Natural cellulose, a sustainable bioresource, is highly abundant in nature. Cellulosic materials, particularly those that explore and employ such materials for industrial use, have recently attracted significant global attention in the field of material science because of the unique properties of cellulose. The hydroxyl groups enable the formation of intra- and inter-molecular hydrogen bonding and the arrangement of cellulose chains in a highly ordered crystalline zone, with the remaining disordered structure referred to as an amorphous region. The crystalline areas of cellulose are well-known as cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). In the present study, we extracted CNCs from pure cellulose isolated from waste jute fibers by sulfuric acid hydrolysis, followed by characterization. Pure cellulose was isolated from jute fibers by treating with sodium hydroxide (20% w/w) and anthraquinone (0.5%) solution at 170 °C for 2 h, followed by bleaching with chlorine dioxide and hydrogen peroxide solution. CNCs were isolated from pure cellulose by treating with different concentrations (58% to 62%) of sulfuric acid at different time intervals (20 min to 45 min). The FTIR study of the CNCs reveals no peak at 1738 cm⁻¹, which confirms the absence of hemicellulose in the samples. The CNCs obtained after 45 min of acid hydrolysis are rod-shaped, having an average length of 800 ± 100 nm and width of 55 ± 10 nm, with a high crystallinity index (90%). Zeta potential significantly increased due to the attachment of SO₄²⁻ ions on the surface of CNC from −1.0 mV to about −30 mV, with the increment of the reaction time from 20 min to 45 min, which proved the higher stability of CNC suspension. Crystallinity increased from 80% to 90% when the reaction time was increased from 20 to 45 min, respectively, while a crystallite size from 2.705 to 4.56 nm was obtained with an increment of the acid concentration. Acid hydrolysis enhanced crystallinity but attenuated the temperature corresponding to major decomposition (Tmax) at 260 °C and the beginning of degradation (Ti) at 200 °C due to the attachment of SO₄²⁻ ions on the surface, which decreased the thermal stability of CNC. The second degradation at 360 °C indicated the stable crystal structure of CNC. The endothermic peak at 255 °C in the DTA study provided evidence of sulfated nanocrystal decomposition and the recrystallization of cellulose I to cellulose II, the most stable structure among the other four celluloses. The proposed easy-to-reproduce method can successfully and efficiently produce CNCs from waste jute fibers in a straightforward way.

Background: The Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) was the first to be introduced in Bangladesh to fight the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. As this vaccine had shown some side-effects in its clinical trial, we aimed to conduct a study assessing short-term adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) in Bangladesh. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on social and electronic media platforms by delivering an online questionnaire among people who had taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The collected data were then analysed to evaluate various parameters related to the AEFIs of the respondents. Results: A total of 626 responses were collected. Of these, 623 were selected based on complete answers and used for the analysis. Most of the respondents were between 30–60 years of age, and 40.4% were female. We found that a total of 8.5% of the total respondents had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Our survey revealed that out of 623 volunteers, 317 reported various side-effects after taking the vaccine, which is about 50.88% of the total participants. The majority of participants (37.07%, 231/623) reported swelling and pain at the injection site and fever (25.84%, 162/623); these were some of the common localized and generalized symptoms after the COVID-19 vaccine administration. Conclusion: The side-effects reported after receiving the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) are similar to those reported in clinical trials, demonstrating that the vaccines have a safe therapeutic window. Moreover, further research is needed to determine the efficacy of existing vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections or after-infection hospitalization.

Background: The Sinovac and BioNTech vaccines were the first to be introduced in Türkiye to fight the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. As these vaccines had shown some side-effects in its clinical trial, we aimed to conduct a survey study to assess the short-term adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) in Türkiye. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using social and electronic media platforms by delivering a pre-formed and validated online questionnaire among people who had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This survey study focused on mass populations from different regions in Türkiye. A total of 603 responses were collected. Among these, 602 were selected based on complete answers and used for the assessment. The collected data were then analyzed to evaluate the various parameters related to the AEFIs of the respondents. Results: Among the total 602 participants, 20.8% were male, and 78.7% were female, actively answering all of the constructive questions. Most of the respondents were between 18–30 years of age. We found that a total of 23.3% of the total respondents had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Our survey revealed that out of 602 volunteers, the rate of experiencing physical discomfort was higher in participants who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at all three doses than in those who had received the Sinovac vaccine. When all vaccine types were examined, the most common side effect was pain at the injection site, reported by 75.19% participants. When the side effects were compared according to vaccine types, there was a significant difference only in terms of fever. Fever rates in those who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (20.96%) were found to be significantly higher than those who had received the Sinovac vaccine (8%). Conclusions: The studied vaccines showed minor side effects and there was no significant difference between the vaccines in terms of other side effects. Moreover, further research is needed to determine the efficacy of the existing vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections or after-infection hospitalization.

Background: Currently, limited number of therapeutic options are available to treat Diabetes mellitus, and to find a potential candidate, laboratory work takes time and also needs animal studies. So, the aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of some natural phytocompounds with the aid of molecular docking, bioinformatics and in silico drug design approaches. Method: Two proteins (Human CYP3A4 linked to metformin and Human dipeptidyl peptidase-IV) were selected and molecular docking studies were conducted using Pymol, AutoDock Vina, PyRx, and Discovery Studio. Different important pharmacokinetic parameters like ADME and toxicity data were obtained from online databases SwissADME and pkCSM program. Results: It was found that human dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (PDB ID: 4A5S) has exhibited a maximal affinity of -9.7 Kcal/mol for bryonolic acid and hesperidin, but only -6.7 kcal/mol for metformin hydrochloride. Similarly, the highest affinity of hesperidin for human CYP3A4 bound to metformin (PDB ID: 5G5J) is -10.7 Kcal/mol compared to metformin hydrochlor (-6.3 Kcal/mol). Besides, all the compounds have been documented outstanding ADMET profile, and accepted by drug-likeness or Lipinski rule. Conclusions: The present study suggested that these compounds can be further investigated in vitro and in vivo to establish them as lead compounds against Diabetes mellitus..

Obesity, a chronic disorder of global prevalence, is associated with major health problems leading to mortality. Because of the presence of diverse types of bioactive molecules in plants, attention is being concentrated on the exploration of plant-based drugs to treat the disease. Inhibition of pancreatic lipase by the natural compounds in plants is one of the popular mechanisms for the management of obesity. The current study investigates the mechanism of the anti-obesity effect of the ethanol extract of seeds of Syzygium cumini seeds and roots of Dioscoria bulbifera in fatty diet-induced obese white albino Wister rats (age 8-9 weeks, average weight 110±8 gm). The total phenolic substances present in the ethanol extract of S. cumini was 103.79±3.45 and that of and D. bulbifera was 69.31 ± 2.99 mg GAE/g of dry extract. Correlating the phenolic contents, we also got the DPPH antioxidant activity of the plant extracts. The IC50 value of ethanol extract of S. cumini, D. bulbifera and standard Butyrated hydroxyl toluene (BHT) was found to be 93.03±6.23, 177.13±7.52, and 10.84±0.92 µg/mL, respectively. The body weight of fatty diet-induced rats was significantly reduced by S. cumini, D. bulbifera ethanol extract with a dose of 500 mg/kg bw during 12 weeks of treatment. The anti-obesity effect of the plant extracts is comparable to that of Orlistat with a dose of 10 mg/kg bw. The Orlistat at a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml could be able to inhibit 95.71% activity of Porcine pancreatic lipase while the ethanol extract of S. cumini, D. bulbifera with a concentration of 1.0 mg/ml showed 60.84% and 54.59% of anti-lipase activity. Moreover, the increased TG, LDL and cholesterol in HFD induced rats were significantly reduced by the plant extract as well as Orlistat. Molecular Docking study reveals that quercetin and isoquercetin bind with the rat lipase enzyme at the same site as that of orlistat with high affinity. Taken together, we can conclude that the ethanol extracts of causes anti-obesity effect by inhibiting the pancreatic lipase enzyme.

Ketorolac tromethamine and rabeprazole sodium are drugs that are used frequently, and certain clinical conditions warrant their concomitant use. Ketorolac has been known to engage in physical interactions with several drugs that share certain structural features with rabeprazole, and therefore their degree of chemical association was assayed. 0.05 mM solutions of the two drugs were prepared with buffer solutions of pH 1.4, 2.4, and 7.4. Conductometric titrations were conducted for each. The two drugs were observed to form chemical associations with each other on a nearly 1:1 basis in each buffer solution. Sharp breaks in all cases were recorded. Ketorolac has previously been reported to form intermolecular interactions with drug moieties containing amine groups with non-engaging lone-pair electrons, and this was postulated to be the mechanism of action for the interaction. As certain clinical conditions can warrant the concomitant use of these two drugs, additional care must be taken in such cases to avoid unfavorable clinical complications. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 24(1): 87-94, 2025 (June)