Venkatesan Kumar

Acorus calamus.: Scientific Validation of Ayurvedic Tradition from Natural Resources

Abstract Acorus calamus. Linn. (Araceae), commonly known as “sweet flag” or “calamus”, is a semiaquatic, perennial, aromatic herb with creeping rhizomes. The plant is found in the northern temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, North America, and Europe. The plant exhibits polyploidy. Many ethnomedicinal and ethnobotanical uses have been ascribed to the rhizomes of the plant. A. calamus. Linn. (AC) has been used as traditional Chinese and Indian prescriptions for its beneficial effects on memory disorder, learning performance, lipid peroxide content, and anti-aging and anticholinergic activity. Moreover, pharmacological studies have revealed that Acorus. rhizome and its constituents, particularly α.- and β.-asarone, possess a wide range of pharmacological activities such as sedative, CNS depressant, behavior modifying, anticonvulsant, acetylcholinesterase inhibitory, memory enhancing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antispasmodic, cardiovascular, hypolipidemic, immunosuppressive, cytoprotective, antidiarrheal, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, insecticidal, adulticidal, diuretic, antioxidant, genotoxic, and mutagenic activities. This review is an effort to explore the different phytoconstituents and pharmacological activities of Acorus calamus..

Plants of Indian origin in drug discovery

The Indian system of medicine (ISM) consists of several major components such as Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and homeopathy. All these components provide the major healthcare for a large part of the population in India and have been flourishing in this country for many centuries. Medicinal plants constitute a major part in all of these traditional systems. Several regulations and controls on the use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine have evolved. On the one hand, such regulations will help to cure different aliments through Indian indigenous resources and, on the other hand, they will help in the screening and evaluation of natural resources through the development of potential lead components in order to provide better healthcare through ISM. Several lead molecules have been developed from ISM. This review aims at highlighting aspects of drug development from Indian medicinal plants through the use of ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology and systems biology, with different approaches using metabolomics and allied fields.

Marker Profiling of Botanicals Used for Hepatoprotection in Indian System of Medicine

Quality control of botanicals, including phytomedicines and dietary supplements, is a basic requirement to ensure their safety and effectiveness. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of marker components is a potentially cost-efficient aspect of quality control as any change in quality of the marker compound may also represent the quality of overall product, which would also directly affect the other phytoconstituents of the product. Our studies attempted to develop the marker profile of Andrographis paniculata, Berberis aristata, and Phyllanthus amarus, which are used as hepatoprotectives in the Indian system of medicine. The plant extracts were subjected for high-performance thin-layer chromatographic analysis along with the respective standard markers. Andrographolide appeared at retardation factor Rf 0.7 in a methanolic extract of A. paniculata with a chloroform:methanol (70:10) solvent system. Berberine appeared at Rf 3.6 in a petroleum ether extract of B. aristata with an n-propanol:formic acid:water (90:1:9) solvent system. Phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin appeared at Rf 0.3 and 0.4, respectively, in a methanolic extract of P. amarus with a hexane:ethyl acetate (2:1) solvent system. Densitometric scanning produced characteristic chromatographs. Such characteristic chromatographs can be used as standard fingerprint to develop a quality control protocol for plant materials.

Exploring the Effect of Asclepias curassavica on Markers of Oxidative Stress in Rats

ObjectiveExtract of the aerial part of Asclepias curassavica L. (Asclepiadaceae family) was screened for both in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activity.MethodsDifferent concentrations of different extracts (chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and hydroalcohol) of A. curassavica were investigated for in vitro antioxidant activity using the thiocyanate method. The hydroalcoholic extract exhibited the highest inhibitory activity on peroxidation, over the other organic extracts, and was subjected to further in vivo antioxidant activity. Hydroalcoholic extract was administered to rats at two different doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg for 14 days to evaluate oxidative stress parameters such as ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) and to evaluate antioxidant enzyme levels of Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT).Results and DiscussionThe IC50 value (31.2 µg/mL) of hydroalcoholic extract was found to be less than the standard, α-tocopherol (IC50 value 66.1 µg/mL). The hydroalcoholic extract significantly (p < 0.05) increased the FRAP on days 7 and 14 of treatment. Significant (p < 0.05) reduction of TBARS along with an increase in the SOD enzyme level in the liver and kidney at two different doses was observed. Treatment at a 500 mg/kg bodyweight dose caused a significant increase only in the level of CAT in the liver and kidney. However, there was no significant effect of TBARS, SOD and CAT in the heart, and the GSH level in liver, heart and kidney.ConclusionIt can be concluded that the hydroalcoholic extract of A. curassavica had significant antioxidant activity, which might be helpful in preventing (or slowing) various oxidative stress-related diseases.

Antioxidant potentials of Hypericum hookerianum (Family: Hypericaceae) on CCl4induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Free radicals are known to play important role in pathophysiology of hepatic disorders and antioxidants are employed along with other chemotherapeutic agents in treatment of such diseases. In search of natural antioxidant, successive extracts of Hypericum (H.) hookerianum (Family: Hypericaceae) were evaluated by in vitro and in vivo methods. Extracts of aerial parts of H. hookerianum were subjected for 1,1-diphenyl 2-picryl hydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay), nitric oxide radicals scavenging assay and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay. Methanolic extract was found to be more active than other extracts in DPPH and in vitro TBARS assay with IC50 at 5.82 ± 1.33 µg/ml and 49.78 ± 3.79 µg/ml respectively. While petroleum ether extract showed more potentials in scavenging the nitric oxide radicals with IC50 220.97 ± 2.69 µg/ml. The administration of CCl4 to the control animals caused decrease in the level of catalase and superoxide dismutase, together with significant increase in the level of TBARS in liver and kidney. Reversal of these changes towards normal group was observed by administration of H. hookerianum methanolic extract at 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight, while other extracts were found to be less active.