Banaras Hindu University

About: Banaras Hindu University is a education organization based out in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Dielectric. The organization has 11858 authors who have published 23917 publications receiving 464677 citations. The organization is also known as: Kashi Hindu Vishvavidyalay & Benares Hindu University.

Antiulcer activity of naturally occurring pyrano-coumarin and isocoumarins and their effect on prostanoid synthesis using human colonic mucosa.

Abstract: Oral administration of bergenin and norbergenin, two isocoumarins, isolated from the leaves and roots of Flueggea microcarpa and luvangetin, a pyranocoumarin isolated from the seeds of Aegle marmelos Correa, showed significant protection against pylorus-ligated and aspirin-induced gastric ulcers in rats and cold restraint stress-induced gastric ulcers in rats and guinea pigs. The study on prostaglandins release by human colonic mucosal incubates, indicated a concentration-dependent (1-10 micrograms/ml) stimulatory effect of bergenin and norbergenin, while luvangetin (1-10 micrograms/ml) did not produce any effect. The results suggest that gastroprotective effects of bergenin and norbergenin could be due to increased prostaglandin production while, some other mucosal defensive factors may be involved for luvangetin.

Role of Biofertilizers in Conservation Agriculture

Abstract: In the present time, chemical fertilizers are more in practice for crop production which affected the soil and environment quality. The higher amount of chemical inputs in agricultural production system affected the sustainability of the agricultural crop production systems, increased cost of cultivation, and caused partial factor productivity decline, and maintaining the global food security and environmental quality became a daunting challenge. Indiscriminate and imbalanced use of fertilizers, mostly urea, and the poor application of organic matter to cropland have led to considerable reduction in soil health. Nowadays our agriculture has shifted to old-age practice like conservation agriculture. It is using old tool and techniques with incorporation of modern science and scientific principles. In general, biofertilizer is organic in nature containing an effective particular microorganism in a concentrated form which originated either from the plant root nodule or from the soil of the rhizosphere. Biofertilizers have emerged as potential environment-friendly inputs that are benefited for agricultural crop production system. They hold vast prospective in fulfilling the plant nutrient requirements, which are reducing the chemical fertilizer application and minimizing environmental pollution. The bioinoculants are used as a seed treatment or soil treatment, improving plant nutrient availability and finally crop growth and yield. These contain living cells of diverse types of microorganisms and have the potential to solubilize and mobilize plant nutrient elements from insoluble form through biological process and also fix atmospheric nitrogen. The adequate use of biofertilizers helps in maintaining soil quality and thus provides a low-cost approach to manage crop yield along with protecting the environment.

Anti-inflammatory Activity of Ursolic Acid in MPTP-Induced Parkinsonian Mouse Model.

Abstract: Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and hence may represent a target for treatment. The drugs used currently for PD only provide symptomatic relief and have adverse effects in addition to their inability in preventing degeneration of neurons. Flavonoids show potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities which is very valuable for the health of human beings. Thus, in the present study, we have tried to explore the anti-inflammatory activity of orally given ursolic acid (UA) (25 mg/kg bwt), a pentacyclic triterpenoid in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-intoxicated mouse model. Significant severe oxidative stress and biochemical alterations have been seen in Parkinsonian mice after MPTP intoxication. Whereas, UA administration has significantly rescued the harmful consequence of MPTP intoxication. Ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) were seen to be altered in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) of MPTP-intoxicated mice through immunohistochemical studies. The changes in the expression level of these parameters primarily suggest increased inflammatory responses in MPTP-intoxicated mice as compared with the control. However, UA have significantly reduced these inflammatory parameters (Iba1 and TNF-α) along with transcription factor NF-κB, which regulates these inflammatory parameters and thus have inhibited MPTP-induced neuroinflammation. The immunoreactivity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) was considerably increased by UA treatment in the SNpc of Parkinsonian mice. The neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration along with impairments in biochemical and behavioral parameters were found to be reversed on treatment with UA. Thus, UA has shown potent anti-inflammatory activity by preventing the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons from MPTP-induced Parkinsonian mice.

Revealing facts behind spray dried solid dispersion technology used for solubility enhancement

Abstract: Poor solubility and bioavailability of an existing or newly synthesized drug always pose challenge in the development of efficient pharmaceutical formulation. Numerous technologies can be used to improve the solubility and among them amorphous solid dispersion based spray drying technology can be successfully useful for development of product from lab scale to commercial scale with a wide range of powder characteristics. Current review deals with the importance of spray drying technology in drug delivery, basically for solubility and bioavailability enhancement. Role of additives, selection of polymer, effect of process and formulation parameters, scale up optimization, and IVIVC have been covered to gain the interest of readers about the technology. Design of experiment (DoE) to optimize the spray drying process has been covered in the review. A lot more research work is required to evaluate spray drying as a technology for screening the right polymer for solid dispersion, especially to overcome the issue related to drug re-crystallization and to achieve a stable product both in vitro and in vivo. Based on the recent FDA recommendation, the need of the hour is also to adopt Quality by Design approach in the manufacturing process to carefully optimize the spray drying technology for its smooth transfer from lab scale to commercial scale.