Clinico-biochemical and therapeutic studies on notoedric mange in pet rabbits.

Two male and two female pet rabbits of about 1 year of age, naturally infested with Notoedres cuniculi were studied in the present investigation. Clinical examination revealed presence of crustaceous lesions on the head, ear pinnae, both the limbs and external genitalia. Microscopic examination of skin scrapings confirmed presence of Notoedres mange infestation. Biochemical parameters revealed altered values of total serum protein, albumin, globulin, and activities of aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase and alkaline phosphatase respectively. The affected rabbits were treated with two injections of Ivermectin (400 µg/kg, subcutaneously, at interval of 15 days) along with supportive therapy. This treatment showed appreciable improvement in clinical signs and restoration in biochemical parameters.

Comparative in silico-in vivo evaluation of ASGP-R ligands for hepatic targeting of curcumin Gantrez nanoparticles.

The present study aims to design hepatic targeted curcumin (CUR) nanoparticles using Gantrez (GZ) as a polymer. Three carbohydrate-based hepatocyte asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R) ligands were selected for the study, namely kappa carrageenan (KC), arabinogalactan (AG), and pullulan (P). AG and KC are galactose based while P is a glucose-based polymer. CUR-GZ nanoparticles were prepared by nanoprecipitation and anchored with the ligands by nonspecific adsorption onto preformed nanoparticles. The change in zeta potential values confirmed adsorption of the ligands. Docking simulation was evaluated as a tool to predict ligand ASGP-R interactions, using grid-based ligand docking with energies (Glide). Monomers and dimers were used as representative units of polymer for docking analysis. The binding of ASGP-R was validated using D-galactose as monomer. The interaction of the ligands with the receptor was evaluated based on Glide scores and E model values, both for monomers and dimers. The data of the docking study based on Glide scores and E model values suggested higher affinity of AG and P to the ASGP-R, compared to KC. At 1 h, following intravenous administration of the nanoparticles to rats, the in vivo hepatic accumulation in the order CUR-GZAG > CUR-GZKC > CUR-GZP correlated with the docking data based on Glide scores. However, at the end of 6 h, pullulan exhibited maximum hepatic accumulation and arabinogalactan minimum accumulation (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, as predicted by docking analysis, arabinogalactan and pullulan revealed maximum hepatic accumulation. Docking analysis using dimers as representative stereochemical units of polymers provides a good indication of ligand receptor affinity. Docking analysis provides a useful tool for the preliminary screening of ligands for hepatic targeting.