Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 4 different post materials on the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in various tooth regions using multiple cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging settings and metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithms. Materials and Methods: Forty single-rooted teeth with 4 different post materials were mounted in a skull and scanned using the Planmeca ProMax 3D Max under different conditions: 90 and 96 kVp; no, medium, and high MAR settings;and voxel sizes of 100 and 200 μm. Image analysis was performed with ImageJ software to calculate CNR. The dosearea product (DAP) was recorded, and the effective dose was calculated. Results: When all other parameters were held constant, each factor significantly influenced mean CNR (P<0.05).Higher CNR values were observed in the middle third of roots at 96 kVp, with a voxel size of 200 μm, and with medium or high MAR. No significant difference was found between medium and high MAR. Gold posts showed the lowest mean CNR, while no significant differences were observed among the other post materials. Conclusion The combination of low resolution, medium MAR, and 96 kVp provided the highest image quality and CNR for visualizing teeth with post materials using the Planmeca ProMax, while also producing one of the lowest effective doses.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-directed radioligand therapy (PSMA-RLT) with lutetium-177 ( 177Lu-PSMA) has been used in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and retrospective data have shown this therapy to be favourably safe with attractive clinical responses. Re-challenge 177Lu-PSMA therapy in early responders has been shown to be safe and effective. We report the use of low-dose Taxol-based chemotherapy (modified dose 25 mg/m 2 weekly × 6 weeks) as a radiosensitizer with re-challenge 177Lu-PSMA therapy (4 cycles). In a period of 3 years, the patient underwent a total of 8 cycles of 177Lu-PSMA with a cumulative dose of 51.8 GBq. All therapies were uneventful and well tolerated. There was a good response to re-challenge 177Lu-PSMA therapy and low-dose docetaxel (Taxol- 177Lu-PSMA) with no recorded tumour resistance.

Tropical diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis, account for a large number of deaths annually. Herbs are an excellent source of tropical medicines. Many advancements and discoveries have taken place in the field of drug discovery but still, a major population of tropical diseases relies on herbal traditional medicine. There are some challenges related to policy implementation, efficacy, resistance and toxicity of tropical medicines. There are many tropical diseases such as such as schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness, filariasis and chagas disease which are neglected because very few pharmaceutical companies have shown their interest in developing therapeutics against these diseases of poor people. There are many benefits associated with herbal medicine such as the cost of production, patient tolerance, large scale availability, efficacy, safety, potency, recyclability, and environment friendly. A large number of natural extracts such as curcumin, artemisinin, morphine, reserpine, and hypericin, are in use for treatment of different tropical diseases for a long time. The current review is to discuss the overview of tropical medicinal herbs, its scope and limitations in the modern drug discovery process.

In this study we examined the suitability of the-imidazo[4,5-]pyridine ring system in developing novel anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents incorporating a diaryl pharmacophore. Eight 2,3-diaryl-3-imidazo[4,5-]pyridine derivatives retrieved from our in-house database were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against nine cancer cell lines. The results indicated that the compounds showed moderate cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, MDA-MB-468, K562 and SaOS2 cells, with K562 being the most sensitive among the four cancer cell lines. The eight 2,3-diaryl-3-imidazo[4,5-]pyridine derivatives were also evaluated for their COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitory activity. The results showed that compoundexhibited 2-fold selectivity with ICvalues of 9.2 and 21.8 µmol/L against COX-2 and COX-1, respectively. Molecular docking studies on the most active compoundrevealed a binding mode similar to that of celecoxib in the active site of the COX-2 enzyme.

PURPOSE: Cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme catalyzes the production of prostaglandins, which are important mediators of tissue destruction in periodontitis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of COX2 enzyme have been associated with increasing susceptibility to inflammatory diseases. The present study evaluates the association of two single nucleotide polymorphisms in COX2 gene (-1195G>A and 8473C>T) with chronic periodontitis in North Indians. METHODS: Both SNPs and their haplotypes were used to explore the associations between COX2 polymorphisms and chronic periodontitis in 56 patients and 60 controls. Genotyping was done by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed for association analysis. RESULTS: By the individual genotype analysis, mutant genotypes (GA and AA) of COX2 -1195 showed more than a two fold risk (odds ratio [OR]>2) and COX2 8473 (TC and CC) showed a reduced risk for the disease, but the findings were not statistically significant. Haplotype analysis showed that the frequency of the haplotype AT was higher in the case group and a significant association was found for haplotype AT (OR, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.03 to 3.11; P=0.0370) indicating an association between the AT haplotype of COX2 gene SNPs and chronic periodontitis. CONCLUSIONS: Individual genotypes of both the SNPs were not associated while haplotype AT was found to be associated with chronic periodontitis in North Indians.
Chronic Periodontitis ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Periodontitis ; Pilot Projects ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases ; Prostaglandins