Digestive Activity of Pancha Harithakadi Churna

The traditional systems of medicine are really effective but the problem with them is they lack in quality assurance. Standardization is the need of the hour in ayurvedic system of medicine. PanchaHarithakadi Churna (PHC) is a traditional polyherbal formulation which consists of five household ingredients used for indigestion. It is mainly used for Constipation and Bloating. Churna’s will play a major role in gastro intestinal problems and they have greater bioavailability because of smaller particle size. It consists of fine powder (sieve 100 size) of ginger rhizomes, fennel fruits, myrobalan fruits, senna leaflets and pink rock salt in equal proportions (1:1:1:1:1) are mixed well. PHC was formulated by standard procedures and evaluated by microscopic characterization, inorganic analysis and digestive studies. Microscopical characters indicate the presence of genuine crude drugs used in the formulation. Inorganic analysis shows the presence of calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride and phosphate. The PHC showed pronounced amylolytic activity and trypsin activity whereas moderate lipolytic activity, proteolytic activity and pepsin activity, mild chymotrypsin activity in treating indigestion. In future we will carry out in vivo digestive studies.

Antimicrobial agent from Plants and Herbs: A systemic Review

The whole worldwide, now a days use many herbal product for healthy and happy life. In ancient system there are Ayurveda Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy systems of medicines includes various different herbs, crude drugs, medicinal plants. Many ayurvedic herbs are known for its important medicinal property. Medicinal plants are mostly used for wide range of constituent present in it. In Ayurveda system of medicine, antimicrobial herbs find to be used in many ayurvedic preparations. Various antimicrobial herbs have been used against different microbial infection like bacteria, virus, fungi protozoa, helminths etc. and many more different infectious agent of different diseases. The active chemical constituents present in herbs or crude drug or medicinal plants inhibits the growth of microorganisms. The present attempt has been made to review studied various antimicrobial herbs.

Comparative Hypolipidemic Evaluation of Aframomum Melegueta Seeds and Moringa Oleifera Leaves

Aims: The study was carried out to compare the lipid lowering effects of both crude drugs as well as deducing the extracts with the best lipid lowering property; and the fractions. Study Design: The research was conducted with an experimental design solely based on laboratory trials which involved the use of ninety-six (96) male albino wistar rats to compare the hypolipidemic effects of both crude drugs and respective fractions. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pharmacognosy Laboratory, Faculty of Pharmacy, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Laboratory, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Agulu, Anambra State, Nigeria. The research was carried out from March to August, 2021. Methodology: Ethanol extracts of both plants were prepared using soxhlet extraction. Each extract was then subjected to VLC fractionation using four solvents: n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol. The fractions were bulked together after conducting thin layer chromatographic procedures and each extract was bulked into four fractions. The acute toxicity studies (LD50) of both extracts were determined in the rats using Lorke’s method. The crude extracts were screened for the presence and quantity of phytoconstituents using standard methods. The antilipidemic study was carried out using sixty-eight (68) rats randomized into seventeen (17) groups of four (4) animals each. Lipid profile was determined using spectrophotometer. Liver function tests and histology was also carried out using standard procedures. Results: Administration of various treatments (both crude extracts and fractions) evoked a significant (p<0.05) reduction of TC, TG, and LDL-C as well as significant (p<0.05) elevation of HDL-C when compared with the negative control. With a percentage serum lipid reduction of 45.11%TC, 48.23%TG, 63.39% LDL-C and 174.69% elevation of HDL-C, the group treated with the combination of 500 mg/kg Aframomum melegueta and 500 mg/kg Moringa oleifera produced the best hypolipidemic effect. This is closely followed by fraction MO4. Comparatively, Moringa oleifera extracts exerts a better antilipidemic effect than Aframomum melegueta seed extract. The liver function test showed that both plants has no toxic effect on the liver cells at doses of 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg, hence confirming the hepatoprotective effect of both crude drugs at the doses administered. Conclusion: In conclusion, results from this study suggests that ethanol extract of Moringa oleifera leaves is more effective than ethanol extract of Aframomum melegueta seeds as a hypolipidemic agent, however, combination of both crude drugs as a lipid lowering agent has proved to be more effective and reliable when compared to each crude drug administered independently.

Kampo Formulae for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain ∼ Especially the Mechanism of Action of Yokukansan ∼

Kampo medicine has been practiced as traditional medicine (TM) in Japan. Kampo medicine uses Kampo formulae that are composed of multiple crude drugs to make Kampo formulae. In Japan, Kampo formulae are commonly used instead of or combined with Western medicines. If drug therapy that follows the guidelines for neuropathic pain does not work or cannot be taken due to side effects, various Kampo formulae are considered as the next line of treatment. Since Kampo formulae are composed of two or more kinds of natural crude drugs, and their extracts contain many ingredients with pharmacological effects, one Kampo formula usually has multiple effects. Therefore, when selecting a formula, we consider symptoms other than pain. This review outlines the Kampo formulae that are frequently used for pain treatment and their crude drugs and the basic usage of each component. In recent years, Yokukansan (YKS) has become one of the most used Kampo formulae for pain treatment with an increasing body of baseline research available. We outline the known and possible mechanisms by which YKS exerts its pharmacologic benefits as an example of Kampo formulae’s potency and holistic healing properties.

TLC-based fingerprinting for Phyllanthus niruri from diverse geographical origins in East and Central Java Indonesia

Phyllanthus niruri L. (meniran), the member of Euphorbiaceae, is a medicinal plant that is commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical areas such as Asia, America, and China. Various factors such as environment, geographical location, harvest time, and post-harvest process can affect the quality of crude drugs produced from P. niruri. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of meniran herbs obtained from 15 geographical origins in East and Central Java, Indonesia using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) profiles analyzed by chemometrics. TLC was carried out using TLC plate Si Gel 60 GF254 as stationary phase; toluene, ethyl acetate, methanol, 85% formic acid (75:25:25:6) as mobile phase; and visualized using NP/PEG Reagent. The results showed TLC-fingerprinting combined with chemometric (PCA and CA) analyses were able to discriminate the origin of P. niruri from different geographical origins. P. niruri from 15 locations of East and Central Java Indonesia were classified into 5 groups based on their chemical similarity. The samples that are grouped in one cluster have the similar quality of chemical compounds, while the samples in different clusters also have different qualities.

Chloroplast genome sequencing based on genome skimming for identification of Eriobotryae Folium

Background Whole chloroplast genome (cpDNA) sequence is becoming widely used in the phylogenetic studies of plant and species identification, but in most cases the cpDNA were acquired from silica gel dried fresh leaves. So far few reports have been available to describe cpDNA acquisition from crude drugs derived from plant materials, the DNA of which usually was seriously damaged during their processing. In this study, we retrieved cpDNA from the commonly used crude drug Eriobotryae Folium (Pipaye in Chinese, which is the dried leaves of Eriobotrya japonica, PPY) using genome skimming technique. Results We successfully recovered cpDNA sequences and rDNA sequences from the crude drug PPY, and bioinformatics analysis showed a high overall consistency between the cpDNA obtained from the crude drugs and fresh samples. In the ML tree, each species formed distinct monophyletic clades based on cpDNA sequence data, while the phylogenetic relationships between Eriobotrya species were poorly resolved based on ITS and ITS2. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that both cpDNA and ITS/ITS2 are effective for identifying PPY and its counterfeits derived from distantly related species (i.e. Dillenia turbinata and Magnolia grandiflora), but cpDNA is more effective for distinguishing the counterfeits derived from the close relatives of Eriobotrya japonica, suggesting the potential of genome skimming for retrieving cpDNA from crude drugs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for their identification.

Modulation of circadian clock by crude drug extracts used in Japanese Kampo medicine

Circadian rhythm is an approximately 24 h endogenous biological rhythm. Chronic disruption of the circadian clock leads to an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Hence, it is important to develop circadian clock modulators. Natural organisms are a good source of several medicines currently in use. Crude drugs used in Japanese traditional Kampo medicine or folk medicines are an excellent source for drug discovery. Furthermore, identifying new functions for existing drugs, known as the drug repositioning approach, is a popular and powerful tool. In this study, we screened 137 crude drug extracts to act as circadian clock modulators in human U2OS cells stably expressing the clock reporter Bmal1-dLuc, and approximately 12% of these modulated the circadian rhythm. We further examined the effects of several crude drugs in Rat-1 fibroblasts stably expressing Per2-luc, explant culture of lung from Per2::Luciferase knockin mice, and zebrafish larvae in vivo. Notably, more than half of the major ingredients of these crude drugs were reported to target AKT and its relevant signaling pathways. As expected, analysis of the major ingredients targeting AKT signaling confirmed the circadian clock-modulating effects. Furthermore, activator and inhibitor of AKT, and triple knockdown of AKT isoforms by siRNA also modulated the circadian rhythm. This study, by employing the drug repositioning approach, shows that Kampo medicines are a useful source for the identification of underlying mechanisms of circadian clock modulators and could potentially be used in the treatment of circadian clock disruption.

Verification of Thai ethnobotanical medicine “Kamlang Suea Khrong” driven by multiplex PCR and powerful TLC techniques

Kamlang Suea Khrong (KSK) crude drug, a traditional Thai medicine used for oral tonic and analgesic purposes, is obtained from three origins: the inner stem bark of Betula alnoides (BA) or the stems of Strychnos axillaris (SA) or Ziziphus attopensis (ZA). According to the previous reports, SA contains strychnine-type alkaloids that probably cause poisoning; however, only organoleptic approaches are insufficient to differentiate SA from the other plant materials. To ensure the botanical origin of KSK crude drug, powerful and reliable tools are desperately needed. Therefore, molecular and chemical identification methods, DNA barcoding and thin-layer chromatography (TLC), were investigated. Reference databases, i.e., the ITS region and phytochemical profile of the authentic plant species, were conducted. In case of molecular analysis, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on species-specific primers was applied. Regarding species-specific primers designation, the suitability of three candidate barcode regions (ITS, ITS1, and ITS2) was evaluated by genetic distance using K2P model. ITS2 presented the highest interspecific variability was verified its discrimination power by tree topology. Accordingly, ITS2 was used to create primers that successfully specified plant species of authentic samples. For chemical analysis, TLC with toluene:ethyl acetate:ammonia (1:9:0.025) and hierarchical clustering were operated to identify the authentic crude drugs. The developed multiplex PCR and TLC methods were then applied to identify five commercial KSK crude drugs (CK1-CK5). Both methods correspondingly indicated that CK1-CK2 and CK3-CK5 were originated from BA and ZA, respectively. Molecular and chemical approaches are convenient and effective identification methods that can be performed for the routine quality-control of the KSK crude drugs for consumer reliance. According to chemical analysis, the results indicated BA, SA, and ZA have distinct chemical profiles, leading to differences in pharmacological activities. Consequently, further scientific investigations are required to ensure the quality and safety of Thai ethnobotanical medicine known as KSK.

Validated high-performance thin-layer chromatographic analysis of curcumin in the methanolic fraction of Curcuma longa L. rhizomes

Background In the present study, an HPTLC (high-performance thin-layer chromatography) method was developed for the quantitative determination and validation of the curcumin in the methanolic fraction of Curcuma longa L. For achieving good separation of curcumin, the mobile phase of chloroform:methanol (97:3) was used. The densitometric analysis of curcumin was performed at 420 nm in reflection/absorption mode. Results Linearity of the method was obtained in the range of 100‒600 ng per spot. During analysis, the methanolic fraction of the C. longa showed the presence of a quantifiable amount of curcumin. The content of curcumin was found to be 1.5% (per dry weight). Conclusions The method is specific, simple, precise, and accurate. The obtained data can have used for the routine analysis of the reported biomarkers in crude drugs and extracts. The quantification and the method validation of curcumin have not yet been reported in C. longa which can be utilized for the proper standardization of the plant.