Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2014 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 8 Articles
Snakebites are a public health problem, especially in tropical countries.However, treatmentwith antivenomhas limited effectiveness\nagainst venoms� local effects. Here, we investigated the ability of Abarema cochliacarpos hydroethanolic extract (EAc) to protect\nmice against injection of Bothrops leucurus venom. Swiss mice received perimuscular venom injection and were subsequently\ntreated orally with EAc in different doses. Treatment with EAc 100, 200, and 400mg/kg reduced the edema induced by B. leucurus\nin 1%, 13%, and 39%, respectively. Although lower doses showed no antihypernociceptive effect in the Von Frey test, the higher\ndose significantly reduced hyperalgesia induced by the venom. Antimyotoxic activity of EAc was also observed by microscopy\nassessment, with treated muscles presenting preserved structures, decreased edema, and inflammatory infiltrate as compared to\nuntreated ones. Finally, on the rotarod test, the treated mice showed better motor function, once muscle fibers were preserved\nand there were less edema and pain. Treated mice could stand four times more time on the rotating rod than untreated ones. Our\nresults have shown that EAc presented relevant activities against injection of B. leucurus venom in mice, suggesting that it can be\nconsidered as an adjuvant in the treatment of envenomation....
The green fruit of Solanum integrifolium Poir. has been used traditionally as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic remedy in\nTaiwanese aboriginal medicine. The goal of this study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity and mechanism of the green\nfruit extract of S. integrifolium. A bioactivity-guided fractionation procedure was developed to identify the active partition fraction.\nThe methanol fraction (ME), with the highest phenolic content, exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect against LPS-mediated\nnitric oxide (NO) release and cytotoxicity in RAW264.7 macrophages. ME also significantly downregulated the expression of LPSinduced\nproinflammatory genes, such as iNOS, COX-2, IL-1????, IL-6, CCL2/MCP-1, and CCL3/MIP1????. Moreover, ME significantly\nupregulated HO-1 expression and stimulated the activation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Pretreatment of\ncells with the HO-1 inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin and MEK/ERK inhibitor U0126 attenuated ME�s inhibitory activity against LPSinduced\nNO production. Taken together, this is the first study to demonstrate the anti-inflammatory activity of green fruit extract\nof S. integrifolium and its activity may be mediated by the upregulation of HO-1 expression and activation of ERK1/2 pathway....
Herbal medicine Semen Persicae is widely used to treat blood stasis inChinesemedicine and other oriental folk medicines. Although\nlittle is known about the effects of Semen Persicae and its active compounds on neuron differentiation, our pilot study showed that\nSemen Persicae extract promoted neurite outgrowth in rat dopaminergic PC12 cells. In the present study,we developed a bioactivityguided\nfractionation procedure for the characterization of the neurotrophic activity of Semen Persicae extract. The resultant\nfractions were assayed for neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells based on microscopic assessment. Through liquid-liquid extraction\nand reverse phase HPLC separation, a botanical glycoside amygdalin was isolated as the active compound responsible for the\nneurotrophic activity of Semen Persicae extract.Moreover, we found that amygdalin rapidly induced the activation of extracellularsignal-\nregulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). A specific ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 attenuated the stimulatory effect of amygdalin on\nneurite outgrowth. Taken together, amygdalin was identified as a potent neurotrophic agent from Semen Persicae extract through\na bioactivity-guided fractional procedure. The neurotrophic activity of amygdalin may be mediated by the activation of ERK1/2\npathway....
In this study, the neuroprotective effect of an extract of Antrodia camphorata (A. camphorata), a fungus commonly used in Chinese\nfolk medicine for treatment of viral hepatitis and cancer, alone or in combination with aspirin was investigated in a rat embolic\nstroke model. An ischemic stroke was induced in rats by a selective occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) with whole\nblood clots and then orally treated with A. camphorata (0.25 and 0.75 g/kg/day) alone and combined with aspirin (5mg/kg/day).\nSixty days later, the brains were removed, sectioned, and stained with triphenyltetrazolium chloride and analysed by a commercial\nimage processing software program. Brain infarct volume, neurobehavioral score, cerebral blood perfusion, and subarachnoid\nand intracerebral hemorrhage incidence were perceived. In addition, potential bleeding side effect of the combinative therapy\nwas assessed by measuring hemoglobin (Hb) content during intracerebral hemorrhage and gastric bleeding, prothrombin time\n(PT), and occlusion time (OT) after oral administration. Posttreatment with high dose A. camphorata significantly reduced infarct\nvolume and improved neurobehavioral score (P < 0.05). Since A. camphorata alone or with aspirin did not alter the Hb level, this\ntreatment is safe and does not cause hemorrhagic incident. Remarkably, the combination of A. camphorata and aspirin did not show\na significant effect on the bleeding time, PT and OT increase suggesting that A. camphorata may have the neuroprotective effect\nwithout the prolongation of bleeding time or coagulation time. From these observations, we suggest that combinative therapy of A.\ncamphorata and aspirin might offer enhanced neuroprotective efficacies without increasing side effects....
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease characterized by pain, swelling and stiffness. Natural products from plants and animals have been the basis of the treatment of various human diseases. Today, according to world health organization (WHO) as many as 80% of the world’s population depend on the traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs. The uses of herbal medicine are becoming popular due to toxicity and side effects of available allopathic medicines. Medicinal plants play pivotal role in the development of potent therapeutic agents in treatment of arthritis. Various conventional treatments for arthritis including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s), disease modifying anti-rheumatoid drugs (DMARD’s) and corticosteroids are available in the market but no-one can forget the valuable role of herbal sources to cure the arthritis. This study is aimed to provide information to the community for herbal sources of the anti-arthritic property....
Present review focus on different aspects of plants used in the treatment of different chronic diseases like pyrexia, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and ulcer. In the last few years there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicines and these drugs are gaining popularity both in developing as well as developed countries because of their natural origin and less side effects. The widespread use of herbal drugs and medicinal plants has been traced to the occurrence of natural products with medicinal properties. Based on current research medicinal plants will continue to play an important role as a health aid. The world health organization has listed 21000 plants which are used for medicinal purposes around the world. Among these 2500 species are in India out of which 150 species are used commercially on a large scale. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs so called as botanical garden of the world. Today herbal products are safe in contrast to the synthetics one. The blind dependence on synthetic compounds is over and people are returning on herbals with the hope of safety and security....
Present study deals with preliminary phytochemical studies and proximate analysis of Porana paniculata Roxb whole plant. The plant was collected, shade dried and made into powder by mechanical grinder. Powder thus obtained was studied for its proximate values which include ash values, extractive values, fluorescence analysis and moisture content by standard methods. Powdered plant material was subjected to extraction by maceration using ethanol and water mixture as solvent in a ration of 3:2. The extract was designated as HAPP and subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening in which chemical tests were carried out for the detection of various phytoconstituents. Results of proximate analysis revealed that dry plant powder has 8.96% total ash, 5.46% acid insoluble ash, 3.25% water soluble ash, 4.94% sulphated ash, 13.69% alcohol soluble extractive value, 10.16% water soluble extractive vales, 4.56% ether soluble extractive value and 8.43% moisture content. The whole plant powder found to possesses phytoconstituents like alkaloids, carbohydrates, saponins, tannins and flavonoids. Fluorescence analysis revealed the behaviour of the plant powder when treated with different chemical reagents and observation under UV light. The present study reveals the preliminary phytochemical and proximate analysis on Porana paniculata whole plant....
Exposure to solar radiation, particularly its ultraviolet (UV) component, has a variety of harmful effects on human health. Some of\nthese effects include sunburn cell formations, basal and squamous cell cancers, melanoma, cataracts, photoaging of the skin, and\nimmune suppression. The beneficial photoprotective effects of topical formulations with the extract, Morinda citrifolia, have not\nbeen investigated. This present study aims to investigate the potential benefits of M. citrifolia topical application on the dorsal skin\nof mice, exposed toUVA-UVB light.Using 7 days of treatment, [before (baseline values) and 20 h afterUV exposure], the thickness,\nskin barrier damage (TEWL), erythema, and histological alterations were evaluated. The results showed that the formulations\ncontaining the extract protected the skin against UV-induced damage....
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