Combination therapy with Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum, and Cicer arietinum exhibited anti-diabetic potential through modulation of oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokines.

Poly-herbal therapies for chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus (DM) have been practiced in south Asia for centuries. One of such therapies comprises of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum that have shown encouraging therapeutic potential in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Therefore, poly-herbal granules (PHGs) of this formula were developed and investigated for their anti-diabetic and anti-obesity potential in obese-diabetic rats. The developed PHGs were chemical characterized and the virtual molecular docking was performed by Discovery studio visualizer (DSV) software. For in-vivo experiment, obesity in rats was induced with high-fat high-sugar diet. After that, diabetes was induced by alloxan monohydrate 150 mg/kg i.p. injection. The diseased rats were treated with PHGs at 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg/day for four weeks. GC-MS analysis of PHGs demonstrated the presence of 1,3-Benzenedicarboxylic acid bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester and 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid di-isooctyl ester and phenol, 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl). Molecular docking of these compounds demonstrated higher binding energies with receptor than metformin against α-amylase and α-glucosidase. PHGs exhibited a decline in body weight, HbA1c, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance in diseased rats. The histopathological examination revealed that PHGs improved the alloxan-induced damage to the pancreas. Furthermore, PHGs increased the SOD, CAT and GSH while and the decreased the level of MDA in the liver, kidney and pancreas of diseased rats. Additionally, the PHGs had significantly downregulated the TNF-α and NF-κB while upregulated the expression of NrF-2. The current study demonstrated that the PHGs exhibited anti-diabetic and anti-obesity potential through amelioration of oxidative stress, NF-κB, TNF-α, and NrF-2 due to the presence of different phytochemicals.

Chemical characterization, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of a novel polyherbal formulation comprising of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum extracts.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most prevalent endocrine disorder. Numerous individual herbs possess anti-diabetic activity. The seeds of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum are traditionally used to manage DM. The ambition of this work was to formulate the poly-herbal granules (PHGs) comprising of these three functional foods and evaluate their in-vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic potential. The dried seed extracts of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum were used in a ratio of 2.5:1:1 to formulate PHGs by wet granulation method. The ratio of extracts was selected on the basis of traditional phytotherapies popularly used by local Hakeems of Pakistan to achieve glycemic control in diabetic patients resistant to traditional allopathic regime of medicine. The flow properties of developed PHGs were evaluated. The UV-Visible spectroscopic, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and HPLC-DAD of all seed extracts and PHGs were performed. The in-vitro antioxidant DPPH, FRAP, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and Nitric Oxide (NO) scavenging assays were carried out on PHGs. The in-vitro antidiabetic activity of PHGs was investigated by alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzyme inhibition activity. The developed PHGs exhibited excellent flow properties. The UV-Vis spectra of all seed extracts and PHGs demonstrated peak at 278 nm showing the presence of flavonoids and phenols. The FTIR spectra confirmed the existence of flavonoids, and phenols along with amines in seed extracts as well as PHGs. The HPLC-DAD test revealed the existence of gallic acid, ascorbic acid, Quercetin-3-(caffeoyldiglucoside)-7-glucoside, Rosmarinic acid, delphinidin-3,5-diglucosides, Kaempferol-3-feruloylsophoroside-7-glucoside and Phloroglucinol in PHGs. The PHGs exhibited IC50 of 51.23, 58.57, 55.41 and 53.13 µg/mL in DPPH assay, FRAP assay, TAC, Nitric oxide scavenging assays respectively. The PHGs also demonstrated IC50 of 49.97 and 36.16 µg/mL in alpha-amylase and in alpha-glucosidase inhibition assays respectively in dose dependent manner. The developed PHGs exhibited an excellent flow property. These exhibit significant in-vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic profile by virtue of flavonoid and phenolic acid derivatives.

Study on Allopathic and Alternative Treatments of Asthma and Factors Influencing Treatment Choices.

Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted; primary data were collected from asthmatic patients in different hospitals and clinics of allopathic, homeopathic, and herbal practitioners in Karachi, Pakistan. The study duration was from January 2020 to December 2020. Asthmatic patients aged over 13 years were selected for the study. A written informed consent was taken from the patients before the interview. Collected data were analyzed by the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) 22. Result: Among 255 asthmatic patients; 51.4% (n = 131) were male and 48.6% (n = 124) were female. For control of acute attacks of asthma 88.2% (p = 0.0001) of patients significantly preferred allopathic treatment while 6.3% (p = 0.008) used homeopathic treatment and 5.5% chose herbal treatment. For maintenance of asthma, 78.8% (p = 0.0001) patients used allopathic treatment while 12.4% (p = 0.0001) homeopathic and 8.8% (p = 0.0001) patients used herbal treatment. About 63.4% (p = 0.0001) of the asthmatic patients used short-acting ß-2 agonists for managing acute asthmatic episodes while long-acting ß-2 agonists (p = 0.0001) and inhaled corticosteroids (p = 0.0001) were found to be the preferred medicines for maintenance therapy. Effectiveness of treatment (p = 0.004) and cost effectiveness (p = 0.0001) significantly act as contributing factors for the selection of the treatment. The majority of the patients were satisfied with their chosen treatments for control of asthmatic symptoms. Conclusion: Most asthmatic patients preferred allopathic treatment for the management of acute episodes and control of asthmatic symptoms. It was found that the major factors for selecting a specific treatment include effectiveness, cost, and minimal side effects.

Asthmatic patient's preferences regarding frequency of physician consultation.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: To identify patient's factors from their clinical picture and demographics, and recognize their association and influence on frequency of physician visit. METHOD: Study was conducted in Karachi from January - December 2019. Primary data was collected from 255 asthmatic patients that visited different hospitals, homeopathic and herbal clinics. Questionnaire included patient's demographic details, treatment choice for asthma and satisfaction level with different treatments. Collected data was analyzed by SPSS 20. RESULT: Among 255 asthmatic patients, 101 visited 5 - 7 times to physician from the past year, 48 visited 8-10 times and 27 went to physician more than 10 times in past 12 months. While 30 patients did not visit the physician even once and only 20 patients visited 1-2 times in the last year. From clinical factors, association of severity (p = 0.0001), limitation (p = 0.0001) and side effects (p = 0.003) with physician visit were found to be statistically significant. In addition, among demographics, age (p = 0.004), education (p = 0.0001), income (p = 0.0001) and having pets (p = 0.007) were found to be significant factors associated with physician visit for asthma in the past year. CONCLUSION: Most of the asthmatic patients covered in the study visited the physician more than five times during the last year and chose allopathic treatment for asthma. Age, education, severity and side effects of asthma treatment were some of the significant factors associated with physician visit. Patients with frequent follow up visits to the physician were satisfied with their treatment.

Morphological, microscopic, and physicochemical studies of Diospyros montana.

Adulteration is the root cause of producing not only a chemically and pharmacologically inferior but also in some instances hazardous or poisonous drug. Despite availability of several techniques, microscopy and physicochemical analyses are the most practical approaches for crude drug authentication. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate morphological, microscopic, and physicochemical properties of root, bark, leaf, and fruit of Diospyros montana Morphological properties were determined by sensory organs, whereas microscopic features of cross-sections and powders were determined by light and scanning electron microscopy. The proximate and fluorescence analyses were performed using the standard guidelines. The physical examination of fresh, shade-dried, and powdered material showed no significant change in color. The identifying cellular structures included cuboidal cork, pitted tracheids, scalariform, reticulate and spiral xylary vessels, and rosettes, raphide, and cuboidal calcium oxalate crystals. The stomatal number, stomatal index, vein-islet and vein-termination number, and palisade ratio in the leaf were found to be 293.91 ± 32.68 mm-2 , 64.18 ± 3.42%, 22.00 ± 3.81 mm-2 and 38.40 ± 5.81 mm-2 , and 3.85 ± 0.60, respectively. Total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash and sulfated ash of leaf (9.00 ± 0.50%, 1.67 ± 0.23%, 2.00 ± 0.22% and 14.50 ± 0.99%, respectively), foaming index of bark and root (111.11 ± 2.11), and swelling index of fruit (19.00 ± 3.45) were higher than the other parts. The powder of different parts showed characteristic colors in the daylight and UV light upon treatment with various regents. The plant was found to be rich in saponins, fibers, and flavonoids. The results of the present study may serve as identifiers of different parts of Diospyros montana.

Comprehensive review on therapeutic strategies of gouty arthritis.

Traditional medicines are practiced worldwide for treatment of gouty arthritis since ancient times. Herbs and plants always have been used in the treatment of different diseases such as gout. The present article deals with the therapeutic strategies and options for the cure of gouty arthritis. Bibliographic investigation was carried out by analyzing classical textbooks and peer reviewed papers, consulting worldwide accepted scientific databases. In this article a detailed introduction, classification, epidemiology, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of gout with reference to modern and Unani system of medicines have been discussed. It is also tried to provide a list of plants used in the treatment of gout along with their formulations used in Unani system of medicine. The herbs and formulations have been used in different systems of medicine particularly Unani system of medicines exhibit their powerful role in the management and cure of gout and arthritis. Most of herbs and plants have been chemically evaluated and some of them are in clinical trials. Their results are magnificent and considerable. However their mechanisms of actions are still on the way.

Antipyretic activity of hydro-alcoholic extracts of Moringa oleifera in rabbits.

Pyrexia and inflammation are indicatives of various disorders. Modern medicines are available for treatment of pyrexia, but they have few side effects. Several studies are ongoing Worldwide to search natural antipyretic agents with better efficacy and fewer or no side effects. This study was aimed at evaluating the antipyretic activity of Moringa oleifera bark in rabbits against E. coli induced pyrexia. Rectal temperature was recorded with digital thermometer at 0 h and E. coli suspension was injected. After 1 h again rectal temperature of the animals was recorded and hydro-alcoholic extract were administered to the treatment groups and paracetamol hydro-alcoholic 50 mg/kg orally to the positive control group. Then rectal temperature was recorded at the interval of one h for 4 h. After the drug administration (at h 1), the decrease in body temperature with the dose of 25mg/kg(-1) during next four h ranged between 1.9-2.6of as compared to the negative control. At the dose of 50mg/kg(-1) the decrease in temperature was 1.9-3.0 of. The decrease in body temperature at the dose of 100mg/kg(-1) was high, which ranged from 2.3-3.1of as compared to negative control. Paracetamol, a standard drug , also significantly lowered the temperature but Moringa oleifera at the concentration of 100mg/kg(-1) lowered the body temperature significantly as compared to the negative as well as positive control. Moringa oleifera bark has marked antipyretic activity in animal models and this strongly supports the ethnopharmacological uses of Moringa oleifera bark as an antipyretic plant.

In vitro xanthine oxidase inhibitory and in vivo hypouricemic activity of herbal coded formulation (Gouticin).

Currently, natural products have been used in treating gouty arthritis and are recognized as xanthine oxidase inhibitors. Current study was designed to evaluate in vitro xanthine oxidase inhibitory potential of Gouticin and its ingredients extracts and in vivo hypouricemic activity of gouticin tablet 500 mg twice daily. Ethanol extracts of Gouticin and its ingredients were evaluated in vitro, at 200, 100, 50, 25 µ g/ml concentrations for xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity. IC(50) values of Gouticin and its ingredients were estimated. Further, in vivo therapeutic effect of Gouticin was investigated in comparison with allopathic medicine (Allopurinol) to treat gout. Total patients were 200 that were divided into test and control group. Herbal coded medicine (Gouticin) was given to test group and allopathic medicine allopurinol was administered to control group. In vitro, Gouticin has the highest percent inhibition at 96% followed by Allopurinol with 93% inhibition. In vivo study, mean serum uric acid level of patients was 4.62 mg/dl and 5.21mg/dl by use of Gouticin and Allopurinol at end of therapy. The study showed that herbal coded formulation gouticin and its ingredients are potential sources of natural xanthine oxidase inhibitors. Gouticin 500 mg twice daily is more effective than the allopurinol 300mg once daily in the management of gout.

Report: Studies on antibacterial activity of some traditional medicinal plants used in folk medicine.

Ethanolic extracts of eight medicinal plants commonly used in folk medicine were tested for their antibacterial activity against four Gram positive strains (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and, Streptococcus pneumoniae) and six Gram negative strains (Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis. Salmonella typhi para A, Salmonella typhi para B and Shigella dysenteriae) that were obtained from different pathological laboratories located in Karachi, Pakistan. Disc diffusion method was used to analyze antibacterial activity. Out of eight, five medicinal plants showed antibacterial activity against two or more than two microbial species. The most effective antimicrobial plant found to be Punica granatum followed by Curcuma zedoaria Rosc, Grewia asiatica L and Carissa carandas L, Curcuma caesia Roxb respectively. From these results, it is evident that medicinal plants could be used as a potential source of new antibacterial agents.

Two triterpenes lupanone and lupeol isolated and identified from Tamarindus indica linn.

Tamarindus indica, a useful medicinal plant was subjected to phytochemical investigation. Two triterpenes (lupanone and lupeol) have been isolated from the leaves of this plant. Their structures were elucidated with the help of physico-chemical methods and spectroscopic techniques. The lupanone and lupeol from this plant are being reported for the first time.

Pavonin: a new five-membered lactone from Adenanthera pavonina Linn. (Mimoaceae).

A new five-membered lactone named pavonin with an exo-cyclic double bond has been isolated from the methanol soluble part of Adenanthera pavonina Linn. belonging to the family Mimoaceae. The structure of pavonin has been established with the aid of spectroscopic techniques including decoupling and HMBC experiments.

Parkintin: a new flavanone with epoxy-isopentyl moiety from Parkinsonia aculeata Linn. (Caesalpiniaceae).

A new flavanone with epoxy-isopentyl moiety named parkintin has been isolated from the methanol soluble part of Parkinsonia aculeata Linn. belonging to the family Caesalpiniaceae. The structure of parkintin has been established with the aid of spectroscopic techniques including COSY and HMBC experiments.

Bioactivity evaluation of Bergenia ciliata.

Bergenia ciliata was subjected to bioactivity analysis. The records of these investigations are described in this communication. A study made on the bioactivity analysis of medicinal herb Bergenia ciliata, which in folkloric medicine is used to cure hypoglycemic activity. A battery of assays was performed on different extracts of Bergenia ciliata which include hypoglycemic activities, toxic evaluations such as acute systemic and intracutaneous toxicity as well hemolysis test. Bergenia ciliata has been employed in folklore medicine to treat symptoms of diabetes mellitus. All the extracts except chloroform extract of root and leaves of Bergenia ciliata were found to possess hypoglycemic activity in Streptozotocin (STZ) treated rats. Therefore the plant can be classified as hypoglycemic, hypoglycemic activity in experimental diabetes ranging from 40-70% of its onset to reduce blood glucose level. The toxicological investigations of Bergenia ciliata with particular reference to acute systematic toxicity and intracutaneous toxicity in experimental animals displayed that it elicit severe toxicity. The symptoms of toxicity in intracutaneous test showed erythema and edema whereas assessment of acute systemic toxicity frequently observed breathing problem and initiations of diarrhea with blood in stool of experimental model and caused gastero-intestinal syndrome. Bergenia ciliata can produce toxicity suggesting a role in certain diseases. It is therefore, premature to speculate about mechanism of effect until toxin(s) is unequivocally identified. The hemolysis test on the extract of Bergenia ciliata was almost devoid of activity.

Chemical constituents of Tagetes patula L.

Tagetes patula (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant which is indigenous to Tropical America but cultivated in Pakistan. During the chemical study, conducted on the different parts of T. patula (roots, leaves and flowers) are found thiophenes, steroidal and terpenoidal type of constituents. Their structures were characterized by different spectroscopic. Among the thiophenes triterpens and steroids are two thiophenes, one triterpene and one steroid first time isolated from the genes Tegetes methods.