Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a disease caused by Leishmania tropica parasite. Current treatments for this parasite are undesirable because of their toxicity, resistance, and high cost. Macrophages are key players against pathogens. Nitric oxide (NO), a molecule produce by immune cells, controls intracellular killing of pathogens during infection. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) demonstrated broad-spectrum activity against various types of infectious diseases. It has the ability to stimulate oxygen species production. This study aims to analyze the macrophages activation through NO production and estimate the cytotoxicity based on the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release upon exposure to L. tropica and Ag NPs. Serially concentrations of Ag NPs were used under two conditions during and following macrophages exposure to L. tropica. MTT assay was used to determine the cytotoxicity of Ag NPs on L. tropica amastigotes during infection of macrophages in vitro. The results showed that by increasing the Ag NPs concentrations, the viability percentage of L. tropica amastigotes decreased and reached to 21.7 ± 0.64 % during infection compared with the control. The 50% inhibitory concentration of Ag NPs on amastigotes was 2.048µg/ml during infection. Moreover, post-phagocytosis study involved the assessment of NO and LDH release by macrophages upon exposure to L. tropica. It have shown that untreated macrophages released low levels of NO while in the presence of Ag NPs, macrophages were activated to produce higher levels of NO under all experimental conditions. On the other hand, macrophages were capable of controlling cytotoxicity and decreasing LDH levels during phagocytosis of L. tropica amastiogotes. Taking together, these findings suggest that Ag NPs can enhance macrophages NO production which provides a method for the identification of Ag NPs ligands with microbicidal and anti-cytotoxic properties against L. tropica pathogens.
The major mortality factor for women globally is breast cancer, and current treatments have several adverse effects. Hesperetin (HSP) is a flavone that occurs naturally with anti-tumor capabilities and has been investigated as a potential treatment for cancer. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic and anti-malignant potential of HSP on breast cancer cells (BT-474) and normal cells (MCF-10a). The results indicated that HSP has dose-dependent cytotoxicity in BT-474 and MCF-10a cells. The elevated concentration of HSP lowered cell viability and proliferation. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of HSP in BT-
Nimodipine (NMD) is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker useful for the prevention and treatment of delayed ischemic effects. It belongs to class ? drugs, which is characterized by low solubility and high permeability. This research aimed to prepare Nimodipine nanoparticles (NMD NPs) for the enhancement of solubility and dissolution rate. The formulation of nanoparticles was done by the solvent anti-solvent technique using either magnetic stirrer or bath sonicator for maintaining the motion of the antisolvent phase. Five different stabilizers were used to prepare NMD NPs( TPGS, Soluplus®, HPMC E5, PVP K90, and poloxamer 407). The selected formula F2, in which Soluplus
has been utilized as a stabilizer, has a par
... Show MoreIfosfamide (IFO), an alkylating chemotherapy agent, is known for its association with neurotoxicity and encephalopathy. This trial was designed to evaluate the protective action of daidzein (DZN) against IFO-induced neurotoxicity in male rats by determining the difference in certain inflammatory and apoptotic markers in the brain tissue of rats. Twenty-eight Wistar rats, weighing 120-150 g, were divided into four groups of seven rats: Group 1 (Control) received no treatment; Group 2 was orally administered DZN (100 mg/kg/day) for seven days; Group 3 received a single intraperitoneal (IP) dose of IFO (500 mg/kg); Group 4 received oral DZN (100 mg/kg/day) for one week prior to a single IP dose of IFO on the seventh day. Twenty-four hours post
... Show MoreAn efficient modification and a novel technique combining the homotopy concept with Adomian decomposition method (ADM) to obtain an accurate analytical solution for Riccati matrix delay differential equation (RMDDE) is introduced in this paper . Both methods are very efficient and effective. The whole integral part of ADM is used instead of the integral part of homotopy technique. The major feature in current technique gives us a large convergence region of iterative approximate solutions .The results acquired by this technique give better approximations for a larger region as well as previously. Finally, the results conducted via suggesting an efficient and easy technique, and may be addressed to other non-linear problems.
Abstract
The Holy Quran is the greatest motivator for the mind to keep pace with life. The doctrine of faith is a requirement of logic and wisdom, and it cannot be reached by the hand of superstition. The Qur’an destroyed the principle of superstition in the verses of the creation of the universe. The principle of inactivity of the Qur’an is a false accusation that collision with the texts of the Qur’an. The secret of scientific development is to harness the laws of nature, benefit from them, and walk according to its requirements, on which the manifestations of civilization and the Qur’an are based
... Show MoreThe study included the extraction of volatile oil from Mentha piperita which was 1.3 % in the leaves and flowers . Volatile oil of the Mentha piperita leaves had special aromatic odour, pale yellow color, slightly pungent taste . The specific gravity and refractive index were (0.9794) and ( 1.464) respectively. The inhibition activity of the Mentha piperita Volatile oil extracts were studied on some pathogenic microorganisms like Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Proteus sp, and Klebsiella pneumoniae . The result showed that the volatile oil had an inhibition effect on the growth of all microorganisms, and it gave the higher inhibition effect on the growth of S. aureus in which the inhibition zone reached to 2
... Show MoreThe sunflower plants are attacked by serious seed and soil-borne pathogens including charcoal rot disease that caused by
Morphological and molecular identification was done, using universal primers for molecular identification. Finally, a greenhouse experiment was conducted, and
The aim of this study is to evaluating the antibacterial activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extract on E. coli isolates. Maceration and Soxhlet apparatus were used to prepare aqueous and methanolic extracts; total phenolic content and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) were conducted to determine the active compounds in the extracts. The results showed that both Laurus nobilis methanolic and aqueous extracts have a noticeable effect on scavenging free radicals. Free radical scavenging activity. The total phenolic contents were 28.60 ±0.12 and 16.58 ±0.11mg/g in 50 mg/ml, in methanolic and aqueous extracts respectively. The antibacterial activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extracts showed that the methanolic extract was more effective than
... Show MoreLeishmania 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
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