Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2014 in |
Piperine, a major alkaloid in black pepper is one of the most promising bioenhancers till date. Other methods used for its extraction suffer drawbacks such as poor extraction efficiency, tedious and expensive isolation methodology, piperine photodegradation, etc. Hence a simple, rapid and efficient method has been developed for the isolation of piperine from the fruits of Piper nigrum. The methods under study involve extraction of piperine with various solvents such as ethanol, glacial acetic acid and dichloromethane. Then isolation and purification were followed by separate classical methods for respective extracts. Compared to other two methods, the novel method using glacial acetic acid proved to be effective in isolating piperine with higher yield and in higher purity. Hence extract derived using glacial acetic acid was further subjected to column chromatography. Finally raisins removal and crystal formation were facilitated by recrystallization with solvent ether after alkali wash. Then identification of the compound was confirmed by various analytical methods TLC, melting point, UV-visible spectrophotometer, FT-IR, HPLC and compared it with authentic piperine...
Read More
Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2014 in |
Background: Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease and is the major cause of death in India and a major cause of death worldwide 1. It was thought previously to affect initially the higher income countries, but now CHD leads to more death in low- and middle-income countries such as India. Lifestyle modification is the main stay of treatment in preventing coronary heart disease. The intervention by pharmacists through pharmaceutical care program can be useful in reducing coronary heart disease risk factors such as increased blood pressure, high blood glucose, and high lipid levels 2-4. Objective: To study the impact of pharmaceutical care intervention on general cardiovascular risk and to assess 10-year cardiovascular risk using Framingham scoring method. Method: Hypertensive and diabetic patients (N = 104) aged >45 years of age were enrolled. Written informed consent was obtained from all the patients enrolled. The pharmacist’s intervention included counseling on smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, increased compliance, weight reduction, increased exercise, and dietary changes. The parameters measured...
Read More
Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2014 in |
Phragmanthera capitata is mistletoe (parasitic plant) that grows on other plants including avocado trees. Leaves infusion or decoction is claimed to treat amongst other ailments abdominal pains by herbalists in Cameroon. Our goal was to evaluate possible secretory, gastro and ulcer activities of aqueous extract of P. capitata (AEPC) in indomathacin induced gastric ulcer and pylorus ligation induced gastric ulcer (PLIGU) in albino rats. Preliminary phytochemical and toxicity assays were performed following standard procedures. To evaluate indomethacin induced gastric ulcer, control group received 10 ml/kg normal saline, standard group received 100 mg/kg cimetidine, test groups received AEPC (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg). To evaluate PLIGU, treatment was same as indomethacin induced ulcer. Data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey test used as post hoc. In preliminary phytochemical assays AEPC revealed the presence of terpenoids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, anthraquinones, flavonoids, alkaloids and phenols. In acute oral toxicity assay, AEPC was safe up to a concentration of 3000 mg/kg in mice. In anti-ulcer evaluation AEPC decreased significantly...
Read More
Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2014 in |
Aim: Plants have been used for medicinal purposes for more than many centuries. The use of a given plant for the same purpose by people geographically distant or with dissimilar cultural backgrounds constitutes impressive evidences that the use is valid. The aim of this study was to document ethnopharmacology of medicinal plants in Agaro District, Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia. Methods: A cross–sectional study was conducted in the district from June 01-July 31, 2013. A structured questionnaire was used to record pertinent information on the use of the medicinal plants and collect their specimens. The study involved 440 households living in the district. Result: Eighty medicinal plants were collected, of which sixty–eight were identified botanically and the remaining were reported in vernacular names. The identified species were distributed in thirty–eight families. Leaves were the major plant parts used accounting for 42(44.7%), followed by roots 21(22.3%), fruits 17(18.1%) and barks 7(7.4%). Regarding the method of preparation, vegetable drug was the most commonly used method accounting for 30(37.5%), followed by decoction...
Read More
Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2014 in |
The field of cancer research has been emerged in recent years for the development of specific drugs to cancer treatment. New agents with the ability to provide efficient treatment by reducing side effects has led to new opportunities for improving agents for cytotoxic therapies. While there are several drugs for colon cancer treatment, researchers are trying to evaluate new agents or combinations of existing ones which can be used efficiently. Schiff bases with a wide range of variety and biological properties including anticancer activity might be used for colon cancer treatment. In the current study, a novel schiff base derivative synthesized by our group was tested in vivo for colon cancer. In a model of azoxymethane (AOM) induced colorectal cancer, chemopreventive properties of schiff base was also analyzed in rats. While AOM induced de novo crypt formation, adenocarcinoma and dysplasia development, schiff base application reduced the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF), dysplasia or adenocarcinoma. Analysis of the intestinal mucosa showed that peritoneal administration of SB complex not only...
Read More
