Salacia sps is prominent plant in the domain of medicinal plant with varied benefits for several ailments.  Salacia sps contains abundant range of phytochemicals (secondary metabolites) like Salacinol, Katnanol, Mangiferin, Poly phenolic, Tannins and many more Salacia sps possess Antimicrobial, Antifungal, Antimalarial, Anticancer, Antiobesity, Antidiabetic properties etc. Salacia sps has been found to offer high potency of biological owing to the bioavailability and safety. These properties are helpful in the formulation of drug and also potentially offer significant nutritional and dietary benefits. This review focuses on the biodiversity, plant characteristics, phytochemicals, ethno pharmacological properties, in vitro and clinical trials including the product developments as well as manufacture. Further research would lead to validation of the claims which will have far reaching benefits to mankind.

Abstract Online: 16-March-2016

A  novel  UPLC  method  for  determination  of  chlorhexidine gluconate and lidocaine hydrochloride in throat sprays has been presented as a tool suitable  for  quality monitoring  of  these  compounds.  The developed and validated UPLC method was compared with HPLC method. Experimental parameters like analysis   time,   sensitivity, mobile phase consumption, validation data, and demands on instrument equipment and operation were compared for two methods. UPLC and HPLC are important methods for routine monitoring of these drugs. In UPLC, Major degradation was found in photolytic condition that product was degraded up to 30 %. The major impurity peaks was found at 3.73 min. The concentration range was varied between 0.040-0.160 mg/mL, 0.016-0.064 mg/mL for chlorhexidine gluconate and lidocaine hydrochloride respectively. The response of the drug was found to be linear in the investigation concentration range and the linear regression equation for both the technique HPLC and UPLC fitted well.  The RSD values for intraday precision study and interday precision study was < 2.0 % for chlorhexidine gluconate and lidocaine hydrochloride, which confirms that the method was precise. Recovery of chlorhexidine gluconate and lidocaine hydrochloride was determined at three different concentration levels. The mean recovery for chlorhexidine gluconate was 100.74-102.60 % and 99.07-101.11 % for lidocaine hydrochloride for HPLC and the mean recovery for chlorhexidine gluconate were 98.6-99.80 % and 99.17-99.52 % for lidocaine hydrochloride for UPLC. The appropriate method should be with less cost, high sensitivity,   reproducibility, short analysis time   and   simplicity.   All these necessities are met by both methods. In our work UPLC analysis took only seven minutes to complete a single run therefore UPLC method can be considered ideal for busy laboratories analyzing large numbers of samples.

Abstract Online: 31-March-2016

Luffa acutangula L. (Common name: Ridge gourd, Family: Cucurbitaceae) is a popular vegetable in India and other Asian countries. It is a healthy food and contains good amount of fiber, vitamins and minerals including Vitamin B2, Vitamin C, carotene, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, iron and small quantities of iodine and fluorine. It is reported to contain many phytochemicals such as flavonoids, saponins, luffangulin, sapogenin, oleanolic acid and Cucurbitacin B. L. acutangula has been used extensively in Indian traditional system of medicines as diuretic, expectorant, laxative, purgative, hypoglycemic agent and bitter tonic. The ethnobotanical survey revealed its use to protect jaundice, insect bites, swollen hemorrhoids, dysentery and headache. Various biological activities of this plant were reported including its use in weight loss, jaundice, blood purification, hypoglycemia, constipation, skin care, immune system booster, wound healing, eye problems, stomach worms and asthma. The present review work focused on its distribution, botanical characters, ethnobotanical uses, folklore claims, nutritional value, phytochemical constituents, medicinal properties and biological properties of L. acutangula.

Abstract Online: 31-March-2016

Canscora perfoliata Lam  an ethnomedicinal plant was studied for its immunomodulatory  activity. Immunomodulatory activity of different doses of ethanol extract of Canscora perfoliata was evaluated in Swiss albino mice. Mice were treated with two doses (150 and 300mg/kg body weight) for 5 days. Body weight, relative organ weight, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response and Haemagglutionation titre (HT) were studied in various groups of animals. The results obtained show a significant increase (p<0.05) in body weight and relative organ weight of spleen, liver and kidney at dose of 300mg/kg. The Canscora perfoliata extract eliciated a significant increase (p<0.05) in the DTH response at dose of 300mg/kg. In the HT test, the plant extract showed a stimulatory effect at all doses. The doses of 300mg/kg significantly (p<0.05) increases the WBC count, compared with the control group. Overall, Canscora perfoliata showed a stimulatory effect on both humoral and cellular immune functions in animal models.

Abstract Online: 31-March-2016

This study included 89 colorectal patients and 50 healthy subjects served as controls. The serum levels of CXCL5, Cy-C, NGAL, MMP-9 and PDCD4 were measured in serum using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Our results showed that serum CXCL5, Cy-C, NGAL and MMP-9 were significantly elevated in colorectal patients in comparison to healthy controls and this increase decreased after treatment, the elevation correlated positively with stage and progression of disease. Serum PDCD4 was significantly elevated in early stage group [group I] in comparison to controls while in late stage group [group II] its level was significantly low in comparison to healthy controls and group I. It correlated negatively with stage and progression of disease. In conclusion; Serum CXCL5, Cy-C, NGAL and MMP-9  were elevated in patients and it correlated positively with progression of disease so they could serve as a prognostic markers for colorectal cancer patients while PDCD4 decreased with progression of tumor and correlated negatively with stage; so these markers might have a role in the progression of colorectal cancer  and  the development of metastasis, they can be used to choose patients with a higher risk and indicates what therapies are useful for them.

Abstract Online: 31-March-2016

Abnormal transient behaviour of neurons in the cortical regions of the brain leads to a seizure which characterizes epilepsy. The physical and mental activity of the patient is totally dampened with this epileptic seizure. To detect such seizures, Electroencephalography (EEG) signals is used and it aids greatly to the clinical experts and it is used as an important tool for the analysis of brain disorders, especially epilepsy. This paper shows that Linear Graph Embedding (LGE) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) are as dimensionality reduction techniques followed by the usage of Approximate Entropy (ApEn) as Post Classifiers for the Classification of Epilepsy Risk Levels from EEG signals. The benchmark parameters assumed here are Performance Index (PI), Quality Values (QV), Specificity, Sensitivity, Time Delay and Accuracy.

Abstract Online: 3-April-2016

Flowers of  Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L., Calendula officinalis L.,Datura metel L., Jasminum sambac L Aiton., Mimusops elengi L., Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L.,Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Wilde.,Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R. Br. ex Roemer and Schultes., and Ixora coccinea L. are very popular for  their aesthetic and spiritual appeal. Indigenous treatment systems found these flowers very useful in curing various ailments. Their phytochemical profiles are very impressive and several promising bioactive compounds were isolated and characterized. Synergism in some flower extracts produces antioxidant and anti inflammatory activities both in vitro and in vivo.  Flower metabolome is a valuable resource to search for novel bioactive compounds.

Abstract Online: 3-April-2016

Recently, the interest on plant- derived antioxidants has grown due to the several draw- backs of the synthetic and commercially available synthetic antioxidants. The aim of present study is to investigate the antioxidant activities of four different solvent extracts of five wild edible plants e.g. Allium hookeri, Cardamine macrophylla,   Sarcochlamys pulcherrima ,  Eryngium foetidum   and  Bambusa balcooa    consumed by the ethnic people of  Arunachal Pradesh state in India. The extracts of the plants were examined for their antioxidant activities by using free radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH)   scavenging method, ABTS radical scavenging ability, reducing power capacity, estimation of total phenolic content, flavonoid content and flavonol content.. The result showed that the total phenolics, flavonoids and flavonols of the different extracts of the investigated samples ranged from 9.52 ± 3.66 – 82.43 ± 1.25 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry extract, 19.64±0.19 -67.99±0.50 mg rutin equivalent /g dry extract and 9.73±1.12 to 128.15±1.38 mg quercetin equivalent /g dry extract respectively.   Furthermore the plant extracts exhibited good free radical scavenging capacity.   The solvent systems used were benzene, chloroform, acetone and   methanol. The different levels of antioxidant activities were found in the solvent systems used. The results indicate that these wild edible plants could be utilized as natural antioxidant.

Abstract Online: 30-April-2016