Adjunctive Treatment Considerations for the Addressment of Inflammation in Neuromuscular Disorders.

At the root of many of society’s major health concerns plaguing millions of Americans each year is the concept of inflammation. Encompassing cardiovascular, oncologic, dermatologic, painmanagement, and neurologic diseases, the peripheral and systemic manifestations of inflammation has been increasingly shown to be a major culprit in disease spread. Broad examples of this can be seen in various neurologic disease states.

Demyelinating diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and degenerative changes associated with dementia have many factors with inflammation being one of those. The inflammatory cascade with its incorporation of pro inflammatory cytokines and transcriptional factors has been shown to be suggestive in the pathophysiology of these diseases. Similarly, glial cells, acting as neural supports, have been shown to play a role in the production of these same pro inflammatory cells (IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha). The overproduction of these mediators is suggestive of neurodegenerative progression in both acute (ischemic injury) and chronic degenerative neural disorders. Acknowledgement and addressment of the inflammatory cascade has led to novel treatment strategies such as the use of sirtuins.(Read more)

Essential Oil Chemotypes of Three Ocimum Species Found in Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

The family Lamiaceae of which the genus Ocimum belongs is composed of diverse and rich source of essential oil containing plants. Ocimum contains between fifty to one hundredand fifty species of herbs and shrubs from the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. O. gratissimum L. is referred to as holy basil. In Sierra Leone, it is known as “Tea bush” (Krio) and “orgbethor” (Themne) while it is known as “efirin nla” in the Yoruba speaking culture of Nigeria. O. basilicum L. is also referred to as sweet basil. It is known as “Patmenji” (Krio) and “Sorow” (Themne) of Sierra Leone and “efinrin wewe” by the Yorubas. O. americanum L. (synonym of O. canum Sims) is known as American basil or hoary basil. 

In Sierra Leone both the available varieties of O. americanum L and O. basilicum L. are used in culinary as “Patmengy” indiscriminately. The different varieties of O. gratissimum L. [implying different chemotypes] have been used extensively in the traditional system of medicine in many countries as had been reviewed. The main issues of concern with the use of herbal drugs remain safety, validation of claims and standardisation of product. There exist the problems of significant variation in the content of Ocimum plants across and within species, with implication of varied biological activities.(Read more)

Berberine Protects against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Damage in PC12 Cells through Activation of ERK1/2 Pathway.

Neurodegenerative diseases (ND), such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), are chronic degenerative pathologies of the Central Nervous System (CNS). NDs arecharacterized by progressive loss of specific neurons which further leads to adecline in brain functions. Despite the fact that pathologies have different clinical features, there are some common hallmarks, such as synaptic dysfunctioning, oxidative stress, and inflammation. The NDs are caused by an enhancement of ROS production via mitochondria and NADPH oxidase (NOX), which seems to account for tissue injury and neurodegeneration. 

Nowadays, NDs are chronic and incurable conditions, and the disabling effects may continue for years or even decades representing an enormous disease load, regarding human suffering and economic cost. In neuronal cells, the over production of ROS is considered as one of the risk factors for NDs. Disruption of redox homeostasis is a key phenotype of many pathological conditions. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), the main source of ROS, can cause cell membrane injury as well as lipid peroxidation and DNA damage in variety cells. However, antioxidants were able to protect cells against H₂O₂-induced cell death via reducing ROS production.(Read more)

The Hidden Ingredients Affecting Cancer Patients Outcome and the Mathematical Journey to Their Uncover.

Since the identification of Nitrogen mustard as a non-specific DNA alkylating agent and its clinical assessment by Gilman and Goodman at Yale University in 1942 for Lymphoma treatment, the field of medical oncology has rapidly expanded.It relies on understanding and exploring numerous factors affecting cancer patient’s outcome, 

including:1) Familiarity with the natural history of various malignancies and understanding the significant of patients' well-being as predictor to survive and tolerate therapy, scored as the "Performance Status";2) Basic biology events of normal cycling cells, and principals involved in cancer pathogenesis named "hallmarks of cancer," including sustaining proliferative signaling, evading growth suppressors, resisting cell death, enabling replicative immortality, angiogenesis, activating invasion and metastasis, and recently expanded to include also reprogramming of energy metabolism and evading immune destruction .3) Identification of tumor features or biomarkers for tailored treatment approach including: "targeted" therapy (i.e., estrogen receptor expression for hormonal manipulations in breast cancer. (Read more)

Evaluation of Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activity of the Bark of Alstonia scholaris

As a source of drugs the medicinal plants are used for the management and treatment of various human and livestock health disorders or diseases worldwide from ancient times to the present day. There are a total of 250,000 species of flowering plants referred to as medicinal plants. The World Health Organization (WHO) enlisted about 21,000 medicinal plant species . The global herbal market is about US$ 62 billion per annum. The annual growth of herbal market is about 15 percent and in 2050, it is expected to be about US$ 5 trillion. About 25% of prescribed drugs in the world are of plants source. 

In developing countries about 80% people believe on traditional plant based medicines for their primary health care purposes. Worldwide several thousands of plants had identified consisting medicinal values and it was used for the treatment of different diseases in various cultures. From the beginning to present majority of people are relying on the traditional medicine for the treatment of their primary health care. The high cost of imported conventional drugs and inaccessibility to western medical care facility, involve that traditional mode of health care is the only form of health care that is reasonably priced and accessible to the people of rural area.(Read more)

TITLE : A Review of the Development of Calcium Pterins and (250:1 Mol:Mol) Calcium Folate for the Immunotherapy of Certain Diseases.

Since the determination that oral calcium CaPterin is efficacious against tumor development in murine breast cancer models and a modulator of the immuno-regulatoryenzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), further investigation into its mechanisms of action has been of crucial interest to investigators. 

Two of these studies also focused on the anti-tumor properties of oral dimeric DCP ,which forms CaPterin at pH<4 (gastric conditions). This chelation dissociates under gastric pH conditions and likely rechelates in the higher pH conditions of the duodenum. (Read more)

Time-Course of Buprenorphine Dose Increase in a Maintenance Program for Heroin Addicts: Retention in Treatment and Clinical Meaning

Buprenorphine is a major therapeutic option in the treatment of opiate addiction. Peculiarly, increasing dosages do not grant higher and higher levels of agonism, but a plateau is soon reached due to it’s the high affinity to the μ-receptor (ceiling effect). In terms of anticraving action, the ceiling level of agonism seemsto be equivalent to that provided by 80 mg of methadone. Differently from methadone, subjects with residual craving are challenged with strong opiate blockade, due to buprenorphine’s slow dissociation from receptors at high dosages, which may either cause treatment dropout or stabilisation, according to the strength of residual craving. 

In fact, early attrition in buprenorphine programs seems to be related to withdrawal buffering, and does not vary according to dosage, due to limited agonist potency. On the other hand, for those who stay in treatment at anti-withdrawal dosages, higher dosages grant with better outcomes in fixed dose comparison studies. However, it is notsharply clear whether the gap of effectiveness is mainly related to a higherlevel of agonism or the opioid blockade: In fact, some patients do respond to 2-4-6 mg regimens by a significant rate.