November 2010
Hoodia gordonii in the treatment of obesity: A review
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), one billion adults that are approximately overweight currently exist in the world, of which three hundred million are obese. These numbers led to the finding that obesity appears as a major global epidemic, affecting countries in all stages of development. In Brazil, about 13% of the population is now considered obese and estimates suggest that by the year...
November 2010
Antimicrobial and free radical scavenging activity of extracts of some Indian medicinal plants
Antimicrobial and antioxidant potency of aqueous and organic solvent extracts of five Indian medicinal plants (Prosopis cineraria, Capparis decidua, Tinospora cordifolia, Carissa carandas and Cordia dichotoma) was investigated. The acetone and ethanol extracts exhibited highest antimicrobial activity (60 to 80% and 40 to 60%, respectively) againstStaphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus...
November 2010
Phytochemical screening and antibacterial activity of Citrullus colocynthis (Linn.) Schrad against Staphylococcus aureus
Citrullus colocynthis (Linn.) Schrad (CCT) is an important medicinal plant belonging to the family of Cucurbitaceae. It is a well recognized plant in the traditional medicine and was used by people in rural areas as a purgative, antidiabetic and insecticide. In the present investigation, after phytochemical screening of CCT through standard experimental procedure, antibacterial...
November 2010
The effects of grape seed and grape pomace extracts on spatial memory impairment induced by hyoscine in mice
The cholinergic system and its receptors play a role in memory function. Hyoscine, as an anticholinergic agent causes dysfunction to the spatial memory and learning. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of two different extracts of grape seed (25, 50, 75 mg/kg) and grape pomace (25, 50,100 mg/kg) on the spatial memory impairment induced by hyoscine (1 mg/kg) in male mice. Spatial memory was evaluated using...
November 2010
Immunosuppressive effects of Cucurbitacin B on human peripheral blood lymphocytes
This study investigates the immunomodulating effects of cucurbitacin B, a Thai herbal plant; isolated from Trichosanthes cucumerima L., on PHA-stimulated human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs). Stimulated PBMCs were cultured in the presence or absence of cucurbitacin B and then markers of cell activation were measured. The results showed that 0.5 and 0.25 µg/ml of cucurbitacin B...
November 2010
Efficacy of ethanolic leaf extracts of Carica papaya and Terminalia catappa as molluscicides against the snail intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis
The study evaluated the molluscicidal effects of ethanolic leaf extracts of two Nigerian indigenous medicinal plants; Terminalia catappa and Carica papaya. Different concentrations 2500, 630, 160, 40 and 10 ppm were prepared from the stock solution of the extracts. AdultBiomphalaria pfeifferi and Bulinus globosus were exposed to these different graded concentrations. Mortalities were...
November 2010
The effect of pruning on growth and chemical composition of cultivated bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides D.C)
A trial to determine the effect of pruning at different heights on growth and quality of cultivated bush tea was conducted. Pruning of bush tea largely led to crop losses. Unpruned bush tea plants remained the tallest plants, with higher number of branches, bigger leaf area and a larger biomass than apically pruned, middle pruned and base pruned bush tea plants. Pruning at different heights also proved to have little or...
November 2010
Protective effect of garlic oil against liver injury in experimental animals
Food derived antioxidants have a strong potential effect on the long term as chemopreventive agents in disease states involving oxidative stress, such as hepatitis. This study was done to clarify the potential effect of garlic oil in protecting the liver from lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatitis in D-galactosamine sensitized rats. Sixty male albino rats were used in the study. They were divided into four groups (15 rats...
November 2010
Inhibition of nitric oxide production and mRNA expressions of proinflammatory mediators by xylarinic acid A in RAW 264.7 cells
Mushrooms possess vast and yet unknown source of powerful new pharmaceutical products, which contain active biomolecules. Xylarinic acid A isolated from a mushroom,Xylaria polymorpha, has been reported to have free radicals scavenging property and anti-fungal activity. However, information of its anti-inflammatory activity is scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the effect of the compound...
November 2010
In vitro antiviral activity of diterpenes isolated from the Brazilian brown alga Canistrocarpus cervicornis
They describe in this paper that the dolastane diterpenes 4-hydroxy-9,14-dihydroxydolasta-1(15),7-diene (1) and 4,7,14-trihydroxydolasta-1(15),8-diene (2), isolated from the marine brown alga Canistrocarpus cervicornis inhibited HSV-1 infection in Vero cells. The concentration required to inhibit HSV-1 replication was not cytotoxic. Their results suggest that the structures of diterpenes 1 and 2, dolastane...
November 2010
Cytotoxicity activity of root extract/fractions of Eurycoma longifolia Jack root against vero and Hs27cells
One extract (TACME) and four fractions (TAF 273, TAF 355, TAF 191 and TAF 401) fromEurycoma longifolia root reported in literature as antimalarial agent were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity activity against two mammalian cell lines (Vero/HS27) which will be use as host for our future antiparasitic activity study. The in vitro cytotoxicity activity was measured by methyl thiazolyl...
November 2010
Quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate in vitro induced changes in the membrane anisotropy of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with inflammatory diseases
The aim of the study was to assess the in vitro effect of quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate on the membrane fluidity of mononuclear blood cells isolated from patients with an inflammatory profile (chronic hyperglycemia and rheumatoid arthritis). The measurements were performed via the evaluation of the fluorescence anisotropy for cells labeled with TMA-DPH. Chronic hyperglycemia does not impair the...
November 2010
Comparative antimicrobial activities of Neem, Amla, Aloe, Assam Tea and Clove extracts against Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
This study was undertaken to identify medicinal plants that are effective against multiple human pathogens and to partially purify the active component through thin layer chromatography. Antibacterial activity of selected plant extracts were assayed by agar cup diffusion. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined against all the pathogens. Sensitivity of the pathogens was also checked with four standard...
November 2010
In vitro regeneration of plantlets from internodal callus culture of Vitex leucoxylon L. – A rare medicinal plant
Attempt was made to standardize the regeneration protocol. Medium was optimized for callusing, organogenesis and rooting of Vitex leucoxylon. Compact and greenish callus from internodal segments was achieved when stem segments were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium fortified with 5.37 µM NAA + 2.22 µM BAP. In vitro regeneration of shoot buds was achieved from internodal...
November 2010
Biological screening of the aerial parts of the Sarcococca saligna
The crude methanolic extract of the aerial parts of Sarcococca saligna (Ss.Cr) and its various fractions were screened in vitro for possible antibacterial, antifungal, phytotoxic, haemagglutination and insecticidal activities. The chloroform (CHCl3) fraction and Ss.Cr showed significant (80.76%) and good (76.92%) antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, while rest...
November 2010
Anticancerous potentials of Achillea species against selected cell lines
Cancer, heart failure and stroke are among the majority frequent causes of death worldwide. Cancer is the second most common reason of death following the cardiovascular diseases. In current study, two Iranian species of Achillea species as Achillea millefolium and Achillea biebersteinii have been collected from East Azerbaijan of Iran and assayed on six cancerous cell lines; AGS...
November 2010
Protective effect of Murraya koenigii (L) leaves extract in streptozotocin induced diabetics rats involving possible antioxidant mechanism
Diabetes causes increased oxidative stress, which is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of various diabetic complications. The antioxidant actions are keys to preventing or reversing diabetes and its complications. Thus the aim of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant potential of ethanolic Murraya koenigii leaves (MKL) extract on Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS)...
November 2010
Thymus kotschyanus and Carum copticum essential oils as botanical preservatives for table grape
In the present study, essential oils extracted from Thymus kotschyanus and Carum copticumhas been evaluated for efficacy in the control of postharvest fungal decay in Thompson seedless table grape. Results showed that the tested oils exhibited good inhibitory activity against fungal decay in oil-treated grapes. In addition, the essential did not show a negative impact on the sensory quality of...
November 2010
Phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, radical oxygen species scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibiting activities of extracts of five black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot) cultivars
Black chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot) are species, the fruit of which are considered to be one of the most valuable sources of phenolic substances and the research in the field of the fruit utilization as a food supplement is more than topical. Nevertheless, as far as this species is concerned, in particular cultivars there are differences which are caused by both their origin and genetic...
November 2010
Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of medicinal plants associated with prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
In order to find new resources of natural antioxidants, antioxidant activities of 40 medicinal plants associated with prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases were evaluated using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays, respectively, and their total phenolic contents were measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Most of these plants...
November 2010
Glucose-lowering effect of xoconostle (Opuntia joconostle A. Web., Cactaceae) in diabetic rats
The anti-diabetic effect traditionally attributed to the mesocarpium and cladode of Opuntia joconostle was assessed experimentally in male wistar rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes (40 mg/kg bodyweight). Groups of six diabetic and six healthy rats were dosed with either water or aqueous extracts of mesocarpium, cladode or a 50:50 mixture of both. The dose, defined through a screening experiment, was 100...
Advertisement
Advertisement
