Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research
Year:2019 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:7

Omalizumab (Xolair® ), a humanized anti-IgE monoclonal antibody, is effective and well-tolerated in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria refractory to H1 antihistamines. The aim of this review was to present the effective dose of omalizumab for urticaria treatment in patients. Several databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Google, SID, Magiran, and Irandoc, were selected. The search process was performed using the keywords of Xolair, omalizumab, urticaria, chronic urticaria, effect, and treatment. Sixty related articles were found. All studies have been conducted on people over 12 years of age with the exception of 2 articles investigating patients over 7 years old. Most studies have been performed on patients within the age range of 12-75 years and the maximum age of 81 years. Omalizumab has been administered at different doses for patients with chronic urticaria (75-600 mg). Omalizumab has shown a treatment effect at all administered doses; however, it has the greatest effect when administered at the dose of 300 mg. The interval of subcutaneous injections was 2-6 weeks. In conclusion, the administration of omalizumab is effective at doses of 150 and 300 mg although the most effective dose is 300 mg.

Pharmacognostic standardization plays a crucial role in identification of a particular plant and also helps to authenticate the plant under study and prevent it from adulteration and substitution. The plant Lantana camara Linn. (Family: Lamiaceae) is native to the tropical regions of the America, Africa and Asia. It is found in Kumaun and Garhwal resign of Uttarakhand, India. It is locally known as shrub Verbenas and Ghaneri. The plant has been used for various ailments in traditional systems of medicines. In the current investigation, pharmacognostic standardization and physico-chemical analysis of Lantana camara flowers has been attempted. All the parameters including, extractive values, ash values, loss on drying and determination of foreign organic matter were determined following the World Health Organization guidelines. Macroscopic characters like shape, size, color, odor, and surface characteristics along with inflorescence characteristics of flower of Lantana camara were noted. Powder microscopy showed useful diagnostic features like fibres, xylem vessels, pitted xylem vessels, glandular trichomes, covering trichomes, calcium oxalate crystals etc. The transverse section of peddicles of flower showed epidermis, covering trichomes, vascular cylinder, central medulla etc. Furthermore, various physico-chemical parameters were also estimated as per WHO guidelines. The data generated from the current study would be employed as supplement information in respect of identification parameters in the way of acceptability and quality control of this plant.

Aluminum is recognized as a public health concern because of its potential toxic effects on human health. Therefore, the present experiment was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of curcumin (CUR) in reducing the hepatotoxicity induced by aluminum chloride (AlCl3) in animals. In this experimental study, forty male rats were allocated to five groups (N = 8), viz. no treatment (control), solvent (DMSO or distilled water), CUR (10 mg/kg B. W. ), AlCl3 (10 mg/kg B. W. ), and CUR+AlCl3 (each with 10 mg/kg B. W. ). Treatments were performed by intra-peritoneal injections for 28 days. On the final day, animals were sacrificed, and liver function markers in blood plasma, hepatic antioxidants, and lipid peroxidation index in liver homogenate were estimated. AlCl3 treatment resulted in a significant increase in plasma AST, ALT, ALP and LDH activities with decreased total protein compared to control. AlCl3 significantly reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) levels but increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the liver compared to control. AlCl3 also caused various histopathological changes in the livers of rats. Curcumin could normalize nearly all these parameters. CUR improved levels of changes in different parameters when was combined with AlCl3. It is concluded that CUR has beneficial effects being able to antagonize AlCl3 toxicity.

The present study was investigated the survival of probiotic strains, namely Lactobacillus acidophilus (LAFTI-L10) and Bifidobacterium lactis (LAFTI-B94), in both microencapsulated and free forms in Doogh as a yogurt drink. The effects of probiotic strains on physicochemical and sensory properties, stability, and microstructures of Doogh were evaluated during storage for 45 days in a cold room at a temperature of 5± 1 ° C. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the number of L. acidophilus and B. lactis in free forms decreased about 1. 1 and 2. 2 log cycles, respectively. However, the number of the microencapsulated forms were remained relatively constant during the storage period. Both free and microencapsulated forms were successful in keeping the counts of L. acidophilus and B. lactis in Doogh high enough for the therapeutic minimum (106-107 cfug-1) after 45 days. Nonetheless, the number of microencapsulated probiotics was higher than that of the free cells. The acidity, pH, and stability were significantly different between the samples. The microstructure of the samples was affected by the microencapsulation of bacteria because the sample distribution of the clusters and particles was more regular in the samples containing microencapsulated probiotics than in those containing free forms. According to the results of sensory evaluations, probiotics not only exerted no adverse effects on the physicochemical and sensory properties of Doogh but also improved the stability, microstructure, and flavor of this drink. Therefore, Doogh can be considered an effective food carrier for the delivery of probiotic organisms.

Gongronema latifolium (GL) has been used traditionally in the management of various ailments. The effects of GL on some haematological and biochemical parameters in fructose-induced hyperglycaemia were studied. Forty rats were randomly assigned to four groups of 10 rats each. Control was received normal rat chow, fructose + G. latifolium group was received 66% D-fructose mixed with 34% chow and crude leaf extract of GL daily. Fructose only group was received 66% D-fructose and the fourth group was received GL extract only respectively for 30 days. All animals were fed ad libitum and had free access to water. Oral blood glucose tolerance test was determined using 2 g/Kg in all groups of rats and blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture for haematological and biochemical analyses. The blood glucose level was significantly raised in fructose-fed only group (140. 6 ± 2. 9 mg/dl) when compared to GL + fructose group (110. 3 ± 5. 8 mg/dl) and control (88. 1 ± 3. 6 mg/dl). There was observed significant reductions in blood glucose and glucose tolerance following GL supplementation. The lipid profile values were significantly higher in fructose-fed group compared with other groups but these levels were significantly reduced following GL supplementation. The white blood cells (WBC) and platelets count in GL and fructose + GL group were significantly raised when compared with the control group. The red cell parameters were not significantly altered compared to the control group. The results show that the consumption of G. latifolium reduces hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia hence the cardiovascular risk factors observed in diabetes mellitus.

Plant essential oils and natural extracts have been attracted research interest to control bacterial contamination of food products. Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes are considered as public health bacterial hazards which survive in various types of food. The aim of the current study was to assess the effects of Mentha spicata essential oil (MSO: 0, 0. 1 and 0. 2%) alone and in combination with methanolic carrot extract (MCE) (0, 0. 25 and 0. 5%) against S. aureus and L. monocytogenes in fish soup. Untreated and treated homemade fish soups with different concentrations of MSO and MCE were inoculated with 5 log CFU/ml of S. aureus and L. monocytogenes, and then stored at 4 ± 1 ˚ C (refrigerated temperature), 9 ± 1 ˚ C (abused temperature) and 25 ± 1 ˚ C (room temperature) during 15 days. Based on these findings, carvone (78. 76%) and limonene (11. 50%) were the major compounds of the MSO. The following sequence inhibition effect on S. aureus and L. monocytogenes was observed in treated soups: MSO 0. 2% + MCE 0. 5% > MSO 0. 2% + MCE 0. 25% > MSO 0. 2% > MSO 0. 1% + MCE 0. 5% > MSO 0. 1% + MCE 0. 25% > MSO 0. 1% > MCE 0. 5% > MCE 0. 25%. The results of the present study demonstrated that antibacterial effects of different concentrations of MSO separately and in combination with MCE were higher at 4 and 9 ˚ C than 25 ˚ C.