Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected disease in tropical countries, including Iraq. Several studies have sought to examine chemotherapies for leishmaniasis treatment but most of them are of toxic and/or undesirable side effect, therefore, the need for investigating new fewer toxic therapies is essential. Aim of study: In this study, the cytotoxic effect of Artemisinin (ART), a novel herbal compound, was screened against the two forms, promastigotes and amastigotes, of the Iraqi isolate of Leishmania tropica, the causative agent of Baghdad boil. Material and methods: Different concentrations (1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6 and 7.8) µM of Artemisinin were screened to investigate the leishmanicidal activity of the herbal compound against the two forms of the parasite along three times of follow up (24, 48, 72) hour using MTT cytotoxicity assay. Results: The results showed that growth rate and cell viability were significantly decreased at all studied concentrations. The IC50 was measured after 72 hours of follow up and was 2.625 µM and 2.636 µM for promastigotes and amastigotes, respectively. Conclusion: These findings approved the leishmanicidal efficacy of Artemisinin against the of L. tropica and can be further studied to screen its effectiveness in vivo for exploring a safer herbal drug for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Background: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fung
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Gingival carcinoma is a malignant neoplasm affecting the oral mucosa and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum water extracts have gotten a lot of attention because of their bioactive components, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, and alkaloids, which have a variety of pharmacological activities, including antiproliferative actions. This study aimed to evaluate the histological and molecular effects of Allium ampeloprasum (leek) water extract on the proliferation of the murine gingival cancer cell line. Histological evaluation was conducted to examine morphological changes induced by extract treatment. Molecular mechanisms underlying the observed histological changes were investigated
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Apical meristems, lateral buds, anthers of immature flowers and immature embryos of chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) were cultured on MS media with different growth regulators and incubated for 6 weeks at 25-27?C with 16 hrs photoperiod for callus initiation. Results indicated that 1 and 0.1 mg/l of 2,4-D and BA were suitable for callus initiation when apical meristems and lateral buds were used. While 2 and 0.5 mg/l of both growth regulators were essential for immature embryos. It was noticed that using chickpea anthers of the MS medium must contain 1mg/l 2ip and 0.5 mg/l IAA. However, MS medium supplemented with 1-3 mg/l of BA and 2,4-D respectively was good for callus initiation from lateral buds, anther and immature embryos.
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Polycyclicacetal was prepared from the reaction of PEG with aldehyde derived from Erythro-ascorbic acid (pentulosono-ɣ-lactone-2,3-enedianisoate).All these compounds were characterized by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and FTIR spectra and aldehyde was also characterized by (U.V-Vis), 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and mass spectra.The inhibitory effect of prepared polymer on the activity of human serum AcetylCholinesterase has been studied in vitro. The polymer showed a remarkable activity at low concentration (4.7x10-3 – 4.7x10-8M).
Leishmania parasites reproduce wherever there are cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, almost in macrophages. These are most copious in the liver and spleen;therefore, infection leads to an expansion of both of them. This study determined the burden of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) infection on liver and spleen. A total of 20 mice were infected peritoneally with 2x107promastigotes of Leishmania donovani / ml and other 12 mice left without infection as a healthy control. The weight of whole body, liver and spleen were measured and the histological development using hematoxylin and eosin stains were determined after 15, 30, 45-and 60-days post infection. The results represent that the mean weights of liver and spleen were increased in inf
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