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Abstract
To investigate the and-inflammation activity of serrapeptase, the carrageenin-induced foot edema rat and carrageenin-induced abscess rat were used as an inflammation model. When serrapeptase was intravenously administered to the inflammation model rats, serrapeptase rapidly distributed to the inflammation locus. By administration of serrapeptase, formation of foot edema and the abscess was repressed and furthermore, production of TNF-α and C-reactive protein (CRP) was repressed in dose dependence manner. These results suggested that repression of TNF-α production in inflammation locus would relate to anti-inflammatory activity of serrapeptase.
Wound healing consists of systematic progression of events that helps re-establish the integrity of the damaged tissue. Several natural compounds have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and cell-stimulating properties which contribute to accelerated healing process. Although these natural compounds possess a myriad of biological properties and in general less expensive than the modern treatments, their applications are limited due to batch-to-batch variation leading to contradictory clinical results. However, nanotechnology is a promising tool that can overcome the disadvantages of the natural compounds when they are used alone. In this chapter, we have focused majorly on types, uses, applications and mechanism of action of various phyto-nanomaterials in different phases of wound healing. We have also provided the literature reports available on various in vitro and in vivo studies on use of phyto-nanoformulations for wound healing. Available literature indicates that very few phytocompounds have been converted into nanoformulation for wound healing applications and more research needs to be carried out to explore the potential of other phytocompounds known to possess wound healing activity using nanotechnological strategies. Also, different nano-drug delivery systems can be explored for effective delivery of the phytocompounds at the wound site. In the near future, phyto-nanotechnology can be a boon for the clinicians to treat various non-healing chronic wounds.
The leaf of Asystasia gangetica T. Adams (Acanthaceae) is used in many parts of Nigeria for the management of asthma. This study was aimed at investigating the anti-asthmatic property of hexane, ethylacetate, and methanol extracts of the leaves of Asystasia gangetica, obtained by successive sohxlet extraction. The results indicated that the extracts did not exhibit contractile or relaxant activity in isolated tissue preparations; however, they inhibited the contraction evoked by spasmogens; the IC(50) were calculated, where possible. The extracts relaxed histamine-precontracted tracheal strips in the following degree of potency-ethylacetate extract>hexane extract=methanol extract. The extracts also exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in the order of magnitude-methanol extract>hexane extract>ethylacetate extract. Acute toxicity test estimated an i.p. LD(50) of 2150 mg/kg in mice for methanol extract while phytochemical screening showed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, alkaloids, tannins, steroidal aglycones, saponins, flavonoids, reducing sugars, and triterpenoids, with the methanol extract having the highest number of constituents. The study justified the use of the leaf of Asystasia gangetica in the management of asthma in Nigerian folk medicine.
A highly sensitive enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) for human interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been established. The assay is based on a sandwich method that uses two kinds of anti-IL-2 antibodies raised against Escherichia coli-derived recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2). An affinity-purified-anti-IL-2 goat IgG was used as the first antibody and the Fab' fragment of an affinity-purified-anti-IL-2 rabbit IgG was used as the second antibody after being coupled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). As little as 30 pg/ml of IL-2 was detected by the EIA, indicating that this method was about 100 times more sensitive than the bioassay using an IL-2-dependent murine natural killer cell line, NKC3. There was a good correlation between the EIA and the bioassay (r=0.998).
Serratia protease (TSP) [EC 3.4.24] was bound stoichiometrically to alpha 2 macroglobulin (alpha 2M), which was purified and crystallized from human plasma, but apo TSP was not bound. On formation of the TSP-alpha 2M complex the enzymatic activity of the bound TSP was affected with respect to substrates; Km values of the bound TSP were unchanged but Vmax values were reduced. alpha 2M was cleft at the mid-region of its subunits chains by TSP, which resulted in a conformational change of the alpha 2M molecule with TSP.
The oral administration Serratia protease (SP), an antiinflammatory oral drug, to scalded rats markedly repressed the activation of fibrinolysis induced by the scalding. The repression was most effective when SP was given 3 hr prior to scalding, and a statistically significant repression was observed at a dose of 5 mg/kg. The repressive effect of SP was dependent on its proteolytic activity and was far stronger than those of other proteases tested. The repression was observed also by the intravenous injection of SP at a dose as low as 0.2 microgram/kg, which corresponded to a blood concentration of about 4 ng/ml. In this case, too, the proteolytic activity was essential. In rat blood, SP existed as a complex with a plasma protease inhibitor, alpha 1-macroglobulin (alpha 1 M), with a molar binding ratio of 1:1, still retaining about 20% of its original caseinolytic activity. This ratio, together with the alpha 1 M concentration in rat plasma and the molecular weights of SP and alpha 1 M, enabled the estimation that at the effective SP concentration (4 ng/ml) only 1 out of 20,000 parts of alpha 1 M molecules in plasma took part in the complex formation.