April 2012
Antiprotozoa activity of some essential oils
Protozoa cause many diseases such as leishmaniasis, giardiasis, amebiasis, trichomoniasis and Chagas disease. Metronidazole is the most commonly used drug in antiprotozoal therapy, but metronidazole, as well as other antiprotozoal drugs, can have several secondary effects. Essential oils have been successfully used in the treatment of diseases caused by protozoa. This is a review covering such research from the last 10...
April 2012
Antioxidant, free radical scavenging capacity and antimicrobial activities of Mirabilis jalapa
The leaf extract of Mirabilis jalapa was screened for its antimicrobial activities on some pathogenic organisms such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and some fungi such as Candida, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus andPenicillium notatum. The results indicated...
April 2012
Effects of cultivation and flowering on the chemical composition and efficacy of radix peucedani
Radix peucedani is a traditional Chinese medicine mainly used to facilitate expectoration and suppression of cough. In this study, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze 20 radix peucedani samples. The plants were classified as wild or cultivated, and flowering or non-flowering. The level of each ingredient was determined by peak area normalization, and the effects of cultivation and...
April 2012
Chemical composition and toxicity of essential oil of Boenninghausenia sessilicarpa (Rutaceae) against two grain storage insects
The aim of this research was to determine acute toxicity of the essential oil derived from aerial parts of Boenninghausenia sessilicarpa Levl. (Rutaceae) against two grain storage insects, maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais Motsch.) and red flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum Herbst.). Essential oil of B. sessilicarpa aerial parts was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas...
April 2012
Combined effects of testosterone propionate and Leptadenia hastata Pers. (Decne) aqueous extracts on immature castrated male rats
To evaluate the competition between testosterone propionate (TP) and Leptadenia hastataaqueous extracts, immature castrated male Wistar rats were divided into two groups. L. hastata aqueous extracts reduced significantly the weight of androgen-dependant sex glands, the level of phosphatase acid prostatic (PAP) and fructose in seminal vesicles and prostate, and the serum testosterone level. When TP was...
April 2012
Antioxidant activity of different extracts from leaves of Pereskia bleo (Cactaceae)
The present study was conducted to assess the antioxidant properties of ethanol, ethyl acetate, methanol and hexane extracts from leaves of Pereskia bleo using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl method (DPPH assay), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP assay) and β-Carotene-Linoleic acid methods. Total phenolic compounds (TPC) and flavonoids of the leaves of P. bleo were measured...
April 2012
Nordihydroguaiaretic acid pretreatment prevents ischemia and reperfusion induced renal injury, oxidant stress and mitochondrial alterations
Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a lignan with antioxidant properties present in high concentration in the leaves of Larrea tridentata. In the present study the potential protective effect of NDGA on ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) induced renal damage, oxidant stress and mitochondrial alterations was examined. Four groups of male Wistar rats were used: 1. Control; 2. NDGA; 3. I/R, and 4. I/R+NDGA. NDGA was injected...
April 2012
Chemical constituents, larvicidal effects and antioxidant activity of petroleum ether extract from seeds of Coriandrum sativum L.
The seeds of Korean Coriandrum sativum were extracted with petroleum ether and the chemical composition, larvicidal effects and antioxidant activity were studied. The analyses were conducted by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), which revealed the chemical composition of the petroleum ether extract of the seeds of C. sativum. Thirty seven components, representing 100% of the total extract...
April 2012
Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of Thunbergia laurifolia Lindl. and its related species
Thunbergia laurifolia Lindl. is an important herb in Thai folk medicine that has been widely used as an antidote, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic. However, counterfeits of T. laurifoliahave been commonly found in Thai herbal markets and have arisen based on their similarity in appearance and shared common names. Flowers of plants belonging to Thunbergiaspp., including T. laurifolia,...
April 2012
Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Mimosaceae plants; Acacia modesta Wall (Phulai), Prosopis cineraria (Linn.) and Prosopis juliflora (Swartz)
In the present study the methanolic leaf extracts of three plant species of familyMimosaceae viz., Acacia modesta Wall (Phulai), Prosopis cineraria (Linn.) Druce andProsopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. were used to evaluate their antibacterial antifungal and antioxidant activity. Simple maceration method was used for the preparation of plant extracts. The extracts were tested against four...
April 2012
Polyphenolic content and their antioxidant activity in leaf extract of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
Nowadays, phytochemicals and antioxidants in plants are raising interest in consumers for their roles in the maintenance of human health. Phenolics and flavonoids are known for their health-promoting properties due to protective effects against cardiovascular disease, cancers and other disease. In this study, total phenolic (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and antioxidant activities of the six different varieties of sweet...
April 2012
Rhynchophylline in rat blood by high-performance liquid chromatography-coupled microdialysis
Rhynchophylline (RHY) is a pharmacologically active substance isolated from Uncaria rhynchophylla which has been used to treat cardiovascular and central nervous system diseases. Microdialysis (MD) technique is a continuous, real-time sampling technique that is very suitable for the evaluation of drug disposition. The present study coupled an in vivoMD sampling method with reliable...
April 2012
Influence of developmental stage on yield and composition of Origanum syriacum L. oil by multivariate analysis
Accumulation of essential oil in herbs depends on development stage. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of growth stages (pre-flowering and blooming stages) on the yield and composition of essential oil of thyme (Origanum syriacum L.). Three harvesting times (morning at 8 am, noon at 12 pm and evening at 6 pm) and two harvesting date (growth stage (pre-flowering stage) and blooming stage)...
April 2012
Neuro-protective effect of Mentha extract against oxidative stress in pre-treated gamma irradiated Swiss albino mice
The damaging effect of ionizing radiation on body systems on one hand, and the development of radio-protective agents on the other hand, have gained increased attention in the last decades. In the present study, male Swiss albino mice exposed to six gray gamma irradiation, exhibited significant increase in brain thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nitric oxide (NO), and free radicals such as hydrogen...
April 2012
In vitro propagation and quality evaluation of long-term micro-propagated and conventionally grown Fagopyrum dibotrys Hara mutant, an important medicinal plant
Fagopyrum dibotrys (D. Don) Hara is an important plant species of medicinal value. An efficient protocol for in vitro propagation of an F. dibotrys mutant that contains a higher level of (-)-epicatechin was developed. Adventitious buds were directly regenerated from stem nodal explants cultured in Murashige-Skoog (MS) basal medium containing 3% sucrose and appropriate combinations of plant...
April 2012
Protective effects of Tinospora crispa extracts on H2O2-induced oxidative stress and TNF-α-induced inflammation on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)
Atherosclerosis is a pathology related to oxidative stress and inflammation. Prevention of atherosclerosis can be achieved by blocking the oxidation and inflammation process that occurs on the endothelial cells. Tinospora cispa, a climber that is commonly found in primary rainforest is widely distributed in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. T. cispa which has been claimed to exert various...
April 2012
Molecular cloning, characterization and functional identiï¬cation of the gene encoding 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase from Clematis armandii Franch
A full-length cDNA encoding 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR, EC:1.1.1.34) was isolated from Clematis armandii by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), which was designated as CaHMGR. The full-length cDNA of CaHMGR (GenBank Accession No. JN830626) was 1874 bp containing a 1734 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 578 amino acids that contained four conserved domains and five...
April 2012
The evaluation of contents of nine ginsenoside monomers in four commercial ginseng by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)
Nine ginsenoside monomers (Rg1, Rg2, Rf, Re, Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc) were simultaneously determined by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) to assay chemical components in white ginseng, red ginseng, sugar ginseng and fresh ginseng. The results demonstrated that four different processing ginseng contained the same type of ginsenosides (Rg1, Rg2, Rf, Re, Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc), but the content of each...
April 2012
Effect of sowing date and different levels of nitrogen fertilizer on yield and essence of flower in medicinal plant of Calendula officinalis L.
Management of chemical fertilizers application is very important in their effect on environment and plant yield especially in arid and semi-arid region. In order to determine the effect of different sowing date and levels of nitrogen fertilizer on yield, morphological characteristics and essence of Calendula officinalis a field experiment was conducted using split plot on the basis of randomized complete block...
April 2012
Role of Phoenix dactylifera in ameliorating Eimeria papillata-induced hepatic injury in mice
Phoenix dactylifera (Date) is used in traditional medicine for its pharmacological properties. Here, we investigated the effects of Khodary date fruit on the outcome of coccidiosis caused by Eimeria papillata in mice. Coccidiosis was induced by infection of mice with 1.5 × 103 sporulated oocysts of E. papillata. The aqueous extract of date fruit (4 ml/kg) was used in...
April 2012
In vivo anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of cambial meristematic cells established from Ginkgo biloba L.
Ginkgo biloba leaves are traditionally ascribed a wide range of therapeutic attributes, including anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. We previously reported success in establishing and expanding suspension cultures of G. biloba cambial meristematic cells (CMCs) in vitro, while maintaining genetic stability and physiological homogeneity. In the present study, we tested...
April 2012
Neuroprotective effects of ligustrazine on oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in PC12 cells
Ischemic cerebrovascular disease is a global health problem. According to the World Health Organization, ischemic stroke is actually the most common cause of death in the world. Ligustrazine (4-methyl-pyrazine [tetramethylpyrazine]) protects neurons against toxicity and plays a central role in regulating the brain’s response to injury. In the present study, we investigated the mechanisms involved in the...
April 2012
Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis of the essential oils of Ajuga bracteosa Wall. ex Benth. and Lavandula dentata L. growing wild in Yemen
The essential oils from the aerial part of two Lamiaceae species namely, Ajuga bracteosaand Lavandula dentata growing in Yemen were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Parallel to that, evaluation of their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities was also carried out. The investigation led to the identification of 47 and...
April 2012
Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of tannins extracted from agricultural by-products
This study was aimed at evaluating antibacterial and antioxidant activity of tannins extracted by several solvents from agricultural by-products, including green tea waste and acorn, chestnut, and persimmon hulls. Tannin content was the highest in acetone extracts from all types of hulls, but not green tea waste (p<0.05). Tannin extracts from green tea waste had higher antibacterial activity than those from acorn,...
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