Ethnobotanical Observation on Tuberous Plants from Tribal Area of Rajasthan (India)

The present paper gives an account of 42 tuberous plants of Ethnobotanical interest from Aravalli hills of Rajasthan. Main tribes inhabiting the study area are Bhil, Meena, Garasia, Damor and Kathodi. These tribes use the tuberous plants for various purposes in their daily life. Health, vitality and longevity enjoyed by the tribals have been attributed by them to these wild tuberous plants. On account of environmental changes and lack of insight of conservation of tuberous plants, many of them have become rare, threatened and endangered. If proper attention is not given, extinction of these plant species is certain and this is beyond doubt. Therefore identification and utility of these tuberous plants and compilation of a database on local information held by the tribes is stressed. Ethnobotanical information about tuberous plants is given by mentioning their botanical name, family, local name, time of flowering and fruiting, ecology and uses

Membrane function alterations in erythrocytes from mood disorder patients

Objectives: To examine erythrocyte membrane functions in mood disorder patients and to establish possible diagnostic marker parameter(s).Design: Collection of blood samples from mood disorder patients and age-matched control volunteers.Preparation of erythrocyte membranes for the proposed studies.Setting: Out patients / in patients, psychiatry ward, Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, M.S.University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India.Subjects: Unipolar and bipolar subjects. Control subjects (randomly selected volunteers).Results: The most significant results were a duration dependent decrease in the TPL/CHL ratio (mole:mole),changes in both the substrate and temperature kinetics properties of AChE and elevated plasma BChE activity in the mood disorder patients.Conclusion: The results suggest that the altered lipid profiles and the TPL/CHL (mole: mole) ratio and the altered temperature-dependent activity coefficients of erythrocyte membrane AChE and elevated plasma BChE activities could serve as useful diagnostic pointers for mood disorders.Keywords:Membrane function; Erythrocytes; Mood disorderSA Psych Rev 2003;6:11-2

Genome-wide methylation is modified by caloric restriction in<i> Daphnia magna</i>

Background The degradation of epigenetic control with age is associated with progressive diseases of ageing, including cancers, immunodeficiency and diabetes. Reduced caloric intake slows the effects of ageing and age-related disease in vertebrates and invertebrates, a process potentially mediated by the impact of caloric restriction on epigenetic factors such as DNA methylation. We used whole genome bisulphite sequencing to study how DNA methylation patterns change with diet in a small invertebrate, the crustacean Daphnia magna. Daphnia show the classic response of longer life under caloric restriction (CR), and they reproduce clonally, which permits the study of epigenetic changes in the absence of genetic variation. Results Global cytosine followed by guanine (CpG) methylation was 0.7–0.9%, and there was no difference in overall methylation levels between normal and calorie restricted replicates. However, 333 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were evident between the normally fed and CR replicates post-filtering. Of these 65% were hypomethylated in the CR group, and 35% were hypermethylated in the CR group. Conclusions Our results demonstrate an effect of CR on the genome-wide methylation profile. This adds to a growing body of research in Daphnia magna that demonstrate an epigenomic response to environmental stimuli. Specifically, gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment of genes associated with hyper and hypo-methylated DMRs showed significant enrichment for methylation and acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity, which are linked to current understanding of their roles in CR in invertebrate model organisms

Lifespan Extension by Preserving Proliferative Homeostasis in Drosophila

Regenerative processes are critical to maintain tissue homeostasis in high-turnover tissues. At the same time, proliferation of stem and progenitor cells has to be carefully controlled to prevent hyper-proliferative diseases. Mechanisms that ensure this balance, thus promoting proliferative homeostasis, are expected to be critical for longevity in metazoans. The intestinal epithelium of Drosophila provides an accessible model in which to test this prediction. In aging flies, the intestinal epithelium degenerates due to over-proliferation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and mis-differentiation of ISC daughter cells, resulting in intestinal dysplasia. Here we show that conditions that impair tissue renewal lead to lifespan shortening, whereas genetic manipulations that improve proliferative homeostasis extend lifespan. These include reduced Insulin/IGF or Jun-N-terminal Kinase (JNK) signaling activities, as well as over-expression of stress-protective genes in somatic stem cell lineages. Interestingly, proliferative activity in aging intestinal epithelia correlates with longevity over a range of genotypes, with maximal lifespan when intestinal proliferation is reduced but not completely inhibited. Our results highlight the importance of the balance between regenerative processes and strategies to prevent hyperproliferative disorders and demonstrate that promoting proliferative homeostasis in aging metazoans is a viable strategy to extend lifespan

FOLK HERBAL VETERINARY MEDICINES FROM INDIAN DESERT

Traditional medicines, especially the folk herbal medicines have recently been receiving heightened interest the world over. The World Health Organization (WHO) in its document on “Health for all by the year 2000” has accepted the role traditional medicine has to play in primary health care [1]. The animals are needed for the well being of the humans and hence the similar application of traditional medicine is now being advocated by food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) for animal treatment [2, 3, 4, 5], as is being done by WHO for human treatment. Indian desert is endowed with xerophytic vegetation and the native people have learnt to utilize these plants to meet the health care needs for millennia. The knowledge is believed to be collectively owned by ancestors and kept under the custody of living old men and women, depending on the community, ethnic, sex, age, caste etc. There is a danger however this method of vesting knowledge in human custodians can be undermined by mortality, thereby losing important information to the future generations. Considering the therapeutic potentials of herbal drugs to be of help in animal treatment and production, the author carried out the Ethnoveterinary survey of Indian Desert on the contribution of such a dynamic folk system of herbal medicine practiced by the hereditary physician belonging to certain ethnic communities. In the present communication, therapeutic uses of 25 plant species against animal diseases mentioning their Botanical identity, family, mode of administration and dosage have been given. This folk wisdom if subjected to scientific scrutiny could benefit the humankind in many way

Documentation of folk knowledge on underutilized wild edible plants of Southern Rajasthan

169-175<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" mangal;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-GB">An ethnobotanical study was conducted during 2010-12 in Southern Rajasthan with local indigenous communities. Structured interviews, field observations and group discussions with the informants were used to gather the data. A total of 46 plant species belonging to 27 families were reported from the study area. Poaceae was the dominant family with 7 species. Herbs were used primarily as leafy vegetable and grains of several grasses were used during famine. About 81 % of the recorded underutilized wild edible plant species are rarely used, while the 19 % are commonly used. The study showed that the majority (72 %) of the species are edible and eaten after cooking while 28 % were eaten raw. Wild edible plant species of Ceropegia have become endangered due to excessive harvesting. Unless efforts are made to make the younger generations aware about the importance of these plants, the related traditional knowledge may be lost. The study suggests that these underutilized plants may play an important role in national food security policy and health care.</span

Documentation of folk knowledge on underutilized wild edible plants of Southern Rajasthan

An ethnobotanical study was conducted during 2010-12 in Southern Rajasthan with local indigenous communities. Structured interviews, field observations and group discussions with the informants were used to gather the data. A total of 46 plant species belonging to 27 families were reported from the study area. Poaceae was the dominant family with 7 species. Herbs were used primarily as leafy vegetable and grains of several grasses were used during famine. About 81 % of the recorded underutilized wild edible plant species are rarely used, while the 19 % are commonly used. The study showed that the majority (72 %) of the species are edible and eaten after cooking while 28 % were eaten raw. Wild edible plant species of Ceropegia have become endangered due to excessive harvesting. Unless efforts are made to make the younger generations aware about the importance of these plants, the related traditional knowledge may be lost. The study suggests that these underutilized plants may play an important role in national food security policy and health care