The medicinal properties of curcumin obtained from Curcuma longa L. cannot be utilised because of poor bioavailability due to its rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall. In this study, the effect of combining piperine, a known inhibitor of hepatic and intestinal glucuronidation, was evaluated on the bioavailability of curcumin in rats and healthy human volunteers. When curcumin was given alone, in the dose 2 g/kg to rats, moderate serum concentrations were achieved over a period of 4 h. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg/kg increased the serum concentration of curcumin for a short period of 1-2 h post drug. Time to maximum was significantly increased (P < 0.02) while elimination half life and clearance significantly decreased (P < 0.02), and the bioavailability was increased by 154%. On the other hand in humans after a dose of 2 g curcumin alone, serum levels were either undetectable or very low. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg produced much higher concentrations from 0.25 to 1 h post drug (P < 0.01 at 0.25 and 0.5 h; P < 0.001 at 1 h), the increase in bioavailability was 2000%. The study shows that in the dosages used, piperine enhances the serum concentration, extent of absorption and bioavailability of curcumin in both rats and humans with no adverse effects.

The use of VEN/ODV and ODV/VEN AUC metabolic ratios suggested quantitative differences. The data support the use of ODV/VEN but not VEN/ODV metabolic ratio for the identification of UM phenotypes of VEN. The derived metabolic ratios of ODV/VEN from this work were in line with other studies that used both phenotypic and genotypic correlation strategies for VEN.

A bacterial strain isolated from an oil contaminated soil, identified as Staphylococcus sp. Lp12 was screened for lipase activity on tributyrin agar and spirit blue agar medium. Maximum lipase production was observed at 48 h of growth (3.5 Eu/ml). Peptone was found to be as an ideal nitrogen source for production at a concentration of 1.0% (4.25 Eu/ml). Addition of any nitrogen source other than peptone to the medium resulted in a significant reduction of enzyme production. Lower lipase production was noted when an inorganic nitrogen source was used as the sole nitrogen source. Starch was used as a major carbon source for optimum production of lipase (4.25 Eu/ml) at a concentration of 1.5%. Of the natural oils, olive oil was able to induce more lipase (4.25 Eu/ml) rather than the oils like groundnut, coconut, castor oils. Basal medium containing tween 80 enhanced lipase production to a significant level. The pH 8 and temperature 45°C were found to be ideal pH and temperature for optimum production of lipase by this strain.

Bio-Medical Instrumentation is an expanding and demanding area in which many

Diabetes is a chronic condition that requires you to make multiple decisions throughout the day to successfully manage blood sugars and prevent diabetes related health problems.Insulin is a hormone. Hormones are chemical substances that regulate the cells of the body and are produced by special glands. The hormone insulin is a main regulator of the glucose (sugar) levels in the blood. System identification approach is used to develop the two compartment glucose-Insulin regulation model. We first develop a steady state model for diabetic persons and include dynamics to avoid the non-linearities. Using this model, a closed loop feedback and feed forward system which regulates the blood glucose-insulin for diabetic persons has been modelled, implemented and analyzed using LabVIEW.