Traditional remedies for fertility regulation.

Plants have been used worldwide for treatment of various human ailments since antiquity. Their use is still quite prevalent in developing countries in the form of traditional/folkloric system of medicine. Intensive chemical and pharmacological studies on traditional/folkloric medicinal plants during the last 5 decades have led to the validation of traditional claims in many cases and facilitated identification of their active principles. The active principles have provided leads in the development of several life saving drugs, which are in clinical use today. A large number of these plants are used for birth control in different countries. The present review has, therefore, been planned to provide an account of the investigations carried out on traditional/folkloric plants used for fertility regulation. The status of scientific validations of their anti-fertility potential and identification of active principles during the last 28 years are discussed. The literature survey shows that approximately 318 different plants are in traditional/folkloric use worldwide, of which 227 plants are of Indian origin. So far, 74 plants have been screened for their anti-fertility potential, 48 of them have been found to be effective. Active principles of about 15 plants have been identified during the period under review.

Immunomodulator tuftsin augments antifilarial activity of diethylcarbamazine against experimental brugian filariasis.

In the present study, we evaluated the potential of an immunomodulator tuftsin in increasing the efficacy of liposomised diethylcarbamazine (DEC) against experimental filarial infection of Brugia malayi. The liposomised form of DEC, when used at sub-optimal dose of 25 mg/kg body weight, successfully eliminated filarial parasite from systemic circulation in animals inflicted with B. malayi infection. However, the formulation was effective upto 60 days post infection only, followed by recurrence of the infection. In contrast, the co-administration of liposomal formulation of DEC along with an immunomodulator tuftsin was found to be competent enough to suppress microfilarial stage of parasite till 90 days post treatment. Interestingly, tuftsin bearing DEC liposomes were found to be effective against adult parasite as well.

Anti-stress activity in a muramyl-dipeptide.

N-Acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine and some of its derivatives have been examined for anti-stress activity. Amongst these, N-palmitoylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine is shown to considerably enhance the capacity of animals to endure various types of stress. This indicates that besides acting as immunomodulators and sleep regulators, muramyl dipeptides may also act as anti-stress agents.

Drug targeting in Leishmania donovani infections using tuftsin-bearing liposomes as drug vehicles.

The efficacy of sodium stibogluconate against Leishmania donovani infections was markedly enhanced by encapsulating this drug in tuftsin-bearing liposomes. Also, pretreatment of the animals with these liposomes (free of drug) rendered them resistant to this infection, possibly by activating the host's macrophages. These results demonstrate that tuftsin-bearing liposomes besides delivering the drug to the target cells could also enhance the nonspecific resistance against infections, thus offering an additional advantage over the use of tuftsin-free liposomes as drug carriers in leishmania therapy.