M.S.K. Choudhuri

Anti-inflammatory, Antinociceptive, and Neuropharmacological Activities of Clerodendron viscosum.

Abstract The crude methanol extract of Clerodendron viscosum. Vent. (Verbenaceae) leaves was evaluated for its anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and neuropharmacological activities. When given orally to rats at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg of body weight, the extract showed a significant (p < 0.001) anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenan-induced rat paw edema comparable with the standard drug phenylbutazone at the dose of 100 mg/kg of body weight. It also produced a significant writhing inhibition in acetic acid–induced writhing in mice at the oral dose of 250 and 500 mg/kg of body weight (p < 0.001), which was comparable with the standard drug diclofenac sodium at the dose of 25 mg/kg of body weight. Moreover, when given intraperitoneally to albino mice, it potentiated the pentobarbital-induced sleeping time (p < 0.001), decreased the open field score in open field test (p < 0.001), decreased the number of holes crossed from one chamber to the other in the hole-cross test (p < 0.001), and decreased the head dip responses in the hole-board test (p < 0.001) at the dose of 250 and 500 mg/kg of body weight. The overall results tend to suggest the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and central nervous system depressant activities of the crude methanol extract of Clerodendron viscosum..

Anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and diuretic activities of Amoora cucullata Roxb.

The crude methanolic extract of the leaves of Amoora cucullata Roxb. was investigated for its possible anti-inflammatory activity using carrageenin induced rat paw edema model and cotton pellet implantation method in rat. The extract was also studied for its antinociceptive activity using acetic acid induced writhing model in mice. At the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight, the extract showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in both models. At the same doses, the extract also significantly reduced the number of acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction (writhing) in mice. The crude extract also showed significant diuretic activity in albino mice.

Assessing the Perceptions and Practice of Self-Medication among Bangladeshi Undergraduate Pharmacy Students

Objectives: To evaluate the perceptions and extent of practicing self-medication among undergraduate pharmacy students. Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted over a six month period (January to June 2016) among undergraduate pharmacy students in five reputable public universities of Bangladesh. It involved face-to-face interviews regarding self-medication of 250 respondents selected by simple random sampling. Results: Self-medication was reported by 88.0% of students. Antipyretics (58.40%) were mostly preferred for the treatment of fever and headaches. The major cause for self-medication was minor illness (59.60%, p = 0.73) while previous prescriptions were the main source of knowledge as well as the major factor (52.80%, p = 0.94) dominating the self-medication practice. The results also demonstrated 88.80% of students had previous knowledge on self-medication and 83.60% of students always checked the information on the label; mainly the expiry date before use (85.60%). A significant (p < 0.05) portion of the students (51% male and 43% female) perceived it was an acceptable practice as they considered self-medication to be a segment of self-care. Furthermore, students demonstrated differences in their response level towards the adverse effect of drugs, the health hazard by a higher dose of drug, a physician’s help in case of side effects, taking medicine without proper knowledge, and stopping selling medicine without prescription. Conclusions: Self-medication was commonly used among pharmacy students primarily for minor illnesses using over-the-counter medications. Although it is an inevitable practice for them it should be considered an important public health problem as this practice may increase the misuse or irrational use of medicines.

Preclinical Anemia Panel Studies of âÂÂMakardhvajaâ after Chronic Administration to Male Sprague-Dawley Rats

Makardhvaja (MD) is an Ayurvedic preparation used as a traditional medicine in the treatment of sexual dysfunction in the rural population. The effect of chronic administration of Makardhvaja on the hematological parameters and serum iron profi le was studied in this experiment. The acute toxicity test of MD recorded no death, even at the highest dose of 80 ml/kg body weight. During the chronic toxicity test, animals were divided into two groups. The fi rst group was given MD preparation at a dose of 40 mg/kg body weight for 28 days while the second group that served as the control received water for the same period. After 28 days of chronic administration of the MD preparation to the male Sprague-Dawley rats, the following hematological changes were noted. Erythrocytic indices such as red blood count (RBC), hemoglobin, Hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and red cell volume distribution width (RDW) did not change signifi cantly. In the male rats, a statistically highly signifi cant (p=0.003) decrease (27.35%) in the serum iron level, an increase (26.42%) in the serum ferritin level, which, though not signifi cant, was prominent (p=0.120), and a statistically very highly signifi cant (p=0.001) decrease (47.05%) in the serum total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were noted.

Steroidal and Gonadotropin Hormone Profile Studies of a Classical Ayurvedic Preparation of âÂÂMakardhvajaâ after Chronic Administration to Male Sprague-Dawley Rats

In this study, the effect of the classical Ayurvedic formulation of Makardhvaja (MD) on steroidal and gonadotropin hormone was evaluated after chronic administration. MD is used as a traditional medicine in the treatment of Rasayan in the rural population. The acute pharmacological test of MD recorded no death or any signs of effectivity even at the highest dose of 80 ml/Kg body weight. For chronic pharmacological evaluation, animals were divided into two groups. The first group was given MD preparation at a dose of 40 mg/kg body weight for 28 days while the second group that served as the control received water for the same period. After 28 days of chronic administration of the MD preparation, the following effects on the steroidal hormone panel were noted: There is a statistically significant (p 5 0.040) increase in the serum circulating progesterone level of the male rat. [20.38% increase]. The steroidal hormone indices such as serum circulating dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), serum circulating total testosterone, serum circulating 17-beta-Estradiol (E2) does not change significantly. The significant effects on the gonadotropin hormone profile after chronic administration were thus: There is a statistically significant (p 5 0.047) increase in the serum circulating luteinizing hormone (LH) level of the male rat [76.07% increase]. Serum circulating follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level does not change significantly.

Preclinical Lipid profile studies of “Balarista” after chronic administration to male Sprague-Dawley rats

Balarista (BLR) is an Ayurvedic preparation used as a traditional medicine in the South Asian countries for the treatment of dyspepsia, debility and arthritis. The effect of chronic administration of Balarista (BLR) on the serum Lipid profile was studied in this experiment. After 28 days of chronic administration of the BLR preparation to the male Sprague-Dawley rats at a dose of 40 ml/kg the following biochemical changes were noted. There was a statistically very highly significant (p=0.001) increase in serum Non-HDL-C and LDLC level whereas a significant increase (p=0.005) was noted in case of total cholesterol (TC) level. Besides, a statistically very highly significant decrease was noted in case of serum triglyceride (TG), VLDL-C and HDL-C level; thus leading to a statistically very highly significant increase (p=0.001) in Cardiac Risk Ratio (CRR) (TC/HDL-C), Castelli’s Risk Index-II (CRIII) (LDL-C/HDL-C) and Atherogenic Coefficient (AC) ((TC HDLC)/HDL-C) but a non-significant decrease (p=0.091) in case of Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) ((log (TG/HDL-C)).

Pharmacological findings of an Indian traditional Ayurvedic herbalformulation Amritaristo

SUMMARY In this present study Indian traditional Ayurvedic herbal formulation Amritaristo has been studiedto assess the general pharmacological effect on mice. The drug showed no significant activity on theneuropharmacological test models experimented. The increased pentobarbital sleeping time wasconsidered related with hepatic metabolism of pentobarbital. The formulation exhibited a non-significant reduction of gastrointestinal motility, and devoid of any acute diuretic activity. Thetested drug revealed antidiarrhoeal activity on castor oil-induced model, whereas on magnesiumsulphate-induced model no effect was observed. Key words: Amritaristo; Ayurveda; CNS; Diarrhoea; Gastrointestinal motility INTRODUCTION The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates,however, that one third of the world’s populationstill lacks regular access to essential drugs withfigure rising to over 50% in the poorest parts ofAfrica and Asia. Fortunately, in many developingcountries, traditional medicines offer a major andaccessible source of health care. WHO has thusfocused its attention in the traditional medicine orcomplementary and alternative medicine into thenational health care systems. WHO suggests researchon the traditional medicine or complementaryand alternative medicine to ensure the safety,efficacy and quality of them. The national healthpolicy of Bangladesh also has the objectives toencourage systematic improvement in thepractice of the indigenous system of medicine andfor utilizing the additional manpower available inthis sector. Particular attention should be given toscientific evaluation of indigenous and herbaldrugs (Chakraborty et al., 2006).Ayurvedic herbal medicines are the mostpopular form of alternative medicine beingpracticed in Bangladesh. Although tremendousprogress has taken place in the field of modernmedicine, but the practice and use of Ayurvedicmedicine is being continued throughout thecountry even today. Amritaristo is widely usedfor the treatment of fever and malaria (Anonymous,1991). The research work was performed toassess the general pharmacological effect ofAmritaristo in experimental mice.

Bioactivity of the methanol extract of Excoecaria agallocha Linn.(Euphorbiaceae)

The methanol extract and residual methanol fraction of Excoecaria agallocha L. (Euphorbiaceae) stem bark was investigated in this study by wheat rootlet and shoot growth inhibition, and antimicrobial bioassay. The methanol extract and residual methanol fraction showed high inhibitory effect on both the wheat rootlet (82-89%) and shoot growth (85-90%) compared to control. The methanol extract showed a better and dose related inhibition on both the rootlet and shoot growth compared to residual methanol fraction. The value of methanol extract for rootlet and shoot were and , and of residual methanol fraction for rootlet and shoot were and . The methanol extract and residual methanol fraction did not show any antibacterial activity against the tested microorganisms of clinical isolates Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureous, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris and Bacillus subtilis. The plant has the potential to be a source of novel cytotoxic compound(s).