EFFECT OF ENALAPRIL AND METFORMIN ON OXIDATIVE STRESS IN NEWLY DIAGNOSED TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS AND HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

ABSTRACTObjective: The present study was aimed to find out the impact of Enalapril and Metformin on oxidative stress (OS) in newly diagnosed diabetesmellitus and hypertensive patients.Methods: A free radical production was measured by lipid peroxidation and antioxidants like catalase, reduced glutathione, glutathione s-transferase,and superoxide dismutase were measured using ultraviolet spectrophotometer.Results: There was a significant decrease in free radical production and a significant increase in antioxidant enzymes in both the treatment groups.Conclusion: Enalapril and metformin combination in diabetic patients has a more significant effect on OS than metformin alone. This combinationalso has a significant effect on OS in diabetes and hypertension coexisting patients.Keywords: Oxidative stress, Enalapril, Metformin, Antioxidants

Drying studies of patchouli spent charge – in special reference to its use in incense sticks production

The Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Benth.) herbaceous medicinal plant is a member of the Lamiaceae family, and is grown for its essential oil extraction.  Aromatic patchouli herbage after steam distillation of essential oil is currently a waste material that can be advantageously used in incense sticks production if dried and powdered to a suitable particle size.  To use this waste spent charge (herbage after steam distillation) in the incense sticks production, drying study of this wet material was conducted.  The drying characteristics of patchouli spent charge were studied under various methods, namely, tray, shade and sun drying.  The initial drying bed thickness was uniformly maintained at 50 mm in all the methods and the spent charge was dried from 60%(wb) initial moisture to 8-9% final moisture.  Under Bangalore climatic conditions (24.4-28°C; 25%-58% RH), patchouli spent charge required 46 h of drying time in shade while under sun, it took just 11 h of drying.  In a convectional electrical tray dryer, the drying time at 50, 60 and 70°C was 10, 6 and 5 h, respectively.   Keywords: Patchouli, spent charge, drying, drying characteristic

An Introduction to Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Benth.) – A Medicinal and Aromatic Plant: It’s Importance to Mankind

Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Benth.) is a plant from Lamiaceae family, well known for its medicinal and aromatic properties.  Patchouli is grown for its essential oil.  Patchouli essential oil is mainly obtained by steam distillation of the shade dried leaves.  It is widely appreciated for its characteristic pleasant and long lasting woody, earthy, camphoraceous odour.  It is especially notable as the essential oil extracted is internationally important and valuable, principally for the aromatherapy, perfumery, cosmetics, incense stick production and food flavouring industries.  This review attempted to give an overview of the relationship between aromatherapy and essential oils, importance of patchouli, harvesting pattern of patchouli, basics behind drying and steam distillation of patchouli crop, as well as trends existing in the various markets for essential oil application and its importance to mankind.   Keywords: patchouli, aromatherapy, drying, steam distillation, essential oil, application

Patchouli in fragrances-incense stick production from patchouli spent charge powder

 Incense sticks are popularly known as the fragrance ambassador of India.  The burning of incense in religious and social activities has been practiced in India since early times.  Patchouli is an aromatic and medicinal plant and is grown for its essential oil.  Patchouli essential oil has greater demand and finds extensive application in flavour, perfumery, cosmetic, food and beverage industry and pharmaceutical industries.  In our present study the residual essential oil content of patchouli spent charge was studied under various methods, i.e. shade, tray and sun drying, after steam distillation extraction of patchouli essential oil.  The residual essential oil content of shade dried spent charge was 0.5% - 0.7%.  So, the ground shade dried patchouli spent charge was used in incense sticks manufacture.  Ten different types of incense sticks were produced by blending the patchouli spent charge powder at various levels along with other traditional ingredients; and it made us clear that patchouli spent charge powder can replace wood powder up to 5% - 10% level which is currently used at 15% level.  Various physical quality parameters of different patchouli spent charge based incense sticks were studied which eventually indicated that incense sticks from spent charge powder were much acceptable at present scenario.  Keywords: patchouli, spent charge powder, wood powder, incense sticks 

Proapoptotic, Anti-Cell Proliferative, Anti-Inflammatory And Antiangiogenic Potential Of Carnosic Acid During 7,12 Dimethylbenz[A]Anthracene-Induced Hamster Buccal Pouch Carcinogenesis

The present study has investigated the modulating effect of carnosic acid on the expression pattern of cell proliferative (proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) cyclin D1 and a transcription factor c-fos), apoptotic (p53, Bcl-2, Bax caspase -3 and 9), inflammatory (Nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX- 2) and angiogenic (vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) markers during 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Oral tumors were developed in the hamsters buccal pouches by painting with 0.5% DMBA in liquid paraffin three times a week for 14 weeks. Hundred per cent tumour formation (well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma) accompanied by deregulation in the above mentioned molecular markers was noticed in hamsters treated with DMBA alone (tumour bearing hamsters). Oral administration of carnosic acid at dose of 10mg/kg bw to hamsters treated with DMBA not only completely prevented the tumour formation, but also corrected the abnormalities in the expression pattern of molecular markers. The present study suggests that carnosic acid might have inhibited the tumour formation by exerting anti-cell-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and apoptotic potential during DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis

Long term exposure to a butter rich diet induces mild-to-moderate steatosis in Chang liver cells and swiss albino mice models

AbstractBackground:Butter is one of the widely used fats present in the diet. However, there is no satisfactory study available that evaluates the effect of a high-fat diet containing butter as the principal fat on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods:In the present study, butter was used for the development of steatosis in Chang liver cells in an in vitro study and Swiss albino mice in an in vivo study. In vitro steatosis was established, and butter was compared with oleic acid in Chang liver cells using an oil red O (ORO)-based colorimetric assay. In the in vivo study, a butter-rich special diet was fed for 15 weeks to mice, who showed no significant change in body weight. The expression pattern of phosphatase and tensin homolog (Results and Conclusions:Special diet-fed animals showed downregulated</jats:sec

Proapoptotic, anti-cell proliferative, anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic potential of carnosic acid during 7,12 dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis

ERRATUMRajasekaran et al., Afr., J. Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2013; 10(1): 102–112Published online 2012 Oct 1.doi: 10.4314/ajtcam.v10i1.1

Anthropometry of Malaysian young adults

This paper presents the results of an anthropometric data collected from polytechnic students in Malaysia. A total of 1032 (595 males and 437 females) students participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 24 years. A total of 34 anthropometric dimensions were measured. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, standard error of mean, coefficient of variation, minimum, maximum and percentile for each parameter were estimated. In addition, the comparison between Malaysia anthropometric data and Thailand (South) anthropometric data were also presented. The results show that there is a total of 12 and 11 (of dimensions parameters) significant differences (p < 0.05) between the male and female adults respectively

Novel 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells through p53 mediated intrinsic pathway

AbstractA series of novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives (OSD, OCOD, ONOD, OPD, COD, PMOD, and PCOD) were synthesized and characterized. Their structures were confirmed on the basis of IR, NMR and mass spectroscopy and molecular weights were found in the range 300–325g/mol. Cancerous cell lines (MCF-7, HepG2) and non-cancerous cell lines (Chang liver cells) were treated with these compounds for 48h, which caused dose dependent decrease in the cell viability. From the seven derivatives, OSD was found to be most potent with IC50 value close to 50μM on all tested cell lines. Hence, this compound was selected for mechanistic study on HepG2 cell lines. Fluorescent cell staining and DNA fragmentation study of 50μM OSD on HepG2 cells, showed events marked by apoptosis such as nuclear fragmentation, cytoplasm shrinkage and DNA damage. Further, the cells with same treatment were quantified for apoptosis using annexin V-PI flow cytometric technique. The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly higher (p<0.05) after OSD treatment compared to control cells. OSD induced a significant increase (p<0.05) in the expression of the tumor suppressor p53 in HepG2 cells. The constitutive expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 significantly decreased (p<0.05) after treatment, while the expression of proapoptotic protein Bax significantly increased (p<0.05). The change in Bax to Bcl-2 ratio suggested involvement of Bcl-2 family in induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, the levels of caspase-9 and caspase-3 were significantly (p<0.05) up regulated in HepG2 cells after OSD treatment. The data suggest that 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives induce apoptosis mediated by intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. The findings strengthen the potential of the 1,3,4-oxadiazole scaffold OSD, as an agent with chemotherapeutic and cytostatic activity in human hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro