Phytochemical profile and biological activity of Nelumbo nucifera

© 2015 Keshav Raj Paudel and Nisha Panth. Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Nymphaeaceae) is a potential aquatic crop grown and consumed throughout Asia. All parts of N. nucifera have been used for various medicinal purposes in various systems of medicine including folk medicines, Ayurveda, Chinese traditional medicine, and oriental medicine. Many chemical constituents have been isolated till the date. However, the bioactive constituents of lotus are mainly alkaloids and flavonoids. Traditionally, the whole plant of lotus was used as astringent, emollient, and diuretic. It was used in the treatment of diarrhea, tissue inflammation, and homeostasis. The rhizome extract was used as antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory properties due to the presence of asteroidal triterpenoid. Leaves were used as an effective drug for hematemesis, epistaxis, hemoptysis, hematuria, and metrorrhagia. Flowers were used to treat diarrhea, cholera, fever, and hyperdipsia. In traditional medicine practice, seeds are used in the treatment of tissue inflammation, cancer and skin diseases, leprosy, and poison antidote. Embryo of lotus seeds is used in traditional Chinese medicine as Lian Zi Xin, which primarily helps to overcome nervous disorders, insomnia, and cardiovascular diseases (hypertension and arrhythmia). Nutritional value of lotus is as important as pharmaceutical value. These days' different parts of lotus have been consumed as functional foods. Thus, lotus can be regarded as a potential nutraceutical source

Pre-operative intraocular pressure does not influence outcome of trabeculectomy surgery: a retrospective cohort study.

To investigate whether pre-operative intraocular pressure (IOP) predicts outcome of trabeculectomy surgery in patients with primary open angle glaucoma over a 3-year period of follow-up

Reactive Oxygen Species: A Key Hallmark of Cardiovascular Disease.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have been the prime cause of mortality worldwide for decades. However, the underlying mechanism of their pathogenesis is not fully clear yet. It has been already established that reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a vital role in the progression of CVDs. ROS are chemically unstable reactive free radicals containing oxygen, normally produced by xanthine oxidase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, lipoxygenases, or mitochondria or due to the uncoupling of nitric oxide synthase in vascular cells. When the equilibrium between production of free radicals and antioxidant capacity of human physiology gets altered due to several pathophysiological conditions, oxidative stress is induced, which in turn leads to tissue injury. This review focuses on pathways behind the production of ROS, its involvement in various intracellular signaling cascades leading to several cardiovascular disorders (endothelial dysfunction, ischemia-reperfusion, and atherosclerosis), methods for its detection, and therapeutic strategies for treatment of CVDs targeting the sources of ROS. The information generated by this review aims to provide updated insights into the understanding of the mechanisms behind cardiovascular complications mediated by ROS

RAPID IN VITRO CALLOGENESIS AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF LEAF, STEM AND LEAF CALLUS OF MUSSAENDA FRONDOSA LINN. - A MEDICINAL PLANT.

Objective: To standardise the protocol for rapid callogenesis in Mussaenda frondosa L. using leaf explants. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of leaf, stem and callus cultures.Methods: The leaf explants were inoculated onto MS medium supplemented with varying concentrations of growth regulators such as 2, 4 - D, NAA, BAP, Kn for the induction of callus. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of total phenol, flavonoids and alkaloids contents of leaf, stem and callus were tested by standard methods.  The antioxidant activities were investigated using DPPH radical scavenging method and reducing power assay. The anti - inflammatory activity was evaluated by membrane stabilizing activity.Results: Pale green, healthy, friable and fast growing callus was obtained on the medium enriched with NAA (2mg/l) + Kn (4mg/l). Quantitative determination showed the highest concentration of total phenolics in the methanolic extract of in vitro grown callus (10 ± 1.1 mg of GA/g of extract), flavonoids in methanolic stem extract (137±1.6 mg of Quercitin/g of extract) and alkaloids in methanolic extract of leaf (118.3±1.5 mg/10g of extract). The methanolic leaf extract exhibited highest free radical scavenging activity with IC50 value of 40.6±10.06 μg/ml. The highest membrane stabilizing activity was shown by chloroform extract of the leaf (66.02%).Conclusion: The present preliminary phytochemical and pharmacological analysis may form the basis for drug development in future using callus cultures of M. frondosa.  Â

Role of splenectomy for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in the era of new second-line therapies and in the setting of a high prevalence of HIV-associated ITP

Background. New agents are being used as second-line treatment for immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and have brought into question the relevance of splenectomy for steroid-resistant ITP.Methods. We retrospectively analysed 73 patients who underwent splenectomy for ITP at our institution over an 11-year period. The median follow-up period was 25 months; patients with follow-up of <1 month were excluded. The outcomes of splenectomy were compared in HIV-positive v. HIV-negative patients.Results. The rate of complete response was 83%, and response was sustained for at least 1 year or until latest follow-up in 80% of patients. Twelve patients were HIV-positive. Splenectomy was laparoscopic in 43 patients (62%) with an overall 16% complication rate. The 90-day mortality rate was 1.38%. There was no statistically significant difference in response or complication rate in the HIV-positive patients. There was a statistically significant (p=0.017) poorer response to splenectomy in the patients with steroid-resistant ITP.Conclusion. Splenectomy is effective and safe irrespective of HIV status and remains an appropriate  second-line treatment for ITP. Further research is needed to corroborate our finding of lower response in patients who are steroid-resistant, as this might be a subgroup of patients who may benefit from  thrombopoietin agonists as second-line therapy

Earthquake source model using strong motion displacement as response of finite elastic media

The strong motion displacement records available during an earthquake can be treated as the response of the earth as the a structural system to unknown forces acting at unknown locations. Thus, if the part of the earth participating in ground motion is modelled as a known finite elastic medium, one can attempt to model the source location and forces generated during an earthquake as an inverse problem in structural dynamics. Based on this analogy, a simple model for the basic earthquake source is proposed. The unknown source is assumed to be a sequence of impulses acting at locations yet to be found. These unknown impulses and their locations are found using the normal mode expansion along with a minimization of mean square error. The medium is assumed to be finite, elastic, homogeneous, layered and horizontal with a specific set of boundary conditions. Detailed results are obtained for Uttarkashi earthquake. The impulse locations exhibit a linear structure closely associated with the causative fault. The results obtained are shown to be in good agreement with reported values. The proposed engineering model is then used to simulate the acceleration time histories at a few recording stations. The earthquake source in terms of a sequence of impulses acting at different locations is applied on a 2D finite elastic medium and acceleration time histories are found using finite element methods. The synthetic accelerations obtained are in close match with the recorded accelerations

Prevalence of anatomical variations of cystic artery in South Indian cadavers

Background: The knowledge of variations in the origin and course of cystic artery is important for the surgeons as uncontrolled bleeding from the cystic artery and its branches can be fatal during cholecystectomy. Intra operative bleeding can result in an increase in the risk of intra operative injury to vital vascular and biliary structures. Keeping in view the clinical significance and applied importance of the cystic artery anatomy and to add some more knowledge to the existing ones, the present study was undertaken, to know in detail the level of origin, length, and variations in the course and relation of the cystic artery.Methods: The present study was performed on 100 human liver specimens with intact gallbladder and extrahepatic duct system, obtained after dissection from the cadavers in the Department of Anatomy and from post-mortem cases from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore, over a period of 18 months.Results: Most common source of origin of the cystic artery was the right hepatic artery in 92 cases (92%) followed by aberrant right hepatic artery in 4 cases (4%) and the least common sources observed were the left hepatic artery in 1 case (1%) and the gastroduodenal artery in 1 case (1%).Mean length of the cystic artery was 17.6 mm and ranged between 3.7 mm to 42 mm. Out of the 100 dissected specimens, in 65 (65%) the cystic artery was found inside the Calot’s triangle and in 35 (35%) outside the triangle.Conclusion: This study provides details of the normal as well as the variant anatomy of the cystic artery, knowledge of which is very essential for the surgeons to minimize the risk of injury to the blood vessels and the biliary apparatus during cholecystectomy.