Leishmania parasites are the causative agent of leishmaniasis. Many studies are inspecting chemical drugs, including the use of miltefosine and amphotericin B, but curative values may be limited for these drugs with side effects due to the chemical origin, therefore, investigating less toxic therapies is essential. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of artemisinin on Iraqi strain of Leishmania tropica, by experimental macrophage ex vivo infection of amastigotes into mouse macrophage cell-line RAW264.7. Different concentrations (100, 200, 300, 400, 500)μM of artemisinin (ART) were screened to examine the susceptibility of L. tropica amastigotes to invade macrophage cell line along three times of follow up (24, 48 and 72) hours. Results showed that artemisinin had a cytotoxic effect on the parasite in which a significance difference (P < 0.05) in cell viability was observed and IC50 was calculated as 182.6 μM after 48 hours treatment. In addition, percentage of infectivity of intracellular amastigotes was significantly decreased. These findings revealed the potential efficacy of artemisinin against the infectious amastigotes and can be further studied to screen its effectiveness in vivo for exploring a safer herbal compound to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis.
The aim of the present study was to characterize the Iraqi Tribulus terrestris for the presence of biologically active phyto-chemicals using methanolic extracts of the plant (aerial parts) by Gas Chromatography –Mass spectrometry (GC/MS), while the mass spectra of the compounds found in the extract was matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library , in addition to study the antioxidant activity of plant extract , results confirmed the presence of therapeutically potent compounds in the Iraqi Tribulus terrestris extract predominantly alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. Antioxidant potential of Iraqi Tribulus terrestris
... Show MoreNon-thermal (low-temperature) plasma may act as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. In this paper an atmospheric pressure plasma needle jet device which generates a cold plasma jet is used to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatment against different pathogenic bacteria and to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma. It is found that, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there were no survivors among the initial 1x108C.F.U (Co
... Show MoreNew substituted anthraquinones with amino derivations fragments were synthesized through the substitution of bromine atom by different amines using the Ullmann coupling reaction. Obtained compounds based on anthraquinone used for experimental antimicrobial studies. The structure of the synthesized compounds was confirmed by LC-MS and 1H, 13C NMR spectroscopy. Studies on planktonic microorganisms have shown that the first synthesized anthraquinone derivatives have an inhibitory effect against bacteria and fungi. The triazene 1-(3-(benzoic acid(triaz-1-en-1-ol(-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl(-9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene -2-sulfonic acid, have wide spectrum of activity, growth retardation zones against gram-positive micro
... Show MoreIn this study new derivatives of Schiff bases 5-8, 1, 3-oxazepine 9-16 and tetrazoles 17-19 have been synthesized from the new starting material 1 which has synthesized the reaction of one mole of dichloro acetic acid and two moles of thiophenol, the esters 2-3 were synthesized from the reaction of compound 1 with methanol or ethanol respectively in the presence of H2SO4 as catalyst then 2, 2-dithiophenylaceto Hydrazide 4 were synthesized from the reaction of 2 or 3 with hydrazine hydrate 80%, Schiff bases 5-8 were synthesized from the reaction of 4 with appropriate aldehyde or ketone. Treatment of Schiff bases with maleic and phathalic anhydride in dry benzene to give 1, 3-oxazepen derivatives 9-16 and with sodium azide in tetrahydrofuran
... Show MoreCost is the essence of any production process for it is one of the requirements for the continuity of activities so as to increase the profitability of the economic unit and to support the competitive situation in the market. Therefore, there should be an overall control to reduce the cost without compromising the product quality; to achieve this, the management should have detailed credible and reliable information about the cost to be measured, collected, understood and to analyze the causes for the spread of deviations and obstacles the management faces, and to search for the factors that trigger the emergence of these deviations and obstacles
Methotrexate (MTX) is a folate antagonist widely used in the treatment of neoplastic diseases; its biotransformation in the liver produced active metabolites that promote hepatotoxicity. The present study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract of Camellia sinensis (Green tea) against MTX-induced liver damage in rats. A model of liver injury in rats was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 20mg/kg MTX as a single dose followed by saline and 1.25% and 2.5% aqueous extract of green tea (GTE) were orally administered 7 days prior and 5 days after MTX-intoxication as a sole source of drinking water. After killing the animals, blood samples were obtained for evaluation of serum levels of alanine and
... Show More1-Objective:- Polyphenols are biochemical compounds with antioxidant activity against differences diseases related to Lipid peroxidation such as diabetes mellitus. Polyphenols distributed widely in medical plants, the aim of the study is to extract and analyze some polyphenolic compounds from grape seeds and examine their effects on (STZ) induced diabetic mice. 2-Methods:- In the present study , a group of polyphenols has been extracted from Iraq
... Show MoreSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were
... Show MoreSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were
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