Neutrophils represent the body's primary line of defense against invading pathogens. They most rapidly reach the site of injury or infection, liberate antimicrobial proteins, proteases and produce reactive oxygen species. Prolonged or excessive liberation of these very effective and toxic substances could intensify the inflammatory process and enhance tissue damage in many diseases, such as all...

Abstract: In the present study silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were successfully synthesized using aqueous extract of sea weed, Gracilaria corticata. The aqueous callus extract (5%) treated with 1 mM silver nitrate solution resulted in the formation of AgNPs and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the formed AgNPs was recorded at 405 nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The molecules involved...

Gemcitabine (2,2-difluorodeoxycytidine) is a deoxycytidine analog, currently being used as a first-choice drug in pancreatic metastatic cancer. Gemcitabine is administered weekly as 30-minute infusion with starting dose ranging from 800 to 1250 mg/m(2). The aim of the present work was to develop starch nanoparticles (NPs) for the delivery of gemcitabine hydrochloride that could reduce its dose ...

We have previously demonstrated that halofuginone, a widely used alkaloid coccidiostat, is a potent inhibitor of collagen alpha1(I) and matrix metalloproteinase 2 gene expression. Halofuginone also suppresses extracellular matrix deposition and cell proliferation. We investigated the effect of halofuginone on transplantable and chemically induced mouse bladder carcinoma. In both systems, oral a...

Triazole and itís derivatives are noteworthy for their physiological and biological importance. They paved the attention of medicinal chemist due to their wide range of biological activities like anti-inflammatory (1ñ5), antibacterial (6ñ8), anticonvulsant (9), antifungal (10ñ14) and anticancerous (15) etc. In view of above facts and inspired by the research going on triazole and its derivative...

UNLABELLED Plants continue to be a major source of medicines, as they have been throughout human history. In the present days, drug discovery from plants involves a multidisciplinary approach combining ethnobotanical, phytochemical and biological techniques to provide us new chemical compounds (lead molecules) for the development of drugs against various pharmacological targets, including cance...

Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation (LPO) induced by inflammation, excess metal storage and excess caloric intake cause generalized DNA damage, producing genotoxic and mutagenic effects. The consequent deregulation of cell homeostasis is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of malignancies and degenerative diseases. Reactive aldehydes produced by LPO, such as malondialdehyde, acrolein...

OBJECTIVE To optimize the conditions for the extraction of alkaloid palmatine from Tinospora cordifolia by using response surface methodology (RSM) and study its anticancerous property against 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced skin carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice. METHODS The effect of three independent variables, namely, extraction temperature, time, and cycles was investigat...

Bioactive natural products play an important role in the production of several important anticancerous, antifungal and antimicrobial compounds. Due to the limited production of these metabolites in vivo and the increasing need to preserve the biodiversity, microorganisms could be the ultimate source of these novel bioactive products. Endophytes are the microorganism which spends its whole or pa...

The sigma (sigma) receptor and its agonists have been implicated in a myriad of cellular functions, biological processes and diseases. Whereas the precise molecular mechanism(s) of sigma receptors and their involvement in cancer cell biology have not been elucidated, recent work has started to shed some light on these issues. A molecular model has been proposed for the cloned sigma1 receptor; t...