin D doses provided varied from 2000 to 10,000 IU. The results indicate that four randomized controlled trials have demonstrated a positive impact on glycemic parameters, such as insulin levels, fasting blood sugar, and insulin resistance, in the subjects following vitamin D treatment. However, the three trials did not provide sufficient evidence to support a statistically significant effect. CONCLUSION: The present review highlights that a significant proportion of the studies incorporated in the analysis demonstrate that the administration of vitamin D may be a preventive measure in ameliorating insulin resistance among pediatric patients with obesity, but it is advisable to implement a prolonged intervention with a substantial sample size and perform micro-level analysis at the gene level to evaluate the impact of vitamin D treatment. WHAT IS KNOWN: • Childhood obesity and its associated metabolic disorder is a concerned global problem. • Several studies showed an association of vitamin D deficiency with adiposity- induced metabolicdisorders which are still controversial. This study focused on finding interlink between vitamin Dsupplementation with obesity induced insulin resistance in children and adolescents. WHAT IS NEW: • This study supports that high dosage of Vitamin D in long term may be protective against insulinresistance in obese paediatric individuals. • A new factor is also reported in the study that vitamin D may alter the composition of gut microbiotawhich represents a compelling approach to the therapeutic management of obesity and diabetes.

Liver Extracellular Matrix-Based Nanofiber Scaffolds for the Culture of Primary Hepatocytes and Drug Screening.

Immortalized liver cell lines and primary hepatocytes are currently used as in vitro models for hepatotoxic drug screening. However, a decline in the viability and functionality of hepatocytes with time is an important limitation of these culture models. Advancements in tissue engineering techniques have allowed us to overcome this challenge by designing suitable scaffolds for maintaining viable and functional primary hepatocytes for a longer period of time in culture. In the current study, we fabricated liver-specific nanofiber scaffolds with polylactic acid (PLA) along with a decellularized liver extracellular matrix (LEM) by the electrospinning technique. The fabricated hybrid PLA-LEM scaffolds were more hydrophilic and had better swelling properties than the PLA scaffolds. The hybrid scaffolds had a pore size of 38 ± 8 µm and supported primary rat hepatocyte cultures for 10 days. Increased viability (2-fold increase in the number of live cells) and functionality (5-fold increase in albumin secretion) were observed in primary hepatocytes cultured on the PLA-LEM scaffolds as compared to those on conventional collagen-coated plates on day 10 of culture. A significant increase in CYP1A2 enzyme activity was observed in hepatocytes cultured on PLA-LEM hybrid scaffolds in comparison to those on collagen upon induction with phenobarbital. Drugs like acetaminophen and rifampicin showed the highest toxicity in hepatocytes cultured on hybrid scaffolds. Also, the lethal dose of these drugs in rodents was accurately predicted as 1.6 g/kg and 594 mg/kg, respectively, from the corresponding IC50 values obtained from drug-treated hepatocytes on hybrid scaffolds. Thus, the fabricated liver-specific electrospun scaffolds maintained primary hepatocyte viability and functionality for an extended period in culture and served as an effective ex vivo drug screening platform to predict an accurate in vivo drug-induced hepatotoxicity.

Collagen-alginate 3D microscaffolds for studying cellular migration.

Metastasis is one of the major causes for cancer mortality. Its early steps comprise of invasion of basement membrane and migration. Thus, it is hypothesized that a platform, that allows quantification and grading of migration capability of cells can potentially be used for predicting metastatic potential. Two-dimensional (2D) models have been rendered inadequate for modelling in-vivo microenvironment due to various reasons. To attenuate homogeneity observed in 2D, three-dimensional (3D) platforms supplemented with bioinspired components have been designed. Unfortunately, till date there are no simple models to capture the migration of cells in 3D along with quantification of the process. In this study, we report an alginate-collagen based 3D model system, which can predict the migratory property of the cells within 72 h. The micron size of the scaffold enabled faster readout and the optimum pore-size provided conducive cellular growth environment. The platform's ability to allow observation of cellular migration was validated by encapsulating cells with transiently upregulated matrix metalloprotease 9 (MMP9), which has been reported to play a significant role in migration of cells during metastasis. The readout for migration was clustering of cells in the microscaffolds detected in a short span of 48 h. The observed clustering in MMP9 upregulated cells was validated by observing changes in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers. Thus, this simple 3D platform can be used to study migration and predict the metastatic potential of cells.

Ethnomedicinal uses of Indian spices used for cancer treatment: A treatise on structure-activity relationship and signaling pathways.

Cancer is among the major cause of demise worldwide. Though the array of anticancer chemical medications is available but unfortunately, they are also associated with negative health effects. The invaluable therapeutic potential of spices makes them an integral part of our daily diet. Therefore, the present work focuses on the traditional uses of 46 spices and the phytochemical analysis of 31 spices. Out of them, only 29 spices are explored for their cytotoxicity against different cancer cell lines. The pre-clinical and clinical anticancer studies of spices along with their toxicity, mechanism of actions like Wnt/ß-catenin, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), JAK/STAT, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), Notch-mediated pathways and Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies were also focused. Curcumin was found as one of the most explored bioactive in every aspect such as in-vitro, in-vivo, clinical as well as SAR anticancer studies while some other bioactive such as 1,8-Cineole, trans-Anethole, Diosgenin, Trigonelline are either unexplored or least explored for their clinical and SAR studies. In fact, traditional medicinal uses of spices also provide solid shreds of evidence for the new leads towards the invention of novel anticancer agents. Therefore, further research can be designed for the anticancer marketed formulation from spices after having their placebo and related toxicological data.

A review on health benefits of phenolics derived from dietary spices.

Spices are an affluentpool of polyphenolcompounds that possessgigantic medicinal peculiarities such as remedying microbial infections, oxidative stress, inflammation, diabetes, cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiac disorders, etc. On that account, thepresent review illustrates the therapeutic potential, mechanism of action, and different procedures for conscious extraction of polyphenols. The various ethnopharmacological properties; reasons for their diverse pharmacological actions and the mechanism of action of spices-derived phenolics have also been discussed. The findings of this review may be utilized by the food and pharmaceutical industries for developing suitable alternatives to synthetic antioxidants and can be developed into effective food supplements. Further in-depth scientific studies are needed to find out their actual and exact relevance as natural health boosters. Moreover, clinical and toxicological studies are also required for harnessing the full therapeutic potential of polyphenols derived from dietary spices.

A comprehensive mobile health intervention to prevent and manage the complexities of opioid use.

OBJECTIVES: The Opioid Use crisis continues to be an epidemic with multiple known influencing and interacting factors. With the need for suitable opioid use interventions, we present a conceptual design of an m-health intervention that addresses the various known interacting factors of opioid use and corresponding evidence-based practices. The visualization of the opioid use complexities is presented as the "Opioid Cube". METHODS: Following Stage 0 to Stage IA of the NIH Stage Model, we used guidelines and extant health intervention literature on opioid apps to inform the Opioid Intervention (O-INT) design. We present our design using system architecture, algorithms, and user interfaces to integrate multiple functions including decision support. We evaluate the proposed O-INT using analytical modeling. RESULTS: The conceptual design of O-INT supports the concept of collaborative care, by providing connections between the patient, healthcare professionals, and their family members. The evaluation of O-INT shows a preference for specific functions, such as overdose detection and potential for high system reliability with minimal side effects. The Opioid Cube provides a visualization of various opioid use states and their influencing and interacting factors. CONCLUSIONS: O-INT is a promising design with a holistic approach to manage opioid use and prevent and treat misuse. With several needed functionalities, O-INT design serves as a decision support system for patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, and policy makers. Together, O-INT and the Opioid Cube may serve as a foundation for development and adoption of highly effective m-health interventions for opioid use.

Engineering Cellular Membrane for Dual Mode Therapy Using NIR Responsive Photosensitizer and Reversible Topoisomerase Inhibition Activity.

Extensive research over past few decades has highlighted the challenges of chemotherapy and prompted the need for multimodality therapy because chemotherapy alone cannot fully eradicate the tumor due to physiological barriers in its effective delivery and systemic side effects. It can be mitigated by adopting nanoparticles as more effective delivery method, but none of them completely prevents drug toxicities. Utilizing multiple therapeutic modes such as phototherapy that can act synergistically with chemotherapy in controlling tumor growth, while reducing the overall dosage, could become a preferred route for cancer management. Careful selection of nanoparticle system, which can simultaneously deliver both drug and photosensitizer, can significantly enhance the therapeutic outcome. Therefore, in this paper, we report development and potential of immune-compatible and long circulating nanoerythrosomes for enhancing the therapeutic potential of camptothecin and indocyanine green against murine cancer model. The RBCs membrane simultaneously loaded the nonpolar drug and amphiphilic photosensitizer in its lipid bilayer, which self-assembled to form stable nanoparticles. These nano constructs absorbed light in the near-infrared region and hence are suitable for targeting deep seated tissues. The dual chemo-phototherapy had great effect on cell viability and had therapeutic value.

A review on traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and clinical research of dietary spice Cuminum cyminum L.

Cuminum cyminum L. is a versatile spice belonging to family Apiaceae. Though the plant has pan-tropical distribution but it is indigenous to Egypt, the Mediterranean, and South Asian countries. It exhibits numerous culinary, traditional, and pharmacological attributes. Its traditional uses also validate its immense pharmacological potential. Cuminum cyminum is the hub of numerous bioactives such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and so forth. Cuminaldehyde is the major bioactive, rendered to most of its pharmacological as well as clinical significance. The present study comprised of current knowledge on its taxonomy, nutritional, traditional, phytochemistry, pharmacology (antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, antidiabetic, wound healing, anticancer, etc.), toxicology, and clinical attributes. Besides, the mechanism of action is also well explained. The present study provides a rationale for further bioprospection of this wonder plant. Future studies are needed to fill the research gaps, particularly on relevant phytocompound isolation, their pre-clinical and clinical characterization, evaluation, and structure-activity relationship. Moreover, well-designed and highly appropriate clinical and placebo trials are still needed to demonstrate the trustworthy role of cumin on human health.

Review on anticancerous therapeutic potential of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Withania somnifera, commonly known as Ashwagandha, is an important medicinal herb belonging to family Solanaceae. It is widely used in folkloric and Ayurvedic medicines since antiquity. Traditionally, the plant is highly practiced throughout the globe as immunomodulator, anti-inflammatory, anti-stress, anti-parkinson, anti-alzheimer, cardio protective, neural and physical health enhancer, neurodefensive, anti-diabetic, aphrodisiac, memory boosting etc. The plant is also effective in combating various types of cancer and other related problems of colon, mammary, lung, prostate, skin, blood, liver and kidney. AIM OF THIS REVIEW: The present review represents the critical assessment of the literature available on the anticancerous role of W. somnifera. The present study throws light on its diverse chemical compounds and the possible mechanisms of action involved. This review also suggests further research strategies to harness the therapeutic potential of this plant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present review is the outcome of a systematic search of scientific literature about 'Withania somnifera and its role in cancer prevention'. The scientific databases viz. Google Scholar, Science Direct, Pubmed and Web of Science were searched from 2001 to 2019. Textbooks, magazines and newspapers were also consulted. This review summarizes all the published literature about its therapeutic potential for the treatment of different types of cancers. RESULTS: W. somnifera has been widely used in traditional and ayurvedic medicines for treatment of numerous problems related to health and vitality. The plant is a reservoir of diverse phytoconstituents like alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids, phenolics, nitrogen containing compounds and trace elements. Withanolides are the major alkaloids which renders its anticancer potential due to its highly oxygenated nature. The plant is highly effective in combating various types of cancers viz. colon, mammary, lung, prostate, skin, blood, liver and kidney. Previous studies depict that this plant is more effective against breast cancer followed by colon, lung, prostate and blood cancer. Furthermore, from different clinical studies it has been observed that the active constituents of the plant like withaferin-A, withanolide-D have least toxic effects. CONCLUSION: The present review confirms the various medicinal values of W. somnifera without any significant side effects. Withaferin-A (WA) and Withanolides are its most promising anticancer compounds that play a major role in apoptosis induction. Keeping in mind the anticancerous potential of this plant, it is suggested that this plant may further be investigated and more clinical studies can be performed.

Phytochemical and pharmacological review of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl-a versatile spice used in food and nutrition.

Cinnamomum verum is the widely used spice for its medicinal and culinary uses since ages. It is native to Sri Lanka and southern India but also distributed in many Asian, Caribbean, Australian and African countries. It is widely used in food preparations and industrial products like candies, chewing gums, mouthwash and toothpaste. It is also used to treat asthma, bronchitis, diarrhea, headache, inflammation and cardiac disorders. Cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, caryophyllene, cinnamyl acetate and cinnamic acid are the major compounds found in its essential oil. These compounds exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, wound healing, anti-HIV, anti-anxiety and antidepressant, etc. This review highlights its comprehensive and up-to-date information on taxonomy, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemical composition, pharmacological and toxicity activities. Structure-activity relationship, mechanism of action and some research gaps has also been provided. Owing to its immense medicinal importance, more well-designed in-vivo and clinical studies are required.

A comprehensive review on ethnomedicine, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicity of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.

Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. is a well-known plant in Ayurveda and named "Sarwa wranvishapaka" for its property to heal wounds. Traditionally, it is practiced for impotency, asthma, dyspepsia, hemorrhoids, syphilis gonorrhea, rheumatism, enlargement of kidney and spleen. It is an important component of herbal preparations like Tephroli and Yakrifti used to cure liver disorders. Various phytocompounds including pongamol, purpurin, purpurenone, tephrosin, bulnesol, tephrostachin, ß-sitosterol, and so on have been reported. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that the plant have wound healing, antileishmanial, anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antifertility, antispermatogenic, anti-diarrheal, diuretic, and insecticidal properties. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory action reported from this plant aids its utilization for the development of drugs for Alzheimer's and dementia neurological disorders. Among the known active compounds of T. purpurea, tephrostachin is responsible for antiplasmodial activity, tephrosin, pongaglabol, and semiglabrin exerts antiulcer activity while quercetin, rutin, ß-sitosterol, and lupeol are mainly responsible for its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. From different toxicological studies, concentrations up to 2,000 mg/kg were considered safe. The present review comprehensively summarizes the ethnomedicine, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of T. purpurea. Further research on elucidation of the structure-function relationship among active compounds, understanding of multi-target network pharmacology and clinical applications will intensify its therapeutic potential.

Current Trends in the Pharmacotherapy of Cataracts.

Cataracts, one of the leading causes of preventable blindness worldwide, refers to lens degradation that is characterized by clouding, with consequent blurry vision. As life expectancies improve, the number of people affected with cataracts is predicted to increase worldwide, especially in low-income nations with limited access to surgery. Although cataract surgery is considered safe, it is associated with some complications such as retinal detachment, warranting a search for cheap, pharmacological alternatives to the management of this ocular disease. The lens is richly endowed with a complex system of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants which scavenge reactive oxygen species to preserve lens proteins. Depletion and/or failure in this primary antioxidant defense system contributes to the damage observed in lenticular molecules and their repair mechanisms, ultimately causing cataracts. Several attempts have been made to counteract experimentally induced cataract using in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo techniques. The majority of the anti-cataract compounds tested, including plant extracts and naturally-occurring compounds, lies in their antioxidant and/or free radical scavenging and/or anti-inflammatory propensity. In addition to providing an overview of the pathophysiology of cataracts, this review focuses on the role of various categories of natural and synthetic compounds on experimentally-induced cataracts.

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation.

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes.

Cancer prevention and therapy through the modulation of the tumor microenvironment.

Cancer arises in the context of an in vivo tumor microenvironment. This microenvironment is both a cause and consequence of tumorigenesis. Tumor and host cells co-evolve dynamically through indirect and direct cellular interactions, eliciting multiscale effects on many biological programs, including cellular proliferation, growth, and metabolism, as well as angiogenesis and hypoxia and innate and adaptive immunity. Here we highlight specific biological processes that could be exploited as targets for the prevention and therapy of cancer. Specifically, we describe how inhibition of targets such as cholesterol synthesis and metabolites, reactive oxygen species and hypoxia, macrophage activation and conversion, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase regulation of dendritic cells, vascular endothelial growth factor regulation of angiogenesis, fibrosis inhibition, endoglin, and Janus kinase signaling emerge as examples of important potential nexuses in the regulation of tumorigenesis and the tumor microenvironment that can be targeted. We have also identified therapeutic agents as approaches, in particular natural products such as berberine, resveratrol, onionin A, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, curcumin, naringenin, desoxyrhapontigenin, piperine, and zerumbone, that may warrant further investigation to target the tumor microenvironment for the treatment and/or prevention of cancer.

Sustained proliferation in cancer: Mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets.

Proliferation is an important part of cancer development and progression. This is manifest by altered expression and/or activity of cell cycle related proteins. Constitutive activation of many signal transduction pathways also stimulates cell growth. Early steps in tumor development are associated with a fibrogenic response and the development of a hypoxic environment which favors the survival and proliferation of cancer stem cells. Part of the survival strategy of cancer stem cells may manifested by alterations in cell metabolism. Once tumors appear, growth and metastasis may be supported by overproduction of appropriate hormones (in hormonally dependent cancers), by promoting angiogenesis, by undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition, by triggering autophagy, and by taking cues from surrounding stromal cells. A number of natural compounds (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol, indole-3-carbinol, brassinin, sulforaphane, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, genistein, ellagitannins, lycopene and quercetin) have been found to inhibit one or more pathways that contribute to proliferation (e.g., hypoxia inducible factor 1, nuclear factor kappa B, phosphoinositide 3 kinase/Akt, insulin-like growth factor receptor 1, Wnt, cell cycle associated proteins, as well as androgen and estrogen receptor signaling). These data, in combination with bioinformatics analyses, will be very important for identifying signaling pathways and molecular targets that may provide early diagnostic markers and/or critical targets for the development of new drugs or drug combinations that block tumor formation and progression.

Effect of homeopathic Lycopodium clavatum on memory functions and cerebral blood flow in memory-impaired rats.

BACKGROUND: Lycopodium clavatum (Lyc) is a widely used homeopathic medicine for the liver, urinary and digestive disorders. Recently, acetyl cholinesterase (AchE) inhibitory activity has been found in Lyc alkaloid extract, which could be beneficial in dementia disorder. However, the effect of Lyc has not yet been explored in animal model of memory impairment and on cerebral blood flow. AIM: The present study was planned to explore the effect of Lyc on learning and memory function and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in intracerebroventricularly (ICV) administered streptozotocin (STZ) induced memory impairment in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Memory deficit was induced by ICV administration of STZ (3 mg/kg) in rats on 1st and 3rd day. Male SD rats were treated with Lyc Mother Tincture (MT) 30, 200 and 1000 for 17 days. Learning and memory was evaluated by Morris water maze test on 14th, 15th and 16th day. CBF was measured by Laser Doppler flow meter on 17th day. RESULTS: STZ (ICV) treated rats showed impairment in learning and memory along with reduced CBF. Lyc MT and 200 showed improvement in learning and memory. There was increased CBF in STZ (ICV) treated rats at all the potencies of Lyc studied. CONCLUSION: The above study suggests that Lyc may be used as a drug of choice in condition of memory impairment due to its beneficial effect on CBF.

Withania somnifera shows a protective effect in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension.

CONTEXT: Withania somnifera (Linn.) Dunal (Solanaceae), a clinically used herbal drug in Ayurveda, shows potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, pro-apoptotic, and cardioprotective effects. However, the efficacy of W. somnifera in pulmonary hypertension (PH), a cardiopulmonary disorder, remains unexplored. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates the effect of W. somnifera root powder on monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PH in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In preventive studies, W. somnifera root powder (50 and 100 mg/kg/d, p.o.) was administered from day 1 following single administration of MCT (60 mg/kg, s.c.) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. After 35 d, right ventricular pressure (RVP) was measured in anesthetized rats. Various physical markers of right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) were measured in isolated hearts. Markers of endothelial function, inflammation, and oxidative stress were estimated in lung homogenate. Vasoreactivity of pulmonary arteries was also studied. In therapeutic treatment, W. somnifera (50 and 100 mg/kg/d, p.o.) was administered from day 21 to 35 post-MCT administration. RESULTS: Preventive treatment with 50 and 100 mg/kg W. somnifera significantly reduced the RVP (32.18 ± 1.273 mm Hg and 29.98 ± 1.119 mm Hg, respectively, versus 42.96 ± 1.789 mm Hg of MCT) and all markers of RVH in MCT-challenged rats. There was an improvement in inflammation, oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction, and attenuation of proliferative marker and apoptotic resistance in lungs. Therapeutic treatment with W. somnifera (100 mg/kg) also reduced RVP and RVH. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrated that W. somnifera significantly protected against MCT-induced PH due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, pro-apoptotic, and cardioprotective properties.

Intellectual property rights and patents in perspective of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda is getting its due recognition as a rationale system of medicine worldwide despite the fact that medical and scientific fraternity of the globe has very strong opposite opinion regarding safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic medicines. Meanwhile, provisions of Intellectual Property Rights under World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Patents have attracted many individuals and organizations to explore possibilities of commercial benefits with Ayurvedic traditional knowledge. Although rules are not favoring to grant a patent on prior published knowledge, biopiracy managed grant of Patent on knowledge of Ayurvedic medicinal plants which has been successfully checked with references of data base of Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). Current provisions of the Patent law of India are obstructive in nature for getting patent on Ayurvedic medicines. If we have to invite researchers from basic science to ensure quality, safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic medicines, there is an urgent need to amend laws of patent with pragmatic promotional policies. This will encourage more patents on numerous pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmaceutical products based on Ayurveda. As every action of today's world is based on economic criteria so why stakeholders of Ayurveda should be deprived of it. New inventions would drive acceptance of Ayurveda as a global system of medicine.