Ganoderma lucidum: A potential source to surmount viral infections through ß-glucans immunomodulatory and triterpenoids antiviral properties.

Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) polysaccharides and triterpenoids are the major bioactive compounds and have been used as traditional medicine for ancient times. Massive demands of G. lucidum have fascinated the researchers towards its application as functional food, nutraceutical and modern medicine owing to wide range of application in various diseases include immunomodulators, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective. G. lucidum polysaccharides exhibit immunomodulatory properties through boosting the action of antigen-presenting cells, mononuclear phagocyte system, along with humoral and cellular immunity. ß-Glucans isolated from G. lucidum are anticipated to produce an immune response through pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). ß-Glucans after binding with dectin-1 receptor present on different cells include macrophages, monocytes, dendritic cells and neutrophils produce signal transduction that lead to trigger the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), T cells and Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) that refer to cytokines production and contributing to immune response. While triterpenoids produce antiviral effects through inhibiting various enzymes like neuraminidase, HIV-protease, DENV2 NS2B-NS3 protease and HSV multiplication. Polysaccharides and triterpenoids adjunct to other drugs exhibit potential action in prevention and treatment of various diseases. Immunomodulators and antiviral properties of this mushroom could be a potential source to overcome this current pandemic outbreak.

In vitro hypoglycemic potential of spices: Cinnamon and Cumi.

Present study evaluates the anti-hyperglycemic potential of two Indian spices Cinnamomum zeylanicum(CZ) and Cumin cyminum(CC) (whole powder and aqueous extracts) using in vitro techniques like glucose adsorption assay, amylolysis kinetics and ex vivo assays like amylase, Sucrase and α-glucosidase assay. CZ displayed higher glucose adsorption and glucose diffusion retardation than CC, as shown by glucose adsorption and amylolysis kinetics assay. CZ showed lower inhibition of α-amylase and sucrase where as CC has no effect on both the enzymes. In case of α-glucosidase, CC had better inhibition than CZ. Further research is needed to understand the mechanism through which both the spices act to regulate the hyperglycemia.

Toxoplasmosis and anti-Toxoplasma effects of medicinal plant extracts-A mini-review.

Toxoplasmosis is a globally distributed parasitic protozoan disease, caused by Toxoplasma gondii. The infection can result in more severe symptoms with potentially life-threatening in case of immunocompromised individuals. Sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine are the two drugs used as a part of standard therapy for toxoplasmosis. Researchers have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of medicinal plants for toxoplasmosis, which can be used as an alternative to standard drug therapy with reduced side effects. Traditional herbal plants are used by people to cure a large number of parasitic disorders. This review provides new insights into various medicinal plants that are used traditionally for the treatment of toxoplasmosis and other parasitic infections, which can be useful as an alternative treatment option for Toxoplasma gondii infections.

Pharmacological effects and active phytoconstituents of Swietenia mahagoni: a review.

The usage of Swietenia mahagoni, a popular medicinal plant in India and some African countries, dates back to ancient times for its curative properties in diseases like malaria, diabetes, and diarrhea. It is also used as an anti-pyretic, bitter tonic and astringent. Its pharmacological activities are being widely explored. Although many important groups of phytochemicals have been identified and isolated from various parts of the plant, most of these researches have been focused on seeds. Toxicological studies have established the safety of many of these plant extracts, and found insignificant side effects. Here we present a comprehensive review of all the pharmacological effects and constituent phytochemicals of the plant.

Pharmacological effects and active phytoconstituents of Swietenia mahagoni: a review / 中西医结合学报

The usage of Swietenia mahagoni, a popular medicinal plant in India and some African countries, dates back to ancient times for its curative properties in diseases like malaria, diabetes, and diarrhea. It is also used as an anti-pyretic, bitter tonic and astringent. Its pharmacological activities are being widely explored. Although many important groups of phytochemicals have been identified and isolated from various parts of the plant, most of these researches have been focused on seeds. Toxicological studies have established the safety of many of these plant extracts, and found insignificant side effects. Here we present a comprehensive review of all the pharmacological effects and constituent phytochemicals of the plant.

Cholinesterase inhibitors from botanicals.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, wherein a progressive loss of cholinergic synapses occurs in hippocampus and neocortex. Decreased concentration of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh), appears to be critical element in the development of dementia, and the most appropriate therapeutic approach to treat AD and other form of dementia is to restore acetylcholine levels by inhibiting both major form of cholinesterase: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). Consequently, researches have focused their attention towards finding cholinesterase inhibitors from natural products. A large number of such inhibitors have been isolated from medicinal plants. This review presents a comprehensive account of the advances in field of cholinesterase inhibitor phytoconstituents. The structures of some important phytoconstituents (collected through www.Chemspider.com) are also presented and the scope for future research is discussed.

Cardioprotective activity of standardized extract of Ficus racemosa stem bark against doxorubicin-induced toxicity.

CONTEXT: Ficus racemosa Linn. (Moraceae) bark is a rich source of phenolic compounds having diverse biological properties including antioxidant activity. The present study evaluated the cardioprotective activity of sequential acetone extract of Ficus racemosa bark against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The extract was standardized by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and subjected to acute toxicological evaluation in mice. Cardiotoxicity was induced by administration of doxorubicin (10 mg kg(-1) i.v.) to the extract pretreated rats (250 and 500 mg kg(-1)) and compared with that of Arjuna, a standard cardiotonic. Biochemical parameters included CK-MB, LDH, AST, ALT, troponin I, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and glutathione. RESULTS: The HPLC fingerprinting of the extract indicated the presence of bergenin (0.89%) and bergapten (0.07%). In an acute toxicity study, the extract at a dose of 2 g kg(-1) did not cause any adverse changes and no mortality was observed. Administration of doxorubicin significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) serum levels of creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase, which were decreased to an extent of 68, 63, 41, and 65%, respectively, in extract pretreated group (500 mg kg(-1)). Troponin I was undetected in control group, while it was found in serum of all the experimental groups. The extract pretreatment significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) TBARS and increased glutathione levels in serum and cardiac tissue. These observations were further substantiated by the histopathological studies. CONCLUSION: The acetone extract of F. racemosa bark possesses potential cardioprotective activity against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in rats by scavenging free radicals generated by the administration of the drug.

Traditional uses, medicinal properties, and phytopharmacology of Ficus racemosa: a review.

Ficus racemosa Linn. (Moraceae) is a popular medicinal plant in India, which has long been used in Ayurveda, the ancient system of Indian medicine, for various diseases/disorders including diabetes, liver disorders, diarrhea, inflammatory conditions, hemorrhoids, respiratory, and urinary diseases. F. racemosa is pharmacologically studied for various activities including antidiabetic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antitussive, hepatoprotective, and antimicrobial activities. A wide range of phytochemical constituents have been identified and isolated from various parts of F. racemosa. In this review, a comprehensive account of its traditional uses, phytochemical constituents, and pharmacological effects is presented in view of the many recent findings of importance on this plant.

Effect of Ficus racemosa stem bark on the activities of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes: an in vitro study.

Herbal medicines have been used since prehistoric times by different cultures worldwide for the treatment of diabetes. The present investigation evaluated the effect of Ficus racemosa Linn. (Moraceae) stem bark on carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes, viz., porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase, rat intestinal alpha-glucosidase, sucrase, and almond beta-glucosidase, using in vitro model systems. In addition, the effect of heat treatment was also studied. Untreated F. racemosa bark (FRB) significantly inhibited (p < or = 0.05) alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, and sucrase in a dose-dependent manner. Heat treatment of the sample comparably increased alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and sucrase inhibitory activities, while a marginal decrease in beta-glucosidase inhibitory activity was observed; however, no statistical differences were noted. Untreated FRB showed IC(50) values of 0.94% and 280, 212, and 367 microg/mL for alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, and sucrase, respectively, while the IC(50) values for heat treated FRB were 0.58% and 259, 223, and 239 microg/mL, respectively. Further, a significant correlation (p < or = 0.01; r = 0.791) was observed between alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, and sucrase inhibitory activities of both untreated and heat treated FRB. The results clearly demonstrate that inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes is one mechanism through which F. racemosa stem bark exerts its hypoglycemic effect in vivo. Therefore, the potential exists to explore the utilization of F. racemosa stem bark in the development of nutraceuticals and functional foods for the management of diabetes and related symptoms/disorders.

Hepatoprotective effects of Ficus racemosa stem bark against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic damage in albino rats.

In the present study, the hepatoprotective effects of petroleum ether (FRPE) and methanol (FRME) extract of Ficus racemosa Linn. (Moraceae) stem bark were studied using the model of hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) in rats. CCl(4) administration induced a significant decrease in serum total protein, albumin, urea and a significant increase (P

Radical scavenging and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activities of standardized extracts of Ficus racemosa stem bark.

The present study evaluated the radical scavenging and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of cold and hot aqueous extracts of Ficus racemosa (Moraceae) stem bark. The extracts were standardized using HPLC. Radical scavenging activity was determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity using rabbit lung and partially purified porcine kidney ACE. HPLC profiles of cold aqueous extract (FRC) showed the presence of bergenin, an isocoumarin, while hot aqueous extract (FRH) was found to contain ferulic acid, kaempferol and coumarin in addition to bergenin. FRH showed significantly higher (p ≤ 0.01) radical scavenging activity than FRC and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), consequently resulting in a significantly lower (p ≤ 0.01) IC50 value than FRC and BHT. Both the extracts exhibited a dose dependent inhibition of porcine kidney and rabbit lung ACE. FRH showed significantly higher (p ≤ 0.01) activity than FRC with lower IC(50) values of 1.36 and 1.91 µg/mL respectively, for porcine kidney and rabbit lung ACE, compared with those of FRC (128 and 291 µg/mL). Further, a significant correlation (r = 0.893; p ≤ 0.05) was observed between radical scavenging activity and ACE-inhibitory activity. This is the first report on the ACE-inhibitory activity of F. racemosa stem bark suggesting its potential to be utilized as a therapeutic alternative for hypertension.

In vitro studies on the hypoglycemic potential of Ficus racemosa stem bark.

BACKGROUND: Medicinal plants have been reported to play an important role in modulating glycemic responses and have preventive and therapeutic implications. Several mechanisms have been proposed for the antidiabetic effect of medicinal plants such as inhibition of carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes, manipulation of glucose transporters, beta-cell regeneration and enhancing insulin-releasing activity. The present investigation evaluated the possible mechanism of action through which Ficus racemosa stem bark (Moraceae) exerts its hypoglycemic effect using suitable in vitro techniques. RESULTS: Ficus racemosa bark (FRB) exhibited significantly higher (P < or = 0.01) glucose-binding capacity than wheat bran (WB) and acarbose (ACB) consequently showed significantly higher (P < or = 0.01) retardation of glucose diffusion compared to WB and ACB. In case of amylolysis kinetics the liberation of glucose was greatly inhibited by FRB, as reflected by a significantly lower (P < or = 0.01) glucose diffusion rate in the system containing FRB compared to the control and acarbose. Furthermore, FRB significantly increased (P < or = 0.01) the rate of glucose transport across the yeast cell membrane and also in isolated rat hemi-diaphragm. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate F. racemosa bark to possess strong hypoglycemic effect and hence can be utilized as an adjunct in the management of diabetes mellitus.