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This research studied the prevalence of different intestinal parasitic infections amongst H. pylori infected patients and assessed the association impact in the pathogenesis of H. pylori infection at the Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology outpatient clinic, South valley University Hospitals. A total of 80 stool samples were collected. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by detecting the H. pylori antigen in stool. Accordingly, patients were divided into 2 groups: H. pylori positive cases [group I] and was 50 cases [62.5%] and H. pylori negative cases [group II]. H. pylori positive cases were subjected to upper endoscopy. There was a significant association between parasitic infections and H. pylori in patients with gastrointestinal complaints [P
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Diet plays a seminal role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Therefore the present study was conducted to verify the cholesterol lowering and antioxidant activities of two promising Mediterranean oils namely almond and olive oils and to elucidate some of their mechanism of actions. The study included 60 rats classified into 6 groups [10/group].Gl: rats fed on standard basal diet [-ve controls];G2 and G3: rats fed on standard diet supplemented with either 10% almond oil or 10% olive oil;G4: rats fed on atherogenic diet [+ve controls]; G5 and G6:rats fed on atherogenic diet supplemented with either l0% almond oil or 10% olive oil. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks. Comparing to the +ve control group supplementations of the atherogenic diet with either almond or olive oils induced significant reductions [p<0.05] in plasma levels oftotal cholesterol [TC] and LDL-C, VLDL-C, triglycerides [TG], free fatty acids[FFA] levels and TC/HDL ratio.The same was observed for the%beta-apo lipoprotein[LDL],% pre beta-apo LP [VLDL], malodialdehyde [MDA] and liver HMG-CoA reductase activity. However, these supplementations also induced significant elevations [p<0.05] in plasma HDL-C level,% of alpha-apo LP [HDL] plasma total antioxidant capacity [TAOC] and for almond oil only, plasma lipoprotein lipase activity [LPL] The overall results, therefore, is toward a less atherogenic lipid profile. In conclusion almond oil was as effective as olive oil in improving blood lipids and in ameliorating oxidative stress and this may be due to the interactive or additive effects of thenumerous bioactive constituents of these oils, resulting in down-regulation of HMG-CoA reductase in the liver and up-regulation of LPL in plasma
Subject(s)
Animals, Laboratory , Plant Oils/statistics & numerical data , Oils , Oxidative Stress , Cholesterol/analysis , Diet, Atherogenic , RatsABSTRACT
As the bioavailability of therapeutic agents from eye drops is usually limited due to corneal barrier functions and effective eye protective mechanisms, the current study aims to enhance ocular bioavailability of brimonidine, a potent antiglucoma drug, through the preparation of ocular inserts. Solvent casting technique was employed to prepare the inserts using polyvinylpyrrolidone K90 [PVP K-90] as film forming polymer blended with different viscosity grades of bioadhesive polymers, namely hydroxypropylmethycellulose, carbopol, sodium alginate and chitosan. The ocular inserts prepared were evaluated for various physicochemical parameters, swelling behavior and in vitro release patterns. Sodium alginate based ocular inserts revealed the most sustainment in drug release [99% at 6 hr], so it was selected for further modifications via coating it, on one side or dual sides, using hydrophobic film composed of either ethylcellulose or Eudragit RSPO. The in vitro release results obtained for the modified ocular inserts revealed that ethylcellulose is superior to Eudragit RSPO in terms of brimonidine release sustainment effect. Ocular inserts composed of 7% PVP-K 90, 1.5% low molecular weight sodium alginate with or without ethylcellulose coat were able to sustain the in vitro release of brimonidine. Their therapeutic efficacy regarding intraocular pressure [IOP] lowering effect when inserted in albino rabbits' eyes showed superior sustainment effect compared to that of brimonidine solution. Furthermore, due to both the mucoadhesive property and the drug sustainment effect, the one side coated ocular insert showed more IOP lowering effect compared to the non-coated or dual side coated counterpart