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.

This study was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of Cucumis sativus Linn. (Family: Cucurbitaceae) leaves. The methanolic extract of C. sativus leaves (MCS) was investigated for antiinflammatory activities in Long Evans rat model at two different doses of 150 and 250 mg/kg body weight and the effects were compared with the standard, indomethacin (10 mg/kg body weight). It exhibited highest antiinflammatory activity at the dose 250 mg/kg. In the formalin test, the extract at both doses (150 and 250 mg/kg body weight) significantly prevented the increase in volume of paw edema (P<0.05 and P<0.001). In carrageenan-induced paw edema test the MCS significantly (P≤0.001) reduced inflammation by 57.35 % (150 mg/kg body weight) and 72.06% (250 mg/kg body weight) in comparison to the standard drug, indomethacin (79.41%) at the end of 5h. MCS was also screened for DPPH scavenging activity, total antioxidant capacity, reducing ability as well as total phenolics content to assess its antioxidant potential. Total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity of MCS were found to be 262.31 mg/g equivalent of gallic acid and 267.2 mg/g equivalent of ascorbic acid, respectively. The IC 50 of free radical scavenging of DPPH was 13.06 μg/ml while that of standard ascorbic acid was 13.17 μg/ml. The reducing power of MCS was found to be concentration dependent.

A rapid and highly sensitive reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for quantitative estimation of omeprazole in pharmaceutical preparations. The method has been validated according to FDA and USP guidelines with respect to accuracy, precision, specificity and linearity. The method was developed by using a gradient condition of mobile phase comprising 90% aqueous acetonitrile to 100% acetonitrile for 10 minutes at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min over C-18 (ODS, 250 x 4.6 mm) column at ambient temperature. More than 97% recovery demonstrated the accuracy of the protocol. Intra-day and inter-day precision studies of the new method were less than the maximum allowable limit (RSD% ≤ 2.0 according to FDA). The method showed linear response with correlation coefficient (r 2 ) value of 0.998. Therefore, it was found to be accurate, reproducible, sensitive and less time consuming and can be successfully applied for the assay of omeprazole formulations.

People in Bangladeshi village area have long practice to take plant-based products for their basic health care. Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken (Family: Sapindaceae) is an important folk medicine in Bangladesh, India that has been used to cure a wide variety of human ailments. Here, the crude methanol extract of S. oleosa leaf (MESOL) and its various solvent (Hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, aqueous) fractions were evaluated to determine the level of biological activities by both In vitro and in vivo approaches. The crude methanol extract along with its different solvent fractions was investigated for antioxidant activity by measuring total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavenging assay. Cytotoxic activity was performed by brine shrimp lethality bioassay method. The blood clot lysis ability was screened using aspirin as standard. In vitro anti-inflammatory test was performed by RBC membrane stabilizing activity. Beside In vitro analysis, tail immersion procedure and formalin-induced writhing test were carried out to evaluate the analgesic activity of the plant extract in mice. In addition, the anti-diarrheal activity was determined by castor oil-induced diarrheal model in mice. The ethyl acetate fraction of S. oleosa showed prominent antioxidant activity by scavenging DPPH radical with an IC50 value of 9.46 μg/ml, possibly due to its highest phenol content (103.23 mg of GAE/g of plant extract). The crude methanol extract revealed significant cytotoxicity towards brine shrimp with an LC50 value of 16.79 μg/ml. The dichloromethane fraction showed moderate blood clot lysis ability (28.93% clot lysis) while the crude methanol extract of S. oleosa leaf produced the highest 74.62% inhibition of hemolysis that was induced by hypotonic solution. During in vivo assay, the crude methanol extract of S. oleosa leaf produced significant (p<0.05) and dose-dependent pain response and anti-diarrheal effect in mice. The present study revealed that Schleichera oleosa possesses significant pharmacological activities. However, additional studies are compulsory to discover the mechanism of action of this plant extract.

Background. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most notable health dilemmas. Analyzing plants for new antidiabetic remedies has become an impressive territory for life science researchers. Gynura procumbens has long been used to treat diabetes. Thus, we strived to ascertain the hypoglycemic potentiality of extract of leaves of G. procumbens by in vivo and in silico approaches. Methods. Fresh leaves of G. procumbens were collected and shade-dried to prepare ethanolic extracts to evaluate pharmacological parameters. Diabetes was induced in rats via injecting alloxan through the intraperitoneal route at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight. Humalyzer 3000 was used to perform a biochemical assay of collected samples from rats. Anti-hyperglycemic activity study along with overdose toxicity test was performed. The pharmacological activity of this plant was also evaluated through a molecular docking study. This in silico study investigated the binding affinity of natural ligands from G. procumbens against glycoside hydrolase enzymes. Results. We detected a peak plasma concentration of G. procumbens at 3 hours 45 minutes that is roughly similar to the peak plasma concentration of metformin. Again, in OGTT and anti-hyperglycemic tests, it has been ascertained that both plant extract and metformin can exert significant P < 0.05 and highly significant P < 0.01 hypoglycemic activity in a dose-dependent manner. Metformin exhibited better therapeutic efficacy than that of plant extract, but it possessed null statistical significance. Also, our safety profile expressed that, similar to metformin, the plant extract can restore the disturbed pathological state in a dose-oriented approach with a wide safety margin. In silico study also validated the potentialities of natural constituents of G. procumbens. Conclusion. This study suggested that G. procumbens can be considered as potential antidiabetic plant. Robust and meticulous investigation regarding plant chemistry and pharmacology in the future may bring about a new dimension that will aid in discovering antidiabetic drugs from this plant in the diabetes management system.