ABSTRACT
Background: Osteosarcoma is a malignant cancer that effect bone and metastasizing to many vital organs such as lungs. There are many available drugs to treat the disease including tamoxifen, methotrexate (MTX), and cisplatin which have their own side effects and hurdles to become drugs of choice for the disease. On the other hand, introduction of herbal drugs as chemotherapeutic agents opened up new arena to potentiate the existing treatment by exhibiting synergy. Piperine (PPN) is widely used drug as anti-cancer agent as well as it has anti-inflammatory, analgesic properties, and also used in the treatment of abdominal pains, tuberculosis, arthritis, and respiratory illness. Aims and Objective: Thus, this study was designed to investigate the synergistic inhibitory potential of PPN and MTX on the MG63 osteosarcoma cell lines in vitro. Materials and Methods: The cell lines were cultured on DMEM medium and investigated for cytotoxicity of the drugs using MTT assay at 540 nm in UV. Three groups of cell lines administered with PPN, MTX, and PPN+MTX (1:1) in various concentrations and IC50 values were calculated based on the % cell viability graphs. Results: Results showed that the IC50 of PPN was 38.65, MTX was 123.98, and PPN+MTX was 15.13 proving the significant synergistic cytotoxic effect of PPN and MTX in inhibiting the proliferation of MG63 cell lines. Conclusion: Further research needs to be conducted in this field to elucidate the synergistic pathways in which PPN has shown a better anti-osteosarcoma effect when combined with MTX.
ABSTRACT
Background: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in our country due to modernization. The distribution of body fat plays an important role in complications due to obesity. Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) is considered as an index of abdominal obesity and cardiovascular risk, but its correlation with blood pressure (BP) is poorly understood in our population. Hence, this study is designed. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to measure SAD and to correlate it with neck circumference (NC), systolic BP, and diastolic BP. Materials and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was done on 155 participants both males and females attending non-communicable disease outpatient department. Written informed consent was obtained. SAD, NC, and systolic and diastolic BPs were measured. Results: Results were analyzed statistically using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Positive correlation was obtained for SAD with systolic BP, diastolic BP, and NC. Conclusion: As SAD increases, systolic BP and diastolic BP increase. This shows that SAD is a simple and inexpensive anthropometric parameter to identify early cardiovascular risk. NC is also a valuable tool for the estimation of upper body distribution of fat and helps to identify complications of obesity.