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Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health

Importance Of Clinical Toxicology Teaching And Its Impact In Improving, Nadeem Ullah Khan, Jabeen Fayyaz, Uzma R. Khan, Asher Feroze Nov 2013

Importance Of Clinical Toxicology Teaching And Its Impact In Improving, Nadeem Ullah Khan, Jabeen Fayyaz, Uzma R. Khan, Asher Feroze

Department of Emergency Medicine

Objective: To assess the impact of a one-day clinical toxicology workshop in improving knowledge.
Methods: A one-day clinical toxicology workshop was conducted as a pre-conference workshop of the Annual Emergency Medicine Conference at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in April 2012. The course was composed of poisoning-related common clinical scenarios. The pre-test and post-test understanding was used to assess the impact of the course in improving knowledge. The participants also evaluated the workshop as a whole thorough written evaluation forms. SPSS 19 was ued for statistical analysis of the data.
Result: There were 22 participants in the course. The …


The Analgesic And Anticonvulsant Effects Of Piperine In Mice, I A. Bukhari, M S. Alhumayyd, A L. Mahesar, A H. Gilani Jan 2013

The Analgesic And Anticonvulsant Effects Of Piperine In Mice, I A. Bukhari, M S. Alhumayyd, A L. Mahesar, A H. Gilani

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Piperine, is the major active principal of black pepper. In traditional medicine, black pepper has been used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory agent and in the treatment of epilepsy. This study was conducted to evaluate the in vivo analgesic and anticonvulsant effects of piperine in mice. The analgesic and anticonvulsant effects of piperine were studied in mice using acetic acid-induced writhing, tail flick assay, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)- and picrotoxin (PIC)-induced seizures models. The intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of piperine (30, 50 and 70 mg/kg) significantly inhibited (P<0.01) the acetic acid-induced writhing in mice, similar to the effect of indomethacin (20 mg/kg i.p.). In the tail flick assay, piperine (30 and 50 mg/kg, i.p.) and morphine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) caused a significant increase (P<0.01) in the reaction time of mice. Pre-treatment of animals with naloxone (5 mg/kg i.p.), reversed the analgesic effects of both piperine and morphine in the tail flick assay. Piperine (30, 50 and 70 mg/kg, i.p.) and standard drugs, valproic acid (200 mg/kg, i.p.), carbamazepine (30 mg/kg, i.p.) and diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly (P<0.01) delayed the onset of PTZ-and PIC-induced seizures in mice. These findings indicate that piperine exhibits analgesic and anticonvulsant effects possibly mediated via opioid and GABA-ergic pathways respectively. Moreover, piperine being the main constituent of black pepper, may be contributing factor in the medicinal uses of black pepper in pain and epilepsy