Medicinal Plants in the Treatment of Myocardial Infarction Disease: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI), also referred to as a "heart attack," is brought on by a partial or total interruption of blood supply to the myocardium. Myocardial infarction can be "silent," go undiagnosed, or it can be a catastrophic occurrence that results in hemodynamic decline and untimely death. In recent years, herbal remedies for MI have become effective, secure, and readily accessible. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review was to examine the medicinal plants and phytochemicals that have been used to treat MI in order to assess the potential contribution of natural substances to the development of herbal MI treatments. METHODOLOGY: A literature search was employed to find information utilizing electronic databases, such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Sci Finder, Reaxys, and Cochrane. RESULTS: The identification of 140 plants from 12 families led to the abstraction of data on the plant families, parts of the plant employed, chemical contents, extracts, model used, and dose. CONCLUSION: The majority of the MI plants, according to the data, belonged to the Fabaceae (11%) and Asteraceae (9%) families, and the most prevalent natural components in plants with MI were flavonoids (43%), glucosides (25%), alkaloids (23%), phenolic acid (19%), saponins (15%), and tannins (12%).

Fluoride and its Implications on Oral Health: A Review.

This article aims to review the literature about the history of fluoride, its toxicity, prevalence, prevention, diagnosis, and management in oral healthcare practice. Fluoride is the cornerstone of oral health, playing a pivotal role in oral health. Fluoride can be administered topically or systemically. Topically, it is found in toothpaste, mouth rinses, and professional treatments such as fluoride varnish. These directly shield teeth from decay and strengthen the existing enamel. Systemically, fluoride is ingested through water, foods, or supplements, benefiting tooth development, especially in children. Nevertheless, responsible fluoride use is essential. Overexposure can lead to dental fluorosis, affecting tooth aesthetics. Consulting a dentist for personalized guidance on fluoride usage can help strike the right balance between oral protection and potential side effects, ensuring a radiant and healthy smile for life.

Development and Evaluation of Celecoxib Emulgel by Using Natural Oil.

BACKGROUND: Emulgel combines the qualities of an emulsion with those of a gel. In order to create an emulgel w/o or o/w, emulsions have to be formulated, which are then combined with a gelling agent, resulting in a dual-control drug release. Celecoxib exhibits analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory activities and is used to treat osteoarthritis, severe pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and other medical conditions. METHODS: Celecoxib Emulgel was developed and evaluated by using natural oil and carbopol-940 as a gelling agent in different concentrations. The screening of various oils, co-surfactants and surfactants was performed to determine the solubility. The essential oils (eucalyptus oil and turpentine oil) were used as penetration modifiers. Studies on compatibility with polymers have been conducted, and the results indicate that there should be no physical or chemical interactions between the polymers and the drug substance. For the preparation of emulgel, various emulsions were prepared with Smix (cosurfactant and surfactant) ratios (1:1, 2:1 and 3:1). The selection of a gelling agent was done by incorporating the selected emulsion system ratio of 1:1 with the combinations of polymers carbapol 940, carbapol 934, and HPMC (0:1:0, 0:0.5:1, 0:0:3, 0.5:0:1, 1:0:0) gel base to make a homogenous emulgel. RESULTS: The emulgel was examined visually to see if it had any phase behaviour, feel, spread-ability, and grittiness by applying its thin layer to a slide. Then, all six formulations of emulgel were prepared with the selected gelling agent. All emulgels were evaluated for pH, physical properties (consistency, homogeneity, colour, texture), drug content, spreadability, extrudability, swelling index, viscosity, stability and centrifugation. A Franz diffusion cell and an egg membrane were used to perform in-vitro drug release. CONCLUSION: Among all prepared formulations, EG1 had a better release, higher viscosity, higher drug content, and a higher swelling index than the others. The formulation EG1 showed higher drug release (91.25%) within 8 hours.

Molecular Pathway, Epidemiological Data and Treatment Strategies of Fungal Infection (Mycoses): A Comprehensive Review.

The recent increase in fungal infections is a health crisis. This surge is directly tied to the increase in immunocompromised people caused by changes in medical practice, such as the use of harsh chemotherapy and immunosuppressive medicines. Immunosuppressive disorders such as HIV have exacerbated the situation dramatically. Subcutaneous or superficial fungal infections can harm the skin, keratinous tissues, and mucous membranes. This category includes some of the most common skin disorders that impact millions of people worldwide. Despite the fact that they are seldom fatal, they can have a catastrophic impact on a person's quality of life and, in rare situations, spread to other people or become obtrusive. The majority of fungal infections under the skin and on the surface are simply and quickly cured. An opportunistic organism that preys on a weak host or a natural intruder can both result in systemic fungal infections. Furthermore, it might be exceedingly lethal and dangerous to one's life. Dimorphic fungi may pose a hazard to healthy populations that are not exposed to endemic fungi. Increased surveillance, the availability of quick, noninvasive diagnostic tests, monitoring the emergence of antifungal medication resistance, and research on the pathophysiology, prevention, and management of fungal infections are just a few potential solutions to these new health problems. The goal of this review is to summarize the data available for fungal infections and the different therapies which are involved in their treatment. Additionally, it also summarizes the molecular and scientific data of the plants which contain anti-fungal activity. Data are acquired using Google, PubMed, Scholar, and other online sources.

Immunoinformatics approach for a novel multi-epitope subunit vaccine design against various subtypes of Influenza A virus.

Vaccination is the best strategy for the control and prevention of contagious diseases caused by Influenza A viruses. Extraordinary genetic variability and continual evolvability are responsible for the virus having survival and adaptation to host cell immune response, thus rendering the current influenza vaccines with suboptimal effectiveness.Therefore, in the present study, using a novel immunoinformatics approach, we have designed a universal influenza subunit vaccine based on the highly conserved epitopic sequences of rapidly evolving (HA), a moderately evolving (NP) and slow evolving (M1) proteins of the virus. The vaccine design includes 2 peptide adjuvants, 26 CTL epitopes, 9 HTL epitopes, and 7 linear BCL epitopes to induce innate, cellular, and humoral immune responses against Influenza A viruses. We also analyzed the physicochemical properties of the designed construct to validate its thermodynamic stability, hydrophilicity, PI, antigenicity, and allergenicity. Furthermore, we predicted a highly stable tertiary model of the designed subunit vaccine, wherein additional disulfide bonds were incorporated to enhance its stability. The molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations of the refined vaccine model with TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, MHC-I and MHC-II showed stable vaccine and receptors complexes, thus confirming the immunogenicity of the designed vaccine. Collectively, these findings suggest that our multi-epitope vaccine construct may confer protection against various strains of influenza A virus subtypes, which could prevent the need for annual reformulation of vaccine and alleviate disease burden.

Isolation, Purification, and Characterization of Heparinase from Streptomyces variabilis MTCC 12266.

Arterial/venous thrombosis is the major cardiovascular disorder accountable for substantial mortality; and the current demand for antithrombotic agents is extensive. Heparinases depolymerize unfractionated heparin (UFH) for the production of low molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs; used as anticoagulants against thrombosis). A microbial strain of Streptomyces sp. showing antithrombotic activity was isolated from the soil sample collected from north India. The strain was characterized by using 16S rRNA homology technique and identified as Streptomyces variabilis MTCC 12266 capable of producing heparinase enzyme. This is the very first communication reporting Streptomyces genus as the producer of heparinase. It was observed that the production of intracellular heparinase was [63.8 U/mg protein (specific activity)] 1.58 folds higher compared to extracellular heparinase [40.28 U/mg protein]. DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column followed by Sepharose-6B column purification of the crude protein resulted 19.18 folds purified heparinase. SDS-PAGE analysis of heparinase resulted an estimated molecular-weight of 42 kDa. It was also found that intracellular heparinase has the ability to depolymerize heparin to generate LMWHs. Further studies related to the mechanistic action, structural details, and genomics involved in heparinase production from Streptomyces variabilis are warranted for large scale production/purification optimization of heparinase for antithrombotic applications.

Molecular analysis of dinucleotide microsatellite in growth hormone gene of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) from Mumbal, India.

In the present study, out of four alleles amplified from seabass (Lates calcarifer) genome inhabiting Mumbai water by PCR using growth hormone (GH) gene-specific primers, two DNA fragments (SGMS1, 233 bp and SGMS2, 239 bp) were eluted from gel, cloned using pTZ57R (2.886 kb) vector into E. coli DH5α, characterized by restriction endonuclease analysis and sequenced by automated DNA sequencer. After blasting and multiple alignment of the above sequences, SGMS1 showed 97% and SGMS2 93.3% homology with promoter region of GH gene containing microsatellite of Australian seabass and 94.6% homology between both the fragments. These sequences SGMS1 and SGMS2 were submitted to NCBI GenBank. On blasting, these sequences with gene databases, SGMS1 and SGMS2 showed partial homologies with Seriola quinqueradiata (26.9%, 12.9%), flounder (15.8%, 15.8%), Oreochromis nilotica (23%, 7.9%), Oreochromis mossambicus (23%, 7.9%) and Danio rerio (8.2%, 7.5%). Critical analysis showed the presence of microsatellite (CA)16 and (CA)19 repeats in fragments SGMS1 and SGMS2, respectively in seabass from Mumbai water in comparison to (CA)14 repeats from the Australian seabass. Further, on sequence comparison, single nucleotide mismatches detected at their several positions in relation to seabass GH gene of Australia. These nucleotide variations detected in SGMS1 and SGMS2 in comparison to those of the Australian seabass may be due to mutations owing to environmental or habitat changes that seem to have definite potentials for development of genetic markers, which would be useful for identification and selection of superior germplasm with desirable commercial traits such as high growth rate.

Isolation and characterization of Pseudomonas stutzeri and its potential application in biological nitrification.

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were isolated from sediment samples of fishponds with an aim to use them for application in biological nitrification of water. Isolation of AOB was done in an inorganic medium and nitrite-producing bacterial isolates were selected. These isolates were further screened by polymerase chain reaction using specific primers forAOB. Out of 119 nitrate positive isolates, only 12 showed positive amplification and yielded a PCR product of ~465 bp. Treatment of aquaculture pond and riverwaterwith one of the bacterial isolate (HC-5) resulted in lowering of soluble ammonia level from 3.50 to 0.05 mgl(-1) and 7.5 to 0.01 mgl(-1), respectively. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing of isolate HC-5 identified the microorganism as Pseudomonasstutzeri.

Seasonal variations in abundance of nitrifying bacteria in fish pond ecosystem.

Seasonal changes in abundance of nitrifiers (ammonia-oxidizing and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria) in surface and bottom water of freshwater ponds were examined with respect to temperature, DO, pH as well as concentration of ammonia and nitrite. The most probable number (MPN) of ammonia-oxidizers in different ponds varied from 1297 +/- 3.6 to 1673.23 +/- 0.36 ml(-1) in bottom and 720.5 +/- 8.1 to 955.3 +/- 10.8 ml(-1) in surface water during the rainy season while the MPN ranged from 1074 +/- 1.07 to 1372.17 +/- 4.6 ml(-1) in bottom and 515 +/- 10.1 to 678 +/- 11.8 ml(-1) in surface water in winter. However, the MPN were greatly reduced in summer and ranged from 435.05 +/- 15.7 to 547.54 +/- 2.12 ml(-1) in bottom and 218.7 +/- 7.3 to 368.4 +/- 9.32 ml(-1) in surface water. Similar seasonal trends were also observed in MPN of nitrite-oxidizers. Among all the physico-chemical parameters, abundance of nitrifiers was more positively correlated with ammonia and nitrite concentration in all the seasons. The abundance of nitrifiers in surface and bottom water was highest in rainy season followed by winter and modest in summer. The potential nitrification activities and oxidation rates were shown to be linear and activity of ammonia-oxidizing and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria was highest during rainy season.