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Background: Antidepressant-like effects of the crude extract of Mallotus oppositifolius (MOE) have been previously demonstrated. However, to overcome the limitations of crude extracts as medicines, we produced an immediate-release formulation of MOE (MOE-IR) and tested its efficacy.

Methods: Using the wet granulation method, MOE was formulated into immediate-release dosage forms (MOE-IR F₁ and F₂, 10, 30, 100 mg) and flow properties were assessed with bulk density, tapped density, Carr's index, Hausner's ratio, and the angle of repose. In vitro dissolution and antioxidant studies were conducted. Murine unpredictable chronic mild stress and sucrose preference tests (UCMS-SPTs) assessed the antidepressant-like effect. Except for the vehicle nonstressed (VEH-NS) group, mice were subjected to the UCMS for 7 weeks while receiving normal saline (VEH-S, 10 mL/kg; p.o.), MOE-IR (10, 30, and 100 mg/kg; p.o.), or fluoxetine (FLX 20 mg/kg; p.o.) daily for 5 weeks. The weight of mice and sucrose consumption (test for anhedonia) were monitored, after which forced swim test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), and open field test (OFT) were conducted following treatment termination. Plasma corticosterone concentration was assessed using ELISA, and brains were harvested for Golgi-Cox staining.

Results: MOE-IR F₁ (10 mg) exhibited the most suitable formulation properties, and the highest release profile in all media, hence, was selected for the proof-of-concept antidepressant study and referred to as MOE-IR. MOE-IR and crude extract demonstrated in vitro antioxidant activity in the DPPH test. MOE-IR just as FLX reversed the stress-induced weight loss, anhedonia as well as decreased immobility time in the FST and TST without affecting locomotor activity. MOE-IR decreased the plasma corticosterone concentration and increased the dentate gyrus (DG) dendritic spine density.

Conclusion: Collectively, MOE-IR demonstrated antidepressant-like that may be associated with antioxidant effects, decreased plasma corticosterone levels, and increased DG dendritic spine density.

Maintaining stable physiological indices is essential in postoperative ICU care, yet the effects of music therapy and aromatherapy on these indices remain limited and inconclusive. This study compared the effects of music therapy and 25% rosemary aromatherapy on ICU patients recovering from surgery. Ninety-two general surgery patients were randomly assigned to four groups: music therapy, aromatherapy, combined therapy (music and aromatherapy), or control. Data included demographic information and physiological indices. Music therapy involved 30 min of instrumental music; the aromatherapy group received 25% rosemary oil; the combination therapy group received both; the control group received a placebo aroma and turned off the headphones. Analysis with SPSS-18 showed that combination therapy and aromatherapy significantly reduced respiratory rate. Only the combination therapy group showed a notable increase in oxygen saturation. Aromatherapy also significantly decreased pulse rate, while neither music therapy nor control had significant effects on respiratory rate. No group showed significant changes in blood pressure. These noninvasive, cost-effective interventions are recommended for ICU care.

Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT): IRCT20100913004736N27.

The combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in drug discovery has significantly transformed traditional pharmaceutical research by enabling data-driven decision-making, accelerating the identification of hits, and improving the efficiency of lead optimization. This review provides a comprehensive overview of AI/ML models, including supervised, unsupervised, semisupervised, deep learning, and reinforcement learning approaches and their applications across various stages of drug development, from target identification and virtual screening to de novo molecule design and ADME/T prediction. We highlight widely used ML algorithms, performance evaluation metrics, and AI-driven tools that have become instrumental in modern drug discovery pipelines. Despite rapid advancements, challenges such as limited data availability, heterogeneity, bias, lack of model interpretability, reproducibility concerns, clinical translational barriers, and regulatory uncertainties continue to hinder full-scale adoption. The review also discusses emerging trends, including explainable AI, federated learning, and integration with high-throughput experimental platforms, which offer promising directions for overcoming current limitations. Emphasis is placed on the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to bridge computational predictions with experimental validation, ensuring robust, ethical, and clinically translatable AI applications in drug development.

Ko-klan is a traditional Thai herbal medicine that is officially recognized for treating muscle pain; however, its mechanism of action has not been characterized. This study investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of three Ko-klan remedy formulations and identified potential bioactive markers using molecular docking. Ko-klan formulations were extracted using decoction, maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), with ethanol as the solvent. Phytochemical analyses were performed to determine the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), with antioxidant activity evaluated using the DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. The anti-inflammatory effects were assessed by gene expression analysis (TNF-α, iNOS, COX-2, and IL-1β) and inhibition of nitric oxide production, and lipoxygenase (LOX) activity. LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS identified 175 compounds, with molecular docking performed against 5-LOX. Formulation-3 exhibited notable bioactivity, with a TPC of up to 1.08 g GAE/g and a TFC of 7.30 mg QE/g, and IC₅₀ values of 51.8 μg/mL for DPPH and 92.3 μg/mL for ABTS assays, 7 to 10 fold than the Trolox standard. Anti-inflammatory activity showed comparable inhibition of nitric oxide production to the L-NAME standard and effective LOX inhibition at 62.7 μg/mL. The MAE-based Ko-klan remedy extract significantly suppressed LPS-induced inflammatory gene expression, comparable to dexamethasone. Molecular docking showed that caffeoyl quinic acid and brazilin were potent 5-LOX inhibitors with binding energies of -10.14 and -10.24 kcal/mol, respectively. Results demonstrate that Ko-klan remedies, particularly formulation-3, possessed significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, with phytochemical richness, effective suppression of inflammatory mediators, and potential bioactive markers such as caffeoyl quinic acid and brazilin, thereby supporting their traditional use and providing a scientific basis for further therapeutic development.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a critical legume for food security and soil fertility in Ethiopia, yet its productivity remains suboptimal due to multiple constraints, including poor agronomic practices, among which suboptimal plant spacing contributes to yield gaps. Farmers often use arbitrary spacing, leading to inconsistent yields, while the performance of improved varieties such as "Gora" and "Moti" under varying densities is underexplored in regions such as Guduru. This study aimed to (1) evaluate growth and yield responses of faba bean varieties to intrarow spacing; (2) identify optimal spacing for yield maximization; and (3) assess variety × spacing interactions. A factorial experiment (3 varieties × 4 spacings: 5, 10, 15, 20 cm) was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications during the 2023-2024 cropping season in Guduru, Ethiopia. Data on phenology, growth, yield components, and economic returns were analyzed. Two-way ANOVA was performed using GenStat 15, with significant differences separated by Fisher's LSD test (p < 0.05). "Gora" and "Moti" outperformed the local variety in yield (3643 and 3189 kg ha^-1, respectively) and harvest index (43% and 40%). Wider spacing (20 cm) enhanced individual plant performance (e.g., 45.3 seeds plant^-1 for "Gora"), but 10 cm spacing optimized population-level yield (3080 kg ha^-1) and economic returns (MRR > 100%). Moderate intrarow spacing (10 cm) with improved varieties ("Gora") maximizes yield and profitability in faba bean production. Future studies should explore genotype-specific spacing under diverse agroecologies and integrate modern agronomic practices such as precision planting to further enhance productivity.

Background: This study uses an ELISA-based cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigen estimation method to identify IgG and IgM antibodies in mothers' breast milk. In Pakistan, the prevalence of CMV is very high in the general population, especially in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), where it is at its worst due to poor healthcare practices, including poor sanitation, sterilization, suboptimal medicinal doses, and miscommunication between healthcare providers and patients, contributing to higher mortality rates. The high CMV prevalence has significant implication in infants including congenital infection and in mothers, health complications such as fatigue, flue, and jaundice. The study aims to determine the viral load of the CMV in breastfeeding women in KPK, Pakistan.

Methods: Breast milk samples were collected in sterilized vacutainers from feeding mothers visiting hospitals in KPK. Each woman was asked about CMV infection through a background questionnaire. Milk samples were tested for CMV-specific immunoglobulin IgG and IgM antibodies.

Results: A total of 406 breast milk samples from breastfeeding women in the research area were randomly analyzed. By using ELISA, 184 of them were found to have IgG positivity, and 49 had IgM positivity. These positive women were further segregated according to their education, age, socioeconomic status, place of residence, history of jaundice, parity, and miscarriage.

Conclusions: It was discovered that nursing women face the same risk of infection, regardless of their age. The awareness of CMV appears to improve with education. However, the population's poor economic standing was a primary contributing factor to CMV infections. Additionally, in the research location, CMV was more common in countryside rural areas compared to metropolitan. ELISA was extremely sensitive for identifying antibody and antigen reactivity in individuals with recurrent and primary CMV infections.

Marek's disease caused by Marek's disease virus (MDV) serotype 1 is an economically important neoplastic disease of poultry. Diagnosis of this disease is usually based on clinical signs, postmortem lesions, and diagnostic tests like cytology, histopathology, and molecular-based methods. However, there might be the problem of inaccurate diagnosis in Nigeria. Employment of gross pathology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with sequence analysis provides a reliable approach to arrive at precise confirmatory diagnosis of the disease. Therefore, visceral organs including liver, proventriculus intestine, spleen, and heart samples were collected at postmortem examinations from two pullets suspected of having Marek's disease. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry, PCR amplification of a 576 bp fragment of the MDV glycoprotein L (gL) gene, and sequence analysis were employed in this diagnostic approach. Histopathological examinations of the liver, heart and proventriculus showed neoplastic pleomorphic cellular infiltration comprising lymphoblasts, lymphocytes, macrophages, and heterophils which correspond with the pathology of Marek's disease. Liver samples were positive for the virus using PCR. Sequence analysis based on phylogenetic tree reconstruction revealed the positive MDV. MDV sequences from this study clustered with MDV serotype 1 sequences retrieved from the GenBank. This approach provides a reliable and precise diagnosis of Marek's disease in chickens which is applicable to other avian diseases.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/sci5/4311313.].

There has been a recent rise in the utilization of complementary herbal medicines as a means to discover efficacious alternative treatments that mitigate the negative consequences of pharmaceuticals. Colocasia affinis Schott is a member of the Araceae family, with various components such as the root, fruit, and leaves utilized for medicinal purposes. This study aims to explore the in vitro phytochemical, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and thrombolytic properties of the ethanolic extract obtained from the leaves of C. affinis (EECA) using an experimental approach. The extract derived from EECA revealed the presence of secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, saponins, carbohydrates, amides, phenols, and reducing sugars, and demonstrated remarkable antioxidant activity in the DPPH scavenging assay (IC₅₀ = 60.36 μg/mL). Secondly, five clinical isolates of bacteria, namely, Escherichia coli, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Vibrio cholerae, were employed to examine the antimicrobial properties of EECA. In the context of thrombolytic activity, EECA demonstrated a noteworthy level of clot lysis (39.086 ± 0.570% and 23.111 ± 0.398%) at doses of 500 and 250 μg/mL, respectively, when compared to streptokinase. Furthermore, EECA exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory effect, as evidenced by the inhibition of protein denaturation (60.24 ± 1.49, 43.81 ± 1.76, and 30.83 ± 2.57) across concentration ranges of 500, 250, and 125 μg/mL. The findings indicated the presence of phytochemicals and notable free radical scavenging activity. EECA exhibited a broad range of antimicrobial activity, along with notable thrombolytic and anti-inflammatory effects. This investigation presents empirical evidence that supports the application of EECA in traditional medicine.

This scoping review aims to synthesize the current clinical evidence on probiotics used in tuberculosis (TB). Systematic literature searches were conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases to identify all studies using probiotics in TB. A total of six studies conducted between 2016 and 2023 were found and included in this review. All the studies incorporated probiotics supplementation not beyond the intensive phase of antitubercular therapy (ATT), ranging from three to eight weeks. Five out of six included studies focused on pulmonary TB. Probiotics alleviate adverse gastrointestinal and hepatic drug reactions, modulate gut microbiota, enhance barrier function, and influence immune responses. Therefore, probiotics are a potential adjunct therapy during the intensive phase of ATT. However, their long-term effects remain unexplored, highlighting the future research scope for well-designed longitudinal studies to explore their sustained benefits.