February 2010
Medicinal plants research in Pakistan
Out of about 258,650 species of higher plants reported from the world; more than 10% are used to cure ailing communities. Beside many known drugs (e.g.tubocurarine, reserpine, aspirin and morphine etc) are discovered based on traditional knowledge. Majority of the people in Pakistan rely on medicinal plants to find treatment for their minor, even in some cases major diseases. Some wild plants are now...
February 2010
Biotechnological intervention of Agave Sisalana: A unique fiber yielding plant with medicinal property
Agave sisalana Perr. Syn (Agavaceae) is cultivated for its fiber, ornamental and medicinal value. The plant contains saponin useful for soap making and pharmacological importance. It yields a stiff fiber traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards. Despite their economic importance, the Agave spp. has not been genetically improved. In vitro propagation offers...
February 2010
Possible role of red palm oil supplementation in reducing oxidative stress in HIV/AIDS and TB patients: A Review
Infection by HIV and/ or TB is known to cause a persistent chronic inflammation. There are evidences that patients infected with HIV and/ or TB are under chronic oxidative stress with a resultant decrease in endogenous and nutritional antioxidants as well as other micronutrients. Oxidative stress due to over production of free radicals and antioxidant deficiency causes damage to vital biological macromolecules and...
February 2010
Antioxidant potential and content of phenolic compounds in ethanolic extracts of selected parts of Andrographis paniculata
The present study investigated the antioxidant capacity and total content of phenolic compounds in an ethanolic extract of leaves, stems and fruits ofAndrographis paniculata, a medicinal plant. The antioxidant activity of the samples was evaluated by the red cell hemolysis assay, free radical scavenging and superoxide dismutase activities. The Folin–Ciocalteu reagent assay was used to estimate the phenolic content...
February 2010
A survey on phytochemical and bioactivity of plant extracts from Malaysian forest reserves
Methanolic extracts of leaves from plants collected from two different forest reserves, namely, Gunung Stong, Dabong, Kelantan and Ulu Muda, Kedah in Malaysia were subjected to a study in phytochemical constituents screen, toxicity to brine shrimp, cytotoxicity to normal cells and antiviral activity. All the plant extracts contain saponins except for Cyrtandra cf. anisophyllea.Goniothalamus...
February 2010
Assaying the variation in secondary metabolites of St. John’s wort for its better use as an antibiotic
The present study is aimed at investigating the effects of variation in secondary metabolites of St. John’s wort for its better use as an antibiotic. The seasonal dynamics investigation of St. John’s wort secondary metabolites was carried out on annual, biennial and triennial wild-growing plants of the suburban localities, and on the indigenous perennial plants of the mountainous localities....
February 2010
Aqueous extract of Achillea millefolium L. (Asteraceae) inflorescences suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses in RAW 264.7 murine macrophages
Yarrow Achillea millefolium L. (Asteraceae), is a perennial herb highly recognized in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties. However, studies on molecular mechanisms underlying these properties are scarce. The present work focuses on examining the effect of aqueous extract of A. millefolium L. inflorescences on the inflammatory responses of RAW 264.7 macrophages...
February 2010
Traditional knowledge on medicinal plants used for the treatment of livestock diseases in Sardikhola VDC, Kaski, Nepal
People in different parts of the world depend on plants and plant parts to fulfill their daily needs and have developed unique knowledge of their utilization. There have been very few studies on the ethnobotanical studies of the plants that are used for the treatment of livestock diseases in Nepal. This study aims to document information about ethnobotanical information of plants used for the treatment of livestock...
February 2010
Improved in vitro culture and micropropagation of different Melissa officinalis L. genotypes
Melissa officinalis L. is widely cultivated in the world and Iran as well, due to its useful application in medicine. In order to establish a stable and high frequency of regeneration system with 4 landrace collected from different climate in Iran, major parameters such as regeneration rate, rooting percentage, shooting and proliferation rate were investigated. Statistical analysis of results showed that BAP in...
February 2010
Powerful protective effects of gallic acid and tea polyphenols on human hepatocytes injury induced by hydrogen peroxide or carbon tetrachloride in vitro
Gallic acid and tea polyphenols are found in tea and considered as natural antioxidants. In this study, the cytoprotective effects of gallic acid and tea polyphenols against human hepatocytes (HL - 7702 cell line) oxidative injuryinduced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) were evaluated in vitro, with a-tocopherol as standard antioxidant. Some...
February 2010
RP-HPLC analysis for camptothecin content in Nothapodytes nimmoniana, an endangered medicinal plant
Studies were carried out on analysis of secondary metabolites by RP-HPLC from different parts (both in- vitro and -vivo) of Nothpodytes nimmoniana, an endangered medicinal plant. HPLC analysis showed the presence of camptothecin, a medicinally important alkaloid from N. nimmoniana. The plant parts used for the analysis include leaves, seeds, seed coat and leaf derived callus. Among all the...
February 2010
Acetyl cholinesterase inhibition potential and antioxidant activities of ferulic acid isolated from Impatiens bicolor Linn.
Ferulic acid was isolated from ethyl acetate extract of Impatiens bicolor Linn. and identified by X-ray analysis. The acetylcholine esterase inhibition, radical scavenging activity (DPPH scavenging assay) and FRAP assay were carried out on the compound. It was found that the effect of ferulic acid was strongly dose dependent i.e., 25 - 175 µg/ml in DPPH assay, 50 - 150 µg/ml in FRAP assay and 50 -...
February 2010
Endogenous transitional metal and proximate analysis of selected medicinal plants from Pakistan
Transitional metal and proximate analysis plays an important role in assessing the appropriateness of medicinal plants or their extracts orally taken by the marginal communities. To acquaint, various proximate parameters like ash, carbohydrate, protein, fiber, fat and moisture (both dry and wet) and endogenous transition metals like copper, magnesium, manganese, lead, cadmium, iron, chromium and sodium;...
February 2010
Aqueous extract and methanol fractions of the leaves of Brillantaisia nitens Lindau. reverses phenylhydrazine – induced anaemia in rats
Anaemia is a serious health problem especially in developing countries. In the tropics, rural dwellers had often resort to herbal treatments in some cases of anaemia. The essence of this work was to ascertain the rational for the use of the leaves of Brillantaisia nitens as a traditional hematinic. The aqueous extract (AE), methanol extract (ME), n-Hexane fraction (HF), chloroform fraction (CF) and methanol...
Advertisement
Advertisement
