Current Issues

Hawaz Weldu^1*,Abel Mehari², Lia Alem³

 ¹Haz-haz Zonal Referral Hospital Asmara-P.O.Box-9098, Eritrea

²Eritrea Pharmacological, product and supplies, Asmara-P.O.Box-1689, Eritrea

³National TB reference Laboratory, National Health Laboratory, Asmara-P.O. Box-1686, Eritrea

Abstract

Many traditional practitioners in developing countries use the herbaceous plant to treat a different type of microbial infection. Eritrea is one of the developing countries where most of their communities are dependent on herbal medicines for the treatment of infectious disease. However, this malpractice follows incorrect dosage, administration, formulation, frequency and other non-scientific methods with the inevitable negative effect of the practice which makes it inconvenient for the clients who seek treatment. Therefore the current study was carried out to get a scientific evidence of antimicrobial activity of two selected important herbal plants. Active part from leaves of Sinapis alba and Brassica nigra were extracted by continuous hot extraction (Soxhlet technique), and different concentrations were obtained by ethanol, N-hexane, aqueous and DMSO solvents. Microorganisms (Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus aureus from bacterial strains and Candida Albicans from fungal strain) were selected for testing antimicrobial activity of the plants. Then the extracted solutions were diffused to selected standard organisms inoculated in Muller Hinton Agar using well diffusion technique. Ethanol extracts of S. Alba of 2500mg/ml dissolved in DMSO concentration against E. coli have shown a significant activity with inhibition zones of 30mm. This plant in the same concentration also had a considerable effect against S. aureus and C. Albcaians with a prompting result of 28mm and 25mm zones of inhibition respectively which is greater than the positive control. Moreover, this plant showed almost an equal activity at 1000mg and 250mg which are 20mm and 13mm respectively for  C. Albicans, 26mm and 23mm for S. aureus and for E. coli 25mm and17mm. N-hexane extracts of the same plant also showed a remarkable activity at concentrations of 1000mg, 250mg and 50mg, where the zones of inhibition against S. aureus were 18mm, 20mm and 25mm respectively. Ethanol-extract of this plant diluted in ethanol also showed activity at the lowest concentration. Generally, both plants extracted using N-hexane and Ethanol extracts gave a remarkable activity against all the selected micro-organisms.

Shiffat Siddique^1*, Tessay Thomas², Shagufta Khan³

¹Chandra Shekhar Azad, Govt. P. G. Nodal College, Sehore (M.P.)- 466001, India

²Govt. P. G. College, Guna (M.P.)- 473001, India

³Grow Tips Biotech, Saket Nagar, Bhopal (MP)- 462024, India

Abstract

Piperine is chief bio-molecular active compound of Piper longum, exhibited various pharmacological activities.  In addition it improves the bioavailability of other nutritive substances. The aim of the study was to induce callus from Piper longum, and compared the quantification of piperine in callus and wild grown Piper longum.The callus were produced by transferring the sterile leaves on MS medium containing different concentration of cytokinins like 0.5 mg/l BAP (6-benzylaminopurine), 1.0 mg/l KN (kinetin) with auxins like 0.5 - 2.0 mg/l 2,4-D (2 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). The petroleum ether, ethanol and aqueous extracts of Piper longum plant and callus were prepared. The content of piperine in plant extract and callus extract were performed by HPLC. The phytochemical study uncovered the nearness of different secondary metabolites in various extract of plant. The HPLC chromatogram displayed that content of piperine present in callus extract was higher compared to field grown plants.

Bahir Abdul Razzaq Mshimesh¹, Basma Talib Al-Sudani², Suzan Yousif Jasim²

¹Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad-Iraq

²Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad-Iraq

Abstract

Alzheimer`s disease (AD) is the most widely recognized reason for dementia in more advanced age subjects and it`s a vital general medical issue. Since Alzheimer portrayed the primary instance of the AD over a century back, much advancement has been made in reading the pathogenic and clinical findings of this disorder. Generous progression was made in describing pre-dementia phases of the AD, for example, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and enhancing the diagnostic and treatment choices accessible for overseeing AD. Our capacity to discover the `fix` for AD eventually depends not just on possessing an exact view of the cellular procedures, but additionally on having ideal biomarkers and valuable neuroimaging tests to empower early analysis and convenient helpful mediation in suspected people. The object for this article is to give a short review to the AD and the related researches in this field. The article accentuates clinical and neurobiological parts of the AD. Furthermore, this survey portrays progress in the utilization of biomarkers for analysis of AD and features continuous endeavors to create novel treatments.

Shyam Sunder Shah, Ashish Manigauha*, Balkrishna Dubey

Department of Pharmacology, Technocrats Institute of Technology-Pharmacy, Anand Nagar, Bhopal – 462021 (MP), India

Abstract

Gymnema sylvestre, Trigonella foenum andPhyllanthus emblica are used for the management of diabetes. The mixing of these plant parts in different ratio may produce synergistic antidiabetic action. Hence the aim of the present study was to formulate polyherbal formulations containing various proportions of Gymnema sylvestre (Leaves), Trigonella foenum (Seeds) andPhyllanthus emblica(Fruits) to investigate their antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activity in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rat. The physicochemical estimations namely total ash value, acid insoluble ash value, water soluble ash value, loss on drying, alcohol soluble extractive values and water soluble extractive value for plants parts were performed. The decoction of four different polyherbal formulations (HF1 to HF4) were prepared and antidiabetic activity was investigated in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rat. The physicochemical value of plant materials were under limits and acceptable. The administration of polyherbal formulation (HF1 to HF4) significantly decreased the blood glucose levels compared to control diabetic rats. The polyherbal formulation significantly lowered the elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides (TGL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) level while increased the high density lipoprotein (HDL) indicates the antihyperlipidemic activity. The findings demonstrated the antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activity of polyherbal formulations, and HF2 produce higher protective effect from diabetes.