Volume 8 - 9, 2014

About the Cover

Hypocoagulable state and, or haemophilia can cause death due to excessive blood loss from minor trauma, post partum haemorrhage, motor traffic accidents or surgical incision. Jatropha curcas is a medicinal plant used by traditional medicine healers in treatment of fresh wound/cuts, post partum heamorrhage, bleeding from umbilical stump and as a purgative. To carry out some in-vivo and in-vitro haemostatic studies on Jatropha curcas in rats and to scientifically demonstrate its possible coagulant activity. The leaves of Jatropha curcas were harvested, air dried, ground and macerated in equal volumes of water and ethanol for 24hours. Sieved separately, filtered using Whatman filter paper and evaporated to dryness. The phytochemistry and acute toxicity testing were done. Adult white Wistar rats of average weight of 110grams were divided into cages of 5 animals per cage and housed in a standard animal house for one week acclimatization. Extracts of Jatropha curcas were orally administered daily for four weeks.

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DRUG OF THE MONTH

Discovery of novel vaccine for Malaria

Brithvi V

Scientists from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have discovered a key process during the invasion of the blood cell by the Malaria parasite, and found a way to block this invasion. According to the World Health Organisation, about 3.3 billion people are at risk of Malaria. To prevent this invasion, Prof Preiser's research team developed antibodies which can interfere with this invasion process. The team outcome was made possible with the development of a new screening assay that allows the rapid characterization of parasite signalling, which is significantly faster than conventional methods. The newly invented technique utilises a high-throughput fluorescence scanning approach if antibodies or drugs fail to prevent the invasion of the red blood cell by the malaria parasites, the sample will light up.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 8(19), 7-8

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FDA APPROVED DRUGS

FDA approved drugs – October 2013

Brithvi V

DUAVEE (CONJUGATED ESTROGENS/BAZEDOXIFENE)
Company Pfizer; Approved by October 2013
Treatment Area Vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause and postmenopausal osteoporosis

Drug Discovery, 2014, 8(19), 9-12

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FDA approved drugs – November 2013

Brithvi V

OLYSIO (SIMEPREVIR)
Company Janssen Therapeutics; Approved by November 2013
Treatment Area Hepatitis C

Drug Discovery, 2014, 8(19), 13-15

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RESEARCH

Haemostatic activities of Jatropha curcas (Linn) in rats

Azikiwe CCA, Ifezulike CC, Amazu LU, Nwabali MO

Hypocoagulable state and, or haemophilia can cause death due to excessive blood loss from minor trauma, post partum haemorrhage, motor traffic accidents or surgical incision. Jatropha curcas is a medicinal plant used by traditional medicine healers in treatment of fresh wound/cuts, post partum heamorrhage, bleeding from umbilical stump and as a purgative. To carry out some in-vivo and in-vitro haemostatic studies on Jatropha curcas in rats and to scientifically demonstrate its possible coagulant activity.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 8(19), 16-20

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FDA APPROVED DRUGS

FDA approved drugs – December 2013

Vidhya V

Anoro Ellipta is specifically indicated for the long-term, once-daily, maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. It is supplied as a powder formulation for inhalation. The recommended dose is one inhalation of Anoro Ellipta once daily. Anoro Ellipta should be administered at the same time every day. The dose should not exceed one dose every 24 hours.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(20), 10-12

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FDA approved drugs – January 2014

Vidhya V

Farxiga (dapagliflozin) is an orally active sodium glucose cotransporter type 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor. Inhibiting SGLT2 activity modulates reabsorption of glucose in the kidney, resulting in excretion of glucose in the urine. It is specifically indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type II diabetes mellitus. It is supplied as a tablet for oral administration. The recommended starting dose is 5 mg once daily, taken in the morning, with or without food. The dose can be increased to 10 mg once daily in patients tolerating Farxiga who require additional glycemic control. Renal function should be assessed before initiating Farxiga. Do not initiate Farxiga if eGFR is below 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Farxiga should be discontinued if eGFR falls persistently below 60 mL/min/1.73 m2.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(20), 13-14

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FDA approved drugs – February 2014

Vidhya V

Myalept is specifically indicated as an adjunct to diet as replacement therapy to treat the complications of leptin deficiency in patients with congenital or acquired generalized lipodystrophy. It is supplied as a solution for subcutaneous injection.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(20), 15-17

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COMMUNICATION

Thasus gigas Burn: a new treatment for diabetes or nutrimental culture

Echavarría Flores Montserrat, García Torres María Elena, Calderón Ordoñez Marisela Belem, Olvera Luna Alba Grisel, Jesús Carlos Ruvalcaba Ledezma

Determining the benefits that people, who suffer from diabetes type II, obtain by eating the bedbugs “Xohues” or “shamues” (Thasus gigas). In addition, this project aims to diagnose how this food intake affects medical treatments. An exploratory study was conducted; surveys among residents of the community of Santiago Tulantepec and residents of the city of Actopan, both in the state of Hidalgo were asked to participate in a survey. The survey mentioned was applied to 50 people from both populations. It is important to mention that the participants suffered from Diabetes Mellitus type II and the investigation aimed to investigate the effects of Shamues or xohues intake and their use as medical treatment to diabetes.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(20), 18-19

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PERSPECTIVE

Rumex crispus L. – a plant of traditional value

Archana Pareek, Ashwani Kumar

Wetlands are areas of standing water that support aquatic plants & provide a unique habitat for several plant of economic importance. Present papers deal some of the traditional values of Rumex crispus L. (family polygonaceae) a wetland plant by local community of India. This paper is first report from the Rajasthan.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(20), 20-23

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RESEARCH

Virtual Screening Analysis for Drug Designing against Precursor Protein of Alzheimer’s disease

Anupam Singh, Viswanath Rana, Sakshi Choudhari, Pankaj Panday, Ashwani Kumar Singh

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. In this type of disease there is loss of structures or the function of neurons,in which Amyloid plaques are formed by aggregation of Aβpeptide. Aβpeptides are generated by successive cleavages of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by βand γsecretase enzyme.In recent years, several approaches aimed at inhibiting disease progression have advanced to clinical trials. Therefore we have taken the Alzheimer’s amyloid beta-protein cause for the disease.To inhibit the activity of this protein we have taken many inhibitory molecules from the various sources and analyze binding interaction to target protein on the basis of docking energy and after this, predict the effects of therapeutic molecules on human body. There is substantial in-silico data indicating that therapeutic molecules have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-amyloid activity.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(21), 27-31

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Evaluation of Antibacterial and Antifungal activity of medicinal plant Solanum erianthum

Sirajudeen J, Muneer Ahamath J

The antibacterial and antifungal activities of extracts (10, 20, 30 and 40 μg/ml) of Solanum erianthum were tested against five bacterial and five fungal strains. The antimicrobial activity was determined in the extracts using agar disc diffusion method Zone of inhibition of extracts were compared with that of standards like ampicillin and chloramphenicol for antibacterial activity and griseofulvin for antifungal activity. The results showed that the remarkable inhibition of the bacterial growth was shown against the tested organisms. Hence, these plants can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals research activities.

Drug Discovery, 2014, 9(22), 35-39

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