Antileishmanial Activities of Medicinal Herbs and Phytochemicals In Vitro and In Vivo: An Update for the Years 2015 to 2021.

Leishmaniasis is one of the most neglected tropical diseases that present areal public health problems worldwide. Chemotherapy has several limitations such as toxic side effects, high costs, frequent relapses, the development of resistance, and the requirement for long-term treatment. Effective vaccines or drugs to prevent or cure the disease are not available yet. Therefore, it is important to dissect antileishmanial molecules that present selective efficacy and tolerable safety. Several studies revealed the antileishmanial activity of medicinal plants. Several organic extracts/essential oils and isolated natural compounds have been tested for their antileishmanial activities. Therefore, the aim of this review is to update and summarize the investigations that have been undertaken on the antileishmanial activity of medicinal plants and natural compounds derived, rom plants from January 2015 to December 2021. In this review, 94 plant species distributed in 39 families have been identified with antileishmanial activities. The leaves were the most commonly used plant part (49.5%) followed by stem bark, root, and whole plant (21.9%, 6.6%, and 5.4%, respectively). Other plant parts contributed less (<5%). The activity was reported against amastigotes and/or promastigotes of different species (L. infantum, L. tropica, L. major, L. amazonensis, L. aethiopica, L. donovani, L. braziliensis, L. panamensis, L. guyanensis, and L. mexicana). Most studies (84.2%) were carried out in vitro, and the others (15.8%) were performed in vivo. The IC50 values of 103 plant extracts determined in vitro were in a range of 0.88 µg/mL (polar fraction of dichloromethane extract of Boswellia serrata) to 98 µg/mL (petroleum ether extract of Murraya koenigii). Among the 15 plant extracts studied in vivo, the hydroalcoholic leaf extract of Solanum havanense reduced parasites by 93.6% in cutaneous leishmaniasis. Voacamine extracted from Tabernaemontana divaricata reduced hepatic parasitism by ≈30 times and splenic parasitism by ≈15 times in visceral leishmaniasis. Regarding cytotoxicity, 32.4% of the tested plant extracts against various Leishmania species have a selectivity index higher than 10. For isolated compounds, 49 natural compounds have been reported with anti-Leishmania activities against amastigotes and/or promastigotes of different species (L. infantum, L. major, L. amazonensis, L. donovani and L. braziliensis). The IC50 values were in a range of 0.2 µg/mL (colchicoside against promastigotes of L. major) to 42.4 µg/mL (dehydrodieuginol against promastigotes of L. amazonensis). In conclusion, there are numerous medicinal plants and natural compounds with strong effects (IC50 < 100 µg/mL) against different Leishmania species under in vitro and in vivo conditions with good selectivity indices (SI > 10). These plants and compounds may be promising sources for the development of new drugs against leishmaniasis and should be investigated in randomized clinical trials.

Eryptosis in autoimmune haemolytic anaemia.

OBJECTIVE: Haemolysis and anaemia related to autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) of warm type (wAIHA) and of cold type (cAIHA) are believed to be solely due to antibody and/or complement-mediated destruction and clearance of red blood cells (RBCs). There is evidence that RBCs of affected patients may also undergo eryptosis, the suicidal death of RBCs. METHOD: RBCs from 24 patients with wAIHA, 7 patients with chronic cAIHA and one patient with AIHA of mixed type were analysed for exposed phosphatidylserine (PS) by treatment with phycoerythrin-labelled Annexin V, and cell-associated fluorescence was measured using a MACSQuant flow cytometer. RESULTS: PS-exposing RBCs were detected in 7 of 13 patients with clinically significant wAIHA. Haemolysis was mostly related to IgM or IgA autoantibodies (aab) in those patients. In contrast, PS exposure in 11 patients with wAIHA in complete remission was comparable to that in healthy blood donors. All patients with chronic cAIHA and the patient with AIHA of mixed type showed haemolytic activity and high numbers of PS-exposing RBCs. Patients with decompensated AIHA appear to respond to treatment with erythropoietin, which is a known inhibitor of eryptosis. CONCLUSION: Eryptosis may frequently occur in AIHA related to IgM or IgA aab. Inhibition of eryptosis with erythropoietin may represent a new therapeutic option in the treatment of AIHA.

Histological pattern of primary glomerular diseases among adult Sudanese patients: A single center experience.

In Sudan, like most developing countries, the incidence and histologic patterns of primary glomerulonephritis (GN) remains undetermined. A cross-sectional hospital-based prospective study was performed to determine the pattern of primary GN among adult Sudanese patients. The study was conducted at Khartoum Teaching Hospital from September 2010 to August 2011. It included all adult patients with suspected primary glomerular disease and who underwent native kidney biopsy. A total of 83 adult patients were biopsied with 71 patients (85.5%) being diagnosed as having primary GN. Among those with primary GN the mean age was 34.6 ± 18 years and males represent 54.9%. In 46.5% kidney biopsy was indicated by the presence of nephrotic syndrome, whereas in 33.8% biopsies were performed due to unexplained elevations in renal parameters. Primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) was diagnosed in 29.6% of patients, followed by membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) in 26.8% and minimal change disease in 16.9%. IgA nephropathy was observed in 5.6%. Complications following kidney biopsies were reported in 9.6% of biopsied patients. Nephrotic syndrome in an adult was the most common indication for kidney biopsy in our unit. A large number of patients were biopsied due to elevated renal parameters, which reflected the increasing awareness toward thoroughly diagnosing patients with suspected reversible kidney damage. In conclusion, FSGS and MPGN make the most common causes of primary GN among Sudanese adults. Creation of a national renal registry is essential for obtaining more specified epidemiological data.

Tension-Free Vaginal Tape Versus Transobturator Tape for Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence

The transobturator tape (TOT) is based on a similar principle as the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT); but introduced through the obturator foramen. The aim of this study was to compare these slings as surgical procedures for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women. Patients and Methods This is a retrospective case-control study including female patients with SUI; either due to urethral hypermobility or intrinsic sphincter deficiency. Thirty patients were treated with TVT (group 1) and 30 were treated with TOT (group 2). The parameters studied were: pre-operative clinical data; operative data and surgical outcome. Results The post-operative complications in group 1 consisted of bladder perforation in one patient (3.3); urinary retention in 3 (10) and de novo urgency in 3 (10). The post-operative complications in group 2 consisted of vaginal xposure in 2 patients (6.7); de novo urgency in 2 (6.7) and transient urinary retention in one (3.3). In the TVT group; objective cure was achieved in 27/30 patients (90); while 3 patients (10) reported subjective cure; failure was not encountered. In the TOT group; objective cure was achieved in 24/30 patients (80) and subjective cure in 4 patients (13.3); and it failed in 2 patients (6.7). Conclusion TVT and TOT are effective procedures for the treatment of female SUI; with comparable results regarding operative time; hospital stay and the risk of complications

5-Year survival of ART restorations with and without cavity disinfection.

OBJECTIVES: The null-hypothesis tested was that there is no difference between the survival of ART restorations with, and without, cavity disinfection among adolescents after 5 years. METHODS: Eligible students were allocated to one of the treatment groups. One operator placed a total of 90 restorations, 45 each per treatment group, in ninety 14-15 year olds. Restorations were evaluated on replica models at baseline and after 1 and 5 years, by two calibrated and independent evaluators using the ART criteria. The independent variables were gender, mean DMFT score at baseline, cavity size (small/large), cavity type (single-/multiple surfaces) and disinfected cavity (yes/no). Statistical analyses were done using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. RESULTS: The cumulative survival percentage and standard error for the 61 ART restorations with and without disinfection at evaluation year 5 were 85% (S.E.=6.1%) and 80% (S.E.=7.1%), respectively: not significantly different (p=0.37) from each other. The cumulative survival percentage and standard error for all ART restorations was 97% (S.E.=2.0%) at evaluation year 1 and 82% (S.E.=4.7%) at year 5, and it was 85% (S.E.=5.4%) for single- and 77% (S.E.=9%) for multiple-surface ART restorations at year 5. The cumulative survival percentage of all ART restorations at evaluation year 5 was statistically significant higher for boys than for girls (p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Disinfecting a cavity cleaned according to ART with a 2% chlorhexidine solution is unnecessary. It is useful to introduce the ART approach systematically into the healthcare system in Egypt.

Exploring the relationship between alcohol and the driver characteristics in motor vehicle accidents.

This study examines the differences in alcohol-related accident involvement among different driver groups in the state of Florida. The driver characteristics considered in this study are: age, gender, race, and residency of the driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or alcohol and drugs. The main objective of this study is to test whether there are associations between the different driver characteristics and alcohol involvement in traffic accidents, and to identify the high-risk group within each driver factor. This would improve our understanding of the relationship between alcohol involvement, accidents, and the four aforementioned driver factors. It would also enable us to better design educational and awareness programs targeting specific groups in the population to reduce drinking and driving in the state. The relationship between alcohol-related accident involvement and the driver factors are investigated using general descriptive statistics, conditional probabilities and log-linear models. The results showed that the 25-34 age group experience the highest rate of alcohol/drug involvement in accidents. The rates decline with the increase in the age of the drivers. The results also indicated that there are significant relationships between the driver characteristics and alcohol/drug involvement in accidents. Male, white, and in-state drivers were also more involved in alcohol/drugs-related traffic accidents.