The present study aims to assess the antidepressant activity of Ixora coccinea extracts in mice and phytochemical analysis of the active extract by GC-MS. After oral administration of extracts, tail suspension test (TST), force swim tests (FST), and open field tests (OFT) were performed to assess the antidepressant activity. GC-MS analysis of methanol extract of I. coccinea was performed to ascertain the chemical constituents in the bioactive extract. The methanol extract of I. coccinea at dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight, p.o. significantly reduced the total duration of immobility in the TST as well as FST (p<0.01). I. coccinea extracts showed no significant changes in locomotor activity in OFT. The methanol extract of I. coccinea possesses antidepressant-like properties in mice with no significant effect on locomotor activity in OFT.

CQD are small carbon nanoparticles smallerl than 10 nm comprising distinctive properties, which have become an obligatory tool for traceable targeted delivery, biomedical research, and different therapy applications. The objective of the present work was to consolidate the current literature on the synthesis, characterization techniques, and biomedical applications of CQD. Two types of synthetic methods viz. top-down approach and bottom-up approach were used for the synthesis of CQD. The top-down approach includes the arc-discharge method, laser ablation method, and electrochemical method. The bottom-up approach includes the thermal method, microwave-assisted method, hydrothermal and aqueous method, and the template method. In this review, we explain the recent progress of CQD in the biomedical field, focusing on their synthetic methods and characterization, followed by different applications. Carbon dots have extensive adequacy for in vivo and in vitro bioimaging and drug delivery studies. Although more cytotoxicity studies of carbon dots are needed, the data above suggest a bright future for carbon dots in drug delivery and bioimaging studies.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of andrographolide-carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles formation on the physical characteristics, in vitro release profile and in vivo antimalarial activity of andrographolide. Nanoparticles were prepared by ionic gelation method-spray drying using CaCl2 as the crosslinker with a composition of drug: polymer: CaCl2=40: 250: 100. The obtained particles were evaluated for its size and morphology; physical state, drug content, in vitro drug release and in vivo antimalarial activity on Plasmodium berghei infected mice. The results of DTA and XRD showed that nanoparticle systems had a lower melting point and lower crystallinity degree. The drug dissolved from the nanoparticles was increased up to 6.5 times and the in vivo antimalarial activity was 1.65 times higher compared to andrographolide. The formation andrographolide-carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles affected the physical characte-ristics of andrographolide. The decrease crystallinity of andrographolide resulted in a lower melting point of andrographolide. Such changes provided a positive impact to the drug dissolution and then its activity.

The use of modern medicines in the treatment of diseases instead of traditional medicine is causing different adverse effects. Therefore, there is need to search new bioactive compounds to treat different diseases. Buchanania angustifolia has been used in traditional medicine in the treatment of different diseases. On the basis of folkloric information, B. angustifolia aerial parts extracts have been selected for their antioxidant and hepatoprotective potentiality and phytochemical constituents. Qualitative phytochemical screening of B. angustifolia extracts revealed the presence of phytochemical constituents such as steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, carbohydrates, oils and amino acids. BA-1 and BA-2 compounds isolated from hydroalcoholic extract using chromatography and were identified as linolenic acid and mixture of stigmasterol and β-sitosterol. Antioxidant activity was performed on superoxide, hydroxyl and 1-(2,6-dimethylphenoxy)-2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenylethylamino) propane hydrochloride free radicals. The B. angustifolia extracts showed dose-dependent activity on free radicals. The hydroalcoholic extract showed better activity. The extracts showed hepatoprotective activity on thioacetamide-induced liver intoxication in rats, and hydroalcoholic extract exhibited significant restoration of the altered biochemical parameters due thioacetamide-induced liver intoxication. Among the tested extracts of B. angustifolia, hydroalcoholic extract showed higher antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity and stigmasterol and β-sitosterol were isolated. Further research is needed to evaluate other pharmacological activities and to isolate the other bioactive compounds from B. angustifolia.

This study aimed to prepare and evaluate mucoadhesive nanoparticle formulations of voriconazole, an antifungal drug, for mucosal application. It was also aimed to develop and validate a HPLC method of voriconazole. In this study, mucoadhesive nanoparticles containing voriconazole were prepared using a coating polymer of chitosan. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized via particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential measurement, and mucoadhesion studies. Drug loading capacity was tested for determination of the voriconazole amount in the nanoparticles. In vitro drug release was also examined. The HPLC method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision (repeatability and reproducibility), specificity, stability, limits of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). In vitro characterization results of the mucoadhesive nanoparticle formulation containing voriconazole was found to be appropriate with a small particle size of 217.1±4.2 nm, a narrow polydispersity index of 0.335±0.042, 99.052±0.424% drug loading, and a positive zeta potential value of +26.82±0.4 mV. Accor-ding to a mucoadhesive study, it can be concluded that the nanoparticle was able to interact with mu-cin due to ionic interaction. Also, the turbidity of nanoparticle/mucin dispersion was higher than the turbidity of mucin dispersion itself. Based on the in vitro drug release, no burst effect was observed, indicating that voriconazole was homogeneously dispersed in the nanoparticle dispersion and that no significant amount of drug was adsorbed onto the nanoparticle surface. The release was found to fol-low a non Fickian diffusion mechanism with first order drug release. The proposed HPLC method was simple, highly sensitive with good linearity, accurate, precise, specific, and stable, showing that the method is useful for routine quality control. This study has shown that the mucoadhesive nanoparticle formulation containing voriconazole repor-ted here is a promising candidate for the local treatment of mucosal diseases. The developed HPLC method can be succesfully applied to pharmaceutical preparations containing voriconazole.

Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr. (CF, Family: Menispermaceae) is an important endangered woody climber in India. CF contains various major secondary metabolites for the treatment of various disease conditions. The present study aimed to establish the antioxidant and anthelmintic activity of Coscinium fenestratum fruit pulp. The dried fruit pulp was subjected to aqueous, methanol, and mixed aqueous and methanol (1:1) solvent extraction followed by phytochemical investigations, estimations of alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant potentiality (DPPH and hydrogen peroxide scavenging methods), and anthelmintic activity tests were carried out. Preliminary phytochemical screening of CF fruit extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids phenols, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, and resins, which are responsible for biologic properties. The combined aqueous and methanol extract resulted in significant anthelmintic and antioxidant properties in a dose-dependent manner. The DPPH free radical scavenging assay and H2O2 assay exhibited IC50 values of 42.38±0.012 µg/mL and 46.80±0.011 µg/mL, respectively. Thereafter, the anthelmintic activity test was carried out against Pheretima posthuma and Taenia solium with the extract at varying concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 mg/mL and compared with standard albendazole (25 and 50 mg/mL) and saline (0.9%) as a control. All the extracts exhibited concentration-dependent paralytic effect, followed by death on the test organism, but significant activity was observed with the combined methanol and aqueous extract. The study was conducted in order to find possible isolated compounds as a biosources for future novel antioxidants in food and pharmaceutical formulations. Our findings indicate for the first time that the CF fruit pulp has therapeutic values with prominent antioxidant and anthelmintic properties.

Diabetes, a heteregenous metabolic and chronic disease, is a growing health problem in most countries. It has been claimed that diabetes is associated with the increased formation of free radicals and decreased in antioxidant potential. Oxidative stress formed in diabetes may cause DNA damage in the tissues. Ursolic acid, a well-known pentacylic triterpene, is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine due to its beneficial health effects such as antioxidant, anticancer, and antiulcer properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ursolic acid in the kidneys of Wistar albino rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. DNA damage was evaluated in the kidney cells of rats using alkaline comet assays. Oxidative stress parameters such as CAT, SOD, GR, and GSH-Px enzyme activities and total GSH and MDA levels were also evaluated. Ursolic acid treatment was found to significantly decrease DNA damage, GR enzyme activities, and MDA levels, and significantly increase GSH levels and CAT, SOD and GSH-Px enzyme activities in diabetic rats. According to our results, it seems that ursolic acid may be beneficial against diabetes-induced renal damage.