Chemical Fractionation

The aqueous extract of galls from Terminalia chebula Retz. (Combretaceae) was fractionated on Diaion and refractionated on octadecyl silica column. Six phenolic compounds were isolated and identified as gallic acid (1), punicalagin (2), isoterchebulin (3), 1,3,6-tri-O-galloyl-?-D-glucopyranose (4), chebulagic acid (5) and chebulinic acid (6). All of the compounds showed stronger 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and melanin inhibitory activities than ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxytoluene, ?-tocopherol, arbutin and kojic acid, the reference compounds.

Artemisinin loses its antimalarial activity on prolonged exposure to erythrocytes, especially alpha-thalassemic erythrocytes. In this report, we show that the major artemisinin-inactivating factor in cytosol of normal erythrocytes was heat-labile but a heat-stable factor from alpha-thalassemic cells also played a significant role in reducing artemisinin effectiveness, which was shown to be heme released from hemoglobin (Hb).

BACKGROUND: Anti-malarial drug resistance threatens to undermine efforts to eliminate this deadly disease. The resulting omnipresent requirement for drugs with novel modes of action prompted a national consortium initiative to discover new anti-plasmodial agents from South African medicinal plants. One of the plants selected for investigation was Dicoma anomala subsp. gerrardii, based on its ethnomedicinal profile.

BACKGROUND: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (Harshringar, Night Jasmine) has been traditionally used in Ayurveda, Unani and other systems of medicine in India. The juice of its leaves has been used by various tribal populations of India in treatment of fevers resembling malaria. AIM OF THE STUDY: This work reports the antiplasmodial activity guided fractionation of Harshringar leaves extract.

The severe toxicity, exorbitant cost and the emerging resistance of Leishmania spp. against most of the currently used drugs led to the urgent need for exploiting our traditional Ayurvedic knowledge to treat visceral leishmaniasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anti-leishmanial activity of various extracts from ten traditionally used Indian medicinal plants. The methanolic extract from only two plants, Withania somnifera Dunal (ashwagandha) and Allium sativum Linn. (garlic), showed appreciable activity against Leishmania donovani.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. (PM) is an Ayurvedic traditional medicine well known for its antidiabetic potential. AIM: To fractionate the antidiabetic constituent(s) of the aqueous of extract of PM hardwood (PME). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bio-assay methods including, insulin secretion from mouse pancreas and glucose uptake by mouse skeletal muscle, were used to determine and fractionate the antidiabetic activity of PME.

There is general belief that only pure phytomolecules may be used as molecular therapeutic agent through one to one action. However, the traditional systems of medicine e.g. Ayurveda, uses the crude extracts, mostly water decoctions and oils, as drug. A comparative study of hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol fractions of N. Sativa seeds has been carried out on fresh rat-peritoneal-macrophage culture with reference to their role on various targets of lipopolysaccharide induced release of nitric oxide (NO) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression.

BACKGROUND: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (Harshringar, Night Jasmine) has been traditionally used in Ayurveda, Unani and other systems of medicine in India. The juice of its leaves has been used by various tribal populations of India in treatment of fevers resembling malaria. AIM OF THE STUDY: This work reports the antiplasmodial activity guided fractionation of Harshringar leaves extract.

Adhatoda vasica Nees, Acanthaceae, is well known plant in Ayurveda and Unani medicine. The purpose of this study was to characterize the most bioactive phytochemicals viz., vasicine, vasicinone, vasicine acetate, 2-acetyl benzyl amine, vasicinolone present in the chloroform fraction having anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. The anti-inflammatory activity was tested by using carrageenan and CFA-model induced paw oedema. The antimicrobial activity of isolated compounds was assessed by using the microdilution method.

Many similarities exist between research on combinatorial chemistry and natural products and research on dietary supplements and botanicals at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Botanical Research Centers. The technologies used at the centers are similar to those used by other NIH-sponsored investigators. All centers rigorously examine the authenticity of botanical dietary supplements and determine the composition and concentrations of the phytochemicals therein, most often by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.