Posted by admin on Nov 30, 2016 in |
The increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus worldwide is an issue of major socio-economic concern especially in Sub – Saharan Africa. Indigenous medicinal plants are used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in most developing countries, like Ghana, but remain to be validated. In the present study, the effect of Myrianthus arboreus ethanol stem bark extract (MAB) (100 – 400 mg/kg) on glucose levels in streptozotocin (STZ) (45 mg/kg) induced diabetic rats was investigated using glibenclamide 5 mg/kg/day as the positive control. The effects of the extract on body weight, total protein, serum urea, serum creatinine, bilirubin, lipid profile, haematological indices and serum markers for liver function in normal, treated and untreated diabetic rats were also investigated. Induction of the diabetes in Sprague Dawley rats (150-200 g) resulted in increased levels of serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol but decreased body weight, serum HDL-cholesterol and haemoglobin levels. Administration of the extract at the three dose levels resulted in significant (P<0.001) reduction in the levels of plasma glucose, cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol,...
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Posted by admin on Nov 30, 2016 in |
The present study highlights the occurrence of β-lactamase (bla) genes belonging to different classes: extended spectrum β-lactamase genes (blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX-M and blaPER), metallo β-lactamase genes (blaNDM and blaGIM and Ampicillin class C genes (blaPDC and blaCMY) in P. aeruginosa isolates by PCR amplification. The isolates were recovered from human patients of Indira Gandhi Medical College & Hospital at Shimla in the state of Himachal Pradesh (India). We have previously detected different β-lactamases in 180 confirmed isolates of P. aeruginosa by phenotypic methods in our laboratory. Such isolates have been characterized in the present study for their genotypes in respect of the specified genes. Of the 56 phenotypically ESBL positive isolates, the ESBL genes (blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M) could be amplified in 14 (25%), 1 (1.78%) and 6 (10.71%) isolates respectively. Of these, three isolates had both blaTEM & blaCTX-M genes. Of the 29 phenotypically MBL positive isolates, the blaNDM could be amplified in 11 (37.93%) isolates only. However, no amplification was achieved in case of blaGIM gene. AmpC-type...
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Posted by admin on Nov 30, 2016 in |
The methanolic extract (ME) of leaves of Ficus religiosa (Family: Moraceae) was evaluated for their wound healing activity in rats. It was carried out in rats by employing excision wound models following topical application. The qualitative preliminary phytochemical analysis of ME indicated the presence of tannins, triterpenoids, alkaloids and steroids. All healthy animals of either sex were grouped into four groups and each group contains six rats. The rats of ointment (5 and 10 %w/w) of ME treated were compared to povidone-iodine ointment treated as a standard. The results of present work revealed that the 10%w/w ointment of ME of Ficus religiosa treated wounds showed significant reduction of wound contraction area as compared to control and indicated rapid...
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Posted by admin on Nov 30, 2016 in |
Mangrove survives in the most hostile environment with fluctuating tidal and saline regime. The present work focused on a detailed study on quantitative estimation of phytoconstituents and DPPH radical scavenging activity of Excoecaria agallocha L., a mangrove from Kattiparambu and Chirackal of Ernakulam District, Kerala. Preliminary phytochemical investigation indicated the presence of biologically active metabolites of leaf, stem and root of the plant in different solvents. Methanol and hexane gave maximum results. Since the plant grows in stress conditions showed the presence of amino acids. Recorded values for high protein in leaf (4.8%), stem (1.93%), Carbohydrate in the root (11.17%) at Chirackal. Phenols (6.02%), flavanoids (3.6%) and tannins (5.68%) was observed in leaf samples of the species at Chirackal. Methanolic extract showed maximum free radical scavenging activity (IC50-141.56µg/ml) in leaf samples and stem showed minimum (IC50-931.3µg/ml) in chloroform extract. The range of DPPH radical scavenging activity in the solvent is Methanol > Ethyl acetate > Ethanol >...
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Posted by admin on Nov 30, 2016 in |
Previous studies have demonstrated that the activation of adenosine A2B receptors increases adenosine 3′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation in rat skeletal muscle cells, which is probably an important yet unknown mechanism contributing to the regulation of skeletal muscle functions. via rat L6 skeletal muscle cells, it has been elucidated further potential molecular signaling responsible for adenosine A2B receptor modulations via quantitative real-time PCR assays (probe-based). The results of the present study has shown for the first time that NECA alters the expression of PGC-1α significantly in both one week and 19 hours starved skeletal muscle cells (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively) (2.5 and -0.58 fold change compared to vehicle, respectively). Adenosine A2B receptors mediate NECA-modulated PGC-1α mRNA gene expression in skeletal muscle cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating an induction of PGC-1α gene by CGS 21680 significantly (P<0.001) (around 1.8 fold change compared to vehicle). In the current study, NECA (10 μM) increases NR4A1 and NR4A3 mRNA gene expression significantly (P<0.05) (around 2.7 and 5.2 -fold change...
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