Aim. This study sets out to evaluate the antiproteolytic activity of copaiba oil-based emulsion at the resin/dentin adhesive interface union formed with conventional and self-etching adhesives systems. Methods. At in situ zymography, 30 teeth were sectioned 2 mm below the enamel-dentin junction; a smear layer was standardized and subdivided into four groups. Gelatin conjugated with fluorescein was used and taken to the fluorescence microscope for evaluation. In cytotoxicity, the Trypan Blue method was used at four different time points. The tested groups were (G1) control with distilled water; (G2) 2% chlorhexidine (CLX); (G3) emulsion based on copaiba oil (EC) 10% + X; (G4) 10% EC + Y; and (G5) EC 10% alkaline. The zymographic assay used the same groups described, but in 30 seconds and 10 and 20 minutes. HT1080 cells were incubated and submitted to electrophoresis. The gel was analyzed using ImageJ software. Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used in the statistical analysis (<svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18.973pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" id="M1" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.34882 18.973 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path id="g113-113" d="M570 304C570 398 525 448 414 448C385 448 343 445 312 434L329 511L321 518C297 504 262 482 244 460L233 411C195 397 159 381 128 358L135 332C160 347 189 360 224 373L111 -147C97 -210 84 -218 17 -231L13 -257L254 -247L259 -218L233 -216C183 -212 177 -202 189 -142L218 -1C238 -10 266 -12 283 -12C351 3 429 48 483 105C543 168 570 242 570 304ZM482 289C482 161 380 33 304 33C278 33 248 51 233 69L303 396C326 400 352 403 369 403C428 403 482 380 482 289Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,11.342,0)"><path id="g117-91" d="M512 -3V55L134 254V256L512 456V514L75 281V230L512 -3Z"/></g></svg><svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="21.921pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="22.555183800000002 -8.34882 21.921 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,22.605,0)"><path id="g113-49" d="M241 635C89 635 35 457 35 312C35 153 89 -12 240 -12C390 -12 443 166 443 312C443 466 390 635 241 635ZM238 602C329 602 354 454 354 312C354 172 330 22 240 22C152 22 124 173 124 313S148 602 238 602Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,28.845,0)"><path id="g113-47" d="M113 -12C146 -12 170 11 170 46C170 78 146 103 114 103S58 78 58 46C58 11 82 -12 113 -12Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,31.809,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,38.049,0)"><path id="g113-54" d="M153 550H386L412 615L406 623H120L82 318C104 327 142 338 184 338C294 338 347 275 347 187C347 112 305 39 221 39C160 39 119 71 97 89C88 97 80 96 71 90C59 80 50 67 49 57C48 45 52 36 66 23C80 9 123 -12 169 -12C221 -11 288 15 342 59C403 109 431 165 431 225C431 308 366 395 238 395C212 395 165 379 127 364L153 550Z"/></g></svg>). Results. ECs showed higher cell viability in the cytotoxicity test and showed a significant difference in 10 and 20 minutes. In the zymographic assay, alkaline EC reduced 67% of MMP-2 activity and 44% of MMP-9 compared to 2% chlorhexidine. At in situ zymography in qualitative evaluation, all groups tested showed inhibition of activity in metalloproteinases. Conclusion. EC showed activity in the inhibition of metalloproteinases in vitro and in situ, especially the alkaline one. The survey shows the possibility of using ECs, a product from Amazonian biodiversity, as a biomodifier in dentistry.

Eliane Avany Malveira Ara&#xfa;jo

Geisy Rebou&#xe7;as Lima

Luciana Aleixo dos Santos de Melo

Leilane Bentes de Sousa

Marne Carvalho de Vasconcellos

Nikeila Chacon de Oliveira Conde

Carina Toda

Simone Assayag Hanan

Ary de Oliveira Alves Filho

Maria Fulg&#xea;ncia Costa Lima Bandeira

Effect of a Copaiba Oil-Based Dental Biomodifier on the Inhibition of Metalloproteinase in Adhesive Restoration

Plants have been used traditionally by people in treating and the management of diseases since time immemorial. Traditional medicines including the herbal medicines are used for primary healthcare in some domains in almost every country. Approximately 80&#x0025; of the population in developing coutries depend on plants as their source of medicine for combating diseases. New and effective antimicrobial agents that have novel mechanism of actions are required. Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh. is a species of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Different parts of the P. thonningii plants such as the roots, leaves, seeds, and fruits have been used in treating wounds, heart pain, and gingivitis and as cough remedy. This study focused on determining the antimicrobial properties found in the pods of P. thonningii. The sample was prepared by grinding the dried pods into a fine powder. Successive extraction and extraction with 1&#x2009;:&#x2009;1 DCM: methanol was used. The antimicrobial assay was carried out using the broth microdilution and MTT assay. The microorganism used for the tests was Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida krusei and Mycobacterium smegmatis. The most potent extract was then used to determine its effect on microbial cell membrane integrity. The results showed that methanol extract had the highest percentage yield of 5&#x0025;. The extract with the highest antimicrobial effects was ethanol extract with the 100&#x2009;&#x03BC;g/mL concentration inhibiting the growth of cells to 26&#x0025;, 87&#x0025;, and 90&#x0025; for P. aeruginosa, M. smegmatis, and C. krusei, respectively. The ethanol extracts caused significant leakage of proteins in these microorganisms. In conclusion, the pods of P. thonningii contain phytochemicals with antimicrobial properties. The pods of the plant can be a source of phytochemicals that can serve as sources of lead compounds with antimicrobial effects. One of the mechanisms of action of these phytochemicals is via membrane-damaging effects on microbes.

Memory Makosa

Simbarashe Sithole

Stanley Mukanganyama

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Effect of the Extracts of the Pods of Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh. (Fabaceae)

Background. Persistent postmarket quality evaluation helps produce clear information on the current quality status of the different brands of a given drug and hence introduces a biopharmaceutical and therapeutically equivalent list of the products to the prescribers and users of it. This in turn facilitates access to essential medicines by breaking the high-cost barrier imposed by a few expensive brands of the product. This study was aimed at determining the quality and evaluating the equivalence of doxycycline hyclate capsules and tablets in Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods. Ten brands of doxycycline hyclate capsules and tablets were tested for product identity, dosage uniformity, assay, and in vitro dissolution; and tablets were tested for friability and hardness. Results. All investigated brands of doxycycline complied with the USP for dosage uniformity, an assay of the active ingredient, and single-point dissolution tests. One brand, D09, failed both hardness and friability tests. Comparisons of dissolution profiles applying fit factors confirmed that only brands D04, D06, and D07 had similarities with the innovator. Ratio test approaches also showed that significant variability exists between test products and comparators. Weibull model was found to provide the best adjustment curve for all brands, from model-dependent approaches employed for explaining the overall release of drug from the dosage forms. Conclusions. Doxycycline is a biowaiver product. Hence, in vitro dissolution evaluation suffices its market approval. In this quality assessment study, however, the samples passed quality control tests, except D09 brand which failed friability; it has been revealed that five out of eight brands had problems with interchangeability. Only three doxycycline hyclate brands were found to be equivalent to the comparators.

Woldemichael Abraham

Habtamu Abuye

Selass Kebede

Sultan Suleman

In Vitro Comparative Quality Assessment of Different Brands of Doxycycline Hyclate Finished Dosage Forms: Capsule and Tablet in Jimma Town, South-West Ethiopia

Irrational prescribing is common, especially in developing countries. It is important to identify the magnitude of irrational use, to take necessary steps to promote rational prescribing. We identified core prescribing indicators and commonly prescribed medicines at ward settings (IW) and outpatients’ clinics (OPC) in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at IW and OPC settings. Prescriptions were obtained from 5 major specialties (Clinical Medicine (CM), Gynaecology and Obstetrics (GO), Paediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery). The WHO core prescribing indicators were used to describe the pattern of prescribing, and the most commonly prescribed medicines were identified. A total of 1,318 prescriptions were analyzed. The five most commonly prescribed medicines were paracetamol (31.0%), omeprazole (20.6%), folic acid (18.3%), atorvastatin (16.2%), and salbutamol (15.3%). The average number of medicines per encounter was 4.8 ± 3.6 (IW: 5.7 ± 4; OPC: 3.8 ± 2.8; <svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18.973pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" id="M1" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.34882 18.973 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path id="g113-113" d="M570 304C570 398 525 448 414 448C385 448 343 445 312 434L329 511L321 518C297 504 262 482 244 460L233 411C195 397 159 381 128 358L135 332C160 347 189 360 224 373L111 -147C97 -210 84 -218 17 -231L13 -257L254 -247L259 -218L233 -216C183 -212 177 -202 189 -142L218 -1C238 -10 266 -12 283 -12C351 3 429 48 483 105C543 168 570 242 570 304ZM482 289C482 161 380 33 304 33C278 33 248 51 233 69L303 396C326 400 352 403 369 403C428 403 482 380 482 289Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,11.342,0)"><path id="g117-91" d="M512 -3V55L134 254V256L512 456V514L75 281V230L512 -3Z"/></g></svg><svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="28.184pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="22.555183800000002 -8.34882 28.184 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,22.605,0)"><path id="g113-49" d="M241 635C89 635 35 457 35 312C35 153 89 -12 240 -12C390 -12 443 166 443 312C443 466 390 635 241 635ZM238 602C329 602 354 454 354 312C354 172 330 22 240 22C152 22 124 173 124 313S148 602 238 602Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,28.845,0)"><path id="g113-47" d="M113 -12C146 -12 170 11 170 46C170 78 146 103 114 103S58 78 58 46C58 11 82 -12 113 -12Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,31.809,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,38.049,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,44.289,0)"><path id="g113-50" d="M384 0V27C293 34 287 42 287 114V635C232 613 172 594 109 583V559L157 557C201 555 205 550 205 499V114C205 42 199 34 109 27V0H384Z"/></g></svg>), with the highest IW (7.8 ± 4.2) and OPC (7.8 ± 2.7) values were from CM, being significantly higher than all other disciplines (<svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18.973pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" id="M2" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.34882 18.973 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-113"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,11.342,0)"><use xlink:href="#g117-91"/></g></svg><svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="21.921pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="22.555183800000002 -8.34882 21.921 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,22.605,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,28.845,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-47"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,31.809,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,38.049,0)"><path id="g113-54" d="M153 550H386L412 615L406 623H120L82 318C104 327 142 338 184 338C294 338 347 275 347 187C347 112 305 39 221 39C160 39 119 71 97 89C88 97 80 96 71 90C59 80 50 67 49 57C48 45 52 36 66 23C80 9 123 -12 169 -12C221 -11 288 15 342 59C403 109 431 165 431 225C431 308 366 395 238 395C212 395 165 379 127 364L153 550Z"/></g></svg>). Percentage encounters with an antibiotic or an injection was 26.4% and 30.1%, respectively, with IW being significantly higher than OPC (<svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18.973pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" id="M3" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.34882 18.973 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-113"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,11.342,0)"><use xlink:href="#g117-91"/></g></svg><svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="28.184pt" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" height="11.7782pt" version="1.1" viewBox="22.555183800000002 -8.34882 28.184 11.7782"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,22.605,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,28.845,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-47"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,31.809,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,38.049,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-49"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,44.289,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-50"/></g></svg>). Percentage of medicines prescribed by generic name and from the essential medicine list (EML) was 90.1% and 91.1%, respectively, with no significant IW and OPC difference. In conclusion, a high degree of polypharmacy was noted. The use of injectable medicines, prescribing from the EML, and generic name prescribing was satisfactory; however, overall rational prescribing needs further improvement. Further investigation into the degree of rational prescribing associating it with clinical information will be important.

Priyadarshani Galappatthy

Priyanga Ranasinghe

Chiranthi K. Liyanage

Maheshi Wijayabandara

Dinuka S. Warapitiya

Dilini Jayasekara

Raveendra L. Jayakody

Core Prescribing Indicators and the Most Commonly Prescribed Medicines in a Tertiary Health Care Setting in a Developing Country

The present study aims to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of stem aqueous extract of Caralluma europaea (AECe) on carbon tetrachloride- (CCl4-) induced hepatic damage in Wistar rats. The animals were daily treated with the aqueous extract of C. europaea at a dose of 250&#x2009;mg/kg body weight for 14 days. CCl4 was injected (1&#x2009;ml/kg, i.p.) two times, on the 7th and 14th days. At the end of the experimental period, all rats were anesthetized to collect blood for the assessment of biochemical parameters and then sacrificed to collect the liver for weighing. Hepatotoxicity was evaluated by measuring the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin (total and direct), malondialdehyde (MDA), total protein (TP), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL-c ), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-c), urea, creatinine, and uric acid. Based on the results obtained in this study, the administration of C. europaea before exposure to the administration of CCl4 conferred favorable hepatoprotective effect in rats. The treatment with AECe (250&#x2009;mg/kg) exhibits a significant hepatoprotective effect by ameliorating CCl4-induced alterations of these biochemical parameters. Hence, C. europaea could be a potential medicinal herb that can be used in the future to prevent liver intoxication.

Hayat Ouassou

Mohamed Bouhrim

Nour Elhouda Daoudi

Hassane Mekhfi

Abderrahim Ziyyat

Abdelkhaleq Legssyer

Mohamed Aziz

Mohamed Bnouham

Evaluation of Hepatoprotective Activity of Caralluma europaea Stem Extract against CCl4-Induced Hepatic Damage in Wistar Rats

From the medicinal orchid Dendrobium chryseum Rolfe, which is used in traditional and folk Chinese medicine, the protocorms were raised in Murashige and Skoog (MS) media in three strengths, full strength (FMS), half strength (1/2 MS), and quarter strength (1/4 MS), with or without the phytohormones 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and coconut water (CW). The comparative cytotoxic activities of the wild and in vitro-raised protocorms were evaluated in human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and human glioblastoma (U251) cell lines by MTT assay. In in vivo and in vitro, the methanol extracts of D. chryseum showed significant cytotoxic activities. Significant growth inhibition (&#x0025;) and potent IC50 values were demonstrated in HeLa cell lines (49.79&#x0025; (210.5&#x2009;&#x3bc;g/mL) for in vitro-raised Dendrobium chryseum (DCT) versus 46.97&#x0025; (226.5&#x2009;&#x3bc;g/mL) for wild Dendrobium chryseum (DCW)). Similarly, activities against U251 cell lines exhibited also significant inhibition (28.76&#x0025; (612.54&#x2009;&#x3bc;g/mL) for DCW and 17.15&#x0025; (1059.92&#x2009;&#x3bc;g/mL) for DCT). The cytotoxic activities of both, wild and tissue-cultured samples, were superior in HeLa cells. In U251 cells, the wild sample was more active than the tissue-cultured one with a moderate cytotoxic effect. Hence, protocorm culture may therefore be a promising future tool for producing pharmacologically bioactive compounds in medicinal orchids. Such sustainable technology approach will minimize the pressure on the natural population of threatened but commercially important medicinal orchids.

Bijaya Pant

Pusp Raj Joshi

Sabitri Maharjan

Laxmi Sen Thakuri

Shreeti Pradhan

Sujit Shah

Sven H. Wagner

Basant Pant

Comparative Cytotoxic Activity of Wild Harvested Stems and In Vitro-Raised Protocorms of Dendrobium chryseum Rolfe in Human Cervical Carcinoma and Glioblastoma Cell Lines

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