Posted by admin on May 1, 2012 in |
Vismia guianensis (Aubl.) Choisy is a tree that belongs to the secondary vegetation in rainforests. This study aimed to perform anatomy analysis by light microscopy; scanning and microchemistry of the leaves of V. guianensis. Tri stratified upper epidermis with intense cutinization and unistratified inferior epidermis was observed. The stomata found are paracytic and the trichomes arranged in rosettes are glandular, multicellular, stellate shape covered with cuticle, which were present on the abaxial surface. Parenchyma cells with idioblasts containing druses of calcium oxalate crystals were also found. The mesophyll is dorsiventral and the midrib is concave on the adaxial surface and convex on the opposite surface. The microchemical tests detected the presence of starch grains in the chlorophyll cells and phenolic compounds dispersed in the palisade tissue and abaxial surface. Alkaloids in the epidermis and in the sclerenchyma cells surrounding the vascular bundles and the midrib xylem, dispersed flavonoid in the palisade parenchyma and trichomes, fatty substances as content of the secretory ducts and reducing sugars in the palisade and...
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Posted by admin on May 1, 2012 in |
The present study was designed to investigate the antidiarrhoeal, nitric oxide scavenging and total tannin content from the ethanolic extract of the bark of Ceriops decandra (Griff.) Ding Hou (Family: Rhizophoraceae). The ethanol extract at graded doses (200 & 400 mg/kg body weight) was investigated for antidiarrhoeal activity in term of reduction in the rate of defecation and consistency of faeces in castor oil induced diarrhoea. At the dose of 400 mg/kg body weight, the extract showed a significant anti-diarrhoeal activity showing 61.57% reduction in diarrhoea (P<0.05) comparable to that of standard drug loperamide 68.55%. Two complementary test systems, namely nitric oxide scavenging and total tannin contents were used for screening antioxidant activities. The ethanol extract showed maximum scavenging activity of 67.42 ±0.83% at 100 µg/ml, where as ascorbic acid at the same concentration exhibited 81.13±0.74% inhibition. The IC50 value for ethanolic extract was found fairly significant (63.59 μg/ml) while compared to the IC50 value of the reference standard ascorbic acid (36.81 μg/ml). The total tannin content was also...
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Posted by admin on May 1, 2012 in |
Background: Gouania longipetala Hemsl. (Rhamnaceae), has ethnomedicinal use in the treatment of wounds, gonorrhoea, abdominal pain, lumbago, ophthalmia, conjunctivitis, and rickets. However, no scientific investigation of these effects has been established. Our aim was to verify the antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the stem of Gouania longipetala. Methods: The antibacterial effect of the 70% ethanolic extract was studied using the agar well diffusion and micro dilution assays. The extract was also tested in vitro for its free radical scavenging effect, total antioxidant capacity and total phenol content. The extract activity in acute inflammation was assessed using the carrageenan-induced foot oedema in chicks. Results: The 70% ethanollic extract showed antibacterial effect against the test organisms with the lowest MIC of 125 µg/mL against Bacillus subtilis NCTC 10073. The total antioxidant capacity was 0.80 mg/g ascorbic acid equivalent. The extract demonstrated free radical scavenging activity yielding IC50 value of 0.004 mg/mL. In the total phenol content assay, tannic acid equivalent was 52.02mg/g and correlated highly with its total antioxidant capacity....
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Posted by admin on May 1, 2012 in |
In recent days, it has been given great emphasis on the scientific evaluation of traditional or complementary and alternative medicines in order to justify the traditional use, safety, efficacy, quality, and to know its therapeutic values that have not yet explored. Chandanasav, an ancient Ayurved formulation, is commonly used for the treatment of malnutrition, presence of semen in the urine, and treatment of heart and autoimmune diseases. Till now, no research information is available on the immuno-stimulatory activities of this preparation. The present study was designed to evaluate the preliminary immunostimulating potential of Chandanasav for polyclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) production and proliferation of murine spleen cells. BALB/c mice splenocytes were treated with 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2, 3 and 4% (v/v) of Chandanasav and the cells were sub-cultured at 37oC in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO2 for 120 h. IgM production in cultured supernatant was determined by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and splenocytes proliferation was measured by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl thiazol-2-y)-2, 5-diphenylterazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Chandanasav at...
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Posted by admin on May 1, 2012 in |
The antioxidant activity of methanol extract of whole plant of Synedrella nodiflora as well as its petroleum ether, carbon tetrachloride, dichloro-methane and aqueous soluble partitionates were evaluated by DPPH of (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and phosphomolybdenum total antioxidant assay and compared with standard antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and ascorbic acid (ASA). The total phenolic content was also determined and expressed in gallic acid equivalent (mg of GAE/g of sample). A great variance was observed for polyphenol content as well as antioxidant activity (1.574-9.4136 mg GAE/g and DPPH IC50 10.52-31.25 μg/ml) depending on the nature of solvent used to fractionate the crude extract. The result demonstrated that dichloromethane soluble fraction revealed the highest amount of phenolic compounds (9.4136 mg GAE/g) and also had significant free radical scavenging activity (IC50 10.52 μg/ml). A positive correlation was observed between total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity of S. nodiflora having correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.9270. The general toxicity of the extractive was studied by brine shrimp lethality bioassay and from the results (LC50 0.023-0.122...
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