Effect of Curcuma longa on glycemia, neuropathic sensation and advanced glycation end product in diabetic patients.

Diabetes is a chronic disorder affecting a large number of people throughout the world. According to the American Diabetes Association, overeating is the major diet-related risk factor for type 2 diabetes. To ensure the efficacy of C. longa. in the improvement of glycemic control, neuropathic sensation, and reduction in the formation of advanced glycation end products 90 people that meet inclusion criteria were divided into 2 groups, the control group was only given antidiabetic drugs without C. longa supplement and the treatment group were given C. longa supplement as well as recommended hypoglycemic drugs for 120 days. Results reveal that in all combinations of antidiabetic medicine the addition of curcumin has significantly reduced the level of hemoglobin A1C as compared to the control group. Similarly, there has been a significant reduction in the formation of advanced glycation end products at the end of the study. While a significant improvement in neuropathic sensation has also been observed. Hence it may be concluded that C. longa can be efficiently used in chronic patients with diabetes as a supplement to manage the symptoms and complications of type II diabetes.

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and safety profile of Cucurbita maxima and Cucumis sativus seeds.

The premise of the pharmacology of natural product is to explore benefits of natural resources for the mankind. Medicines extracted from natural resources are considered as primary source for drug discovery. Thus, the current study was designed to evaluate the safety profile and explore the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of ethanol extract of Cucurbita maxima (C. maxima) and Cucumis sativus (C. sativus) seeds. These seeds are edible, good in taste and have been used for several therapeutic purposes. Acute toxicity of the seeds was evaluated by Lorke's method while Eddy's hot plate and tail immersion methods were used to assess analgesic activity in mice. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by rat hind paw edema method. The seed extracts of C. maxima and C. sativus were found to be safe and showed significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity in comparison with the control group. The therapeutic effects of these extracts were almost comparable to aspirin and brufen. Therefore, the seeds can be used as effective analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents.

Prediction of Clearance and Dose of Midazolam in Preterm and Term Neonates: A Comparative Study Between Allometric Scaling and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling.

Children are not small adults because besides size there are subtle physiological and biochemical differences between children and adults. Like adults, children also require medicine for the management or cure for the underlying diseases. To select a right dose in children, pharmacokinetic (PK) information is warranted. However, in many instances, a PK study in neonates and infants may not be possible. Therefore, various methods are used to predict PK parameters in this group of population, and these predicted parameters may help to calculate a safe dose for the very young children. Allometry is widely used for the prediction of PK parameters in children and subsequently one can predict dose from these predicted PK parameters. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling (PBPK) has also become a useful tool to achieve these goals. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the predictive performance of allometry and PBPK for a test compound, midazolam in preterm, and term neonates. In this study, there were 5 preterm neonates (gestational age ranging from 34 to 37 weeks) and 5 term neonates (gestational age ranging from 38 to 41 weeks). PBPK modeling was performed using PK-Sim 6.0 and clearance, as well as midazolam dose in neonates was predicted. Clearance and midazolam dose in neonates was also predicted by allometric scaling. In this study, the allometric exponents for the prediction of midazolam clearance in preterm neonates and term neonates were 1.2 and 1.1, respectively. Similarly, for the prediction of midazolam neonatal dose, the exponent of allometry was either 0.9 or 1.0. The predicted midazolam clearance and dose by both methods were then compared with observed midazolam clearance and dose in neonates. The results of the study showed a slightly better prediction of midazolam clearance in neonates by PBPK than allometric scaling. However, the projected dose of midazolam in neonates was comparable between the 2 methods. Overall, it was noted that both PBPK and allometric model can be used to predict clearance and dose of midazolam in neonates.