Simple spectrophotometric methods for standardizing ayurvedic formulation.

Traditional medicines are effective but the standardization of Ayurvedic formulations is essential in order to assess the quality of drugs, based on the concentration of their active principles. Department of AYUSH has given preliminary guidelines for standardizing these conventional formulations, for uniformity of batches in production of Ayurvedic formulation and it is necessary to develop methods for evaluation. The present work is an attempt to standardize asav-arishta, the traditional Ayurvedic formulation using simple, non-expensive spectrophotometric methods. The various parameters performed included total phenolics, total flavonoids, total alkaloids and total saponins, also included pH, sugar %, alcohol content and specific gravity. The results obtained may be considered as tools for assistance to the regulatory authorities, scientific organizations and manufacturers for developing standards.

Vulnerability of Gastric Mucosa in Diabetic Rats, Its Pathogenesis and Amelioration by Cuminum cyminum.

Various studies have indicated that peptic ulcers occurring during the course of diabetic state are more severe and often associated with complications such as gastrointestinal bleeding. This study is the first attempt to understand the pathogenesis of gastric ulcers occurring during the diabetic state considering alternate biochemical pathways using suitable markers and its amelioration by Cuminum cyminum. In this study, diabetic rats showed a progressive increase in the stomach advanced glycated end products formation, gastric mucosal tumour necrosis factor-α and Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances levels as compared to normal control (nondiabetic) rats. There was decrease in gastric mucosal content, antioxidant enzymes and cellular ATPase enzyme levels of diabetic gastric mucosa when compared to the normal control group. mRNA expression of epidermal growth factor was found to be significantly higher as compared to normal control animals. Further methanol extract of Cuminum cyminum treatment to diabetic animals caused a reduction in blood glucose, and ulcer score when compared to diabetic control rats. It significantly increased gastric mucus content, antioxidant status and cellular ATPase enzyme levels as compared to diabetic control animals. Methanol extract of Cuminum cyminum inhibited advanced glycated end products formation in vitro as well as in vivo.