A SURVEY OF MARKETED AYURVEDIC/HERBAL ANTI-OBESITY PRODUCTS

Objective: Ayurvedic/herbal medicines are easy to access and hence are becoming alternative for obesity management. The present study was done to find out the availability of herbal anti-obesity drugs in pharmacy and online website.Methods: A cross-sectional survey on ayurvedic/herbal drugs in local pharmacies was conducted in order to obtain data for accessible marketed anti-obesity formulations. A total of 15 pharmacies and 40 online websites were selected randomly and data available with respect to the anti-obesity formulations using predefined criteria was collected.Results: The information revealed the presence of 65 formulations on these two outlets. The study showed 20 (31%) products were available in pharmacies, 15 (23%) were available only through online shopping while 30 (46%) products were available for marketing at both the places. The study results showed that highest 41% of the herbal medicine have triphala followed by garcinia and guggul as part of the composition or used individually. As per pharmacist, 60-70% of herbal anti-obesity drugs are being purchased without a prescription. There are many online websites available, selling herbal anti-obesity drugs with titles of safety and guaranteed weight loss.Conclusion: The study revealed the rampant availability of ayurvedic/herbal drugs in the market possibly due to the attractive names, tall claims and assumed safety about these drugs.Â

Evaluation of the efficacy of Brahmi ghrita in scopolamine induced amnesia in rats using Cook’s pole apparatus

Background: Memory is the process, in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Age, overstress, emotions can result in an impairment of memory. This may also be a symptom of various neuro-degenerative disorders. The objective of this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of pre-treatment of Brahmi ghrita on scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats using cook’s pole apparatus.Methods: Following Institutional Animal Ethics Committee permission, the study was conducted in Wistar rats (150-225 gms) of either sex. Brahmi ghrita (450 mg/kg) was administered for 15 days as a pre-treatment. Scopolamine (30 mg/kg bw, i.p.) was injected on day 16 and the effect of Brahmi ghrita was studied using Cook’s pole apparatus. Parameters assessed were number of conditional avoidance responses (CAR), unconditional responses and no response out of 30 sessions, serum MDA, and brain MDA and brain acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity. Piracetam, a known nootropic was used as a positive control.Results: Scopolamine as expected showed a decrease in CAR as compared to normal control after 4 hours and, after 24 hours. Brahmi ghrita significantly improved the conditioned avoidance response (CAR), at both 4 and 24 hours, demonstrating its memory protective effect. Piracetam also showed decrease in CAR. Brahmi ghrita improved the serum and brain MDA levels significantly as compared to the Scopolamine. However Piracetam further augmented the oxidative stress induced by scopolamine. Brahmi ghrita also decreased the AChE activity (increased by scopolamine administration) emphasizing its memory protective effect. Piracetam was seen to increase the AChE activity.Conclusions: Thus, the study demonstrated the efficacy of Brahmi ghrita as an anti-amnestic, anti-oxidant and AChE inhibitor

Attitude of interns towards research as a career option

Although today's Ayurvedic graduates have many career options to select from, they are not given any exposure to these options during their study. This results in apathy towards selection of any career apart from clinical practice. The present study carried out amongst interns of one Ayurvedic college highlights this fact and underlines the importance of introducing ‘research’ as a subject in the curriculum

Relation of spice consumption with COVID-19 first wave statistics (infection, recovery and mortality) across India

Background & Objectives: The recovery and mortality statistics for COVID-19 first wave considerably differed in different states & Union territories (UT) of India. Spices are an essential part of Indian cuisine. Apart from adding flavors and colors to the food, their importance is traditionally known in disease prevention and cure. Thus, present study was carried out to assess relation of spice consumption with COVID-19 first wave statistics in India. Methods: The spice consumption data of ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chili, tamarind and ‘other spices’ were retrieved from ‘Household Consumption of Various Goods and Services in India’ from 68th round (2011-12) of survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). The first wave data for individual states and UTs were retrieved as total number of cases, number of cured/discharged/migrated cases and total number of deaths, in a cumulative normalized form. The correlation of these was analyzed.  Results and Conclusions: Spices were consumed across India with a varied range. The highest consumed spice was ginger. The highest consumption of ‘Other spices’ were observed in Lakshadweep (149 gm/30 days), which incidentally reported zero cases. Tamarind had positive correlation (r = 0.4724) with total number of cases and recovered/migrated/cured cases (r = 0.4948). Cumin consumption exhibited weak positive correlation (r = 0.5011) with total deaths per million population. However, most of these correlations were statistically insignificant. These findings can help to predict preventive/ mitigating or curative usage of these spices. The unspecified and under-explored ‘Other spices’ category showed promising correlation

Prakriti-based research: Good reporting practices

The recent advances in the fields of genomics, personalized medicine, and Ayurveda have motivated many researchers to look at the relationship between Prakriti (phenotype-based Ayurveda constitution) and various objective biological parameters. As a result, a number of studies reporting such a relationship have made their way into mainstream scholarly journals. However, when it comes to the protocols that these workers follow to identify one's Prakriti, there are several issues that are yet to be resolved. In this communication, we propose a few reporting practices that such workers are required to be encouraged to follow, while submitting their work on Prakriti to scholarly journals. We have arranged this proposal under the following domains that may serve as a preliminary checklist in this context: The textual references, validation process, assessment of characters, scoring pattern, weightage assignment, criterion for expressing the final Prakriti type, and a need to publish the complete Prakriti-determination tool. We advocate that only if the workers in the field adhere to these good reporting practices, one will be able to draw meaningful, generalizable, and applicable interpretations out of such studies. We also suggest that the editors of relevant scholarly journals may recommend these reporting practices while considering such reports for publication

Evaluation of the efficacy of Brahmi ghrita in scopolamine induced amnesia in rats using Cook's pole apparatus

Background: Memory is the process, in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Age, overstress, emotions can result in an impairment of memory. This may also be a symptom of various neuro-degenerative disorders. The objective of this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of pre-treatment of Brahmi ghrita on scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats using cook’s pole apparatus.Methods: Following Institutional Animal Ethics Committee permission, the study was conducted in Wistar rats (150-225 gms) of either sex. Brahmi ghrita (450 mg/kg) was administered for 15 days as a pre-treatment. Scopolamine (30 mg/kg bw, i.p.) was injected on day 16 and the effect of Brahmi ghrita was studied using Cook’s pole apparatus. Parameters assessed were number of conditional avoidance responses (CAR), unconditional responses and no response out of 30 sessions, serum MDA, and brain MDA and brain acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity. Piracetam, a known nootropic was used as a positive control.Results: Scopolamine as expected showed a decrease in CAR as compared to normal control after 4 hours and, after 24 hours. Brahmi ghrita significantly improved the conditioned avoidance response (CAR), at both 4 and 24 hours, demonstrating its memory protective effect. Piracetam also showed decrease in CAR. Brahmi ghrita improved the serum and brain MDA levels significantly as compared to the Scopolamine. However Piracetam further augmented the oxidative stress induced by scopolamine. Brahmi ghrita also decreased the AChE activity (increased by scopolamine administration) emphasizing its memory protective effect. Piracetam was seen to increase the AChE activity.Conclusions: Thus, the study demonstrated the efficacy of Brahmi ghrita as an anti-amnestic, anti-oxidant and AChE inhibitor

Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect of Yograj Guggul: an in vitro study

Yograj Guggul (YG) is a poly-herbal formulation extensively used by Ayurvedic practitioners to treat inflammatory conditions. However there are no reports evaluating its effect on the various enzymes involved in the inflammatory pathway. Hence the present was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of YG, on inhibition of Cyclooxygenase (COX) - 1 & 2 and 5-Lipoxygenase (LOX) enzymes in vitro. Three concentrations (25, 50 and 100µg/ml) of the aqueous extract of YG were studied on the inhibition of COX 1 & 2 and 5-LOX enzymes by Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA). Aspirin was used as a positive control at concentration corresponding to its anti-inflammatory human dose (100µg/ml).YG exhibited maximum inhibition of both COX-1 &COX-2 enzymes at 100µg/ml that was comparable to aspirin. Interestingly, YG showed a dose dependent increase in percentage inhibition of 5-LOX enzyme with maximum effect at 100µg/ml which was significantly higher than that exhibited by aspirin. YG inhibits both COX enzymes indicating its potential as an anti-inflammatory agent. The 5-LOX inhibitory activity exhibited by YG provides a lead to explore its role further as a dual inhibitor of COX/5-LOX pathways and also to investigate its role to treat inflammatory respiratory disorders