Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 9 Articles
Cordyceps (CS) is a traditional Chinese herb with\nvarious biological effects that include immune modulation.\nCBG-CS-2 is a strain, Paecilomyces hepiali, of the Cordyceps\nspp. The anti-inflammatory effects of CBG-CS-2 were investigated.\nThe water-soluble fraction of CBG-CS-2 has high\nanti-inflammatory activity in LPS-induced Raw264.7 macrophages.\nWe tested the role of CBG-CS-2 on the antiinflammation\ncascade in LPS-stimulated Raw264.7 cells.\nCBG-CS-2 significantly decreased NO production, iNOS expression,\nand pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in a dosedependent\nmanner. To investigate the mechanism by which\nCBG-CS-2 inhibits NO, iNOS, and pro-inflammatory cytokines,\nwe examined the activities of NF-?B and AP-1 in LPSactivated\nmacrophages. The results demonstrate that CBGCS-\n2 suppresses the production and expression of NO, iNOS,\nand pro-inflammatory cytokines in LPS-activated macrophages\nvia inhibition of NF-?B and AP-1, which may play\nan important role in inflammation. These findings suggest that\nCBG-CS-2 has modulatory effects on the inflammatory system\nin macrophages, and that it can serve as a useful antiinflammatory\ndietary supplement or drug....
Background: As an important traditional Tibetan (veterinary) medicine, the flowers of Meconopsis punicea (family\nPapaveraceae) have been used to treat pain, fever, cough, inflammation, liver heat and lung heat of humans and\nanimals by local people for thousands of years. In this paper, we aimed to investigate the antinociceptive and\nanti-tussive activities of the ethanol extract of M. punicea (EEM).\nMethods: Firstly, HPLC was used to analyze the main constituents of the ethanol extract of M. punicea. In animal\nexperiments, the acetic acid-induced writhing response test, hot plate test, barbiturate-induced sleeping time and\nformalin tests were used to evaluate the antinociceptive activity. Then, ammonia-induced coughing and sulfur\ndioxide-induced coughing tests in mice as well as the phenol red secretion in trachea test were used to investigate the\nanti-tussive activity of the extract. Finally, an acute toxicity study was carried out.\nResults: The results showed that alkaloids and flavonoids were the main compounds in the ethanol extract of M.\npunicea flowers. The extract at 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg had good antinociceptive and anti-tussive activities in mice\nwith a dose-dependent manner.\nConclusions: These findings suggested that EEM has significant bioactivities, and the active components of M. punicea\nshould be studied further....
The herb Lythrum salicaria L. (Lythraceae) is\nused in traditional medicine to treat diseases with an\ninflammatory background, such as haemorrhoidal disease,\ndysentery, chronic intestinal catarrh, eczema, varicose\nveins, periodontosis and gingivitis. Because these diseases\nare closely associated with an excessive inflammatory\nresponse of stimulated neutrophils, the influence of aqueous\nextract and isolated C-glucosidic ellagitannins (dimeric\nsalicarinins A, B and C, vescalagin, castalagin) on their\npro-inflammatory functions was examined. Lythrum salicaria\naqueous extract was shown to modulate lipopolysaccharide\n(LPS)-triggered production of IL-8 (at 20 lg/\nmL, 16.6 �± 4.2 % inhibition) but had no influence on\nMMP-9 production. It was active towards cytochalasin A/f-\nMLP- stimulated elastase release (at 20 lg/mL,\n21.5 �± 3.9 % inhibition), myeloperoxidase release (at\n1 lg/mL, 26.5 �± 5.4 % inhibition) and f-MLP- and PMAinduced\nreactive oxygen species production (at 20 lg/mL,\n67.0 �± 3.9 and 66.5 �± 1.9 % inhibition, respectively). The\nextract was also shown to inhibit expression of integrin\nCD11b on the neutrophil surface without influencing\nselectin CD62L shedding. Dose-dependent inhibition of\nhyaluronidase activity was observed with\nIC50 = 10.1 �± 1.2 lg/mL. The main C-glucosidic ellagitannins\nwere shown to be responsible for all these activities\nwith more significant participation attributable to dimeric\nsalicarinins A, B, C. This study has demonstrated potent\nactivity of aqueous extract on stimulated neutrophils; this\nenhanced response is known to cause pathological changes\nin skin and mucosa tissues. These observations support and\nexplain the traditional use of the herb Lythrum salicaria to\ntreat certain diseases with an inflammatory background. Cglucosidic\nellagitannins, especially dimeric salicarinins, are\nthe factors responsible for these effects....
Inflammation is one of the ten leading causes of mortality throughout the globe. Chronic inflammation contributes to the occurrence of many diseases which include heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and nephritis. The preference for herbal drugs is now a day is increasing. These drugs produce negligible side effects and enhance its vigor and strength. Guggul have been found useful in curing many diseases like rheumatism, arthritis, hyper-lipidemia, obesity, inflammation, atherosclerosis, wrinkles and acne. In the present study, we attempted to evaluate in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity of some Guggul containing polyherbal formulations using membrane stabilization assay. All the Guggul containing ayurvedic formulations significantly inhibited the hyposaline induced RBC hemolysis. Thus, it could be concluded that Aditya pak Guggul, Rasnadi Guggul, Tyayodashang Guggul, Punarnava Guggul, Saptavishanti Guggul, Amruta Guggul and Kishor Guggul possess significant membrane-stabilizing properties and hence anti-inflammatory activity. Furthermore, it may be concluded that these formulations through their membrane-stabilizing properties interfere with the early phase of inflammatory mediator release, particularly by mediating the release of phospholipase A2 that triggers the formation of such inflammatory mediators....
Gypsum is a crude mineral drug used in the\nformulas of Japanese kampo medicine and traditional\nChinese medicine. The present study aimed to evaluate the\nanti-allergic effect of byakkokakeishito extract (BKT),\nwhich consists of gypsum (natural hydrous calcium sulfate),\nAnemarrhena Rhizome (rhizome of Anemarrhena\nasphodeloides), Cinnamon Bark (bark of trunk of Cinnamomum\ncassia), Oriza Seed (seed of Oryza sativa), and\nGlycyrrhiza (root and stolon of Glycyrrhiza uralensis), and\nto clarify the role of gypsum in the formula. We prepared\nBKT by boiling a mixture of various quantities of gypsum\nand fixed amounts of the other four crude drugs in water.\nWe evaluated the anti-allergic activity of the formulations\nusing three different murine models of allergy: contact\ndermatitis induced by painting hapten onto skin; allergic\ndermatitis-like symptoms induced by cutaneous injection\nof mite-antigen; and skin passive cutaneous anaphylaxis\n(PCA) reaction using ovalbumin as antigen. The calcium\ncontent in the various BKT samples was dose-dependently\nincreased up to 60 g/day of human dosage. BKT significantly\nsuppressed the allergic symptoms in the three different\nexperimental models. The effect of BKT was\naugmented by increasing the gypsum dosage only in the\nPCA reaction model. The extract prepared from a mixture\nof Anemarrhena Rhizome and gypsum exhibited an effect\ncomparable to that of BKT. BKT exhibits an anti-allergic\neffect in several animal models, which may provide\nexperimental evidence for the clinical use of BKT in\nallergic diseases. Gypsum may augment the anti-allergic\nactivity of BKT, presumably through increasing intestinal\nabsorption of Anemarrhena Rhizome-derived active\nconstituents....
Ayurveda has made a major contribution in the field of pharmaceutical research by identifying active compounds. The approach has been time and cost saving in the process of providing leads in search of new molecules. In continuation, there has been tremendous interest in finding plant-originated bioenhancers as potential alternative options to the conventional ones. In course of time, herbal bioenhancers have revolutionized the area of therapeutics by their involvement in modern system of medicine. Herbal bioenhancers do not possess pharmacological activity, but when co-administered with active pharmaceutical ingredients, they tend to improve the pharmacokinetic parameters and hence, bioefficacy of varied classes of drugs. Alkaloids and their modified derivatives have gained widespread attention in the recent times as herbal bioenhancers because of their diverse range of physiological functions. Amongst other alkaloids, lysergol, a clavine alkaloid is a pharmaceutically acceptable additive with potential and acts as a novel herbal bioenhancer due to its unique properties. The latter is likely to influence on multiple fronts leading to reduction in drug toxicity and drug resistance, shortened duration of treatment and hence reduced cost of treatment where ever the concept of bioenhancement is applicable. Lysergol maintains the blood flow under normal conditions and tends to enhance the biological activity of drugs when co-administered by facilitating transfer across the membrane towards the target site. The present review is an effort to give a detailed description on the varied aspects of lysergol and its derivatives with special emphasis on its role in the field of medicine. The manuscript also highlights on recent developments in isolation of lysergol and its toxicity profile. Patents and other aspects related to lysergol and their derivatives have also been included, in addition. Finally, it was concluded that lysergol while finding strong potential and interest, needs to be further explored to make its fullest possible use in adding value to the existing drug therapy....
A microwave assisted extraction technique was developed to optimize the extraction of mucilage from the fruits of Feronia limonia. The fruit pulp has been extracted by conventional and microwave assisted methods for the isolation of mucilage. The Microwave extraction at 180 W intensity and 30 min heating duration increase 13.89% in the yield of mucilage when compared to 2 h conventional heating method. The products obtained by both the methods were of similar nature chemically. The developed microwave procedure can be used successfully in commercial and routine laboratory isolation of mucilage....
The peach tree, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, is widely cultivated in China, and its flowers have been used for centuries in traditional\nChinese medicine to treat gut motility disorders. But few studies have explored the pharmacological effect of Prunus persica (L.)\nBatsch flowers on gastrointestinal motility. In this study, the activities of different extracts fromPrunus persica (L.) Batsch flowers on\nthe smoothmuscle contractionswere evaluated using isolated colonmodel, and the ethyl acetate extract (EAE) showed the strongest\neffects in vitro. EAE (10?8ââ?¬â??10?5 g/mL) caused a concentration-dependent stimulatory effect in rat colonic tissue. Additionally,\nketotifen (100 ????M), cimetidine (10 ????M), and pyrilamine (1 ????M) produced a significant inhibition of contractions caused by EAE.\nFurthermore, immunofluorescence and toluidine blue staining revealed increased numbers of mast cells in the EAE group, and\nEAE increased histamine release from the colonic tissues. These data indicate that EAE has significant prokinetic activity and acts\nby a mechanism that mainly involves mast cell degranulation. Our study provides a pharmacological basis for the use of an extract\nof Prunus persica (L.) Batsch flowers in the treatment of gut motility disorders...
The signaling of stem cell factor (SCF) through\nits receptor Kit is known to play an important role in regulating\ncutaneous melanogenesis. In the course of UVBinduced\npigmentation, the expression of membrane-bound\nSCF by epidermal keratinocytes is upregulated at an early\nphase and subsequently activates neighboring melanocytes\nvia their Kit receptors. In order to identify effective skinlightening\nmaterials, we screened botanical extracts to\ndetermine their abilities to diminish Kit expression in melanocytes.\nA Platycodon root extract was consequently found\nto have a remarkable inhibitory activity on Kit expression.\nWhen the extract was applied to three-dimensional human\nskin substitutes in vitro and to human skin in vivo after UVB\nirradiation, their pigmentation was significantly reduced,\nconfirming the substantial contribution of the suppression of\nSCF/Kit signaling to preventing or inhibiting melanin synthesis.\nThese data demonstrate that a Platycodon root extract\nis a promising material for a skin-lightening product to\nimprove pigmentation-related diseases....
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