Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Nephrolithiasis

Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) impacts a significant group of individuals today as a result of changing lifestyles. Over the past decade, there has been a revival of interest in the study of medicinal plants as a source of potential herbal medicine. Herbal medicine could become a new phase in the medical system for human disease management within the next few decades. In fact, a number of studies strongly suggest using medicinal herbs as one of the anti-nephrolithiatic treatments. Different bioactive substances found in plants, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, saponins, furanochromones, alkaloids, and terpenoids, may be useful in halting the development of stones. These natural resources do in fact contain bioactive compounds of many types, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, and terpenoids, which have recently been shown to have potent anti-nephrolithiatic properties. However, the outcomes of the experiments that have been conducted with these natural substances are still in the preclinical stages. Future research on clinical applications may therefore be a fruitful way to confirm the clinical utility of these medications

Alkaloids as New Leads for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Conventionally, diseases involving the selective loss of neurons are referred to as neurodegenerative diseases. Traditional and more recent compounds have been explored, but they only provide symptomatic benefits and have a large number of negative effects. It will be regarded as a modern vision if stronger molecules are found that can stop the pathophysiology of these diseases. In order to replace existing medications, natural compounds are being developed from plants and other sources. Natural products, including alkaloids that originate from plants, have emerged as potential protective agents against neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s), psychiatric conditions, and many more. They provided unique lead compounds for medicine. Alkaloids could be exploited as starting materials for novel drug synthesis or, to a lesser extent, used to manage neurodegenerative-related complications due to their diverse mechanistic effects. This chapter aims to highlight the importance of alkaloids as new leads for the development of potential clinical drug candidates for the management and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Determination of dehydroepiandrosterone in dietary supplements by reversed-phase HPLC

Purpose: To develop a reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the determination of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in dietary supplements. Methods: A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of DHEA in dietary supplements. An isocratic system consisting of methanol and water (70:30 v/v) was run at a flow rate of 1 mL/min on a C18 HPLC column to achieve the separation. The method was validated with regard to linearity, intra-day and inter-day precision, and limits of both detection and quantification. Results: The method achieved a retention time of 10.8 min, a resolution of 4.12, a detection limit (LOD) of 50 ng/μL, a quantification limit (LOQ) of 166.7 ng/μL and a label claim of 108.6 % with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.38 % over a range of 0.0625 – 0.50 mg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997. Conclusion: The method is simple, cost effective, time-saving and reliable for determining DHEA when compared to other reported methods in literature. Thus, it will be of benefit to manufacturers of this dietary supplement to adopt the method for quantitative laboratory analysis