Tamilnadia uliginosa (Retz) Tirveng and Sastre: Potential Application from Traditional Remedies to Modern Therapeutics

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences - Tamilnadia uliginosa (Retz) Tirveng and Sastre (Rubiaceae) is a small edible medicinal plant utilized in...     

Pedalium murex Linn.: an overview of its phytopharmacological aspects

Pedalium murex Linn (family: Pedaliaceae) (P. murex) commonly known as Large Caltrops and Gokhru (India) is a shrub found in the Southern part, Deccan region of India and in some parts of Ceylon. Different parts of the plant are used to treat various ailments like, cough, cold and as an antiseptic. Interestingly, P. murex is reported traditionally to have an excellent cure in patients with reproductive disorders which are mainly impotency in men, nocturnal emissions, gonorrhoea as well as leucorrhoea in women. The plant has also benifited in complications like urinary track disorder as well as gastro intestinal tract disorders. Phytochemically the plant is popular for the presence of a considerable amount of diosgenin and vanillin which are regarded as an important source and useful starting materials for synthesizing steroidal contraceptive drugs and isatin alkaloids. Other phytochemicals reported in the plant includes quercetin, ursolic acid, caffeic acid, amino acids (glycine, histidine, tyrosine, threonine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid) and various classes of fatty acids (triacontanoic acid, nonacosane, tritriacontane, tetratriacontanyl and heptatriacontan-4-one). Pharmacologically, the plant have been investigated for antiulcerogenic, nephroprotective, hypolipidemic, aphrodisiac, antioxidant, antimicrobial and insecticidal activities. From all these reports it can be concluded that the plant were found to have a better profile with potential natural source for the treatment of various range of either acute or chronic disease. The overall database of our review article was collected from the scientific sources in regards with all the information of the research article for P. murex published so far.     

Natural medicines from plant source used for therapy of diabetes mellitus: An overview of its pharmacological aspects

Medicinal plants play an important role in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, especially in the developing countries due to their cost effectiveness. Diabetes mellitus, a metabolic disorder, is becoming a serious threat to mankind health. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is expected to reach up to 4.4% in the world by 2030. Among all type of diabetes, type 2 diabetes is main complication. Currently available treatment options in modern medicine have several adverse effects. Therefore, there is a need to develop safe and effective treatment modalities for diabetes. In this regard, plants provide the best option for search of desired safe and effective medications. Since ancient times, plants have been an exemplary source of medicine. Various plants have been found to possess significant anti-diabetic property after their preclinical and clinical evaluation. This present review presents the profiles of plants with hypoglycaemic properties reported in the literature from 2009 to 2011. Use of these plants may delay the development of diabetic complications and can correct the metabolic abnormalities through variety of mechanisms. Moreover, during the past few years many phytoconstituents responsible for anti-diabetic effects have been isolated from plants. Since this review has been presented in a very interactive manner showing geographical region of availability, parts of plant used, mechanism of action and phytoconstituents responsible for particular action, it will be of great importance to intrested readers to easily identify and go for further research on the plant of their interest.     

Inhibitory effect of two Indian medicinal plants on aldose reductase of rat lens in vitro

ObjectiveTo assesse the inhibitory effect of alcoholic extract of two Indian medicinal plants namely Ceasalpinia digyna Rottler and, Alangium lamarckii Thwaits on aldose reductase (AR) of rat lens.MethodsRats lens were enucleated through posterior approach and their homogenate was prepared and centrifuged to obtain a clear supernatant for the determination of AR activity and protein content.ResultsThe alcoholic extract of Ceasalpinia digyna and Alangium lamarckii had a potent inhibitory effect on the lens AR enzyme. The IC₅₀ values of alcoholic extract of the selected plants were calculated and were (46.29±11.17) and (106.00±5.11) μg/mL, respectively. Quercetin was used as a positive control and its IC₅₀ value was (2.95±1.53) μg/mL.ConclusionsThus, it is concluded that alcoholic extracts of the selected plant exhibit significant inhibitory effects on AR in the rat lens in vitro.     

Diabetes mellitus: An overview on its pharmacological aspects and reported medicinal plants having antidiabetic activity

Diabetes mellitus is not a single disease but is a group of metabolic disorders affecting a huge number of population in the world. It is mainly characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, resulting from defects in insulin secretion or insulin action. It is predicated that the number of diabetes person in the world could reach upto 366 million by the year 2030. Even though the cases of diabetes are increasing day by day, except insulin and oral hypoglycemic drugs no other way of treatment has been successfully developed so far. Thus, the objective of the present review is to provide an insight over the pathophysiological and etiological aspects of diabetes mellitus along with the remedies available for this metabolic disorder. The review also contains brief idea about diabetes mellitus and the experimental screening model with their relevant mechanism and significance mainly used nowadays. Alloxan and streptozotocin are mainly used for evaluating the antidiabetic activity of a particular drug. This review contain list of medicinal plants which have been tested for their antidiabetic activity in the alloxan induced diabetic rat model. From the available data in the literature, it was found that plant having antidiabetic activity is mainly due to the presence of the secondary metabolite. Thus, the information provided in this review will help the researchers for the development of an alternative methods rather than insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, which will minimize the complication associated with the diabetes and related disorder.     

Acute pancreatitis due to ascariasis: a sonographic pictorial essay on four cases

Ascariasis is the commonest helminthic disease to infect humans. Due to their wandering nature, the roundworms from the second part of the duodenum migrate through the biliary opening into the hepatobiliary and pancreatic ducts. Ascariasis is the most common parasitic cause of pancreatitis in endemic region. Pancreatitis can result due to pancreatic ascariasis, biliary ascariasis or both. Pancreatitis due to ascariasis can be severe and life-threatening. We present a pictorial essay of acute pancreatitis due to ascariasis on four cases.     

Gastroprotective activity of polyphenolic-rich extract of Potentilla mooniana

Context: Potentilla mooniana Wight. (Rosaceae) is a plant found in the Himalayan region where the root is traditionally used to treat stomach problems including gastric-ulcer.

Objective: To scientifically validate the gastro-protective effect and derive the possible mechanistic activity of the ethanol root extract from P. mooniana (EPM).

Materials and methods: The gastroprotective effect of EPM (100–400?mg/kg, p.o.) was evaluated on both the physical (Pyloric ligation, PL; Cold restrain stress, CRS) and chemical (absolute ethanol, EtOH; aspirin, ASP) ulcerogens induced ulceration in rats. The mechanistic activity of EPM was tested on various gastric-ulcer parameters, namely gastric pH, volume, acid–pepsin output, DNA content, histamine level, H⁺K⁺–ATPase activity, mucus content, microvascular permeability, antioxidant markers, and gastric-histopathological study.

Results: EPM significantly reduces the ulcer score against all the four tested gastric-ulcer models. In the PL model, EPM showed significant reduction (p?+K⁺–ATPase activity by 47.73%. In addition, EPM showed significant increase in mucus content by 58.60% and a decrease in the microvascular permeability of Evans Blue by 85.00%, justifying its protective effects. Furthermore, EPM also showed significant antioxidant activity and histopathologically possessed excellent cytoprotective effect.

Conclusion: The gastro-protective effect of EPM is attributed mainly to the defensive mechanism owing to the presence of a good quantity of polyphenolic components.     

Complicated Growth Plate Fracture: Torn Metaphyseal Periosteum with Physeal Interposition

Teaching point: Displacement of torn periosteum into the growth plate is an uncommon pediatric entity following trauma – which can be seen on an MRI as low signal intensity physeal interposition on all pulse sequences, and requires open surgical reduction, as it may lead to growth plate bridging and subsequent extremity length discrepancy.     

Gastroprotective activity of ethanolic root extract of Potentilla fulgens Wall. ex Hook

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Potentilla fulgens (Wall.) ex Hook. (Rosaceae) is a potent medicinal plant of the Western Himalayas, known under the name “Himalayan Cinquefoil or Bajradanti”, and has been used traditionally to treat ailments including peptic ulcers, mouth ulcers, diarrhea, diabetes and cancer.

Objective

The aim of the present study was to scientifically evaluate the gastric-ulcer protective effect of P. fulgens ethanolic root extract (EPF) on experimental rats.

Material and methods

The gastroprotective activity of EPF was evaluated on four gastric-ulcer models such as pyloric ligation (PL), ethanol (EtOH), cold restrain stress (CRS) and aspirin (ASP)-induced gastric ulcers. The gastric acid obtained from 4 h PL-induced gastric ulcer rats was determined for total volume content, pH and total acid–pepsin output. Total carbohydrates and protein ratio, expressed as index of mucin activity, and DNA content were estimated in the gastric juice and gastric mucosal tissue. The microvascular permeability, H⁺K⁺–ATPase activity, gastric mucus and histamine content were also determined. The levels of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione) and malondialdehyde in the stomach tissue (mucosal scrapings) were quantified. A histopathological study of the stomach was evaluated using eosin–haematoxylin stain.

Results

EPF (200–400 mg/kg, p.o.) showed significant protection against acute gastric-ulcer induced by EtOH, PL and CRS (400 mg/kg, p.o.), but was found to be ineffective against ASP-induced ulcerogens. The effect of EPF on gastric juice studies in 4 h PL rats significantly produced an increased level in gastric pH, whereas the effect on gastric volume and acid–pepsin output was observed to decrease significantly. However, EPF was found to have no significant effect on the defensive factors, thus revealing its antisecretory property by inhibiting the aggressive factors. EPF, significantly decreased the histamine level, inhibited the H⁺K⁺–ATPase activity and prevented the microvascular injury caused by ethanol in the rat stomach. Moreover, it was also observed to have antioxidant effects by producing a significant increase in the levels of SOD, CAT, and GSH and decreased the LPO activity. Histopathological studies showed that EPF significantly prevented gastric lesions caused by ethanol.

Conclusions

The present study showed that EPF has potent gastroprotective and antisecretory effects, thus justifying the traditional usage of this herb to treat gastric ulcers.