Review: Pharmacological effects of Capparis spinosa L.

Medicinal plants have been known as one of the most important therapeutic agents since ancient times. During the last two decades, much attention has been paid to the health-promoting effects of edible medicinal plants, because of multiple beneficial effects and negligible adverse effects. Capparis spinosa L. is one of the most common medicinal plants, used widely in different parts of the world to treat numerous human diseases. This paper aims to critically review the available scientific literature regarding the health-promoting effects of C. spinosa, its traditional uses, cultivation protocols and phytochemical constituents. Recently, a wide range of evidence has shown that this plant possesses different biological effects, including antioxidant, anticancer and antibacterial effects. Phytochemical analysis shows that C. spinosa has high quantities of bioactive constituents, including polyphenolic compounds, which are responsible for its health-promoting effects, although many of these substances are present in low concentrations and significant changes in their content occur during processing. In addition, there is negligible scientific evidence regarding any adverse effects. Different health promotion activities, as well as tremendous diversity of active constituents, make C. spinosa a good candidate for discovering new drugs. However these findings are still in its infancy and future experimental and clinical studies are needed

The promise of natural language processing in healthcare

The healthcare industry generates data at a rapid rate, with no signs of slowing down. A large portion of this information takes the form of unstructured narrative text, making it difficult for computer systems to analyze the data in a usable format. However, automated analysis of this information could be incredibly useful in daily practice. This could be accomplished with natural language processing, an area of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics that is used to analyze and process large sets of unstructured data, namely spoken or written communication. Natural language processing has already been implemented in many sectors, and the industry is projected to be worth US$16 billion by 2021. Natural language processing could take unstructured patient data and interpret meaning from the text, allowing that information to inform healthcare delivery. Natural language processing can also enable intelligent chatbots, interacting and providing medical support to patients. It has the potential to aid physicians by efficiently summarizing patient charts and predicting patient outcomes. In hospitals, it has the ability to analyze patient satisfaction and facilitate quality improvement. Despite current technical limitations, natural language processing is a rapidly developing technology that promises to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery

Bioactivity guided extraction of Seabuckthorn (<i>Hippophae rhamnoides </i>L. ssp. <i>turkestanica</i>) leaves

307-311This study represents antioxidant (DPPH scavenging) activity guided extraction of Seabuckthorn (SBT) leaves and its correlation with total phenol content. 75% ethanolic and acetone extracts showed significantly higher antioxidant activity and total phenol content in comparison with other solvent extracts. Phenol contents correlated well (R2 = 0.952) with the antioxidant activities. It suggests that these phenolic compounds are responsible, at least in part, for the antioxidant activities observed. HPLC analysis also appears to support the correlation of total phenol content and antioxidant activity

Pharmacognostical Characterization &amp; Preliminary Phytochemical Investigation of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) Leaves

ABSTRACT: Seabuckthorn (SBT; Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a thorny bush found growing wild in high altitude cold deserts of India. Present study involved pharmacognostical (Botanical and physicochemical) characterization and phytochemical investigation of SBT leaves. Botanical characterization revealed the presence of large amount of stellate trichomes. Among physicochemical parameters, total ash was found to be 6.5%, acid insoluble ash 1.5% and water soluble ash 1.1% w/w of the dried powdered leaf. Extractive values were found to be 24%, 5% and 5% for water, alcohol and ether respectively. Preliminary phytochemical screening indicated the presence of tannins, flavonoides along with various other phytochemicals. Certain characteristic parameters observed during this study may facilitate the establishment of standard quality control profile for SBT leaves

Effect of nutraceutical and psychological interventions on cognitive functions of healthy human subjects

95-102Present study aims to evaluate the effects of nutraceutical and psychological interventions individually and in combination, on various cognitive functions of healthy human subjects. Twenty four healthy subjects were recruited and subdivided into three intervention groups, i.e. nutraceutical, psychological and combined. Pre- (base line) & post-intervention performance levels of all the subjects were established for each cognitive function using neuropsychological tests. These were further compared to understand the effect of interventions on the cognitive functions. A polyherbal liquid formulation<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"> was administered as Nutraceutical Intervention. Twelve sessions of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy were given as Psychological Intervention. Combined intervention consisted of Nutraceutical & Psychological Interventions together. All the interventions were administered for a period of 3 months each. Results of the study indicate significant improvement in overall memory and attention in all the intervention groups. Immediate memory was also found to be improved significantly in psychological and combined intervention group<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-GB">s<span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">. However individual pre and post analysis indicated improvement in immediate memory in most of the subjects in all the intervention groups Combined intervention has shown significant improvement in all the cognitive functions except in cognitive processing speed, planning and organizing abilities. The findings of present study, thus, indicate that the nutraceutical and psychological interventions (used in this study) are likely to have positive influence on the cognitive functions of healthy human subjects. However, better results were obtained when used in combination. </span

Effect of seabuckthorn extract on scopolamine induced cognitive impairment

690-695Present study involves evaluation of effects of 75% ethanolic extract of seabuckthorn [Hippophae rhamnoides L. (SBT)] leaves on scopolamine induced cognitive impairment in rats using three different oral doses i.e. 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight through assessment of various biochemical and behavioural parameters. Scopolamine administration resulted in an increase in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity (approximately 9% with respect to the control group) and malonaldehyde (MDA) content. The increased AChE activity was significantly reduced in animals receiving 200 and 100 mg/kg of SBT extract. Animals treated with SBT extract showed significantly reduced MDA level in all the doses. This reduction in MDA content indicates that SBT leaf extract has potent antioxidant activities and exhibits a protective effect against oxidative damage induced by scopolamine. Behavioural studies also indicated significant improvement. The results suggest that SBT leaf extract has potential effects against scopolamine induced cognitive impairment by regulating cholinergic marker enzyme activity (AChE activity) and promoting the antioxidant system and may be explored for its use in cognitive disorders