Curcumin, the active component present in Curcuma longa of the family Zingiberaceae, has a number of pharmacological effects, including potential anti-inflammatory activity. One of the major limitations of curcumin/turmeric extract is its poor absorption through the gastrointestinal tract. Several approaches have been adopted to increase the bioavailability of curcumin, including loading curcumin into liposomes or nanoparticles, complexation with phospholipids, addition of essential oils and synthesizing structural analogues of curcumin. In the present study, the toxicity and safety of one such bioavailable turmeric formulation, curcuminoid-essential oil complex (CEC), the toxicity profile of which has not been reported, were examined using in vivo and in vitro models, as per the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Investigations of acute toxicity study were performed in rats and mice, and the results revealed no signs and symptoms or toxicity or mortality in any of the animals at the maximum recommended dose level of 5,000 mg/kg body weight. The repeated administration of CEC for 90 days in Wistar rats at a dose of 1,000 mg/kg body weight did not induce any observable toxic effects, compared with corresponding control animals. Mutagenicity/genotoxicity investigations were also performed using a bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test), a mammalian bone marrow chromosome aberration test and a mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus test in mice. CEC was found to be non-mutagenic in all three mutagenic investigations. Consequently, the present study indicated that CEC elicited no toxic effects in animals or in vitro. Therefore, following investigations of acute toxicity, repeated dose toxicity and mutagenicity, CEC was deemed a safe, non-toxic pharmacological formulation.

The use of electronic cigarettes (ECs) is recognized as a source of many pollutants, just like conventional cigarettes (CCs). The analysis of EC aerosol samples has confirmed the presence of various metallic species. Most of these metals originate from various parts of the cartomizer, e.g., solder joints, wires, and silicate beads. The metal concentration levels in EC samples were shown to be generally two to four orders of magnitude lower than those of CCs. However, the use of ECs can still pose significant human health hazards as consumers are exposed to the toxicity of those metals and many other hazardous pollutants released simultaneously via the vaping of ECs. The review also describes the detection and quantification of various metals in ECs and CCs. This review was carried out to assess the level of metal species released from ECs and to suggest proper guidelines to control consumer exposure.

The present study deals with the evaluation and assessment of the safety/toxic potential of Boswellia serrata, a well known Ayurvedic herb used to treat disorders of digestive system, respiratory ailments and bone related diseases. A repeated dose oral (90 days) toxicity study of Boswellia serrata was carried out. For this, 10 rats of each sex were treated with the Boswellia serrata at three different doses i.e. 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg B. wt. /day. As a control, 10 rats of each sex were treated with corn oil only which was the vehicle. Two groups consisting of five male and five female rats were kept as control recovery and high dose recovery group which were treated with the vehicle (corn oil) and the Boswellia serrata at the dose of 1000 mg/kg B. wt. Animals of control recovery and high dose recovery groups were further observed for 28 days without any treatment. From this study, it was found that the rats treated with high dose of the Boswellia serrata gained their body weight with much less rate than that of the control group. However, during the recovery period, the loss in body weight gain as observed during the study period exhibits a reversible effect on the metabolic activity and recovered. The results also indicate that Boswellia serrata is relatively safe in rat up to the dose of 500 mg/kg B.wt. as no adverse impact on health factors was observed. Thus, the No observed adverse effect level is 500 mg/kg B. wt.

Present chemotherapeutic drugs have limited efficacy and severe side effects. Considering the complexity of cancer, an effective strategy is necessary to discover multiple new drug targets. Cancer/testis antigens are vital for cancer cell progression. We have performed a computational network analysis of cancer/testis antigens and assessed these antigens as drug targets. During this analysis, protein interaction network of 700 human CT antigens was investigated. CT antigen network consisted of eight independent components. Four major hubs and two minor hubs were identified that play nodal role in the flow of information across the largest network. We have predicted 30 potential drug targets by analysing several topological parameters such as betweenness centrality, cluster coefficient and probable protein complexes. Structural and functional roles of potential drug targets have also been anatomized. Analysis of the CT antigen network enables us to pinpoint a set of candidate proteins that if targeted could be detrimental for cancerous cell without affecting any normal cell. The list of putative proteins is a starting point for experimental validation and may help further in the discovery of new anticancer drug targets.

Background:High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been reported throughout the India for all age groups. Increased awareness about VDD among treating physicians has led to increased prescriptions of vitamin D preparations. Based on our experience of varied clinical and radiological response with different vitamin D formulations, we decided to assess cholecalciferol content of commonly available vitamin D formulations.Materials and Methods:We measured cholecalciferol content of 14 commercial preparations (two in the form of tablets and 12 as sachet) available in Indian market. Lab analysis was carried out in Shriram Institute for Industrial Research by high-performance liquid chromatography.Results:Of the total 14 samples analyzed only 4 (28.57%) were found to be within the acceptable ranges from −90 to +125% as defined by Indian Pharmacopia while 5 (35.7%) had higher and 5 (35.7%) had lower than the acceptable range. The percentage variation in cholecalciferol content as observed from the printed ranged widely from −91% to +65%.Conclusions:Our study shows a high degree of variability in cholecalciferol content of commercial preparations available in the Indian pharmaceutical market. This variation has many clinical implications as it may lead both, under treatment as well as vitamin D toxicity.

Background: In Vedic literature, the traditional ritual Hawan is said to purify the environment and cure diseases in an eco-friendly way. Previously studies have shown potential of herbal fume for anti-microbial activity as well as for therapeutic purposes along with reduction in the air pollutants post Hawan. However, there was no study which had tested and compared herbal fumes of hawan in control and natural environment for air-quality, anti-bacterial activity and for presence of bio-compounds present in time-dependent manner simultaneously. This work aims to evaluate air quality of hawan and simultaneously evaluate bio-compounds present in it to find its potential for integrative medicine. This work aims to investigate its efficacy in air purification and potential application in modern integrative medicine. Methods: Chambers for performing Hawan under natural and controlled experimental conditions were constructed. Hawan was performed for 30min in a chamber. Chamber air and Hawan herbal fumes were sampled before, during (30 min) and at end (24-72 hours) to find viable bacterial load of air, chemical bio-actives (phyto-constituents), and air quality markers (gases and pollutants) by standard techniques and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis along with analysis of pyrolysed hawan herbal fumes and Hawan ingredients. OneWay ANOVA with post hoc analysis by Tukey’s test was performed for comparison of air quality parameters during different experiments. Results: Transient sharp increase in CO, CO2, NOx levels (albeit within permissible limits) observed during Hawan was followed by decrease below baseline after 24hrs of Hawan in open-door natural conditions. Statistically significant persistent reduction (88-90\%) (p<0.0001) in the viable bacterial count of air compared to control was observed upto ≥72 hours after Hawan, when all pathogenic bacteria present in air were eliminated, leaving few \textit{Bacillus spp.} known to be beneficial for human health. GCMS analysis of Hawan medicinal fumes and pyrolysed Hawan ingredients revealed presence of an array of bioactive compounds known to have antimicrobial, anti-oxidant, air cleansing and nutritional activity and health benefits. Conclusion: Thus, through temporal and simultaneous analysis of Hawan air quality, its anti-microbial activity and phytochemical characterization, the study provided evidence-based-support to multifaceted potential of Hawan as described in ancient literature which can be put to immense use for therapeutic utility in modern time.

Size-segregated ultrafine particles from motor vehicles were investigated in the Craeybeckx tunnel (E19 motorway, Antwerp, Belgium) at two measurement sites, at 100 and 300 m inside the tunnel, respectively, during March 2008. It was observed that out of the three size modes, nucleation, Aitken, and accumulation, Aitken mode was the most dominant size fraction inside the tunnel. The diurnal variation in ultrafine particle (UFP) levels closely follows the vehicular traffic inside the tunnel, which was maximum during office rush hours, both in the morning and evening and minimum during night-time around 3 am. The tunnel data showed very high growth rates in comparison with free atmosphere. The average condensation sink during the growth period was 14.1-17.3 × 10(-2) s(-1). The average growth rate (GR) of geometric mean diameter was found to be 18.6 ± 2.45 nm h(-1). It was observed that increase in Aitken mode was related to the numbers of heavy-duty vehicles (HDV), as they emit mainly in the Aitken mode. The higher Aitken mode during traffic jams correlated well with HDV numbers. At the end of the tunnel, sudden dilution leading to fast coagulation was responsible for the sudden drop in the UFP number concentration.

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