Antipyretic, Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Qurs Afsanteen Saghir (A Polyherbal Unani Tablet) in Experimental Animals

Qurs Afsanteen Saghir is a polyherbal Unani formulation in the form of tablet. This formulation consists of multiple medicinal plants like Afsanteen (Artemisia absinthium L.), Badam Talkh (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb), Asaroon (Asarum europaeum L.), Anisoon (Pimpinella anisum L.) and Tukhm-e-Karafs (Apium graveolens L.). The clinical adult dose of study drug is 3.5 –7 g per day as mentioned in Unani literature. The present study evaluated the antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of Qurs Afsanteen Saghir using different animal models. Antipyretic activity was measured using yeast-induced pyrexia model in rats at 360 and 720 mg/kg bw dose of test drug and paracetamol (70 mg/kg bw p.o.) as standard control. Analgesic effect was evaluated using acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice using test drug at dose 720 and 1440 mg/kg bw and diclofenac sodium (15 mg/kg bw p.o.) as standard control. Eddy’s hot plate test was conducted in rats using test drug at the dose of 360 and 720 mg/kg bw and buprenorphine (0.10 mg/kg s.q.) as standard control. Anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by carrageenan-induced paw edema model in rats with the dose of 360 and 720 mg/kg of test drug and Indomethacin (10 mg/kg p.o.) as standard control. The study drug significantly reduced the temperature and pain at both dose levels in a time-dependent manner as compared to normal control. However, the reduction of inflammation was observed at low dose (360 mg/kg bw) only after 3 hours of carrageenan administration. These findings indicated that tested drug showed potential activity as antipyretic and analgesic; whereas the drug may not be considered quite effective as an anti-inflammatory agents.

Efficacy of Nutūl-i-Ḥār (Hot Irrigation), a Polyherbal Unani Formulation, in the Treatment of Shaqīqa-i-Muzmin (Chronic Migraine): An Open Single-Arm Exploratory Clinical Trial

Shaqīqa-i-Muzmin (chronic migraine) is a type of migraine that is usually caused by cold humours (bārid akhlāṭ), specifically by phlegm (balgham) and to lesser extent by black bile (sauda). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Nutul-i-Ḥār (hot irrigation) in the treatment of chronic migraine. Nutul (irrigation) therapy is widely and successfully used in diseases of head as described in Unānī system of medicine. This open, single-arm, exploratory clinical study was conducted in 30 patients of chronic migraine selected by convenient sampling method. One litre decoction prepared with 12 g each of Astragalus hamosus L. (Iklilul malik), Matricaria chamomilla L. (Babuna), Artemisia absinthium L. (Afsanteen), Origanum vulgare L. (Marznjosh) and Trigonella foenum graecum L. (Hulba) was poured over painful side of head for 45 minutes on every alternate day for a period of 30 days (15 sittings). The patients, thereafter, were followed untill 90th day of the study for various outcome measures comprising headache intensity, headache frequency, Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS), and rescue medication. The reduction in headache frequency, MIDAS score and use of rescue medication was significant (p < 0.001) after the treatment. Reduction in headache intensity at 30th day, 60th day and 90th day was significant as compared with baseline values (p < 0.001) but not statistically significant at 90th day with respect to 60th day (p > 0.05). Statistical analysis was done using parametric (paired t-test) and non-parametric tests (Wilcoxan sign ranked test, Freidman with Dunn’s multiple comparison tests). Hot irrigation with medicated decoction was found effective in the treatment of chronic migraine.

TiO2 nanoparticles and salinity stress in relation to artemisinin production and ADS and DBR2 expression in Artemisia absinthium L.

Artemisia absinthium L. is an important herb that is widely cultivated in different parts of the world for its medicinal properties. The present study evaluated the effects of four concentrations of nanoparticles treatment (0, 10, 20 and 30 mg L-1) and NaCl salinity stress (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl) and their interactions with respect to the expression of two key genes, i.e. DBR2 and ADS, in the biosynthesis pathway of artemisinin in A. absinthium. Total RNA was extracted and a relative gene expression analysis was carried out using Real-Time PCR. The amount of artemisinin was also determined by HPLC. All the experiments were performed as factorial in a completely randomized design in three replications. The results revealed that salinity stress and nanoparticles treatment and their interaction affected the expressions of these genes significantly. The highest levels of ADS gene expression were observed in the 30 mg L-1 nanoparticles–treated plants in the presence of 150 mM salinity stress and the lowest levels in the 10 mg L-1 nanoparticles–treated plants under 50 mM salinity stress. The maximum DBR2 gene expression was recorded in the 10 mg L-1 nanoparticles–treated plants in the absence of salinity stress and the minimum expression in the 100 mM salinity-stressed plants in the absence of nanoparticles treatment. Moreover, the smallest amounts of artemisinin were observed in the 150 mM salinity-stressed plants in the absence of nanoparticles and the highest amounts in the 30 mg L-1 nanoparticles–treated plants. The maximum amounts of artemisinin and ADS gene expression were reported from the plants in the same nanoparticles treatment and salinity stress conditions. In this regard, the amount of artemisinin was decreased by half in the plants containing the highest DBR2 gene expression. Meanwhile, no significant correlation was observed between these gene expressions and the artemisinin amount in the other nanoparticles–treated plants under different levels of salinity stress. The biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites appears to be very complex and dose not directly dependent on these gene expressions.

The Use of Silicones as Extractants of Biologically Active Substances from Vegetable Raw Materials

Based on theoretical studies, the authors of this paper propose the use of cosmetic organosilicon polymers (commonly called silicones) for the extraction of a complex of biologically active substances contained in vegetable raw materials. It is important to note that the biological molecules do not interact with the organosilicones and, therefore, their properties are not altered after the extraction. In this work, we investigate the efficiency of several polyorganosiloxanes as extractants of vegetable raw materials (Calendula Officialis L. and Artemisia Absinthium L.) useful for the preparation of cosmetic emulsions. Specifically, the extraction studies were conducted by using polyorganosiloxanes with a single component (polydimethylsiloxane Silicone Oil 350 cSt, cyclopentasiloxane BRB CM 50, and phenyltrimethicone BRB PTM 20) as well as a mixture (PEG-12 polydimethylsiloxane BRB 526, a solution of dimethiconol in cyclopentasiloxane BRB 1834, and amodimethicone BRB 1288). Compared to water and ethyl alcohol, polyorganosiloxanes are more effective in the extraction of the biologically active substances that are contained in the raw plants. Interestingly, the combination of different polyorganosiloxanes improved the extraction efficiency. The attained knowledge can be helpful in the development of a novel protocol for the formulation of emulsions appealing for cosmetic applications.

Phytochemical Investigation and Evaluation of Anti-Microbial Activities of Some Indigenous Artemisia Spp. of Ethiopia: Rapid Method of Isolation Artemisinin From Artemisia Annua

Artemisia spp are one of the most important traditional medicinal plants of Ethiopia which are used for the treatment of infection and non-infection health problems. The genus Artemisia (Astraceae) consists of about 500 species worldwide. Previous reports indicated that the different species of Artemisia have a wide array of biological activities including antimalarial, cytotoxic, antihepatotoxic, antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity. In this study, the main aim was to investigate chemical components of Artemisia spp. (A. abyssinica, A. absinthium and A. annua) and evaluate their antimicrobial activities against bacterial strains. The results indicated that the crude extract of these plants were effective against some selected strains of bacterial strains. Here we isolated the well-known antimalarial drug artemisinin (7 mg, 0.004%) from Artemisia annua leaves using a rapid n-hexane fractionation method. The n-hexane extract of A. abyssinica, ethyl acetate extract of A. absinthium and n-hexane of A. annua showed varying degrees of inhibiting effect against bacterial strains such as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923T, Salmonella enteritidis ATCC13076T, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC1053T, boydii ATCC1233T, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922T, hospital acquired Acinetobacter baumannii. The ethyl acetate extract of Artemisia absinthium (A.abe) showed the maximum inhibiting effect (35 mm) against A. baumannii. The minimum zone of inhibition (< 3 mm) was recorded for test extract of A.ap against Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC1053T. Ethyl acetate extract of Artemisia absinthium (A.abe) was more effective against these selected bacterial strains and the zone of inhibition ranged from 5-35 mm. The minimum inhibition zone (8 mm) was detected against S. typhimurium ATCC 13311T for both A.ac and n-hexane- EtOAc fraction (8:2) of Artemisia abyssinica. The maximum zone of inhibition (25 mm) for fraction (A.ach F4) of Artemisia abyssinica obtained by column chromatography was recorded against S. pyogen ATCC 19615. However, there was no zone of inhibition detected for boydii ATCC1233T due to these test extracts. Significant variations (P = 0.887) were observed between all test extracts of these medicinal plants at 95% of confidence intervals. There is no zone of inhibition or growth for negative control. But, clear zones of inhibition were detected for positive control due to some standard impregnated disks. Based on our results we recommend that various species of Artemisia seem to have great potential for in-depth investigation for various antimicrobial activities that assists the effort in searching for antimicrobial lead compounds.