Rediscovering the Therapeutic Potential of Agarwood in the Management of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

The inflammatory response is a central aspect of the human immune system that acts as a defense mechanism to protect the body against infections and injuries. A dysregulated inflammatory response is a major health concern, as it can disrupt homeostasis and lead to a plethora of chronic inflammatory conditions. These chronic inflammatory diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and the need for them to be managed in the long term has become a crucial task to alleviate symptoms and improve patients’ overall quality of life. Although various synthetic anti-inflammatory agents have been developed to date, these medications are associated with several adverse effects that have led to poor therapeutic outcomes. The hunt for novel alternatives to modulate underlying chronic inflammatory processes has unveiled nature to be a plentiful source. One such example is agarwood, which is a valuable resinous wood from the trees of Aquilaria spp. Agarwood has been widely utilized for medicinal purposes since ancient times due to its ability to relieve pain, asthmatic symptoms, and arrest vomiting. In terms of inflammation, the major constituent of agarwood, agarwood oil, has been shown to possess multiple bioactive compounds that can regulate molecular mechanisms of chronic inflammation, thereby producing a multitude of pharmacological functions for treating various inflammatory disorders. As such, agarwood oil presents great potential to be developed as a novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic to overcome the drawbacks of existing therapies and improve treatment outcomes. In this review, we have summarized the current literature on agarwood and its bioactive components and have highlighted the potential roles of agarwood oil in treating various chronic inflammatory diseases.     

Debye temperature and melting point of II‐VI and III‐V semiconductors

In this paper, simple relations are proposed for the calculation of Debye temperature θ_D and melting point T_mof II‐VI and III‐V zincblende semiconductors. Six relations are proposed to calculate the value of θ_D. Out of these six relations, two are based on plasmon energy data and the others on molecular weight, melting point, ionicity and energy gap. Three simple relations are proposed to calculate the value of T_m. They are based on plasmon energy, molecular weight and ionicity of the semiconductors. The average percentage deviation of all nine equations was calculated. In all cases, except one, it was estimated between 3.34 to 17.42 % for θ_D and between 2.37 to 10.45 % for T_m. However, in earlier correlations, it was reported between 10.59 to 33.38% for θ_D and 6.96 to 14.95% for T_m. The lower percentage deviation shows a significant improvement over the empirical relations proposed by earlier workers. The calculated values of θ_D and T_m from all equations are in good agreement with the available experimental values and the values reported by different workers. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Novel 3,3′-(alkanediyl)bis-(2,2,2-triaryl-1-oxa-2-stiba-3-azabenzo[d]cyclohex-5-enes)

The hitherto unreported compounds of general structure 3,3′-(alkanediyl)bis-(2,2,2-triaryl-1-oxa-2-stiba-3-azabenzo[d]cyclohex-5-ene) have been synthesized in 48-56% yields by the cyclization of the tetrasodium salt of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxybenzyl)-1,2-diaminoethane(II) or of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxybenzyl)-1,3-diaminopropane(II*) with R₃SbBr₂ (R = phenyl, p-tolyl, or mesityl). The tetrasodium salts were prepared by the reactions of the corresponding amines with sodium hydride. The amines (II and II*), in turn, were obtained by the sodium borohydride reduction of N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-1,2-diaminoethane and N,N′-bis-(salicylidene)-1,3,-diaminopropane, respectively. The heterocyclic compounds are air stable and moisture insensitive. These compounds have been characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight determinations, and by IR, far IR, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR spectral studies. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.