1. Improved performance of naringenin herbosomes over naringenin in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats: In vitro and in vivo evaluation
Ruthvika JOSHI ; Ankit LADDHA ; Yogesh KULKARNI ; Sarika WAIRKAR
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2021;11(9):385-393
Objective: To prepare naringenin herbosome and evaluate its antidiabetic activity. Methods: Herbosomes were prepared by the solvent evaporation method. In vitro parameters like particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency were estimated and in vitro diffusion study was performed. The in vivo studies were also performed in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male Sprague Dawley rats to evaluate blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, blood urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin level, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase levels. Results: The optimized herbosome batch showed a particle size of 564.4 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.412, and zeta potential of-39.3 mV. The percentage entrapment of this formulation was 84.04%, with complete drug release within 8 h. Treatment of diabetic rats with naringenin herbosomes for 28 d significantly reduced the elevated level of plasma glucose as compared to plain naringenin. In biochemical parameters, the treatment showed a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood urea nitrogen; while elevated levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were returned to normal. Pure naringenin and herbosome formulation at high dose increased the total protein whereas albumin level significantly increased in naringenin herbosomes at the highest dose but not in the pure naringenin treatment group. Conclusions: Naringenin herbosomes could improve the metabolic profile of diabetic rats, indicating enhanced antidiabetic activity of herbosome formulation.
2.An epidemiological overview of human infections with HxNy avian influenza in the Western Pacific Region, 2003–2022
Jozica Skufca ; Leila Bell ; JC Pal Molino ; Dina Saulo ; Chin-kei Lee ; Satoko Otsu ; Kim Carmela Co ; May Chiew ; Phetdavanh Leuangvilay ; Sarika Patel ; Asheena Khalakdina ; Vang Ieng ; Tamano Matsui ; Babatunde Olowkure
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 2022;13(4):24-29
Avian influenza subtype A(HxNy) viruses are zoonotic and may occasionally infect humans through direct or indirect contact, resulting in mild to severe illness and death. Member States in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) communicate and notify the World Health Organization of any human cases of A(HxNy) through the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) mechanism. This report includes all notifications in the WPR with illness onset dates from 1 November 2003 to 31 July 2022. During this period, there were 1972 human infections with nine different A(HxNy) subtypes notified in the WPR. Since the last report, an additional 134 human avian influenza infections were notified from 1 October 2017 to 31 July 2022. In recent years there has been a change in the primary subtypes and frequency of reports of human A(HxNy) in the region, with a reduction of A(H7N9) and A(H5N1), and conversely an increase of A(H5N6) and A(H9N2). Furthermore, three new subtypes A(H7N4), A(H10N3) and A(H3N8) notified from the People’s Republic of China were the first ever recorded globally. The public health risk from known A(HxNy) viruses remains low as there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission. However, the observed changes in A(HxNy) trends reinforce the need for effective and rapid identification to mitigate the threat of a pandemic from avian influenza if person-to-person transmission were to occur.