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Hyperuricemia is a common metabolic disorder and several homeopathic ultra-high dilutions are being used in the treatment of hyperuricemia and its related diseases. Conventional treatment for the hyperuricemia is allopurinol but it gives many side effects like allergic reactions, gestrohepatic ailment, hepatic and renal complaints. It is the need of the hour to introduce an alternative system of medicine with minimal side effects. The study aimed to find hypouricemic effects of Ledum palustre 30c and 1M in potassium oxonate induced hyperuricemia rat model. The study comprised of 11 groups of rats (E = 33). All the groups except normal control were treated with potassium oxonate. Normal control group received distilled water, hyperurecemic control group succussed alcohol mixed in distilled water. Allopurinol, Ledum palustre 30c and 1M were administered for one day, 3 day and 7 days (single dose/day) in different study groups (3×3 = 9 groups). Blood samples were collected by rat tail vein bleeding. Serum uric acid and serum creatinine levels were checked by using standard kits. Student's t-test for independent means was used for statistical analysis of difference between the groups. p = 0.05 (two tailed value) was considered significant. Oral administration of Ledum palustre 30c and 1M decreased serum uric acid levels of hyperurecemic rats in time dependent manner. 3 day and 7 day administration of Ledum palustre 30c and 1M reduced serum uric acid level more significantly as compared to one day administration. However, allopurinol normalized serum uric acid levels in all study groups. The present study indicated marked hypouricemic effects of Ledum palustre 30c and 1M in hyperuricemia induced by potassium oxonate in rats. However, clear conclusion of hypouricemic potential of Ledum palustre required replication of experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhododendron tomentosum Harmaja (formerly Ledum palustre L.) is a medicinal peat bog plant native to northern Europe, Asia and North America. This plant has a distinctive aroma thanks to the presence of essential oil, to which it also owes its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial and insecticidal properties. However, in Europe R. tomentosum is classified as an endangered species, mainly due to degradation of peatlands. In the present work, the micropropagation protocol for R. tomentosum was established for the first time, providing both an ex situ conservation tool and a means of continuous production of in vivo and in vitro plant material for further studies. R. tomentosum microshoots were initiated from leaf explants and further multiplied using Schenk-Hildebrandt (SH) medium supplemented with 9.84 μM 2iP and 1.00 μM TDZ. The shoots were elongated on the SH medium supplemented with 24.6 μM 2iP and subsequently rooted using the perlite substrate saturated with half-strength Woody Plant medium supplemented with 1.0% sucrose and 4.92 μM IBA. The regenerated plants were hardened on the phytohormone-free SH medium and acclimatized using 3:1:1 deacidified peat:perlite:gravel substrate. The identity of the mother plant was confirmed at morphological and molecular levels and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was implemented to assess the genetic fidelity of the regenerants. The essential oil content of the maternal plant, in vitro shoots and the regenerants was determined by steam-distillation, and the obtained volatile fractions were analyzed by GC/MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ContentOur team has identified Labrador tea [Rhododendron groenlandicumL. (Ericaceae)] as a potential antidiabetic plant from the traditional pharmacopoeia of the Eastern James Bay Cree. In a previousin vivostudy, the plant extract was tested in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese model using C57BL/6 mice and it improved glycaemia, insulinaemia and glucose tolerance. ObjectiveIn the present study, we assessed the plant’s potential renoprotective effects. Materials and methodsRhododendron groenlandicumwas administered at 250 mg/kg/d to mice fed HFD for 8 weeks to induce obesity and mild diabetes. Histological (periodic acid–Schiff (PAS), Masson and Oil Red O staining), immunohistochemical (IHC) and biochemical parameters were assessed to evaluate the renoprotective potential ofR. groenlandicumtreatment for an additional 8 weeks. ResultsMicroalbuminuria and renal fibrosis were developed in HFD-fed mice. Meanwhile, there was a tendency forR. groenlandicumto improve microalbuminuria, with the values of albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) reducing from 0.69 to 0.53. Renal fibrosis value was originally 4.85 arbitrary units (AU) in HFD-fed mice, dropped to 3.27 AU after receivingR. groenlandicumtreatment.Rhododendron groenlandicumreduced renal steatosis by nearly one-half, whereas the expression of Bcl-2-modifying factor (BMF) diminished from 13.96 AU to 9.43 AU. Discussion and conclusionsTaken altogether, the results suggest thatR. groenlandicumtreatment can improve renal function impaired by HFD. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sustainable management of boreal ecosystems involves the establishment of vigorous tree regeneration after harvest. However, two groups of understory plants influence regeneration success in eastern boreal Canada. Ericaceous shrubs are recognized to rapidly dominate susceptible boreal sites after harvest. Such dominance reduces recruitment and causes stagnant conifer growth, lasting decades on some sites. Additionally, peat accumulation due to Sphagnum growth after harvest forces the roots of regenerating conifers out of the relatively nutrient rich and warm mineral soil into the relatively nutrient poor and cool organic layer, with drastic effects on growth. Shifts from once productive black spruce forests to ericaceous heaths or paludified forests affect forest productivity and biodiversity. Under natural disturbance dynamics, fires severe enough to substantially reduce the organic layer thickness and affect ground cover species are required to establish a productive regeneration layer on such sites. We succinctly review how understory vegetation influences black spruce ecosystem dynamics in eastern boreal Canada, and present a multi-scale research model to understand, limit the loss and restore productive and diverse ecosystems in this region. Our model integrates knowledge of plant-level mechanisms in the development of silvicultural tools to sustain productivity. Fundamental knowledge is integrated at stand, landscape, regional and provincial levels to understand the distribution and dynamics of ericaceous shrubs and paludification processes and to support tactical and strategic forest management. The model can be adapted and applied to other natural resource management problems, in other biomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the Rhododendrum groenlandicum (Oeder) Kron and Judd, bog Labrador tea, an evergreen shrub from the Ericacae family native to North America. Its other names include bot tea, rusty Labrador tea and Hudson Bay tea and has long been known as Ledum groenlandicym Oeder 1771, non Retzius 1779. Its leaves are described as alternate, simple 2.5 cm long and 0.5-2 cm wide sessile or short-petioled. It cites its responses to herbivory such as mammals, insects and nematodes, diseases such as fungi, viruses and bacteria.

Northern peatlands are substantial sinks of carbon (C), yet the sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from peatlands are largely unknown. Since the relationship between roots and peat in C cycling is important, vascular plants growing on the surface of peat deposits should influence CO2 efflux from the peat surface and the overall C balance in peatlands. In our study, 30-cm peat cores were removed from an ombrotrophic bog in boreal, continental western Canada. Surface vegetation in the cores remained intact and included a continuous bryophyte cover dominated by Sphagnum fuscum. In addition, some cores were collected such that either ericaceous shrubs (Ledum groenlandicum) or sedges (Eriopho rum vaginatum) were present. We investigated how the presence of each vegetation type influenced soil respiration and the microbial mineralization of root exudates using a pulse 14C labeling of vegetation in the intact peat cores. The role of root biomass and root respiration in CO2 emission and C allocation was quantified for each type of vegetation and compared through both measurement and modeling. Our results show that vascular plants contributed 35-57% of total CO2 efflux from the peat surface, primarily derived from rhizosphere processes, including root respiration as well as microbial mineralization of root exudates. The mineralization of root exudates contributed 14-53 μmol C-CO2∙m-2d-1 (17- 24% of total) to CO2 efflux, depending on vegetation type and moisture conditions. The type of vegetation present did not influence the total amount of photosynthetic fixation over the course of the study, but did affect how C was allocated within and between both the aboveground and belowground components of the peat column. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpine populations of Ledum groenlandicum Oeder have higher photosynthetic rates and appear to achieve maximum photosynthesis at lower temperatures than bog populations. These photosynthetic differences presumably adapt alpine populations to the shorter seasons, lower carbon dioxide concentrations, and lower temperatures experienced in alpine environments, and they agree with similar patterns observed in other species which grow at a range of elevations. Reciprocal transplant experiments show that the differences in photosynthetic characters are correlated with differences in the relative fitnesses of bog and alpine plants in bog and alpine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]