SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD FOR THE ESTIMATION OF TOTAL ALKALOIDS IN THE TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA M. AND ITS HERBAL FORMULATIONS

Objective: A simple spectrophotometric method was developed for the estimation of total alkaloids in Tinospora cordifolia M. and its formulations.Methods: The method based on the formation of yellow colored complex by reaction between bromocresol green (BCG) and alkaloids in medicinal plants. A yellow colored complex forms is easily extractable by chloroform at pH 4.7.Results: The method was linear in concentration range of 2-10 μg/ml with λmax at 415 nm. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 0.215 and 0.652 respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy were within the acceptable criteria (relative standard deviation<2.0% and accuracy within 100±2%). Conclusion: The developed method is simple, precise and accurate and can be adopted for the routine quality control and standardization of plant materials containing alkaloids and its pharmaceutical products.Â

Distinct Mechanisms Underlying Tolerance to Intermittent and Constant Hypoxia in Drosophila melanogaster

BACKGROUND: Constant hypoxia (CH) and intermittent hypoxia (IH) occur during several pathological conditions such as asthma and obstructive sleep apnea. Our research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to injury or adaptation to hypoxic stress using Drosophila as a model system. Our current genome-wide study is designed to investigate gene expression changes and identify protective mechanism(s) in D. melanogaster after exposure to severe (1% O(2)) intermittent or constant hypoxia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Our microarray analysis has identified multiple gene families that are up- or down-regulated in response to acute CH or IH. We observed distinct responses to IH and CH in gene expression that varied in the number of genes and type of gene families. We then studied the role of candidate genes (up-or down-regulated) in hypoxia tolerance (adult survival) for longer periods (CH-7 days, IH-10 days) under severe CH or IH. Heat shock proteins up-regulation (specifically Hsp23 and Hsp70) led to a significant increase in adult survival (as compared to controls) of P-element lines during CH. In contrast, during IH treatment the up-regulation of Mdr49 and l(2)08717 genes (P-element lines) provided survival advantage over controls. This suggests that the increased transcript levels following treatment with either paradigm play an important role in tolerance to severe hypoxia. Furthermore, by over-expressing Hsp70 in specific tissues, we found that up-regulation of Hsp70 in heart and brain play critical role in tolerance to CH in flies. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We observed that the gene expression response to IH or CH is specific and paradigm-dependent. We have identified several genes Hsp23, Hsp70, CG1600, l(2)08717 and Mdr49 that play an important role in hypoxia tolerance whether it is in CH or IH. These data provide further clues about the mechanisms by which IH or CH lead to cell injury and morbidity or adaptation and survival

Simultaneous Estimation of Esomeprazole and Domperidone in Combined Dosage form by HPLC

Abstract: A simple, accurate, reliable and reproducible HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of esomeprazole and domperidone in combined dosage forms. The method employed C18 phenomenex column, acetate buffer: acetonitrile: methanol (55:35:10) as mobile phase and detection was made at 290nm. The retention times were found to be 6.76 and 4.42 min for ESO and DOMPE respectively. The method was validated as per ICH guidelines. The method shows good linearity, accuracy, and precision, limit of detection and limit of quantification. The linearity range was found between 4-19 µg/mL for both ESO and DOMPE with relative standard deviation of 0.022 and 0.076 respectively. The value for LOD was found to be 0.3 µg/mL and 0.4 µg/mL and LOQ was found to be 1.5 µg/mL and 2.5 µg/mL for ESO and DOMPE respectively. The main recovery was found to be 99.81 ± 1.27 and 100.43 ± 1.15 for ESO and DOMPE respectively. The method was suitable for routine analysis of ESO and DOMPE both individually and in combined dosage forms