The Leishmania donovani parasite causes visceral leishmaniasis (VL), an acute and fatal form of leishmaniasis. Because traditional therapy alternatives, such as glucantime and other pentavalent medicines, are toxic and have side effects, new treatments with fewer negative effects are needed. Only a handful of drugs are clinically beneficial to treatments of the disease, but considerable limitations threaten their very usage. Novel, safe, and efficient drugs, including those against antimalaria and leishmaniasis co-infections, are so essential. Artemether (ATM) is an Artemisinin derivative that has been demonstrated to be useful in the treatment of malaria and, more recently, leishmaniasis. The current research was carried out to evaluate the anti-leishmanial effects of Artemether (ART) and combination of Artemether- Artemisinin (ART- ATM) against procyclic promastigotes of Leishmania donovani. In this fundamental-applied research, we compared the effect of (ATM) and combination of (ART- ATM) on Leishmania donovani procyclic promastigotes, at different concentrations by using the MTT assay method after 24 ,48 and 72 h of treatment. The results prove ATM and combination (ART- ATM) efficiency against the procyclic promastigotes viability with IC50 measured after 24, 48- and 72hours treatment. The combination of (ART- ATM) could be used in the treatment of leishmaniasis to improve the therapeutic outcome for Leishmania species.
Free radicals and oxidative damage caused by them have being suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of migraine. These may result from distorted equilibrium of pro-oxidant/anti-oxidant system that continuously generates and detoxifies oxidants during normal aerobic metabolism. Escape of such system from equilibrium leads to damage of cellular elements with the depletion of cellular stores of anti-oxidants material such as glutathione and vitamin E. Therefore, free radical scavengers (vitamin E or melatonin) seems to be of potential benefit as prophylactic anti-migraine therapy by neutralizing free radicals overproduction and possibly preventing formation of highly toxic intermediates (such as nitric oxide). In addition of being pow
... Show MoreLeishmaniasis is a group of parasitic diseases caused by Leishmania spp., an endemic infectious agent in developing countries, including Iraq. Diagnosis of cutaneous lesion by stained smears, serology or histopathology are inaccurate and unable to detect the species of Leishmania. Here, two molecular typing methods were examined to identify the promastigotes of suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis samples, on a species level. The first was species-specific B6-PCR and the second was ITS1-PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using restriction enzyme HaeIII. DNA was extracted from in vitro promastigote culture followed by amplification of kDNA by B6 or amplification and digestion of LITSR/L
... Show MoreA total of nine swab samples were collected from inflamed teeth and gingiva of human’soral cavity from a dentist clinic in Baghdad. All specimens were cultured in Mitis Salivarius agar medium and the isolated bacterial pure colonies werethen identified by using VITEK2. Three samples were diagnosed and identified as Staphylococcus lentus. One of the three isolates which showed a distinctive heavy growth on the media was selected for further analysis in this study. Paper disk diffusion method was used to detect the antibacterial activityof three of mouthwash solutions (Zak, Colgate and Listerine). The results showed that “Colgate†was the most active solution with antibacterial activity compared with the other two s
... Show MoreBackground: A successful endodontic treatment is aimed at the sterilization of the entire pulp space. The use of extracts from Rhamnus prinoides as a novel irrigating material for root canal has not been studied . Hence, the antimicrobial efficacy of the alcoholic extract of Rhamnus prinoides as an irrigation material against E. faecalis was evaluated in comparison with the 2.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCL) solution used for root canals of permanent teeth. Methods: A total of 30 single-rooted human permanent teeth were thoroughly cleaned, shaped, and disinfected. Then, each tooth was subjected to a two-week infection with Enterococcus faecalis at 37 °C . Afterward, the samples were divided into three groups (10 teeth per group): 0.9
... Show MoreThis research was conducted to determine the effect of different concentrations of (milkthistle) Silbum marianum leaves extracts on some plant pathogenic fungi included: Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria sp., and Botrytis cinerea. Results showed the high antifungal activity of milk thistle leaves extract; this was evident at high concentration of extract (80) mg\ml, which completely inhibited the radial growth on solid media (PDA) for pathogens Fusarium oxysporum and Botrytis cinerea. While the spores of pathogen Alternaria sp. was able to grow in all concentration which used in this study. &n
... Show MoreFive isolates of Gram negative bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Psuedomonas auroginosa, proteus mirabilis and two strains of E.coli) were in quested for the ability of bearing silver nanoparticles by using LB medium, all the isolates of bacteria were buttered brown color just as soon as mixed the supernatant of bacterial culture with AgNO3 solution, that refered the biosynthesis of Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). UV–visible spectrophotometer and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were utilized for estimation of (Ag NPs). The five isolates of bacteria were tendered to produce spontaneous mutants by using different kinds of antibiotics, Ampicillin put to use for making mutant in E.coli and Proteus mirabillis, while Pseudom
... Show MoreMethotrexate (MTX) is widely used chemotherapeutic agent with different side effects including germ cells toxicities. Silibinin is one of the structural isomers of silymarin, with different phytotherapeutic applications, and its possible protective effects against MTX induced germ cells damage were investigated in this work. Twenty five male mice were divided into five groups (n=5) allocated as follows: Group 1 received buffer for five days given by single intraperitoneal (IP) injection per day; Group 2 in addition to buffer for five days, animals received at day five single dose of 20mg/kg of MTX IP. Groups (3, 4, and 5) received respectively, (50, 100, or 150mg/kg body weight) of silibinin IP single daily dose for five days then at day fi
... Show MoreOsteoarthritis is the most prevalent arthritic disease and a leading cause of disability. The pathogenesis of osteoarthritis involves multiple etiologies, including variable degree of synovial inflammation. Metformin and pioglitazone could potentially reduce the levels and activity of inflammatory mediators. This may consider as a new therapeutic approach added to the current used drugs in an attempt to decrease the pain, inflammation, and improve daily activity and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
This study designed to evaluate the clinical utility of using metformin or pioglitazone as anti-inflammatory agents in combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) of selective type of cyclooxygen
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