Phytochemical Profile, Safety and Efficacy of a Herbal Mixture Used for Contraception by Traditional Health Practitioners in Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, South Africa

The use of medicinal plants for contraception remains a common practice among South African ethnic groups. The present study assessed the phytochemical profile, cytotoxicity, acute oral toxicity and efficacy of a herbal mixture used for contraception by the Batswana of South Africa. An aqueous extract was prepared from equal quantities (in terms of weight) of Bulbine frutescens (roots), Helichrysum caespititium (leaves) and Teucrium trifidum (leaves) based on a recipe used by traditional health practitioners. The phytochemical profiles of the freeze-dried herbal mixture were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In addition, cytotoxicity was determined using an MTT assay on Vero cells and in vivo contraceptive efficacy was evaluated using seven Sprague Dawley rats per control and treatment groups. The control group received distilled water while test groups received 5, 50 and 300 mg/kg of the herbal mixture, which was administered orally once a day for three consecutive days. Subsequently, female rats were paired 1:1 with males for 3 days. Their weights were measured weekly and incidence of pregnancy was recorded. The GC-MS chromatogram revealed the presence of 12 identified and 9 unidentified compounds. In terms of safety, the herbal mixture had an IC50 value of 755.2 μg/mL and 2000 mg/kg, which was the highest tested dose that caused no mortality or morbidity in the rats. A contraceptive efficacy of 14.5% was exerted with 50 mg/kg herbal mixture extract while other doses had no effects given that all the rats were pregnant. Based on a chi-square test (p < 0.05), there was no correlation between the tested herbal mixture doses and contraception, nor on the weight of the rats. Overall, the herbal mixture extract was found to be safe but had limited contraceptive efficacy at the tested doses. In future studies, exploring increased dose range, solvent extract types and hormonal analysis will be pertinent.

Analysis of amino acids content in the plant components of the antidiabetic herbal mixture by GC-MS

Medicinal plants and their combinations due to the wide range of biologically active substances can influence on various links of the pathogenetic mechanism of development of DM type 2 and its complications. One of such combinations is an antidiabetic herbal mixture (Urticae folia, Rosae fructus, Myrtilli folia, Menthae folia and Taraxaci radices) with established hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, pancreatoprotective activity in previous pharmacological studies in vivo and in vitro and defined phytochemical composition. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify and establish the content of amino acids in the plant components of antidiabetic herbal mixture. The amino acids were separated by GC-MS method with pre-column derivatization. The calibration curves of twenty CRS of amino acids were linear (R2 &gt; 0.98) over the range of 1–100 µg/mL, the LODs and the LOQs were in the range of 0.01–0.07 µg/mL and 0.02–0.20 µg/mL, respectively. The results of analysis showed that the predominant essential amino acid was L-proline in Taraxaci radices, Urticae folia, Rosae fructus and Menthae folia, its total content was 101.46 mg/g, 25.31 mg/g, 23.04 mg/g and 19.30 mg/g, respectively. In addition, it was established total content of essential amino acid – L-leucine that can stimulate insulin secretion in β-cells of the pancreas. Its total content was 58.51 mg/g in Taraxaci radices, 9.58 mg/g in Myrtilli folia, 4.68 mg/g in Rosae fructus, 2.99 mg/g in Urticae folia and 0.79 mg/g in Menthae folia. Chromatographic examination also revealed L-phenylalanine, an essential amino acid important for antidiabetic therapy that can increase insulin secretion, stimulate proliferation and neogenesis of β-cells of the pancreas and reduce insulin resistance. Its total content was 13.42 mg/g in Myrtilli folia, 2.23 mg/g in Rosae fructus, 1.478 mg/g in Urticae folia, 1.46 mg/g in Taraxaci radices and 0.52 mg/g in Menthae folia. This phytochemical study shows, which plant material forms the amino acid composition and content in the finished herbal mixture and due to which biologically active substances the antidiabetic activity of this phytocomposition is manifested.

Determination of the total content of flavonoids in herbal mixtures with anti-diabetic activity

Diabetes mellitus is an important social and medical problem, as it causes the development of dangerous complications that lead to disability and mortality. This disease is characterized by a multi-vector pathogenesis that requires a comprehensive approach to treatment. Due to the use of mixtures of medicinal plants in the treatment of diabetes, it is possible to cover all aspects of the development of this disease and its complications, because the combination of different medicinal plants contain more biologically active substances that affect all parts of the pathogenetic mechanism of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Plant biocompounds have a wide range of pharmacological action and various mechanisms of influence on the development of diabetes and diabetic angiopathies (inactivation of the antioxidant defense system, activation of lipid peroxidation and the development of oxidative stress). In addition, the niche of the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine with phytomixtures is almost empty. The aim of the work was to study the total flavonoid content in some herbal mixtures, which have established hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activity in previous studies in vivo The study of the total flavonoid content in herbal samples was carried out by UV-spectrophotometry with the recording of the absorption spectrum of complexation product of flavonoids with aluminum chloride (λmax 415 nm) in terms of rutin. According to the results of UV-spectrophotometric determination, it was found that the total flavonoid content in the herbal mixture No 3 was 1.47 ± 0.04%, in the herbal mixture No 4 – 1.78 ± 0.04%, in the herbal mixture No 7 – 1.29 ± 0.02%, in the herbal mixture No 13 – 1.16 ± 0.02% and in the herbal mixture No 19 – 3.62 ± 0.06% in terms of rutin. It was found that the best flavonoid content (3.62 ± 0.06%) was found in the plant mixture № 19, which contains nettle leaves, dandelion roots, blueberry leaves, rose hips and peppermint herb. Phytochemical studies may indicate a correlation between the content of flavonoids and pharmacological properties of the studied mixtures, because the functional hydroxyl groups of the latter cause strong antioxidant activity by neutralizing free radicals, chelation of heavy metal ions, increasing the activity of antioxidant protection products, which has been confirmed in previous in vivo and in vitro studies.

The Changes in Endogenous Metabolites in Hyperlipidemic Rats Treated with Herbal Mixture Containing Lemon, Apple Cider, Garlic, Ginger, and Honey

An herbal mixture composed of lemon, apple cider, garlic, ginger and honey as a polyphenol-rich mixture (PRM) has been reported to contain hypolipidemic activity on human subjects and hyperlipidemic rats. However, the therapeutic effects of PRM on metabolites are not clearly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to provide new information on the causal impact of PRM on the endogenous metabolites, pathways and serum biochemistry. Serum samples of hyperlipidemic rats treated with PRM were subjected to biochemistry (lipid and liver profile) and hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA enzyme reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) analyses. In contrast, the urine samples were subjected to urine metabolomics using 1H NMR. The serum biochemistry revealed that PRM at 500 mg/kg (PRM-H) managed to lower the total cholesterol level and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) (p < 0.05) and reduce the HMG-CoA reductase activity. The pathway analysis from urine metabolomics reveals that PRM-H altered 17 pathways, with the TCA cycle having the highest impact (0.26). Results also showed the relationship between the serum biochemistry of LDL-C and HMG-CoA reductase and urine metabolites (trimethylamine-N-oxide, dimethylglycine, allantoin and succinate). The study’s findings demonstrated the potential of PRM at 500 mg/kg as an anti-hyperlipidemic by altering the TCA cycle, inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase and lowering the LDL-C in high cholesterol rats.

Design and Construction of a Microcontroller-Based Driver Alcohol Detection System (MDADS)

Aims: Vehicle accidents on most highways had caused a lot of losses. Many sustained injuries that marred them and left families helpless. Nigeria highways are not exempted. Drunk-driving increases tendency, severity and causality of crashes. Effects of auto crash damage to lives and properties necessitated the development of the Microcontroller-based Driver Alcohol Detection System (MDADS). Study Design: The system employed ATMega328p microcontroller (CU) which coordinated operations of 7 units that made the MDADS. The units are: Sensor Unit (SU), Switch (S), Power Unit (PU); LCD Indicating Unit (LIU), Alarm Unit (AU), DC motor (Ignition) Unit (IU) and Liquid Crystal Display Unit (LCDU). Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted for 7 months in the Department of Computer Engineering, Federal Polytechnic Ile-Oluji (FEDPOLEL), Nigeria. It was conducted between October 2020 and July 2021. Methodology: Once the MDADS is ON, it assesses presence of alcohol in the endogenous alcohol molecules from the driver with the help of the SU. The SU sends signal to CU to control and sends signal to trigger the IU, AU and the LCDU of the MDADS, if the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) exceeds the stipulated threshold 0.29ml/l. 60s tolerance was given to driver to switch OFF the ignition. If driver refuses to comply by switching OFF the ignition, the CU sends a “SWITCH OFF” signal to the IU, the LCDU displays “Drunk” and the buzzer continuously sounds alarm. The designed system was tested and parameters for evaluation were taken. The parameters among other includes True Acceptance Rate (TAR), False Acceptance Rate (FAR), Unable to Accept Rate (UAR) and Detection Accuracy (DA), Results: TAR were 0.81, 0.79, and 0.77 for man, alcoholic drinks and herbal mixture respectively. FAR were 0.03, 0.00, and 0.00 for man, alcoholic drinks and herbal mixture, respectively. For human being, Precision (P) and Recall concept (R) were 0.04 and 0.15 respectively while for P and R for others were negligible. Conclusion: The results reveals that the system can be profitably employed for and improved safety on the highways through precise warning before “switching off” of car engine. A further design should be done to differentiate vividly between drunk drivers and presence of other alcoholic substances such as drugs that contain some alcoholic contents, petrol, methylated spirit and alcoholic drinks.

Analysis of carbohydrates content in the plant components of antidiabetic herbal mixture by GC-MS

Medicinal plants and their combinations due to the wide range of biologically active substances can influence on various links of the pathogenetic mechanism of development of diabetes mellitus and its complications. One of such combinations is an antidiabetic herbal mixture (Urticae folia, Rosae frucrus, Myrtilli folia, Menthae folia and Taraxaci radices) with established hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, pancreatoprotective activity in previous pharmacological study in vivo. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify and establish the content of carbohydrates in free and bound form in the plant components of antidiabetic herbal mixture. The carbohydrates were separated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after conversion into volatile derivatives as aldononitrile acetate. The monomeric composition of polysaccharides was studied after their hydrolysis to form monosaccharides and polyalcohols. The results of the quantitative study showed that the predominant carbohydrate in free form was saccharose in Urticae folia, L-fructose in Myrtilli folia, Rosae frucrus, Taraxaci radices and Menthae folia, L-glucose in Rosae frucrus. Concerning the determination of monomers of polysaccharides after hydrolysis, L-glucose prevailed in all plant components of antidiabetic herbal mixture. The chromatographic study revealed a number of polyalcohols that are important for the treatment and prevention of progression of diabetes mellitus and its complications, namely, mannitol and myo-inositol.

Evaluation of the hypolipidemic effect of Gangaria de flush herbal mixture in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male rats

Diabetes mellitus is a complex multifarious metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia that requires non-stop treatment with multiple factors that will reduce the risk of long-term complications and drug side effects. Streptozotocin is well known for its selective pancreatic islet β-cell cytotoxicity used to induce diabetes mellitus in animals. It also interferes with cellular metabolic oxidative mechanisms. Phytomedicine has been in existence since the primitive age and has proven to be effective in treating this condition. This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of Gangaria de flush (Gdf) herbal mixture on lipid profile in streptozotocin (STZ) (60mg/kg) induced diabetic rat. The diabetic rats were treated with Gangaria de flush (0.3ml/kg body weight) and Glibenclamide (5mg/kg body weight) for 7days. The effects of both Gangaria de flush herbal mixture and glibenclamide were analyzed. Gangaria de flush showed a reduction in the lipid profile with a significant percentage reduction of 45.9% for the total cholesterol, 65.7% for the total triglyceride, 63.5% for the low-density lipoprotein, 65.8% for the very low-density lipoprotein as against the negative control and a 7.6% significant increase in the high density lipoprotein. Gangaria de flush showed a significant (p<0.05) positive effect on the lipid profile. Hence, it can be suggested that Gangaria de flush herbal mixture has a significant effect in maintaining the lipid level.

Herbal fume inhalation similarities between Dhoopan and Hawan

Herbal fume inhalation for health benefit or disease treatment is an Ayurvedic and Vedic approach. In Ayurvedic texts it is mentioned as Dhoopan and in Vedic texts it is referred as hawan (Yagya). There are similarities in methods and procedures of both the methods. The present study identifies five areas where there are similarities i.e. herbal mixture preparation, offerings to fire, use of smokeless fire, use of chanting, dose repetition. This perspective showed similarity present between these two ancient herbal inhalation methods potentiating a great scope of further research in this direction.