Synergistic hepatoprotective potential of ethanolic extract of Solanum xanthocarpum and Juniperus communis against paracetamol and azithromycin induced liver injury in rats.

Previously explored combination therapies mostly involved the use of bioactive molecules. It is believed that herbal compounds containing multiple plant products have synergistic hepatoprotective effects and could enhance the desired actions. To investigate the combination of ethanolic fruits extract of Solanum xanthocarpum (SX) and Juniperus communis (JC) against Paracetamol (PCM) and Azithromycin (AZM) induced liver toxicity in rats. Liver toxicity was induced by combine oral administration of PCM (250 mg/kg) and AZM (200 mg/kg) for 7 days in Wistar rats. Fruit extract of SX (200 and 400 mg/kg) and JC (200 and 400 mg/kg) were administered daily for 14 days. The hepatoprotective activity was assessed using liver functional test, oxidative parameters and histopathological examination. The results demonstrated that combine administration of AZM and PCM significantly produced liver toxicity by increasing the serum level of hepatic enzymes and oxidative parameters in liver of rats. Histopathological examination also indicated that AZM and PCM produced liver damage in rats. Chronic treatment of SX and JC extract significantly and dose-dependently attenuated the liver toxicity by normalizing the biochemical factors and no gross histopathological changes were observed in liver of rats. Furthermore, combine administration of lower dose of SX and JC significantly potentiated their hepatoprotective effect which was significant as compared to their effect per se. The results clearly indicated that SX and JC extract has hepatoprotective potential against AZM and PCM induced liver toxicity due to their synergistic anti-oxidant properties.

N-succinyl chitosan as buccal penetration enhancer for delivery of herbal agents in treatment of oral mucositis.

Oral mucositis is one of the major side effects of cancer chemotherapy (30-76%) and radiotherapy (over 50%). Current palliative treatments of oral mucositis include specialized agents like pelifermin, platelet derived factors etc. or oral hygienic agents which suffered from various drawbacks like systemic side effect, least effect owing to fast wash out of buccal mucosa, patient unfriendly delivery systems, and mere symptomatic relief. In this research work, N-succinyl chitosan gel delivery system of microemulsified eugenol, honey and sodium hyaluronate was prepared to explore their multiple and synergistic effects on various pathological factors of oral mucositis. N-succinyl chitosan was synthesized in our laboratory and loaded with microemulsified eugenol (10% v/v), honey (10% v/v) and sodium hyaluronate (0.2% w/v) to prepare orogel with optimum pH, spreadability, mucoadhesion strength, and viscosity. In vitro eugenol release from N-succinyl chitosan gel after 8 hours in PBS (pH-6.4) was found to be 87.45±0.14%, which was better in comparison to that released from chitosan gel. Ex vivo penetration studies using rat buccal mucosal tissue also suggested better J-efflux of eugenol through N-succinyl chitosan in comparison to chitosan gel with enhancement ratio (ER) of 1.71. The antimicrobial effect of N-succinyl chitosan based orogel against S. aureus and C. albicans efficacy was found to be statistically high in comparison to chitosan based orogel as well as marketed formulation of chlorhexidine (p<0.05). The N-succinyl chitosan orogel in 5-fluoro uracil induced oral mucositis animal (Wistar rats) model showed enhanced survival ratio, weight gain and high tissue regeneration activity than chitosan gel formulation within 15 days. The formulation was successful in elevating the survival and reducing the inflammation in the oral mucosa of animals compared to disease control (p<0.05) and hence suggesting the potential of N-succinyl chitosan orogel in the treatment of oral mucositis.

Anti-diabetic and antihyperlipidemic effect of allopolyherbal formulation in OGTT and STZ-induced diabetic rat model.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activities of Allopolyherbal formulation (APHF) consisting of combinations of three well known medicinal plants used in traditional medicines (Trigonella foenum graceum, Momordica charantia, Aegle marmelos) and synthetic oral hypoglycaemic drug (Glipizide-GL). The optimized combination of lyophilized hydro-alcoholic extracts of drugs was 2:2:1 using OGTT model. The optimized PHF was simultaneously administered with GL and optimized using OGTT model in diabetic rats and further studied in STZ-induced diabetic rats for 21 days. The results (serum glucose level, lipid profile, hepatic enzymes and body weight) were compared with the standard drug GL (10 mg/kg body wt). The optimized APHF (500+5 mg/kg body wt) has shown significant antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic activities. The results were comparable with the standard; even better than the GL (10 mg/kg body wt) alone. The proposed hypothesis has reduced the no. of drug components from eight to three and dose almost 50% of both PHF and GL which fulfil the FDA requirements for export. Thus the developed APHF will be an ideal alternative for the existing hypoglycemic formulations in the market with an additional advantage of hypolipidemic effect and minimizing the cardiovascular risk factors associated with diabetes.

Antioxidant potential of n-butanol fraction from extract of Jasminum mesnyi Hance leaves.

Methanolic extract of Jasminum mesnyi Hance leaves having antidiabetic activity was subjected to fractionation to obtain antioxidant and antihyperglycemic rich fraction. Different concentrations of ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions were subjected to antioxidant assay by DPPH method, nitric oxide scavenging activity and reducing power assay. The fractions showed dose dependent free radical scavenging property in all the models. IC50 values for ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions were 153.45 +/- 6.65 and 6.22 +/- 0.25 microg/ml, respectively, as compared to L-ascorbic acid and rutin (as standards; IC50 values 6.54 +/- 0.24 and 5.43 +/- 0.21 microg/ml, respectively) in DPPH model. In nitric oxide scavenging activity, IC50 values were 141.54 +/- 9.95 microg/ml, 35.12 +/- 1.58 microg/ml, 21.06 +/- 0.95 microg/ml and 29.93 +/- 0.32 microg/ml for ethyl acetate, n-butanol fractions, L-ascorbic acid and rutin, respectively. n-Butanol fraction showed a good reducing potential and better free radical scavenging activity as compared to ethyl acetate fraction. Potent antioxidant n-butanol fraction showed better oral glucose tolerance test (antihyperglycemic) at par with metformin (standard drug), n-Butanol fraction contained secoiridoid glycosides which might be responsible for both antioxidant and antihyperglycemic activity.

Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activity of ethanolic extract of Salvadora oleoides in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activity of an ethanolic extract of the aerial part of Salvadora oleoides Decne in euglycemic and alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diabetes was induced in albino rats by administration of alloxan monohydrate (120 mg/kg, i.p.). Normal as well as diabetic albino rats were divided into groups (n = 6) receiving different treatments: vehicle (control), ethanolic extract (1 g and 2 g/kg b.w), and standard antidiabetic drug tolbutamide (0.5 g/kg b.w.). Blood samples were collected by cardiac puncture and were analyzed for blood glucose and lipid profile on days 0, 7, 14, and 21. RESULTS: The ethanolic extract of S oleoides produced significant reduction (P < 0.001) in blood glucose and also had beneficial effects (P < 0.001) on the lipid profile in euglycemic as well as alloxan-induced diabetic rats at the end of the treatment period (21(st) day). However, the reduction in the blood glucose and improvement in lipid profile was less than that achieved with the standard drug tolbutamide. CONCLUSION: We concluded that an ethanolic extract of S oleoides is effective in controlling blood glucose levels and improves lipid profile in euglycemic as well as diabetic rats.