The antinociceptive activity of Polygonatumverticillatum rhizomes in pain models

Aim of the study

The current study was designed to establish the pharmacological rationale for the traditional use of the rhizomes of Polygonatum verticillatum in the treatment of painful conditions and as a plant diuretic.

Materials and methods

The crude methanolic extract of the rhizomes of Polygonatumverticillatum (PR) was tested in various established pain models in rodents at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg i.p. while the diuretic activity was assessed at 300 and 600 mg/kg p.o. in rats.

Results

PR demonstrated significant reduction (14–72%) in the number of writhes induced by acetic acid in a dose-dependent manner. When nociceptive threshold was measured in the formalin test, PR strongly attenuated the formalin-induced flinching behaviour in both phases (6–30% in first phase while 12–72% in second phase). Central involvement in the analgesic profile of PR was confirmed by the hot plate test, in which PR elicited a significant (P < 0.01) analgesic activity by increasing latency time. However, an opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone (2 mg/kg s.c.) strongly antagonized the antinociceptive activity of PR. As a plant diuretic, PR showed mild but statistically insignificant diuretic activity at 300 mg/kg. The crude extract and solvent fractions of the plant contained reasonable quantity of total saponin and alkaloid contents.

Conclusions

The mechanisms underlying the analgesic action of PR shows that the opioid dependant central mediation has synergistic effect by enforcing the peripheral analgesic effects. Interestingly, our findings not only substantiated the folk use of the plant as an analgesic but also reported for the first time in the whole genus.     

Anticonvulsant, analgesic and antipyretic activities of Taxus wallichiana Zucc

Taxus wallichiana Zucc. (Himalayan Yew) is often used in northern areas of Pakistan for the treatment of pyrexia, acute pains and epilepsy. We have investigated certain pharmacological activities of the methanol leaf extract against convulsion, nociception and pyrexia induced in rodents. The aim was to justify and explore its folk uses in these pathological conditions, on scientific basis. The studies were carried out using acetic acid-induced nociception and pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsions in mice, while formalin test and yeast-induced pyrexia in rats. Significant analgesic (67.77 and 74.29%) effect was found in acetic acid-induced model at doses of 100 and 200mg/kg, i.p. respectively. Crude extract exhibited significant (P<0.05) inhibition of the formalin noxious stimulation on both early and late phases of pain by the extracts (100 and 200mg/kg doses). In case of yeast-induced pyrexia model, 200mg/kg dose showed very significant (P<0.01) inhibition while 50 and 100mg/kg dose caused a significant (P<0.05) inhibition. Plant extract has controlled the pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsions in mice. 100 and 200mg/kg i.p doses of the extract significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the mioclonus and clonus while inhibition of tonus and hind limb tonic extension (HLTE) was highly significant (P<0.01). The anticonvulsant activity of this plant has been reported for the first time throughout the whole genus. The observed pharmacological activities provide the scientific basis for the folkloric use of the plant in treating epilepsy, pyrexia and acute pain.     

Activity-guided isolation of a novel protein from Croton tiglium with antifungal and antibacterial activities

This study describes the activity-guided isolation and purification of a novel antimicrobial protein from the seed of Croton tiglium Linn. Purification was carried out by (NH(4))(2)SO(4) precipitation, gel filtration and DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. Antifungal and antibacterial activities were determined after each purification step. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the purified protein was a monomer with molecular mass of 50 kDa. This is a first report on purification of a protein from Croton tiglium, which possesses a strong and broad spectrum antimicrobial activity.     

Gut modulatory, blood pressure lowering, diuretic and sedative activities of cardamom

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is traditionally used in various gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and neuronal disorders. AIM OF THE STUDY: To rationalize cardamom use in constipation, colic, diarrhea, hypertension and as diuretic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cardamom crude extract (Ec.Cr) was studied using in vitro and in vivo techniques. RESULTS: Ec.Cr caused atropine-sensitive stimulatory effect in isolated guinea-pig ileum at 3-10mg/ml. In rabbit jejunum preparations, Ec.Cr relaxed spontaneous and K+ (80 mM)-induced contractions as well as shifted Ca++ curves to right, like verapamil. Ec.Cr (3-100mg/kg) induced fall in the arterial blood pressure (BP) of anaesthetized rats, partially blocked in atropinized animals. In endothelium-intact rat aorta, Ec.Cr relaxed phenylephrine (1 microM)-induced contractions, partially antagonized by atropine and also inhibited K+ (80 mM) contractions. In guinea-pig atria, Ec.Cr exhibited a cardio-depressant effect. Ec.Cr (1-10mg/kg) produced diuresis in rats, accompanied by a saluretic effect. It enhanced pentobarbital-induced sleeping time in mice. Bio-assay directed fractionation revealed the separation of spasmogenic and spasmolytic components in the aqueous and organic fractions respectively. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that cardamom exhibits gut excitatory and inhibitory effects mediated through cholinergic and Ca++ antagonist mechanisms respectively and lowers BP via combination of both pathways. The diuretic and sedative effects may offer added value in its use in hypertension and epilepsy.     

Skin Cancer Classification Using Deep Spiking Neural Network

Journal of Digital Imaging - Skin cancer is one of the primary causes of death globally, and experts diagnose it by visual inspection, which can be inaccurate. The need for developing a...     

DeepBLS: Deep Feature-Based Broad Learning System for Tissue Phenotyping in Colorectal Cancer WSIs

Journal of Digital Imaging - Tissue phenotyping is a fundamental step in computational pathology for the analysis of tumor micro-environment in whole slide images (WSIs). Automatic tissue...