ABSTRACT
The novel niosomal system aimed to deliver the active drug entity to the target site. The objective of this study was to prepare and evaluate the effect of itraconazole niosome on the in vitro susceptibility of Leishmania tropica as compared to itraconazole alone or tartar emetic. The overall growth rate of promastigotes treated with various concentrations of itraconazole niosome was significantly lower than that of itraconazole alone (IC50=0.24 µg/ml vs. IC50=0.43 µg/ml, P<0.01). In contrast, the mean multiplication rate of amastigotes inside the macrophages and also the mean number of amastigotes in each macrophage treated with itraconazole niosome (34.9 and 3.0) were significantly lower (P<0.01) than those treated with itraconazole alone (62.0 and 3.8) or tartar emetic (63.9 and 4.2), respectively. These findings indicated that niosomes could be developed as a novel drug delivery for itraconazole in the in vitro model. Further studies are required to evaluate the effect of itraconazole niosome on volunteer human subjects.
Subject(s)
Antiprotozoal Agents/administration & dosage , Itraconazole/administration & dosage , Leishmania tropica/drug effects , Animals , Cholesterol/chemistry , Drug Liberation , Hexoses/chemistry , Leishmania tropica/growth & development , Liposomes , Macrophages, Peritoneal/drug effects , Macrophages, Peritoneal/microbiology , Mice, Inbred BALB CABSTRACT
In this article, we embarked on production of mouse monoclonal antibodies against aflatoxin B1 which is the most commonly occurring fungal toxin in food and feed products. After immunization and fusion with myloma cells, two stable clones (A218 and B319) were selected. Isotyping showed that these monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were IgG2b with kappa light chains. The affinity of A218 and B319 clons were 5×10(11) M(-1) and 6×10(9) M(-1), respectively. Competitive indirect ELISA results indicated these mAbs had complete (100%) cross-reaction with four major types of aflatoxins: B1, B2, G1, and G2. These mAbs could be used for immunoassay measurement of aflatoxins with high affinity and low detection limits.
Subject(s)
Aflatoxin B1/immunology , Antibodies, Monoclonal/biosynthesis , Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Aflatoxin B1/administration & dosage , Aflatoxin B1/blood , Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal/blood , Antigen-Antibody Reactions , Cattle , Cross Reactions/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Injections, Subcutaneous , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB CABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: There are a large number of primary researches on the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) in Iran; however, their findings are varied considerably. A systematic review was performed in order to summarize the findings. METHODS: Electronic and manual searches in international and Iranian journals were conducted to find relevant studies reporting MDD prevalence. To maximize the sensitivity of the search, the references of relevant papers were also explored. We explored the potential sources of heterogeneity such as diagnostic tools, gender and other characteristics using meta-regression model. The combined mean prevalence rates were calculated for genders, studies using each type of instruments and for each province using meta-analysis method. RESULTS: From 44 articles included in the systematic review, 24 reported current prevalence and 20 reported lifetime prevalence of MDD. The overall estimation of current prevalence of MDD was 4.1% (95% CI: 3.1-5.1). Women were 1.95 (95% CI: 1.55-2.45) times more likely to have MDD. The current prevalence of MDD in urban inhabitants was not significantly different from rural inhabitants. The analysis identified the variations in diagnostic tools as an important source of heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is not adequate information on MDD prevalence in some areas of Iran, the overall current prevalence of MDD in the country is high and females are at the greater risk of disease.
