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Parthenolide (PTL) is a sesquiterpene lactone that occurs naturally. It demonstrates a variety of beneficial effects, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic properties. The study investigated the potential protective impact of PTL on indomethacin (INDO) induced stomach ulcers in rats. The rats were classified into 5 distinct categories. Group 1 served as the "control" group. Rats in the second group received a single oral dosage of INDO (50 mg kg -1 ). Rats in Groups three and four received 20 and 40 mg kg -1 oral PTL 1 h before INDO. Omeprazole (30 mg kg -1 ) was given orally to Group 5 rats 1 h before INDO. Pretreatment with PTL increased stomach pH and decreased gastric volume as well as reduced the morphological and histological changes induced by INDO. Analysis of probable pathways showed that pre-treatment with PTL successfully reduced oxidative, inflammatory, and apoptotic consequences caused by INDO. The ingestion of PTL leads to a notable increase in the levels of glutathione reduced (GSH) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Furthermore, PTL decreased the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA). In contrast, it was shown that PTL increased both cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). PTL shows a significant decrease in the expression of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). PTL therapy resulted in a decrease in Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) levels and an increase in B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) levels. In conclusion, PTL offers gastroprotection by its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic qualities., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a disease that commonly strikes the majority of aged men. Developing new therapies to manage BPH with improved efficacy and safety is strongly needed. In this regard, auraptene is a natural compound with multiple pharmacological effects, but with poor oral bioavailability. This investigation aimed to assess the possible protection offered by auraptene-nanostructured lipid carrier (auraptene-NLC) in a BPH model induced by testosterone in rats. Auraptene-NLC had optimum particle size and drug release profile compared to raw auraptene. At doses (5 and 10 mg/kg), it hampered the rise in prostatic weights & indices relative to rats challenged with testosterone. Moreover, auraptene-NLC alleviated histopathological abnormalities in prostate architecture and decreased the glandular epithelial height. Additionally, testosterone-induced oxidative stress was alleviated by auraptene-NLC and inhibited raised lipid peroxidation, catalase and superoxide dismutase exhaustion as well as enhanced glutathione content. Moreover, it significantly reduced the prostate content of nuclear factor κB, Interleukins1β & 6, as well as transforming growth factor β, compared to testosterone group. The proapoptotic activity of auraptene-NLC (10 mg/kg) was confirmed by a significant increase of prostate cleaved caspase-3, boosted Bax/Bcl2 mRNA ratio that was further confirmed by assessing their protein expressions. Furthermore, the beneficial effects of auraptene-NLC against BPH were substantiated by ameliorating testosterone-induced decline of nuclear PPARα & PPARγ and inhibiting the increased expression of cyclin D1 protein. In conclusion, auraptene-NLC offers a protective effect in rats whereby BPH was induced by testosterone, via its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and proapoptotic activities, and PPAR family activation., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

One of the major aggressive factors that affect gastric injury is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Indomethacin (Indo) showed higher potentiality in gastric injury over conventional NSAIDs. Piceatannol (PIC) is a natural polyphenolic stilbene that possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The gastroprotective properties of PIC have been overlooked previously. Hence, we aim to study gastric injury induced by Indo and the protective action manifested by PIC, as well as to elucidate the likely underlying mechanisms of action in a rat model. The rats have been treated with vehicle, Indo alone, combined treatment with Indo, and PIC at (5 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg), respectively. The rats were also treated with Indo and omeprazole. In our study, we found that PIC at both 5 and 10 mg/kg doses was effective by averting the rise in ulcer and lesion indices, acid production, and histological variations persuaded by Indo. Mechanistically, PIC significantly reduced lipid peroxidation product (MDA), increased the GSH content, and enhanced SOD and CAT activity. In addition, PIC exhibits a distinct reduction in the levels of inflammatory parameters (Cox-2, IL-6, TNF-α, and NFκB). Contrastingly, PIC augmented both mucin and PGE2 content. Moreover, PIC fostered angiogenesis by increasing the expression of proangiogenic factors (VEGF, bFGF, and PDGF). Overall, the above results suggest PIC exhibits a potential protective effect against Indo-induced gastric ulcers by the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and angiogenic mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain is a common distress in chronic inflammatory diseases, and etoricoxib (ETB) is frequently used in its management. It possesses fewer adverse effects when compared with other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In the present study, ETB-loaded nanoemulsion (ETB-NE) was formulated and optimized. Eucalyptus oil, Tween 20, and PEG 200 were chosen as the oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant, respectively. The formulation was optimized using the Box–Behnken design. The optimized ETB-NE contained oil, Smix, and water in concentrations of 11.5, 38, and 50% respectively. It had droplet size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential values of 179.6 ± 4.21 nm, 0.373 ± 0.02, and −10.9 ± 1.01 mV, respectively. The optimized ETB-NE sample passed the thermodynamic stability and dispersibility tests. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the spherical morphology of the NE droplets. The ETB-NE showed a biphasic drug release pattern and released 85.3 ± 1.8% of ETB at 12 h. The ETB-NE was formulated into nanoemulsion gel (NEG) by using 1% carbopol 934. ETB-NEG was characterized for pH, viscosity, drug content, and percentage entrapment efficiency. During in vitro permeation studies, the apparent permeability coefficient value was 0.072 cm−2 h−1 for ETB-NEG, while it was only 0.047 cm−2 h−1 for the ETB gel. The skin histopathology study results confirmed that the ETB-NEG formulation was non-irritant and safe for topical use. The maximum possible analgesia observed for ETB-NEG was significantly high (p < 0.05) with a value of 47.09% after 60 min. Similarly, a formalin-induced acute inflammatory pain study in rats also demonstrated higher analgesia for the ETB-NEG, with % inhibition values of 37.37 ± 5.9 and 51.95 ± 4.4 in the acute and late phases, respectively. Further, ETB-NEG showed 78.4 ± 3.5% inhibition at 8 h in the in vivo anti-inflammatory testing by rat paw edema method. The ETB-NEG was found to enhance the in vivo analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of ETB. The study results could stimulate further studies in this area for establishing a clinically successful NEG formulation of ETB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]