Search

To study the efficacy of ethanolic extract of B. monosperma bark in cafeteria and atherogenic diet fed rats and monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rats, different doses (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg) of ethanolic extract of B. monosperma bark showed dose dependent decrease in body weight, daily food intake, glucose, lipids, internal organs' weight and fat pad weight in cafeteria and atherogenic diet fed rats and monosodium glutamate obese rats. The results suggested that B. monosperma has significant anti-obese activity.

The present study was to investigate the effect of W. calendulacea on ischemia and reperfusion-induced cerebral injury. Cerebral ischemia was induced by occluding right and left common carotid arteries (global cerebral ischemia) for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 1 h and 4 h individually. Various biochemical alterations, produced subsequent to the application of bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) followed by reperfusion viz. increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO), hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), and decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), level in the brain tissue, Western blot analysis (Cu-Zn-SOD and CAT) and assessment of cerebral infarct size were measured. All those enzymes are markedly reversed and restored to near normal level in the groups pre-treated with W. calendulacea (250 and 500 mg/kg given orally in single and double dose/day for 10 days) in dose-dependent way. The effect of W. calendulacea had increased significantly the protein expression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn-SOD) and CAT in cerebral ischemia. W. claendulacea was markedly decrease cerebral infarct damages but results are not statistically significant. It can be concluded that W. calendulacea possesses a neuroprotective activity against cerebral ischemia in rat.

Objective: The present study is to evaluate the antiulcer effect of hydroalcoholic (70%) extract of Terminalia chebula fruit. Materials and methods: Aspirin, ethanol and cold restraint stress-induced ulcer methods in rats were used for the study. The effects of the extract on gastric secretions, pH, total and free acidity using pylorus ligated methods were also evaluated. Results: Animals pretreated with doses of 200 and 500 mg/kg hydroalcoholic extract showed significant reduction in lesion index, total affected area and percentage of lesion in comparison with control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01) in the aspirin, ethanol and cold restraint stress-induced ulcer models. Similarly extracts increased mucus production in aspirin and ethanol-induced ulcer models. At doses of 200 and 500 mg/kg of T. chebula extract showed antisecretory activity in pylorus ligated model, which lead to a reduction in the gastric juice volume, free acidity, total acidity, and significantly increased gastric pH. Discussion and conclusion: These findings indicate that hydroalcoholic extract of the fruit T. chebula displays potential antiulcerogenic activity. This activity thus lends pharmacological credence to the suggested use of the plant as a natural remedy in the treatment or management of ulcer.

There is a great potential for genetic manipulation of crop and medicinal plants to enhance productivity through increasing pest and microbial disease resistance and environmental stress tolerance, and also for studying gene function and regulation of physiological and developmental processes$^1$. Transgenic plants that transmit the introduced trait to progeny generations are produced using various DNA delivery methods such as particle acceleration$^2$, electroporation$^3$ and polyethylene glycol permeabilization of protoplasts$^4$. However, most commonly used method for obtaining transgenic plants is by the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation$^{5,6}$. Agrobacterium can transfer DNA to a remarkably broad group of organisms – numerous dicot and monocot angiosperm species$^5$, gymnosperms$^6$ and fungi, including yeast$^7$, ascomycetes$^8$ and basidiomycetes$^9$. Recently, Agrobacterium was reported to transfer DNA to human cells$^{10}$.

The study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of pre-treatment with ethanolic extract of leaves of Rhododendron arboreum against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rat model. Liver damage was induced in experimental animals by administering CCl4. The ethanolic extract of R. arboreum (40, 60 and 100 mg/kg, po) was given for five days. Silymarin (100 mg/kg, po) was given as the reference drug. Hepatoprotective effect was studied by assaying the activities of serum marker enzymes like SGPT, SGOT, ALP, direct and total bilirubin, triglycerides, cholesterol and estimation of ascorbic acid in urine. The activities of all the marker enzymes registered a significant elevation in CCl4 treated rats, which were significantly recovered towards an almost normal level in animals co-administered with ethanolic extract of leaves of R. arboreum at a dose of 60 and 100 mg/kg. Ethanolic extract of leaves of R. arboreum prevented decrease in the excretion of ascorbic acid in CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Histopathological analysis confirmed the biochemical investigations. The results indicate that leaves of R. arboreum possess hepatoprotective property possibly because of its reported anti-oxidant activity. This property may be attributed to the quercetin related flavonoids, saponins and phenolic compounds present in the leaves of R. arboreum.