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Background: The pancreas contains Vitamin D (Vit.-D) and an enzyme that regulates insulin levels. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with several severe health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, various cancers, and multiple sclerosis (MS). Therefore, the objective of the current study is to investigate the correlation between Vitamin D levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in both patients and controls. Materials and Methods: The study enrolled 163 T2DM (Group I) and 174 healthy (Group II) subjects to estimate the level of Vit.-D and HbA1c in the blood serum of all subjects, using radioimmunoassay and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Results: The results revealed that Group I had a lower level of Vit.-D (17.82 ± 2.23 ng/mL) than Group II. Similarly, they have high HbA1c levels, showing significant (P < 0.001; Student's t -test). Further, in Group I, Vit.-D levels were negatively correlated with HbA1c levels (P < 0.001; r2 = 0.07, linear regression). Group I and II combined analysis revealed an inverse relationship between Vit.-D levels and HbA1c (P < 0.001; r2 = 0.021). Conclusion: The study concluded a negative correlation between Vit.-D levels and HbA1c levels in T2DM. However, Vit.-D therapy can recover this correlation, which helps control glycemic levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depression is among the most common mental health problems among people with chronic complications like type 2 diabetes mellitus is brought on by flaws in insulin secretion and activity; however, genetic factors also play a role in both insulin resistance and beta-cell failure, but environmental factors also play a role in aggravating both problems. The presence of depression in patients with type 2 diabetes may interfere with treatment and efficacy. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression in this metabolic variant clinical condition, type 2 diabetes mellitus, in major tertiary care hospitals in the South-Eastern Uttar Pradesh cities of Allahabad and Varanasi. Subjects and methods: For this study, 206 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus from rural and urban areas were recruited. Demographic, clinical, and diabetes-related data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ9), a standardized questionnaire developed in the United States and validated in the Indian population. Results: The prevalence of depression in diabetics in the community was 43.2%. The most common type of depression was mild (29.3%, 26), and the least common was severe depression (3, 3.37%). Several factors were associated with depression in the female gender: living in a rural area, unemployment, and being single. The complications of diabetes and other chronic conditions, such as hypertension and obesity, are also associated with depression. Conclusion: Depression was found to be particularly high in the study population. Because depression can significantly impede patient adherence to treatment, there is an urgent need for early diagnosis and treatment. This requires integrating mental health care for diabetes patients.

The herbal medicines have reached extensive acceptability as therapeutic agents for various clinical diseases due to global demand. Therefore, standardization is the essential and initial step to drug development. It is for the establishment of consistent biological activity, a consistent chemical profile and biomarker identification. It improves the safety and efficacy of herbal medicine to provide the best herbal medicine to society and increase popularity rather than non-standardized extracts. In addition, it is essential to practice or maintain a quality assurance program for the production and manufacturing of herbal medicine that includes the basis of organoleptic characters and photomicrographs, physicochemical, proximate analysis phytochemical evaluation and quality control analysis and order to assess the quality of drugs, based on the concentration of their active principles. WHO has provided specific guidelines for the assessment of the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal drugs as a prerequisite for global harmonization and of utmost importance. In the present study, the herbal extracts were cleaned, dried in the shade and powdered by passing through the sieve as per the method described in the standard protocol. An overview covering various techniques employed in the extraction and characterization of Nyctanthes arbortristis, Hippophae salicifolia, Ocimum tenuiflorum and Reinwardtia indica, standardization is reported in this study. The obtained data would be very significant for future clinical aspects, as the bioactive molecules present in the extracts may exhibit synergistic effect with other bioactive compound and show a better therapeutic value. Thus, this study provides standardized and therapeutically potential data of active polyherbal formulations for the different ailments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antidepressant effects of the polyherbal formulation (PF) (contain four extracts of medicinal plants namely: Nyctanthes arbortristis, Hippophae salcifolia, Ocimum tenuiflorum and Withania somnifera) was examined by evaluating the extent of reduction of behavioural alterations and neurotransmitter in the rats stressed by forced swim test (FST). In the present study, compared with the model control group (FST), the altered behavioural parameters were attenuated significantly (P < 0.05) in the group treated with the PF (100,200 and 400 mg kg-1), comparable with the standard drug treated group, Sertraline (10mg kg-1). The PF and Sertraline significantly (P < 0.05) increased the level of the neurotransmitter such as serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine and noradrenalin whereas decreased the level of monoamine oxidase along with oxidant in the brain of the stressed rats. PF and Sertraline were also involved in the reduced oxidant and generated antioxidant in the stressed rats. The results indicated that polyherbal formulation exhibited significant antidepressant activity, as indicated by its ability to decrease force swim stress, induced immobility time in rats as well as restoring the biogenic amines to normal level that were altered by the swim induced stress in whole rat brain. Therefore, PF can be a potential candidate for treatment of depression as well as a potent antidepressant. However, further studies are required to substantiate the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field experiment was carried out to explore the possibilities of successful cultivation of garden pea as intercrop under different spacings of Grewia optiva, to standardise the tree spacing and organic manure dose for optimum growth and yield of garden pea. The experiment comprised of four treatment of tree spacing (8m×1m, 8m×2m, 8m×3m and open i.e. tree less area) and eight manure doses treatment (T1 -160% of recommended doses of Nitrogen through Vermicompost and Poultry manure in 50-50 ratio, T2 -140% of RD N through VC and PM, T3 -120% of RD N through VC and PM, T4 -100% of RD N through VC and PM, T5 -80% of RD N through VC and PM, T6 -60% of RD N through VC and PM, T7 -100% of RD of NPK and T8 -Control i.e. no manures and fertilisers). Growing of Garden pea with the use of 120% of the recommended doses of nitrogen through vermicompost and poultry manure, under 8m×3m spacing of grewia was found better to other treatment combinations with respect to growth, yield, net revenue and B:C ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work discusses the establishment of a green route for the rapid synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using an alcoholic extract of Reinwardtia indica (AERI) leaves which act as a reducing as well as a capping agent. The change in color from yellowish green to dark brown confirmed the synthesis of AgNPs. A characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 436 nm advocated the presence of AgNPs. The synthesis process was optimized using one factor at a time approach where 1.0 mM AgNO3 concentration, 5 mL 0.4% (v/v) of AER inoculum dose and 30 min of sunlight exposure were found to be the optimum conditions. The synthesized AgNPs was characterized by several characterizing techniques such as HR- TEM, SAED, HR-SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR and AFM analysis. For evaluation and comparison of AgNPs with AERI used human pathogen E. coli, P. aeurogenosa, S. aeurus and C. albicans for antimicrobial, for cytotoxicity study SiHa cell line at concentration of (10, 50, 100, 250 and 500 µg mL−1) and for enzymatic assay superoxide dismutase, catalase, malondialdehyde and glutathione peroxidase method were used. The size of nanoparticle in the range of 3-15 nm was confirmed TEM, spherical shape by SEM and crystal lattice nature by XRD. AFM results revealed the 2 D and 3 D pattern of particle scatter nature on the surface. This protocol as simple, rapid, one step, eco-friendly, nontoxic and AgNPs showed strong antimicrobial activity as well as cytotoxic potential in comparison to AERI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which discussed the photoluminescence and cathodluminescence properties of a-Si:H treated undoped and tellurium-compensated p-GaSb. Background to the study; Experimental details; Results and discussion.

Presents a study which investigated the effects of hydrogenation on GaAlAs layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy stored over a long period of time using photoluminescence (PL) measurement. Details on the hydrogenation of semiconductors; Method used in growing undoped GaAlAs layers; Description of the PL spectrum of Ga[sub0.75]Al[sub0.25]As; Reasons for the splitting of the bound exciton peak into two peaks on hydrogenation.

Some new solution of Einstein's vacuum field equations is investigated which is as a simple generalisation of Ozsvath-Schucking solution and explains its source of curvature in terms of some dimensional parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Obesity and overweight are the fifth most fatal diseases leading to an increased rate of morbidity and mortality in global population, with its incidence increasing drastically. Taking this into consideration we have conducted the present study in order to explore the efficacy of plant based formulation in the management of adolescent obesity and its associated biomarkers.Design: Randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial was conducted in 130 obese adolescent of both sexes, with BMI above 25kg/m(2). The subjects were randomly assigned into test formulation group (TFG) and placebo group (PG). TFG received two 500mg capsule containing test formulation whereas, the PG received two 500mg of cellulose powder containing capsule daily for 3 months. The parameters such as blood pressure, inflammatory cytokines, adipokines and lipid profile were assessed in all subjects pre and post treatment.Results: There was a considerable improvement in the levels of lipid profile, inflammatory cytokines, adipokines and blood pressure after treatment in TFG compared to PG. The statistical difference obtained between the groups after three months of treatment for the various biomarkers are given as mean with 95% CI for BMI (-1.4±0.6 (-2.5 to -0.7)), total cholesterol mg/dl (-20.9±5.0 (-30.8 to -11.0)), triglyceride mg/dl (-12.9±5.7 (-23.9 to -1.2)), HDL-c mg/dl (7.2±0.8 (5.6-8.8)), IL-6 (-0.7±0.1 (-0.9 to -0.6)), hs C-reactive protein (CRP) mg/l(-1.0±0.01 (-1.2 to -0.8)), adiponectin µg/ml(4.9±0.4 (4.2-5.7)), leptin ng/ml (-8.0±1.4 (-10.7 to -5.3)), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) mmHg (-10.4±0.8 (-12.0 to -8.7)) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) mmHg (-6.7±0.7 (-8.1 to -5.3)). Also, there was a statistical significance within group TFG.Conclusion: The study concludes that the test formulation may prevent the future cardio vascular risk incidence in obese adolescents by reducing inflammation, overweight, lipid profile and by regulating adipokines. Thus it may help to improve the health pattern in obese patients with least side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar ( BC) application to agricultural soil has been proposed as an effective countermeasure to mitigate climate change. A laboratory incubation experiment was carried out to gain insight into the effectiveness of BC on methane ( CH4) consumption in a tropical clayey vertisol. Except for the control treatment, BC of two different sizes (<0.25 or 0.25-2.00 mm) was mixed with vermicompost ( VC), poultry manure ( PM) or farmyard manure ( FYM). BC and organic amendment were added to soil at 10% w/w and 80 kg N/ha, respectively. BC increased CH4 consumption rate, k, in soil, irrespective of organic amendment type. The CH4 consumption potential of soil was greater with the smaller size BC (<0.25 mm). Of the three organic amendments, VC exhibited the highest k (0.105) followed by FYM (0.093) and PM (0.072). BC (<0.25 mm) + PM was the most effective of the organic amendments in enhancing CH4 consumption ( k = 0.242). The lag phase varied between 7.3 day (control) and 1.0 day (soil + VC). Results revealed that there was a significant ( P < 0.0001) effect of organic amendment and BC on CH4 consumption, CO2 production and microbial abundance. Cumulative CO2 production (mg/g soil) varied between 2.15 (control) and 8.77 (soil + PM + BC < 0.25 mm). Pearson's correlation analysis showed significant correlation between CH4 consumption and methanotrophs abundance ( P < 0.001). The study shows that BC enhanced CH4 consumption potential in agricultural land on a tropical vertisol, particularly using the smaller size (<0.25 mm), and could be an effective strategy to mitigate atmospheric CH4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Background: MenoAct851 (Varanasi BioResearch Pvt. Ltd., Varanasi, India) is a patented polyherbal formulation developed to manage menopause symptoms that can be taken along with other allopathic medicines. Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the drug interaction potential of MenoAct851 to inhibit cytochrome (CY) P450 in vitro in rats, and to measure its effects on simvastatin pharmacokinetic parameters in healthy human volunteers. Methods: CYP450-carbon monoxide assay of MenoAct851 was performed in rat liver microsomes to calculate the percentage inhibition. Fluorometric assays of CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 determined half maximal inhibitory concentration value. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled drug interaction study of MenoAct851 was conducted in 24 healthy adult female volunteers aged 25 to 50 years. The selected volunteers were randomized to receive placebo or MenoAct851 500 mg BID PO for 14 days. On the 15th day, each group received 40 mg single-dose simvastatin. Blood samples were drawn at different intervals to measure simvastatin pharmacokinetic parameters. Results: The mean (SD) CYP450 concentration of the diluted microsome sample was calculated and found to be 0.405 (0.12) nmol/mg. The inhibitory potential of MenoAct851 (41.16% [1.24%]) was found to be less than ketoconazole. Half maximal inhibitory concentration values of MenoAct851 on CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 were 11.96 (1.04) µg/mL and 15.24 (0.58) µg/mL, respectively, but they were higher than respective positive controls. There was no statistically significant difference between MenoAct851 and placebo groups concerning the pharmacokinetic parameters such as Cmax, Tmax, t½, and mean residence time of simvastatin; however, AUC showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the groups. Conclusions: MenoAct851 produced weaker interaction potential with CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 substrates based on in vitro assays, but the findings of clinical pharmacokinetic analysis indicate that MenoAct851 increased the AUC of simvastatin and simvastatin hydroxy acid. Therefore, coadministration of MenoAct851 might lead to drug-herb interaction, thereby affecting the therapeutic effect of CYP3A4 substrates. (Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2020; 81:XXX–XXX)

Dioscorea bulbiferea L. syn: Yam. (Family - Dioscoreaceae) is found commonly in India. Recent pharmacological findings indicate that it tubers possess significant activities like -purgative, deflatulent, aphrodisiac, rejuvenating and tonic, anthelmintic and is used in haematological disorders, scrofula, syphilis, haemorrhoids, flatulence, diarrhoea, dysentery, worm infestations, general debility, diabetic disorders, polyuric and skin disorders which comply with the claims made in the traditional medicinal texts. However, no conclusive pharmacognositc study of its tubers has been performed yet. The present investigation deals with the qualitative and quantitative microscopic evaluation of the tubers and establishment of the quality parameters including physiochemical and phytochemical evaluation. Chief microscopic character includes periderm, ground tissue, vascular bundle, exomorphic features of bulb and triangular starch grains. Such a study would serve as a useful gauge standardization of tubers material and ensuring the quality formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the potential of an Ayurvedic formulation in treating iron deficiency in the elderly. Details related to aging and the continued decrease in mineral absorption of the elderly leading to anemia are also discussed. Particular focus is given to ayurvedic plants Hippophae rhamnoides and aloevera which were chosen to treat anemia because of their medicinal properties and efficacy profile. Treatment of anemia using the test formulation was proven to be a success and treatment may be started as soon as a symptom of anemia is detected.

The article discusses research that evaluated the acute and sub-acute toxicity of a polyherbal formulation that contains hydro-alcoholic extracts of four medicinal plants, namely Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Hippophae salicifolia, and Reinwardtia indica, in rodents.

The trend for energy and material recovery from wastes along with the need to reduce greenhouse gases has led to an increased interest in the study of thermal degradation of biomass. In this study, the thermal degradation of four rice husk (agricultural biomass) of varieties (Pusa, Parmal, HBC-19 and Basmati) was studied under non-isothermal heating in dynamic air atmosphere by using a simultaneous thermal analyser. Thermal degradation of rice husk had two different stages: 'cellulose and hemicellulose conversion' and 'lignin conversion.' Friedman, Ozawa–Flynn–Wall (O–F–W) and Kissinger methods were used to determine kinetic parameters. The results showed that the activation energy obtained from the Friedman method was in good agreement with the value obtained using O–F–W method. The values of activation energies calculated by using Kissinger method were much lower than those calculated by Friedman and O–F–W method. The results obtained in this study were compared with those of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the humidity sensing behaviour of sol-gel processed ZnO films deposited on U-shaped borosilicate rods as substitute of optical fiber having the same radius of curvature. The films prepared on each sensing element were dried for 15 minutes using a 100 watt electric bulb. Both ends of the U-shaped borosilicate rod were coupled to optical fibers. Light from a He-Ne laser is fed into the sensing element through one of the ends. Light is received from the other end of fiber coupled into an optical power meter. Variations in the intensity of light with changes in humidity from 10% to 95% have been recorded. Characterization of sensing material has been done using SEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the goal of the study to evaluate the efficacy of herbal formulation in preventing obesity and dementia in older people. It includes the evaluation on the health of 80 men and women, aged 61 to 70, showing high body mass index (BMI) with a major complaint of loss memory treated with a novel herbal formulation. It shows that the administration of herbal formulation enhanced satiety and decreases appetite and fat absorption.

Diabetes exacerbates neuronal injury induced by hyperglycemia mediated oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of curcuminoids, polyphenols of Curcuma longa (L.) on oxidative stress and mitochondrial impairment in the brain of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. A marked increase in lipid peroxidation and nitrite levels with simultaneous decrease in endogenous antioxidant marker enzymes was observed in the diabetic rat brain, which was restored to normal levels on curcuminoids treatment. Down-regulation of mitochondrial complex I and IV activity caused by STZ induction was also up-regulated on oral administration of curcuminoids. Moreover, curcuminoids administration profoundly elevated the ATP level, which was earlier reduced in the diabetic brain. These results suggest that curcuminoids exhibit a protective effect by accelerating antioxidant defense mechanisms and attenuating mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain of diabetic rats. Curcuminoids thus may be used as a promising therapeutic agent in preventing and/or delaying the progression of diabetic complications in the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]