Hyeon-Joong Kim has completed his bachelor\'s degree from Konkuk University and got a veterinary medical license at the age of 24 years. He studies at Konkuk University College of Veterinary Medicine as a Ph.D candidate from 2011. He is the writer of science webzine, Science-on, and he has published 6 papers in reputed journals.

Gintonin is a novel ginseng-derived lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor ligand. Oral administration of gintonin ameliorates learning and memory dysfunctions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) animal models. The brain cholinergic system plays a key role in cognitive functions. The brains of AD patients show a reduction in acetylcholine concentration caused by cholinergic system impairments. However, little is known about the role of LPA in the cholinergic system. In this study, we used gintonin to investigate the effect of LPA receptor activation on the cholinergic system in vitro and in vivo using AD animal models. Gintonin induced [Ca2+]i transient in cultured mouse hippocampal neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Gintonin-mediated [Ca2+]i transients were linked to stimulation of acetylcholine release through LPA receptor activation. Oral administration of gintonin (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg•day, 3 weeks) significantly attenuated scopolamine-induced memory impairment. Oral !rn administration of gintonin (25 or 50 mg/kg, 2 weeks) also significantly attenuated amyloid-β protein (Aβ)-induced cholinergic dysfunctions, such as decreased acetylcholine concentration, decreased choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and immunoreactivity, and increased acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity. In a transgenic AD mouse model, long-term oral administration of gintonin (25 or 50 mg/kg, 3 months) also attenuated AD-related cholinergic impairments, such as decreased acetylcholine concentration, decreased ChAT activity and immunoreactivity, and increased AChE activity. In this study, we showed that activation of G protein-coupled LPA receptors by gintonin is coupled to the regulation of cholinergic functions. Furthermore, this study showed that gintonin could be a novel agent for the restoration of cholinergic system damages due to Aβ and could be utilized for AD prevention or therapy.rn

Hypertension is considered one of the world\'s most important health problems and a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The ultimate goal of antihypertensive therapy is to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.rnIn the treatment of hypertension, therapy are maintained with different group of drugs such as, Diuretics, B-Blockers, CCBs, ARBs and ACEIs were in the form of mono or combination. One of the first group in the treatment of hypertension that comes to mind is diuretics.rnOne of the main problems encountered in the continued treatment with diuretics is imbalance of electrolytes, especially the fall of the Na and K levels. The protection of the electrolyte level is important for the healthy functioning of the cardiovascular system. rn

Burak DiK begined his PhD education at the age of 23 years from Selcuk University and he will complete PhD education in this year. He works researcher assistant in Selcuk University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He has published more than 13 papers in reputed journals and he has been working some repute project

The aim of this research was to determine the effect of Corynebacterium cutis lysate on cytokine levels including hemogram parameters in sheep. In the research, 10 male yearling Merino sheep was used. Recommended dose (8 mg, 0.4 mL) of Corynebacterium cutis lysate (Ultra-corn® Inj.) was administered subcutaneously at a single dose to each animal. Before (0 hour, control) and after the treatment, blood samples were obtained from v. jugularis at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. Concentrations of serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 were measured with ELISA reader, while hemogram values (white blood cell, red blood cell, platelet, hematocrit, hemoglobin) were determined with hemocell counter. Corynebacterium cutis lysate caused fluctuations on the cytokine levels (P>0.05) and did no effect the hemogram parameters. In conclusion, it may be stated that treatment of Corynebacterium cutis lysate has no statistically significance effect on the cytokine levels, and detailed researches are need to determine the effect of Corynebacterium cutis lysate on the passive immunity

Irmak DiK begined her PhD education at the age of 23 years from Selcuk University and she will complete PhD education in next year. She works researcher assistant in Selcuk University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. She has published more than 8 papers in reputed journals and she has been working some project. \r\n

Chemical extract of Nerium oleander (NO) is identified as in vitro antibacterial and antifungal, while there is not any study about antiviral effect of NO. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro effect of NO distillate (NOD) on different viruses [(Bovine Herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1), Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1), and Bovine Adenovirus-1 (BAV-1)]. Lyophilized NOD was dissolved at concentration of 10 mg/mL with distillated water and filtered. Vero and MDBK cells were grown at 37oC in DMEM containing 10% FCS, 10 mg/mL of streptomycin, 10000 IU/mL penicillin G, nystatin 1250 IU/mL. 50 µL of NOD was treated with 50 µL 100 TCID50 diluted BHV-1, HSV-1 and BAV-1 in 96-well plates. After treatments, Vero and MDBK cells (3x105/mL) were added to wells at 4th, 8th, 12th, 24th and 36th, respectively. Other wells were evaluated as cell control (CC), virus control (VC) and NOD control. Plate was incubated in 5% CO2 incubator at 72 h after cells were seeded. All wells were examined daily on an inverted microscope. In NOD control and CC were not observed any CPE, whereas CPE was determined in all of BHV-1, HSV-1, and BAV-1 controls. In conclusion, it may be stated that NOD has antiviral activity to BHV-1 and BAV-1. Although NOD has no antiviral activity against to HSV-1 with this method, methalonic extract of Nerium indicum has antiviral activity against to herpes simplex viruses. However, different viruses or methods should be investigated for determine antiviral effect of NOD.

Ph.D. Student Graduated in Pharmacy at Complutense University (Madrid) with Best Academic Record Award at the Faculty of Pharmacy and specialized afterwards in the field of Pharmaceutical Technology. Researcher in the project “Design of novel brain-targeted\r\nanticancer-loaded nanocarriers to handle most troublesome brain tumors” at the\r\nPharmaceutical Technology Department.\r\nResearcher in Institute of Industrial Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.\r\nPre-doctoral fellow granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture (FPU13/02325).\r\n

Since recently, many authors in the field of nanomedicine seem to have put the focus on lipid nanocapsules (LNC), nanocarriers consisting of an oily core provided with a surfactant shell. Both their nanometric size and their lipophilic nature may potentially play a key role to enable intravenous administration of lipophilic drug substances.\r\nGiven the fact that intravenous administration allows release times to be prolonged much longer than with oral administration, the goal to be pursued by means of the present study is to evaluate the aptness of these novel nanocarriers to extend drug release over time, taking cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-psychotropic cannabinoid, as a model of lipophilic drug substance to encapsulate.\r\nTo that aim, 50 nm-sized CBD-loaded LNCs were developed according to an expanded phase inversion method. Thermostability of the drug substance under the heating conditions required by the mentioned solvent-free technique and the encapsulation efficiency of the drug-loaded nanocarriers were determined. So as to test the feasibility of LNC to serve as controlled drug delivery systems of CBD, in vitro release kinetics assays were performed by a dialysis method, since no centrifugation procedure has proven to date successful in separating nanoparticles from an aqueous medium. Phosphate buffer solution pH 7,4 added with polysorbate 80 was chosen as release medium in order to mimic physiological conditions with the highest accuracy and to ensure sink conditions by enhancing CBD solubility in water. Our results revealed that LNC efficiently extend CBD release at least over fifteen days under the assayed conditions.\r\n

This work presents the synthesis of a novel poly(magnesium acrylate) hydrogel called PAMgA, developed for oral drug delivery systems. The hydrogel has a concentration of 5 mM of cross-linker agent, ammonium persulfate (PSA), that confers long segments between linking points in magnesium acrylate monomer chains (AMgA). The synthesis of the hydrogel is carried out in two stages:\r\n Synthesis of the magnesium acrylate monomers (AMgA)\r\n Polymerization reaction to obtain the hydrogel PAMgA

Paloma Flórez Borges has a Master’s degree in Research, Control and Development of Medicinal Products (University of Barcelona, UB) and currently is a PhD student at the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology (UB) and a production technician responsible for the liquids manufacturing section at Reig Jofré Group (Spain). Has worked as associate professor (2010-2011) at the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology at UB. Has published two research articles.

Oral lyophilisates are solid preparations intended either to be placed in the mouth or to be dispersed (or dissolved) in water before administration. They are obtained by freeze-drying (lyophilisation), involving division into single doses, freezing, sublimation and drying of usually aqueous, liquid or semi-solid preparations. They combine the advantages of both solid and liquid forms, particularly useful in the case of patients with dysphagia.\r\nThe presence of metastable state and the glass transition temperature (Tg) are two important aspects when formulating a freeze drying product. Therefore, thermal analysis studies (differential scanning calorimetry, DSC) were performed in order to determine Tg for each excipient separately, the active substance used as model and also the combinations among them. \r\nWe have studied two common excipients used in freeze drying formulations: the saccharide mannitol (MNT) - in concentrations from 2-7% - and the water-soluble polymer polyvynilpirrolidone (PVP) - in concentrations from 1-5%. \r\nOnly MNT presented metastable state. Three out of nine formulas studied (with the active substance) did not presented metastable state, with a Tg ranging from -27 to -32ºC. It was also seen that increasing the concentration of PVP resulted in a slight decreased of Tg.\r\n

Ewelina Juszczyk completed her pharmaceutical studies from Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland) at the age of 25 years. She has started her PhD studies at the same university and do research in a cooperation with University of Barcelona (Spain). She has already participated in some conferences, where gained some awards presenting results of her work

One of the methods used to determine water content is Karl-Fischer titration. The aim of this work was to determine the water content of particular matrix tablet’s layer after hydration by Karl-Fischer method. The tablets contained sodium alginate.\r\nIn order to prepare the samples, a special device (that allow hydrating and subsequent cutting the layers) has been invented. The device contains a holder (to place a tablet) and a micrometric screw wchich allows moving up the tablet in the holder to the reguired height. The device with a tablet inside is placed in a beaker filled with water heated up to 37°C . After reaching a required timepoint (1; 2; 3 or 4 hours), the device is removed from the beaker. Each layer is cut with a spatula (slice of 1 mm) and weighted on analytical weight. After cutting a layer, a tablet is moved 1 mm up with a micrometric screw. In such a way 5 layers (of 1 mm each) are obtained. The samples are put into flasks and filled with metanol.Water content of the samples is determined by Karl-Fischer method.\r\nThe results show the water migrates into the lower parts of the tablet during hydration, as it was detected both in external and internal layers at each timepoint. What is more, water content decreases according to the distance from the tablet surface. Additionally, each layer (besides the external one) gets more water upon longer hydration.\r\nThe presented method is the first that allows determination of water content in any layer of the hydrated matrix tablet.