Purpose: In 2011, France and Germany banned pioglitazone due to a concomitant risk for bladder ca... more Purpose: In 2011, France and Germany banned pioglitazone due to a concomitant risk for bladder cancer. There has been continued debate about this topic. Therefore, we present a detailed analysis of data from individual case safety reports of pioglitazone use (PG-ICSRs) associated with bladder cancer reported worldwide and in India. Methods: Data from PG-ICSRs reported by the National Coordination Centre's Pharmacovigilance Programme of India, as well as over 131 World Health Organization member countries in the Uppsala Monitoring Centre's VigiLyze pharmacovigilance database system, from January 1, 1967, to March 4, 2018, were collected. Comparisons between data from global and Indian PG-ICSRs were made by applying filters such as country, bladder cancer, age group, gender, time period, information component, and data mining. Findings: Among the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reported with pioglitazone use worldwide, bladder cancer and related terms were the most highly reported (43%). The most frequently co-reported concurrently used drug was metformin, which was included in 25% and 40% of overall and bladder cancerespecific PG-ICSRs, respectively. Suspected bladder cancerespecific pioglitazone-related reactions were reported in 27 countries, with 8548 serious and 1858 fatal cases and an information components value of 9.15. The Americas had the highest relative percentage of suspected bladder cancer in PG-ICSRs (53%), while the prevalence was much lower in India (2%). In both cohorts, men over the age of 45 years constituted the most highly reported population. Implications: India has a very low prevalence of reported overall and bladder cancerespecific pioglitazone-related ADRs compared to Europe and the Americas. Possible explanations for the difference in reporting rates include variance in genetic makeup, low BC risk factor, pioglitazone prescription at a lower therapeutic dose, greater use of chemopreventive spices in the diet, higher frequency of metformin as a concurrent drug, and underreporting of ADRs.
The benefits of herbal drugs were well understood way back. They have been used for the promotion... more The benefits of herbal drugs were well understood way back. They have been used for the promotion of health and medical purposes - in disease conditions. It is a conventional belief that herbal drugs have no side effects, are cheaper and locally available. Among Indian systems of medicines, herbs/herbal formulations are used to a larger extent. The quality control of the marketed herbs/herbal formulations is important for acquiring optimum therapeutic benefit as well as for expanding global outreach. Therefore, herbal drug standards are important. Reference standards, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Reference Substances especially the botanical reference substances and the phytochemical reference substances are required for comparison of quality of herbal drugs. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has initiated the process of providing Indian Pharmacopoeia Reference Substances to the stakeholders. Therefore, this article provides an overview of the history and the status of herbal drug sta...
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by int... more Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular Aβ deposition. Growing experimental evidence indicate diverse biological effects of vitamin D including antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular benefits. However, the underlying neuroprotective mechanism of vitamin D is still largely elusive. Therefore, the present study was aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of vitamin D on ICV-STZ induced sporadic AD. Our study demonstrated that vitamin D3 pretreatment significantly improved spatial learning and memory functions and effectively mitigated ICV-STZ mediated neuronal oxidative stress, mitochondrial aberrations and improved cholinergic functions. Moreover, vitamin D attenuated hippocampal neuroinflammatory response and reduced neuronal death in cortex and hippocampus. Our findings indicated that prophylactic vitamin D supplementation ameliorated ICV-STZ mediated neurobehavioral alterations, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation thereby improving cholinergic functions and reversed degenerative changes in brain. Thus, our study further provides evidence for its therapeutic supplementation for various neurodegenerative disorders including AD.
The use of tobacco products as dentifrices is still prevalent in various parts of India. Tobacco ... more The use of tobacco products as dentifrices is still prevalent in various parts of India. Tobacco use in dentifrices is a terrible scourge which motivates continued use despite its harmful effects. Indian legislation prohibits the use of nicotine in dentifrices. Nicotine is primarily injurious to people because it is responsible for tobacco addiction and is dependence forming. The present study was motivated by an interest in examining the presence of nicotine in these dentifrices. Our earlier report indicates the presence of nicotine in toothpowders. To further curb the menace of tobacco, our team again analysed the toothpowder brands of previous years and in toothpastes as well. Eight brands of commonly used toothpastes and toothpowders were evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. On the whole, there are a few successes but much remains to be done. Our findings indicated the presence of nicotine in two brands of dant manjans and four brands of toothpastes. Further our fi...
Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry / official journal of the Nitric Oxide Society, 2014
Global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (GCI/R) injury encompasses complex pathophysiological sequal... more Global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (GCI/R) injury encompasses complex pathophysiological sequalae, inducing loss of hippocampal neurons and behavioural deficits. Progressive neuronal death and memory dysfunctions culminate from several different mechanisms like oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation and cholinergic hypofunction. Experimental evidences point to the beneficial effects of cholinomimetic agents such as rivastigmine and galantamine in improving memory outcomes following GCI/R injury. However, the direct implications of muscarinic and nicotinic receptor blockade during global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury have not been investigated. Therefore, we evaluated the relative involvement of muscarinic and nicotinic receptors in spatial/associative memory functions and neuronal damage during global cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury. The outcomes of present study support the idea that preservation of both muscarinic and nicotinic receptor functions is esse...
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2019
Curcumin is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound present in rhizome of Curcuma longa belon... more Curcumin is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound present in rhizome of Curcuma longa belonging to the family zingiberaceae. Growing experimental evidence revealed that curcumin exhibit multitarget biological implications signifying its crucial role in health and disease. The current review highlights the recent progress and mechanisms underlying the wide range of pharmacological effects of curcumin against numerous diseases like neuronal, cardiovascular, metabolic, kidney, endocrine, skin, respiratory, infectious, gastrointestinal diseases and cancer. The ability of curcumin to modulate the functions of multiple signal transductions are linked with attenuation of acute and chronic diseases. Numerous preclinical and clinical studies have revealed that curcumin modulates several molecules in cell signal transduction pathway including PI3K,
Purpose: In 2011, France and Germany banned pioglitazone due to a concomitant risk for bladder ca... more Purpose: In 2011, France and Germany banned pioglitazone due to a concomitant risk for bladder cancer. There has been continued debate about this topic. Therefore, we present a detailed analysis of data from individual case safety reports of pioglitazone use (PG-ICSRs) associated with bladder cancer reported worldwide and in India. Methods: Data from PG-ICSRs reported by the National Coordination Centre's Pharmacovigilance Programme of India, as well as over 131 World Health Organization member countries in the Uppsala Monitoring Centre's VigiLyze pharmacovigilance database system, from January 1, 1967, to March 4, 2018, were collected. Comparisons between data from global and Indian PG-ICSRs were made by applying filters such as country, bladder cancer, age group, gender, time period, information component, and data mining. Findings: Among the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reported with pioglitazone use worldwide, bladder cancer and related terms were the most highly reported (43%). The most frequently co-reported concurrently used drug was metformin, which was included in 25% and 40% of overall and bladder cancerespecific PG-ICSRs, respectively. Suspected bladder cancerespecific pioglitazone-related reactions were reported in 27 countries, with 8548 serious and 1858 fatal cases and an information components value of 9.15. The Americas had the highest relative percentage of suspected bladder cancer in PG-ICSRs (53%), while the prevalence was much lower in India (2%). In both cohorts, men over the age of 45 years constituted the most highly reported population. Implications: India has a very low prevalence of reported overall and bladder cancerespecific pioglitazone-related ADRs compared to Europe and the Americas. Possible explanations for the difference in reporting rates include variance in genetic makeup, low BC risk factor, pioglitazone prescription at a lower therapeutic dose, greater use of chemopreventive spices in the diet, higher frequency of metformin as a concurrent drug, and underreporting of ADRs.
The benefits of herbal drugs were well understood way back. They have been used for the promotion... more The benefits of herbal drugs were well understood way back. They have been used for the promotion of health and medical purposes - in disease conditions. It is a conventional belief that herbal drugs have no side effects, are cheaper and locally available. Among Indian systems of medicines, herbs/herbal formulations are used to a larger extent. The quality control of the marketed herbs/herbal formulations is important for acquiring optimum therapeutic benefit as well as for expanding global outreach. Therefore, herbal drug standards are important. Reference standards, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Reference Substances especially the botanical reference substances and the phytochemical reference substances are required for comparison of quality of herbal drugs. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has initiated the process of providing Indian Pharmacopoeia Reference Substances to the stakeholders. Therefore, this article provides an overview of the history and the status of herbal drug sta...
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by int... more Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular Aβ deposition. Growing experimental evidence indicate diverse biological effects of vitamin D including antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular benefits. However, the underlying neuroprotective mechanism of vitamin D is still largely elusive. Therefore, the present study was aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of vitamin D on ICV-STZ induced sporadic AD. Our study demonstrated that vitamin D3 pretreatment significantly improved spatial learning and memory functions and effectively mitigated ICV-STZ mediated neuronal oxidative stress, mitochondrial aberrations and improved cholinergic functions. Moreover, vitamin D attenuated hippocampal neuroinflammatory response and reduced neuronal death in cortex and hippocampus. Our findings indicated that prophylactic vitamin D supplementation ameliorated ICV-STZ mediated neurobehavioral alterations, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation thereby improving cholinergic functions and reversed degenerative changes in brain. Thus, our study further provides evidence for its therapeutic supplementation for various neurodegenerative disorders including AD.
The use of tobacco products as dentifrices is still prevalent in various parts of India. Tobacco ... more The use of tobacco products as dentifrices is still prevalent in various parts of India. Tobacco use in dentifrices is a terrible scourge which motivates continued use despite its harmful effects. Indian legislation prohibits the use of nicotine in dentifrices. Nicotine is primarily injurious to people because it is responsible for tobacco addiction and is dependence forming. The present study was motivated by an interest in examining the presence of nicotine in these dentifrices. Our earlier report indicates the presence of nicotine in toothpowders. To further curb the menace of tobacco, our team again analysed the toothpowder brands of previous years and in toothpastes as well. Eight brands of commonly used toothpastes and toothpowders were evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. On the whole, there are a few successes but much remains to be done. Our findings indicated the presence of nicotine in two brands of dant manjans and four brands of toothpastes. Further our fi...
Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry / official journal of the Nitric Oxide Society, 2014
Global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (GCI/R) injury encompasses complex pathophysiological sequal... more Global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (GCI/R) injury encompasses complex pathophysiological sequalae, inducing loss of hippocampal neurons and behavioural deficits. Progressive neuronal death and memory dysfunctions culminate from several different mechanisms like oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation and cholinergic hypofunction. Experimental evidences point to the beneficial effects of cholinomimetic agents such as rivastigmine and galantamine in improving memory outcomes following GCI/R injury. However, the direct implications of muscarinic and nicotinic receptor blockade during global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury have not been investigated. Therefore, we evaluated the relative involvement of muscarinic and nicotinic receptors in spatial/associative memory functions and neuronal damage during global cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury. The outcomes of present study support the idea that preservation of both muscarinic and nicotinic receptor functions is esse...
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2019
Curcumin is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound present in rhizome of Curcuma longa belon... more Curcumin is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound present in rhizome of Curcuma longa belonging to the family zingiberaceae. Growing experimental evidence revealed that curcumin exhibit multitarget biological implications signifying its crucial role in health and disease. The current review highlights the recent progress and mechanisms underlying the wide range of pharmacological effects of curcumin against numerous diseases like neuronal, cardiovascular, metabolic, kidney, endocrine, skin, respiratory, infectious, gastrointestinal diseases and cancer. The ability of curcumin to modulate the functions of multiple signal transductions are linked with attenuation of acute and chronic diseases. Numerous preclinical and clinical studies have revealed that curcumin modulates several molecules in cell signal transduction pathway including PI3K,
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Papers by R.s. Ray