Sciatica (Gridhrasi) - An Ayurveda Perspective

Large number of population suffers from low back pain. Chronic low back pain (CLBP) prevalence increases linearly from the third decade of life on, until the 60 years of age, being more prevalent in women. Sciatica is the most common debilitating condition causes CLBP. Radiating leg pain and related disabilities are the observed in sciatica. Nearly 40% people experience sciatic pain at some point in their life. The diagnosis of sciatica and its management varies considerably within and between countries. Conventional Medicine and surgery are widely used in the management of sciatica. There is radical rise in the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in patients with sciatica. Ayurveda is one of the widely used CAM in the recent past. Sciatica resembles the disease Gridharsi of Ayurveda. Gridharsi is one among the Vataja nanatmaja vyadhi, where dysfunction of Vata affect gridharsi nadi characterized by low back pain radiating to lower limbs, stiffness and pricking type of pain. It starts from kati- prishta (pelvic region and Lumbosacral) radiating to jangha paada (Thigh, Feets) with impairment of lifting the leg. The gait of the person is very similar to vulture (Gridhra) hence the name is given as Gridharsi. In this article, attempt has been made to review the Ayurvedic classics text and related literatures to understand the disease Gridharsi with emphasis on its samprapti on the basis of Kriyakala and role of Shodhana and Shamana chikitsa in the management of Gridharsi

Synthesis and photophysical studies on 5-ethoxycarbonyl-4-cinnamyl-6-methyl- 3,4-dihydropyrimidine-2(1H)-one in various solvents

The 5-ethoxycarbonyl-4-cinnamyl-6-methyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidine-2(1H)-one (DHPM) was synthesized via Biginelli reaction and was characterized by NMR, IR, UV–Visible absorption and fluorescencespectroscopy. The fluorescence of the compound exhibits red shift from its absorption spectra and correlated with the solvent polarity. The quantum yield of fluorescence of the DHPM was found to vary with solvent polarity. The absorption spectrum of DHPM overlaps significantly with anthracene fluorescence spectrum. Therefore fluorescence quenching experiments were performed in 1,4-dioxane. The fluorescence of anthracene was found to be quenched and quenching is in accordance with Stern-Volmer relation. The Stern-Volmer constant (KSV = 2.52 x 103 M-1) was obtained. The quenching rate constant (kq = 7.145 x 1011 M-1 s-1) was calculated from the fluorescence lifetime of anthracene measured on time resolved fluorimeter (TRF) in absence of DHPM. The fluorescence quenching explained on the basis of energy transfer from anthracene to DHPM derivative. The rate constant as well as efficiency of energy transfer depends on the distance between donor and acceptor and found to be r = 6.39 nm which indicates energy transfer

Evaluation of wound healing activity of Allamanda cathartica. L. and Laurus nobilis. L. extracts on rats

BACKGROUND: Allamanda cathartica. L. is a perennial shrub used in traditional medicine for treating malaria and jaundice. Laurus nobilis. L. is a tree and has been used for its astringent, healing and diuretic properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the aqueous extracts of Allamanda and Laurus nobilis to evaluate their wound healing activity in rats. METHODS: Excision and incision wound models were used to evaluate the wound healing activity of both the extracts on Sprague Dawley rats. In each model, animals were divided into four groups of 10 animals each. In both the model, group 1 served as control and group 2 as reference standard. In an excision wound model, group 3 animals were treated with Allamanda (150 mg kg(-1 )day(-1)) and group 4 animals were treated with Laurus nobilis (200 mg kg(-1 )b.w day(-1)) for 14 days respectively. In the case of incision wound model, group 3 and 4 animals were treated with the extracts of Allamanda and Laurus respectively for 10 days. The effects of vehicles on the rate of wound healing were assessed by the rate of wound closure, period of epithelialisation, tensile strength, weights of the granulation tissue, hydroxyproline content and histopathology of the granulation tissue. RESULTS: The aqueous extract of Allamanda promoted wound healing activity significantly in both the wound models studied. High rate of wound contraction (P < .001), decrease in the period of epithelialisation (10.2 ± 0.13), high skin breaking strength (440.0 ± 4.53), significant increase in the weight of the granulation tissue (P < .001) and hydroxyproline (P < .001) content were observed in animals treated with the aqueous extract of Allamanda. Histological studies of the granulation tissue from the Allamanda treated group showed the presence of a lesser number of inflammatory cells, and increased collagen formation than the control. In Laurus nobilis treated animals, the rate of wound contraction, weight of the granulation tissue and hydroxyproline content were moderately high (P < .05). The histological study of the granulation tissue of the Laurus nobilis treated animals showed larger number of inflammatory cells, and lesser collagen when compared with the Allamanda treated group of animals. However, it was better than the control group of animals. CONCLUSION: The data of this study indicated that the leaf extract of Allamanda possesses better wound healing activity than the Laurus nobilis and it can be used to treat different types of wounds in human beings too

Characterization of PTZ-Induced Seizure Susceptibility in a Down Syndrome Mouse Model That Overexpresses CSTB

Down syndrome (DS) is a complex genetic syndrome characterized by intellectual disability, dysmorphism and variable additional physiological traits. Current research progress has begun to decipher the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment, leading to new therapeutic perspectives. Pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) has recently been found to have positive effects on learning and memory capacities of a DS mouse model and is foreseen to treat DS patients. But PTZ is also known to be a convulsant drug at higher dose and DS persons are more prone to epileptic seizures than the general population. This raises concerns over what long-term effects of treatment might be in the DS population. The cause of increased propensity for epilepsy in the DS population and which Hsa21 gene(s) are implicated remain unknown. Among Hsa21 candidate genes in epilepsy, CSTB, coding for the cystein protease inhibitor cystatin B, is involved in progressive myoclonus epilepsy and ataxia in both mice and human. Thus we aim to evaluate the effect of an increase in Cstb gene dosage on spontaneous epileptic activity and susceptibility to PTZ-induced seizure. To this end we generated a new mouse model trisomic for Cstb by homologous recombination. We verified that increasing copy number of Cstb from Trisomy (Ts) to Tetrasomy (Tt) was driving overexpression of the gene in the brain, we checked transgenic animals for presence of locomotor activity and electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities characteristic of myoclonic epilepsy and we tested if those animals were prone to PTZ-induced seizure. Overall, the results of the analysis shows that an increase in Cstb does not induce any spontaneous epileptic activity and neither increase or decrease the propensity of Ts and Tt mice to myoclonic seizures suggesting that Ctsb dosage should not interfere with PTZ-treatment

Partial Deletion of Chromosome 8 β-defensin Cluster Confers Sperm Dysfunction and Infertility in Male Mice

β-defensin peptides are a family of antimicrobial peptides present at mucosal surfaces, with the main site of expression under normal conditions in the male reproductive tract. Although they kill microbes in vitro and interact with immune cells, the precise role of these genes in vivo remains uncertain. We show here that homozygous deletion of a cluster of nine β-defensin genes (DefbΔ9) in the mouse results in male sterility. The sperm derived from the mutants have reduced motility and increased fragility. Epididymal sperm isolated from the cauda should require capacitation to induce the acrosome reaction but sperm from the mutants demonstrate precocious capacitation and increased spontaneous acrosome reaction compared to wild-types but have reduced ability to bind the zona pellucida of oocytes. Ultrastructural examination reveals a defect in microtubule structure of the axoneme with increased disintegration in mutant derived sperm present in the epididymis cauda region, but not in caput region or testes. Consistent with premature acrosome reaction, sperm from mutant animals have significantly increased intracellular calcium content. Thus we demonstrate in vivo that β-defensins are essential for successful sperm maturation, and their disruption leads to alteration in intracellular calcium, inappropriate spontaneous acrosome reaction and profound male infertility

Biophysical Characterization of the Strong Stabilization of the RNA Triplex poly(U)•poly(A)*poly(U) by 9-O-(ω-amino) Alkyl Ether Berberine Analogs

Background: Binding of two 9-O-(v-amino) alkyl ether berberine analogs BC1 and BC2 to the RNA triplex poly(U)Npoly(A)*poly(U) was studied by various biophysical techniques. Methodology/Principal Findings: Berberine analogs bind to the RNA triplex non-cooperatively. The affinity of binding was remarkably high by about 5 and 15 times, respectively, for BC1 and BC2 compared to berberine. The site size for the binding was around 4.3 for all. Based on ferrocyanide quenching, fluorescence polarization, quantum yield values and viscosity results a strong intercalative binding of BC1 and BC2 to the RNA triplex has been demonstrated. BC1 and BC2 stabilized the Hoogsteen base paired third strand by about 18.1 and 20.5uC compared to a 17.5uC stabilization by berberine. The binding was entropy driven compared to the enthalpy driven binding of berbeine, most likely due to additional contacts within the grooves of the triplex and disruption of the water structure by the alkyl side chain. Conclusions/Significance: Remarkably higher binding affinity and stabilization effect of the RNA triplex by the amino alkyl berberine analogs was achieved compared to berberine. The length of the alkyl side chain influence in the triplex stabilization phenomena