ABSTRACT
Background: Anxiety is a state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components, associated with significant disability. The pharmacotherapy for anxiety remains limited for achievable safety and tolerability of the medicines. Benzodiazepines use associated with side effects like psychomotor impairment and addiction liability. Due to the ADRs associated with antianxiety drugs, the drug trials have focused on screening herbal medicines that are reportedly used in the treatment of anxiety and which have minimal side effects.Methods: The anxiolytic activity was examined by using the elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field test (OFT), forty Albino wistar strain rats of both sex of weighing 120 to 200 g were divided into four groups of ten rats each.. Group 1 received vehicle (normal saline); group 2 received diazepam (1 mg/kg); groups 3 and 4 received BacoMind�, 30 and 60 mg/kg oral, respectively.Results: Rats treated with diazepam (1 mg/kg, p.o.) showed significant (p<0.001) increase in the percentage of open arms entries and time spent whereas, in closed arm the number of entries and time spent were significantly (p<0.05) decreased. Intraperitonial administration of BacoMind� extract of plant Bacopa monnieri Linn. exhibited significant (p<0.05) increase in the number of open arm entries and time spent with significant (p<0.05) reduction in number of entries and time spent in the closed arm as compared to group 1. BacoMind� treated rats also produced significant increase in the number of rearings (p<0.05), assisted rearings and number of squares crossed (p<0.01).Conclusions: BacoMind� extract of plant Bacopa monnieri Linn possess significant anxiolytic activity in the rats. It can be a promising anxiolytic agent.
ABSTRACT
Background: Hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia seen in diabetes mellitus result in oxidative stress and pose significant risk of cognitive decline that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Approved anti-diabetic drugs have so far failed to demonstrate anti-oxidant and anti-hyperlipidemic activity, apart from saroglitazar. Therefore, this study was done to find a suitable anti-diabetic drug that possesses anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-oxidant and anti-hyperlipidemic activities and can reverse cognitive decline.Methods: Emblica officinalis (250 mg/kg, p.o. and 500 mg/kg, p.o.) and Murraya koenigii (250 mg/kg, p.o. and 500 mg/kg, p.o.) were chosen to study these activities in Wistar rats. Diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin [STZ] (50 mg/kg). Fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profile were measured on day 1 and day 30 of the experiment. Cognitive function was assessed by measuring transfer latency (TL) on elevated plus maze, step-down latency (SDL) on passive avoidance apparatus and retention latency (RL) and quadrant time (QT) in Morris water maze. Oxidative stress was assessed at end of study by measuring brain MDA and GSH levels. Cholinergic marker of cognition, AChE was measured in brain at end of study.Results: Both E. officinalis and M. koenigii showed dose dependent anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-oxidant effects in diabetic rats with 500 mg/kg dose showing significantly higher effect. Both 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg dose of E. officinalis and M. koenigii partially reversed cognitive decline in diabetic rats by day 30.Conclusions: 500 mg/kg p.o. dose of E. officinalis or M. koenigii has potential to reverse cognitive decline in diabetic patients.
ABSTRACT
Background: Acute respiratory tract infections are leading cause of mortality in children in India. Further, indiscriminate use of antimicrobials has led to increased drug resistance and large number of adverse drug reactions (ADR). Therefore, aim of study was to study antimicrobial prescribing pattern and record incidence and causality assessment of ADRs in pediatric in-patients having lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI).Methods: In this prospective and observational study total of 300 children aged 2 months to 12 years suffering from LRTI and hospitalized for minimum 48 hrs duration were included. A descriptive analysis was carried out to determine frequency and combinations of antibiotics prescribed and causality and number of ADRs.Results: Out of 300 subjects, 70.3% of patients were males and 54.6% of cases with LRTI belonged to 2-6 months age group. The most frequently prescribed antibiotic was ceftriaxone alone in 67 (22.3%) patients while ceftriaxone and amikacin was the most common 2 drug combination in 60 (20%) patients. Ceftriaxone, ampicillin and gentamicin was most common 3 drug combination in 7 (2.3%) patients. There were 49 cases (16.3%) of ADRs and maximum were in 2-6 months age group and ceftriaxone with amikacin was associated with maximum number 10 (20.4%) of cases. Diarrhoea was most frequent adverse effect associated with antibiotics in 36 (76.6%) cases.Conclusions: The use of cephalosporins (single or combination) are most commonly used drug and associated with maximum number of ADRs in 2-6 months male children with LRTI so clinicians should use them judiciously and rationally.
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Aim: The purpose of this study is to establish a normative database of subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) in healthy young Indians using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT). Evaluation and comparison of CT of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and fellow eyes were also performed. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, cross‑sectional, and observational study. It included 112 normal eyes of 112 healthy volunteers who had no evidence of ocular or systemic disease, 84 CSC eyes with acute, treatment‑naïve CSC, and 69 fellow eyes with no evidence of neurosensory detachment or pigment epithelium detachment on SD OCT. Complete history, examination, and SD OCT were performed in all eyes. Results: The mean age of 81 patients (84 eyes) with CSC was 35.04 ± 8.86 years, 69 fellow eyes was 34.61 ± 8.71 years, and 112 healthy volunteers (112 eyes) was 33.16 ± 9.4 years (P < 0.05). The mean subfoveal CT of CSC eyes was 429 ± 74.18 μ, fellow eyes was 360 ± 57.99 μ, and normal eyes was 301.80 ± 46.59 μ (P < 0.001). Conclusion: CT varies not only with age, axial length, and refractive error but also with races. Therefore, it is important to establish a normative database in a particular population before carrying out further research in diseased states. CT in CSC eyes is significantly thicker than fellow eyes, and CT of fellow eyes is significantly thicker than normal eyes. This reinforces the fact that choroidal permeability is increased in both eyes of patients with CSC.
ABSTRACT
Present study assessed the effect of benazepril on oxidative stress, serum lipids and renal dysfunction in alloxan induced diabetic rabbits. Benazepril reversed the increase in level of malondialdehyde and decrease in level of glutathione and superoxide dismutase activity caused by induction of diabetes. It also had a beneficial effect on diabetic dyslipidemia as manifested by elevation in serum HDL cholesterol. However, it had no effect on serum LDL, total cholesterol or triglycerides. Benazepril also attenuated the renal dysfunction induced by diabetes. It resulted in significant reduction in blood urea, serum creatinine and urine albumin excretion as compared to diabetic control rabbits. Further, kidney weight was significantly less in benazepril treated rabbits as compared to diabetic rabbits. To conclude, benazepril was found to be effective in preventing the oxidative stress and renal dysfunction as well as beneficial on serum lipids in experimentally-induced diabetes mellitus.