Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

A Cytotoxic Evaluation Of A Chalcone Derivative Library On A549 Cells, Mary Elaine Kuo

Undergraduate Theses

Chalcones, a precursor to flavonoids, are chemical compounds found naturally in plants. The chalcones’ structure consists of a ketone bridge attached to two aromatic rings. Varying substituents on the aromatic rings allow for different affects, including anti-cancer properties. As a Michael acceptor, chalcones interact with pathways that cause inhibition of the initiation, promotion, and progression of cancer tumors. We have screened 32 compounds for growth inhibition in lung cells that vary the flexibility and confirmation of the 3 carbon bridge between the two aromatic rings as well as the effects of electronic modifications to the aromatic ring. We have found …

Analyzing The Differentiation Among State Medical Marijuana Policies By Examining State Policies & Trends, Richard Furlong

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Support for marijuana has been growing nationwide. This increased support has gained a lot of momentum since the late 1990s when California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use by enacting Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act. Since the enactment of Proposition 215, 28 more states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medicinal use. I look into why states have begun to adopt these laws, and what makes these states differ throughout the country in the timeliness of their actions. I assembled data to examine a variety of state policies to attempt to …

On The Efficacy Of High-Dose Ascorbic Acid As Anticancer Treatment: A Literature Survey, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, ascorbate) has a controversial history in cancer treatment. Emerging evidence indicates that ascorbate in cancer treatment deserves re-examination. As research results concerning ascorbate pharmacokinetics and its mechanisms of action against tumor cells have been published, and as evidence from case studies has continued to mount that ascorbate therapy could be effective if the right protocols were used, interest among physicians and scientists has increased.

Drug Delivery With Light, Patrick S. Dupart

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is responsible for about 25% of deaths in developed countries and for 15% of all deaths worldwide. Cancer is a devastating disease and while there have been great advances in the development of anticancer drugs, off-target toxicity is a major limitation with conventional cancer chemotherapy. The consequence of this form of treatment results in the killing of healthy and rapidly-growing non-cancerous cells including cells in the bone marrow; hair follicles; and cells in the mouth, digestive tract, and reproductive system. In addition to these general effects, certain anticancer drugs can have other associated toxicities. For instance, the anticancer drug …

Healthy People Are Bad For Capitalism, Eri King

Theses and Dissertations

Healthy People are Bad For Capitalism is a four part installation that creates an alternative space for the chemicals, Red 40 and Monosodium Glutamate. Presented as a holistic center that offers healing services and remedies, Center for the Red 40 and MSG Healing explores the homeopathic doctrine of Like Cures Like (what make a human ill also cures them) through the relationship between Traditional Japanese Healing Practices, and Western Capitalism.

Healthy People are Bad For Capitalism presents Red 40 MSG Apothecary, Red 40 Zen MSG Healing Rock Garden, Theta Wave Eternal Flame Meditation and Red 40 MSG …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Alternative And Prescription Antibiotics Against Gram-Positive Bacteria, Rachel Jenkins, Roan Dickenson, Sam Turnbull, Marcela Torres

Senior Theses

The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global public health concern that threatens the efficacy of antibiotic drugs. We found that natural remedies, specifically coconut oil, honey and cinnamon essential oil, have the potential to be used as a clinical alternative to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. In this experiment, we performed a disk diffusion test and measured the area of inhibition of each treatment to compare the effectiveness of natural and prescription antibiotics. Cinnamon essential oil showed significantly greater antibiotic activity compared to a prescription treatment, amoxicillin. With bacterial resistance continuously expanding, more work needs to be done to determine …

Determining The Knowledge, Attitudes And Beliefs Of Healthcare Providers In Treating Non-Specific Acute And Chronic Back Pain, Stacey L. Kale

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

An Abstract of the Scholarly Project by

Stacey Kale

Managing back pain has become a public health and clinical challenge (Krein et al., 2016). Incidence of back pain related complaints requiring treatment in the US is estimated at 11.2% of the adult population (Dowell, Haegerich, & Chou, 2016). New research suggests that it is the most common pain problem (Pauline, 2016). It is the third most expensive health disorder and is exceeded only by cancer and heart disease. Many health care providers lack formal pain management education and training thus leaving them at risk for failing to properly manage patients …

One-Pot Syntheses And Characterizations Of “Click-Able” Polyester Polymers For Potential Biomedical Applications, James F. Beach Ii

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, a synthetic polyester polymer was designed using polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, glutaric acid and 4-pentynoic acid as monomers. The synthesis was carried out using standard melt polymerization technique and catalyzed by Novozyme-435, an enzyme suitable for polyesterification of biocompatible compounds. The progress of the reaction was monitored with respect to time and vacuum exposure, with samples being subjected to standard characterization protocols. Polymers with high molecular weight and water solubility were chosen for further modification into folate-functionalized polymeric nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. This was achieved by employing a solvent diffusion method, wherein the polymer …

Marijuana Regulation And Federalism, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Federal law makes the cultivation and use of marijuana illegal for all purposes. Yet, over the past two decades, 28 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, and eight states plus the District of Columbia have legalized it for recreational purposes. Marijuana regulation thus provides a useful and timely example for exploring the ways in which the distribution of power between the federal government and the states can facilitate policy change."

Exploration Of Bioactive Compounds Of Ginger As A Folk Remedy For Migraines, Nathan Vorbes Aleger

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) has been used in Asia for centuries to treat various ailments. Ginger has been reported to alleviate migraine pain via four bioactive compounds that can reduce nitric oxide synthase (NOS) resulting in the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO). The inhibition of nitric oxide results in the vasoconstriction of the intracranial blood vessels alleviating migraine pain. It is hypothesized that ginger has structural similarities to vasoconstrictor drugs causing similar receptor interactions. A review of the bioactive compounds in ginger and popular vasoconstrictor drugs was done to determine structural similarities. The results of this study show that …

Anti-Inflammatory And Immune-Modulating Effects Of Rice Callus Suspension Culture And Blueberry Extract On An In-Vitro Inflammatory Bowel Disease Model, Kyle Michael Driscoll

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Rice Callus Suspension Culture (RCSC) has been shown to exhibit potent anticancer activity in vitro. In this study we aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties of RCSC on three inflamed normal colon epithelial cell lines, InEpC, NCM 356, and CCD 841 CoN. As a comparative, we additionally analyzed the anti-inflammatory effects of Highbush blueberries on two inflamed colon cell cultures, NCM 356 and CCD 841 CoN. Furthermore, we sought to characterize the bioactive compounds in RCSC responsible for anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulating effects. This work will be an essential starting point for understanding and identifying possible bioactive …

Can A Layer Of Antimicrobial Agents Be Placed Around Breast Implants To Prevent Staph Infections From Occurring?, Valerie L. Tran

Undergraduate Research Posters

The most common infection that occurs after breast augmentation is a staph infection. Currently, there are only three ways to treat this type of infection, all of which treat the breast implant after the infection has developed. The first option is to treat the infection with an oral antibiotic. If this doesn’t completely rid the infection, then intravenous antibiotics are used. If this too doesn’t remove the infection, then surgery will be performed to remove the breast implant and a new implant will be inserted. Although, these options have a low mortality rate, the success rate of completely getting rid …

Stinging Nettle: The Bad, The Good, The Unknown, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is native to most of the United States. It has a characteristic description and distribution in the environment. Physical contact with numerous tiny needlelike hairs present on leaves and stems of this plant may result in a contact urticarial dermatitis due to chemical and mechanical irritation triggered by skin penetration of the hairs. The manifestations are self-limited in humans and may be treated by washing the skin, topical preparations and oral antihistamines. Explanation of the natural history of these encounters to the patient is helpful in reducing the sometimes significant anxiety. Preparations and extracts …

Street Drug Markets Beyond Favelas In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Braulio Figueiredo Alves Silva, Marcos Oliveira Prates

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines whether social disorganization mechanisms that explain clusters of street drug markets in socially disorganized neighborhoods in developed countries can also help explain geographical patterns of drug dealing across neighborhoods in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Data for this study includes drug arrests from 2007 to 2011 and socio demographic data from the 2010 Census. To examine the influence of exploratory variables on drug market locations, the Negative Binominal regression model was used at two levels of analysis—the Belo Horizonte city center and other neighborhoods including favelas. The findings show that a high hot spot of street drug markets located …

Essentials Of Herb-Drug Interactions In The Elderly With Cardiovascular Disease, Sulaiman Sultan, Maria Viqar, Rabaiya Ali, A. Jamil Tajik, Arshad Jahangir

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

As the number of individuals, particularly the elderly, using herbal products with prescription drugs continues to grow, the risk for adverse interactions increases but remains poorly recognized. The true incidence and nature of adverse herb reactions or herb-drug interactions remains unknown since no postmarketing surveillance mechanism exists. Adverse events are greatly underreported, and information regarding safety mainly comes from case reports and suboptimally conducted studies in a limited number of healthy young volunteers or patients with limited comorbidities. Therefore, convincing evidence for the safety of herbal products in the elderly is lacking, and the true magnitude of problems that herb-drug …

The Coca Plant And Bolivian Identity, Matthew G. Russo

International ResearchScape Journal

ABSTRACT

The political battle rages between the U.S. government, the U.N. and the Bolivian President, Evo Morales, about his efforts to protect, legalize and preserve the symbol of the Andean indigenous identity: the coca plant. The human rights of indigenous populations are being violated by culturally insensitive governments in compliance with U.S. and U.N. law. The questions posed are: Is coca cocaine? What are the economic benefits of the production of coca and who benefits? What is the relationship between coca and Bolivian identity? What would be the impact in the global community if coca is eradicated permanently?

Target-Directed Biosynthetic Evolution: Redirecting Plant Evolution To Genomically Optimize A Plant’S Pharmacological Profile, Dustin Paul Brown

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

The dissertation describes a novel method for plant drug discovery based on mutation and selection of plant cells. Despite the industry focus on chemical synthesis, plants remain a source of potent and complex bioactive metabolites. Many of these have evolved as defensive compounds targeted on key proteins in the CNS of herbivorous insects, for example the insect dopamine transporter (DAT). Because of homology with the human DAT protein some of these metabolites have high abuse potential, but others may be valuable in treating drug dependence. This dissertation redirects the evolution of a native Lobelia species toward metabolites with greater activity …

Cloned Microglias With Novel Delivery System In Multiple Sclerosis, Abdul Mannan Baig Dr.

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurological disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS), characterized by demyelination and activation of microglia. Mitochondrial mutations and dysfunctions in microglial cells are thought to contribute to the detrimental effects of neuroinflammation seen in MS. The Somatic Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) technology offers a more practical mode of therapy in MS, this method would attempt to dilute and/or progressively replace the mutated and activated microglia with cloned Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OEC) with remyelinating and scavenging properties which would attempt to limit the progression of MS. Applying SCNTderived Embryonic Stem (ES) cells based therapy by …

Top 10 Medicinal Plants And Their Groundbreaking Impact On Modern Medicine, Jordan N. Patterson, Joan Marie Lausier

Senior Honors Projects

This paper describes ten plants that having been groundbreaking drugs in the past century that were all derived from plants. I chose to do my project on this topic because of my family’s history with natural medicine. In 1999 my mother was diagnosed with Bile Duct cancer and the doctors gave her only a couple of weeks to live. The doctors recommended chemotherapy and radiation, but the results seemed negative for the situation. After some extensive research, my parents found St. Georges Medicinal Wellness Center located in the tiny village of Bad Aibling, Germany. This hospital along with offering traditional …

The Reversal Effects Of Curcumin, An Herbal Remedy, On The Impairments Induced By Vmat-2 Inhibitor Tetrabenazine, Emily Qian, Samantha E. Yohn

Honors Scholar Theses

Substantial evidence has shown that dopamine (DA), particularly in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), is involved in behavioral activation and effort-related processes, such as overcoming work related response costs. Interference with accumbens DA transmission through administration of the vesicular monoamine transportor-2 (VMAT-2) inhibitor tetrabenazine (TBZ) produces an alteration of response allocation in the concurrent FR5/chow choice procedure, biasing animals toward the lower effort alternative. It has been suggested that these drug-induced shifts in effort-related choice behavior seen in rodents are analogous to symptoms such as psychomotor retardation, anergia, and fatigue, which can be observed in people with depression and other related …

Anabolic And Androgenic Effects Of Certain Atriplex Species Grown In Egypt, Dina M. El-Kersh, Fatma S. El-Sakhawy, Dina R. Abou-Hussein, Amany A. Sleem

Pharmacy

20-Hydroxyecdysone (20-HE) was detected by TLC in the ethyl acetate fraction of two Atriplex species grown in Egypt: A. lindleyi subsp. inflata and A. leucoclada. EIA quantification of 20-HE proved its presence in a concentration of 9.15 and 7.3 μg/g dried aerial parts in each of the two species, respectively. Significant anabolic and androgenic activities were demonstrated for 20-HE comparing to testosterone; the study also revealed that the total alcohol extract and the ethyl acetate fraction of A. lindleyi subsp. inflata exhibited greater activities than their analogues in A. leucoclada. Column chromatographic fractionation of the ethyl acetate fraction of the …

Edible Marijuana: A New Frontier In The Culinary World, Ariella H. Wolkowicz

Honors Theses - Providence Campus

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, has a rich history as a source of fiber, food and medicine (Li 437). Since 1785, physicians and scientists alike have worked to discover the active chemical components and medical effectiveness of this plant (Touw 2; Aldrich). Despite its complicated legal history, marijuana has retained a place culturally and, in some countries, scientifically as an effective medical agent. As a medically edible ingredient, cannabis has also been more recently heralded as a new, even cutting edge flavor, opening a new frontier to the culinary community.

After the isolation of the main active ingredient in cannabis, …

Biomass Assisted Synthesis Of Antibacterial Gold Nanoparticles And Commentary On Its Future Potential And Applications In Medicine, Chad Willis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Xylose is a natural monosaccharide found in biomass such as straw, pecan shells, cottonseed hulls, and corncobs. Using this monosaccharide, we report the green synthesis and characterization of biocompatible, biodegradable xylose encapsulated gold nanoparticles (Xyl-GNPs) with potential antibacterial activity. GNPs were synthesized using the bioreduction property of xylose on the chloroaurate anions in an aqueous solution at room temperature and at atmospheric pressure. The characterization of synthesized GNPs was examined by UV-vis spectroscopy; transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results indicate that the particles were stable; near spherical in shape with an …

Antispasmodic And Ca++ Antagonist Potential Of Marrubiin, A Labdane Type Diterpene From Phlomis Bracteosa, Javid Hussain, Riaz Ullah, Arif-Ullah Khan, Fazal Mabood, Mohammad Raza Shah, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Anwar Gilani

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

A tricyclic labdane type diterpene was isolated for the first time from ethyl acetate soluble part of Phlomis bracteosa. Its structure was confirmed by x-ray which was found to be marrubiin. When studied in isolated rabbit jejunum, marrubiin caused concentration-dependent relaxation of spontaneous and high K+ (80 mM)-induced contractions, like that caused by verapamil, indicating that marrubiin exhibits spasmolytic activity, possibly mediated through Ca++ channel blocking action.

Discovery Of Quinic Acid Derivatives As Oral Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Kui Zeng

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Quinic acid (QA) esters found in hot water extracts of Uncaria tomentosa (a.k.a. Cat’s claw) exert anti-inflammatory activity through mechanisms involving inhibition of the pro-inflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). Herein, we described the synthesis and biological testing of novel QA derivatives. Inhibition of NF-κB was assessed using A549 (Type II alveolar epithelial-like) cells that stably express a secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) reporter driven by an NF-κB response element. A549- NF-κB cells were stimulated with TNF-α (10 ng/mL) in the presence or absence of QA derivative for 18 hours followed by measurement of SEAP activity. Amide substitution at …

Attitudes Toward Psychotropic Medications Among Psychotropic Medications Among Psychiatric Outpatients And The General Population, Stephanie A. Fife

Graduate Theses

Attitudes and beliefs towards psychotropic medication were evaluated among psychiatric outpatients, patients seeking buprenorphine for substance abuse, and nonusers in a general population. The Drug Attitude Inventory scale (DAI-10) and the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire General (BMQ-G) were used to assess attitudes and beliefs of 49 participants. The general population had a negative attitude toward psychotropic medication and the psychiatric groups showed positive attitudes. Compliance and noncompliance were not associated with attitudes or beliefs toward psychotropic medication. Other findings include that females had less positive attitudes and beliefs towards psychotropic medication than males. The current findings expand and support research …