No abstract available.
Biological Products*

Background. Ultrasound remains to be an ideal imaging tool for the diagnosis of various conditions in the body. However, the cost and unavailability of the commercial acoustic gel continue to hamper the tool's diagnostic value in low-resource communities.

Objectives. The study aims to investigate the feasibility of extracts of common Philippine succulents as ultrasound acoustic gel, based on image quality parameters, organoleptic characteristics, spreadability, pH, and viscosity.

Methods. Aloe Vera, common houseleek, burro's tail, snake plant, echeveria, crown of thorns, panda plant, and jade plant were extracted and filtered before subjecting them for a physical evaluation. The evaluation analyzed the organoleptic characteristics, spreadability, pH, and viscosity of the formulated gels. The commercial acoustic gel was used as the reference gel. Three experienced ultrasonographers blindly evaluated a total of 243 images obtained using the formulated gels based on four image quality parameters.

Results. The formulated gels had optimal appearance, texture, homogeneity, and pH value. However, all of the extracts had a lower viscosity than the commercial reference gel. The extract obtained from the burro's tail exhibited the highest viscosity among the tested extracts. There was no significant difference in the image quality parameters among the commercial and formulated gels.

Conclusion. The extracts obtained from the succulents are feasible as an acoustic gel for ultrasound imaging based on the physical and image quality analyses. The tested plants are readily available and easy to produce compared to commercial acoustic gel.

No abstract available.
Biological Science Disciplines*

No abstract available.
Biological Therapy* ; Crohn Disease*

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Biological Factors

At the blood transfusion and heamatology centre of Ho Chi Minh city, we performed phenotyping for 158 cases of acute leukemia diagnosed from 04/98 to 10/1998. Basing on these results, we go further to monitor residual disease depending on the presence of aberant antigens and DNA content. The enumeration of progenitor cell CD34+ also performed for leukemia patient during the bone marrow transplantation
Hematologic Diseases ; Biological Markers

The HPLC method described herein has sufficient sensitivity to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of nifedipine in plasma. A single dose cross study was carried out in volunteers comparing the test sustained release nifedipine formulation to Adalat retard tablets. Pharmacokenetic variables were calculated from the nifedipine plasma concentration data and evaluated statistically. The results showed the test formulation to be bioequivalent to the reference tablets.
Nifedipine ; Biological Availability ; tablets

Preliminary investigation of methionyl-glycyl-funtumin (MGF) in experimental immunodeficiency model using Cyclophosphamide (CY) showed that MGF did not to have an immunostimulant activity at the dose of 30g/kg. A potent toxicity of CY has been observed when associated with MGF in the model. The result could help to further study on this subject
Cyclophosphamide ; Biological Sciences

A study on the effects of longterm hepamarin therapy on some hematological and biochemical indicators in 50 experimental male mice was carried out. The hepamirin was a preparation from phyllantus amarus used at dose of 5 g/kg of bodyweight within 3 months. The results have shown that above mentioned dose of hepamarin did not affect on the number of leukocyte, erythrocyte and body weight of mice as well as liver and kidney functions
Biological Markers ; Animals ; Phyllanthus

The new flavonoid was isolated from the leaves of clerodendron fragrans Vent. Its structure was confirmed by various spectrum of IR, UV, MS, 1H, C13-NMR, DEPT, COSY as 5, 7, 8-trihydroxy-4, -methoxy flavone (I). That flavonoid composition presented good antioxiadant activity. Its effect on cathepsin activity in human blood was studied and showed that flavonoid increased cathepsin activity at optimum concentration.
Biological Factors ; Clerodendrum