Standardization and Pharmacological profile of Vithu Rasa Mezhugu for its Anti-arthritic, In-vitro Anti-cancer and Anti-microbial activities

Vithu Rasa Mezhugu (VRM) is one of the higher order medicines which is prepared from Rasam (Mercury) and Serankottai (Semecarpus anacardium). It is indicated for Vaayu (arthritis), Soolai Noi (painful condition), Vathanoi (musculo skeletal diseases), Ranangal (ulcers), Sorigal (scabies), Kattigal (tumour), Araiyappu (adenitis), Thoalvatham (periarthritic shoulder), Kuthikalvatham (calcaneal spur), Karalaikattinasoolai (pain due to restriction of joints), Linga putru (penile cancer), and Yoni putru (cervical cancer). ❖ The study drug was prepared in Gunapadam Lab under the supervision of Guide and faculties, Department of Gunapadam, NIS as the reference method. ❖ As per the AYUSH guidelines, the analytical parameters like physicochemical analysis, heavy metal analysis had been done for test drug Vithu Rasa Mezhugu. The results of the study indicate the safety and purity of test drug. ❖ The following qualitative analytical parameters such as organoleptic characters, chemical analysis, Loss on Drying, Total Ash, Water Soluble Ash, Acid insoluble Ash, pH value, Water soluble Extractive value, Moisture content were analyzed. ❖ FTIR results of VRM showed that the presence of some organic functional groups such as Amine, Alkene, carboxylic acid, secondary alcohol. ❖ Heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic) content of Vithu Rasa Mezhugu was estimated by using ICP-OES. The content of Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic were under below detectable levels and Mercury was slightly above the permissible limits. ❖ The microbial load was analyzed for the trial drug Vithu Rasa Mezhugu and the results were found to be within the WHO permissible limits. ❖ The anti-arthritic activity of Vithu Rasa Mezhugu has been studied in Wistar albino rats in Freund’s Complete Adjuvant Induced arthritis model. The results showed that the higher dose of VRM (12mg/kg) showed significant effect and it was comparable to the standard Indomethacin as an anti-arthritic effect. The biochemical markers such as Rheumatoid Factor (RF), CRP, Glucose, Urea, Creatinine and Liver enzyme markers were significantly reduced by both the dose of VRM. VRM significantly reversed the haematological parameters like decreased RBC, Hb levels and increased WBC, Platelets and ESR, which was quite common during inflammation. ❖ X-ray radiography assessment of Freund’s Complete Adjuvant Induced arthritis rats revealed that Dose I of VRM treated group showed mild effect on soft tissue swelling and the joint space reduction. But in dose II of VRM treated group revealed that significant effect and it was comparable to the standard Indomethacin as an anti-arthritic effect with respect of reduction in soft tissue swelling and contribute in the joint space narrowning. ❖ To determine the cytotoxic effect of novel Siddha formulation Vithu Rasa Mezhugu against HeLa cells. The experiment was screened at different concentrations to determine the LC50 using MTT assay. The percentage of growth inhibition was found to be increasing with increasing concentrations of test drug. The LC50 of test sample VRM in HeLa cell line was found to be 109.985517μg/Ml. This confirms tha the trail medicine VRM has promising anticancerous effect. Control and VRM-treated (24 h) HeLA cells stained with acridine orange (Ao) and ethedium bromide (Etbr). The control cells fluoresced uniformly green and had normal features. Most of the cells treated with VRM showed uniformly orange-stained cell nuclei and cell lysis which indicates necrosis. ❖ The anti-microbial activity of the trial drug Vithu Rasa Mezhugu has been studied in different concentration by using Cup plate Method. The results showed that the VRM showed highly effect against Candida albicans, moderate effect in Bacillus cereus, significant effect in Coagulase -ve Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumonia and showed no significant effect in Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris. CONCLUSION: From the Literary evidances, Scientific review, Physico-chemical analysis, Chemical analysis, Instrumental analysis and Pharmacological studies, the drug Vithu Rasa Mezhugu have potent anti-arthritic effect and significant anti-cancer and anti-microbial activity. It is concluded that the drug Vithu Rasa Mezhugu can be used to treat Rhematoid arthritis and in the management of cancer

In-vitro Anti-Oxidant Property of Vallarai (Centella asiatica) cultivated by conventional and traditional Methods

In ancient times, Siddhars have been described and also used the traditional methods to cultivate the anti-oxidant herbs for rejuvenation purpose and also they are listed some plants as anti-oxidant herbs. They were used Semicarpus anacardium manure for cultivation of anti-oxidant plants. In Siddha, these anti-oxidant herbs are mentioned as Kayakarpam (Rejuvenation therapy). Most of the Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) are caused by oxidative stress. These anti-oxidant herbs are helps to reduce oxidative stress and prevent the incidence of NCDs. Centella asiatica (Vallarai) is one of the Kayakarpa medicinal plants. The traditional cultivation method for Kayakarpa herbs are also described in Siddha especially for Centella asiatica (Vallarai). Therefore, this study was aimed to validate the in-vitro anti-oxidant property of Vallarai cultivated by conventional (sample A) and traditional methods (sample B). The study samples were screened for anti-oxidant activity by DPPH assay, Nitric Oxide radical scavenging assay, ABTS assay and H2O2 radical scavenging assay and the IC50 value of the study drug,  sample-A was 88.6 ± 8.536 (μg /ml), 183 ± 15.55 (μg/ml), 78.92 ± 8.43 (μg /ml) and 183 ± 11.64 (μg /ml) whereas sample- B was 57.06 ± 1.221 (μg /ml); 145.1 ± 13.12 (μg/ml); 96.45 ± 3.966 (μg /ml) and  132.3 ± 18.71 (μg /ml) respectively. This study results revealed that, both samples are possessing anti-oxidant property and sample B have greater scavenging activity compared to sample A. Hence, The Traditional method can be adopted for cultivation of anti-oxidant herbs, which helps to retain the active components and enhances the anti-oxidant potency of medicinal herbs

A Planar Compact Metamaterialinspired Broadband Antenna

An electrically small, broadband-modified, truncated ground metamaterial EZ antenna is presented. This, a modified EZ antenna system, achieves a larger bandwidth of the order of 650 MHz by adjusting the metamaterial-inspired meandered ground element fed by a top loaded monopole. The design is devoid of the large ground planes and the external parasitic elements used in conventional designs for achieving proper impedance matching characteristics. The antenna requires a small foot print of kg/5 3 kg/10, where kg is the guided wavelength corresponding to the lowest frequency of operation, when printed on a substrate of dielectric constant 4.4 and thickness 1.6 mm. The antenna offers a 2:1 VSWR bandwidth from 750 MHz to 1.4 GHz, which covers CDMA, GSM, and ISM bandsCochin University of Science and TechnologyMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 56, No. 3, March 201