Intra-peritoneal lavage of Zingiber officinale rhizome and its active constituent gingerol impede inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrosis following post-operative peritoneal adhesion in male rats.

Post-operative peritoneal adhesions (PA) are a common and important clinical problem. In this study, we focused on the ameliorative efficacy of ginger and gingerol compounds on surgical-induced peritoneal adhesion, and their strategies that disrupted the PA formation pathways to suppress their incidence. First, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was established to separate and identify several chemical groups of ginger rhizome extract. In the next steps, male Wistar albino rats were randomly selected and divided into various groups, namely sham, control, ginger extract (0.6, 1.8, 5 %w/v), and gingerol (0.05, 0.1, 0.3, and 1 %w/v). Finally, we investigated the macroscopic parameters such as wound healing, body weight as well as spleen height and weight. In addition, visual peritoneal adhesion assessment was performed via Nair et al and Adhesion Scoring Scheme. Moreover, the microscopic parameters and biological assessment was performed via and immunoassays. The present findings revealed significant improvement in wound healing and reduction of the adhesion range, as Nair et al. and Adhesion Scoring Scheme scoring, in both the ginger and gingerol groups compared to the PA group (P < 0.05). Whereas, gingerol (0.3 % w/v) was able to increase the body weight in rats (P < 0.0001) at end stage of experiment. Also, inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrosis were significantly decreased due to the downregulation of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), respectively, in the ginger and gingerol groups compared to the PA group (P < 0.05). In contrast, the levels of IL-10 were increased in the ginger and gingerol groups compared to the control group (P < 0.01). Our results proved that ginger rhizome and gingerol, as novel therapeutic compounds, could be used to prevent PA for their beneficial anti-inflammatory as well as anti-fibrosis properties in clinical trials. However, further clinical studies are required to approve the effectiveness of ginger and gingerol.

Selection of DNA aptamers for tramadol through the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment method for fabrication of a sensitive fluorescent aptasensor based on graphene oxide.

Tramadol hydrochloride (TH), as an atypical opioid and a 4-phenyl-piperidine analogue of codeine, is mainly used for treating moderate to severe pains. Due to its extensive application, the consequent need for its analysis in various samples is essential. The current study focuses on the introduction of a rapid fluorescent assay using graphene oxide (GO) and aptamer for determination of tramadol in serum samples. Specific ssDNA aptamers for TH were developed by SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential Enrichment) technique using GO as a fluorescence quencher. After 10 rounds, two aptamers (Apt19 and Apt39) were selected from various families. Then, the binding constants of aptamers were measured using fluorometric assay and finally Apt39 (labeled with ATTO 647N) was chosen for development of a fluorescent aptasensor because this aptamer bound to TH with high affinity (Kd = 178.4 nM) and specificity. The current analytical system showed detection limits of 1.04 nM and 2.56 nM in serum sample and phosphate buffer saline (10 mM PBS), respectively.