BiomedGrid

  Emerging Trends in T-cell based Vaccines Opinion Since Edward Jenner’s first use of cowpox pustules against smallpox to the present use of subunit vaccines, vaccinology has seen a paradigm shift. The transition from time-intensive microbiological approaches to the current machine learningbased prediction algorithms for epitope identification have enabled the development of faster, cost-effective and efficient vaccines. However, to outrace the newer and deadlier emerging pathogens, our approach to vaccination needs to be constantly modified. As we mark the final year of the Decade of Vaccines and its product Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), we emphasize the significance of T- cell responses to achieve a successful vaccination. While the traditional vaccination approaches mostly relied on antibody generation as a measure of vaccine efficacy; recent years have seen a rekindled interest in T- cells' role for immunoprotection. In fact, current vaccination approaches against a number...

  Management of Type II Diabetes using Metformin- Loaded Microparticulate Gastroretentive Delivery Systems Abstract Metformin is an oral anti-hyperglycemic derivative extensively used for the treatment of type II diabetes. Following oral administration, metformin exhibits an incomplete absorption and therefore repeated administrations of high doses of this drug are required for successful therapy due to its short biological half-life. For this, development of novel drug delivery systems for metformin might be useful to decrease the dosing frequency, to enhance its bioavailability, to reduce gastrointestinal adverse effects, and to be helpful for effective use of metformin in diabetes treatment. In this review, we present microparticulate gastroretentive delivery systems developed to enhance the oral bioavailability of metformin. Introduction The incidence of type II diabetes has dramatically increased throughout the world in recent years. Metformin is an oral antihyperglycemic agen...

  Hemoglobin SC Disease: Phenotypic Variability and Therapeutic Options Abstract Mutation in the Beta Globin Gene (HBB) leads to the formation of Hemoglobin S (HbS) and Hemoglobin C (HbC). Co-inheritance of HbS and HbC causes hemoglobin SC disease, a form of hemolytic anemia with a myriad of clinical manifestations. Valine replaces glutamic acid in the 6th position (Glu 6Val) to form HbS and Lysine replaces glutamic acid (Glu6Lys) in HbC. The interaction of HbC with HbS increases the propensity of red blood cells to sickle leading to microvascular occlusion and down-stream end organ complications. Both HbS and HbC are present in approximately equal levels in HbSC red blood cells. It is interesting to note that Sickle cell trait and Hemoglobin C trait do not produce severe disease. However, the combination of HbS and HbC can produce a moderately severe disease than the sum of the effects of HbS and HbC disease. This is because the presence of HbC enhances the cellular dehydration of...