---

It has been reported that some of H1 receptor antagonists have important effects on cardiovascular system. Terfenadine as a non-sedative H1 receptor antagonist has an arrhythmogenic activity. In this study we have shown the effects of four antihistamine drugs: terfenadine, loratadine, clemastine and diphenhydramine, on the rate and contractions of isolated rat atria. Terfenadine (1-10 µM) caused a negative chronotropic effect (19.5-80%) and arrhythmia after 10 min. followed by a decrease in the contractile force by (7.5%), and finally after 45 min. asystolia occurred. Loratadine (30-150 µM) decreased the rate of contractions (10-82%) after 10 min. the contractile force of atria was decreased (10-19%) after 20 min. Loratadine did not produce any arrhythmia. Diphenhydramine (5-20 µM) produced bradycardia (14.5-43%) after 20 min and decreased the contractile force (2.5-40%) after 40 min. Clemastine (3-10 µM) produced negative chronotropic and inotropic effect by (11.5-42%) and (10-58%) respectively. These findings indicate that all four drugs caused bradycardia and reduced contractile force, but in the case of terfenadine, it also had arrhythmogenic activity. Loratadine had the least cardiotoxic effect.

---

Introduction: The most important role in postoperative pain management is still played by opioids administered through various modes. In the last few years, there had been an intensive search for alternative mode of opioids administration in pain management. The intranasal mode of opioids administration seems to be attractive alternative. Methods: Sixty boys (aged 0.5-6 yr); ASA physical status I, II were included in this prospective randomized controlled study. Five minutes before awake extubation, patients were allocated to receive intranasal sufentanil (0.7 µg/kg) or normal saline, using a double-blinded study design. Results: Satisfactory analgesia was achieved with sufentanil (p = 0.001) and it was effective during time, after 10 minutes with the least pain scores. Pain scores in 15, 20 and 25 minutes were similar in sufentanil group. None of patients had bradycardia, hypotension or SpO2 <95%. Conclusion: High bioavailability of sufentanil after intranasal administration due to direct entrance of the drug into the systemic circulation and avoidance of the hepatic first- pass effect makes sufentanil as an opioid with rapid onset and limited duration. As its minimal side effects, sufentanil is one of the best choices for postoperative pain control in children. We used 0.7 µg/kg of sufentanil and found satisfactory analgesia accompanying with least side effects.

---

Sodium valproate (SV), an antiepileptic drug has several mechanism of action. It inhibits voltage sensitive Na+ channels and reduces intracellular Na accumulation. These actions are similar to that of both phenytoin and carbamazepine. We have investigated the direct cardiac action of SV and its effects on ouabain-induced arrhythmia in isolated guinea-pig atria. The guinea-pig atrium was dissected out and suspended in modified Krebs solution under physiologic conditions. Drug was added into the solution. The changes in rate and contractions were measured using a physiograph. SV (100-300 &micro; g/ml) caused a dose-dependent decrease in contractile force of isolated guinea-pig atria (9-120%, P<0.001), but not any change on the rate of contractions. Ouabain alone (1.2 &micro; g/ml) produced arrhythmia at 10 min and asystole at 21 min. Pretreatment with SV (200&micro;g/ml) significantly increased time of onset of arrhythmia to 29 min and asystole to more than 38 min. SV may have a direct&nbsp; cardiac effect to reduce the membrane conductance through ion channels which may decrease ouabain toxicity in isolated guinea-pig atria.

---

A hydroethanolic extract (HE-ext) of Bacopa monnieri (BM) was studied for antinociceptive effect in the animal models of acetic-acid-induced writhing test and antilocomotive effect in mice. Standard centrally-acting analgesic, morphine (MP), and peripherally-acting one, diclofenac (Diclo), were also tested along with the extract for comparison. The extract exhibited significant antinociceptive effect ( p < 0.001) in this test, not antagonized by the opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone (NLX) in a fashion similar to diclofenac. This excluded the involvement of opioids in the mediation of antinociceptive response of Bacopa monnieri . Moreover, the BM HE-ext exhibited highly significant antilocomotive ( p < 0.0001) that was also unaffected by naloxone. These results indicate that Bacopa monnieri possesses antinociceptive and antilocomotive effect that may be mediated through non-opioidergic mechanism.

---

Ciprofloxacin (1-cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-1, 4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(1- piperazinyl) - 3-quinoline carboxylic acid, cpfH) is a member of synthetic antibacterial agent widely used in clinical practice for the treatment of various gram negative and positive microorganisms. In concurrent use of ciprofloxacin with cations, they may bind together and result to formation complex by chelating. Formation of chelates ultimately reduces drug adsorption from the gastrointestinal tract. So, it is recommended a minimum of 2-hour interval between usage of ciprofloxacin and compounds containing cations. The aim of this study was to develop a novel amino-coated magnetic nanoparticle Fe 3 O 4 functionalized by ciprofloxacin (AF-Fe 3 O 4 -NP@cpf) to study the amount of cation which adsorbed on ciprofloxacin by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The synthesized AF-Fe 3 O 4 -NP@cpf was characterized using FT-IR, VSM and TEM. Separation of the adsorbed elements from reactive environment was fascinated with the aid of a magnet. The amount of residual metal in the solution was measured by AAS. Moreover our study investigated the effects of various conditions, such as pH, amount of nanoparticle and contact time of drug and metal in complex formation. The optimal condition of Cu(II) and Ni(II) absorbing was obtained.

---

The current study was aimed at exploring the effect of β-glucan (a naturally occurring polysaccharide) on chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced impairment in learning and memory. Briefly, the animal model of CUMS was generated (28 days) followed by assessment of the efficacy of β-glucan (2.5, 5 or 10 mg/kg) on learning and memory in Morris water maze (MWM). Moreover, the weight variation during the course of experiment and post-MWM corticosterone levels was also noted. Our data showed that the β-glucan provided dose dependent protection against deleterious effects of stress on spatial memory, which became statistically significant at 10 mg/kg. In similar manner, it has also antagonized the stress induced weight loss and corticosterone elevation. Taking everything into account, it can be deduced that β-glucan possesses therapeutic potential against stress induced cognitive impairment and this effect can be attributed to its normalizing effect on corticosterone levels. 

---

---