Pharmacological investigation of selected medicinal plants of Bangladesh

Purpose: To pharmacologically investigate the methanol and petroleum ether extracts of the plant leaves of Manilkara zapota (MZME and MZPE, respectively), Abroma augusta (AAME and AAPE, respectively) and Vitex negundo (VNME and VNPE, respectively).Methods: Analgesic and anti-diarrheal activities were assessed by acetic acid-induced writhing and castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice, respectively, while CNS depressant activity was evaluated using hole-cross and open-field method by observing the decrease in exploratory behavior and spontaneous motor activity in mice, respectively.Results: All the extracts exhibited good analgesic activity at a dose of 200 mg/kg with the following rank order of activity: MZME > MZPE > VNME > VNPE > AAME > AAPE. Analgesic activity was insignificant at 100 mg/kg dose except for VNPE (67.81 % inhibition). The extracts produced significant reduction in diarrheal episodes in mice at a dose of 400 mg/kg MZPE (highest protection: 80.3 %, p < 0.05) and VNME (lowest protection: 38.6 %, p < 0.001). The extracts demonstrated CNS depressant activity in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05 compared to the standard except for AAME and AAPE which showed insignificant activity).Conclusion: The results indicate that the traditional use of the investigated plants appears to be justified; however, further studies are required to unravel the underlying mechanisms of action.Keywords: Manilkara zapota, Abroma augusta, Vitex negundo, Analgesic, Central nervous system depressant, Anti-diarrhoea

Nanoparticles: tech trends in healthcare

Nanotechnology is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for various purposes. Nanotechnology field of application is very much diverse which includes surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, energy storage, engineering, microfabrication, and molecular engineering. Its medical application ranges from biological devices, nano-electronic biosensors, and to future biological machines. The main issue nowadays for nanomedicine involve understanding the issues related to toxicity and environmental impact of nanoscale materials. Lot more functionalities can be added to nanomaterials by interfacing them with biological structures. The size of nanomaterials is similar most biological molecules and so useful for both in vivo and in vitro biomedical research and applications. The integration of nanomaterials with biology had paved path to the development of diagnostic devices, contrast agents, analytical tools, physical therapy applications and drug delivery vehicles

vivo analgesic activity of ethanolic extracts of twomedicinal plants—Scoparia dulcis L. And Ficus racemosa Linn

Abstract Fruits and whole herb of two medicinal plants, Ficus racemosa Linn. (Moraceae) and Scoparia dulcis L. (Scrophulariacae) were extracted in 95% ethanol to evaluate for centrally acting analgesic potential using hot plate and peripheral pharmacological actions using acetic acid induced writhing test in mice. The crude extracts of both the plants were found to have significant (p<0.001) analgesic activity at the oral dose of 100 & 200 mg/kg b. wt., in the tested models. In hot plate test S. dulcis showed increased latency period than F. racemosa whereas in acetic acid induced writhing test F. racemosa showed reduced number of writhes than S. dulcis at two dose levels which are significant (p<0.001) compared to control. The results obtained support the use of fruits of F. racemosa and whole herb of S. dulcis in painful conditions acting both centrally and peripherally

Microwave Breast Phantom Measurement System with Compact Side Slotted Directional Antenna

In this paper, a new, complete, and comprehensive breast phantom measurement system is presented. A side slotted vivaldi antenna is used for breast phantom measurement. The radiating fins are modified by etching six side slots to enhance the electrical length and produce stronger directive radiation with higher gain. This approach reduces the lower operating frequency and increases the gain and efficiency without compromising the size of the antenna. The overall size of the antenna is 8.8 (L) × 7.5 (W) cm 2 or approximately 0.4λ × 0.5λ at the first resonant frequency of 1.79 GHz. The results show that the antenna has a fractional bandwidth of approximately 127% from 1.54 to 7 GHz for return loss less than 10 dB with a directional radiation pattern. The average gain of the proposed prototype is 8.5 dBi, and the radiation efficiency is approximately 92% on average over the operating bandwidth. The fidelity factor for face to face is 0.98, and that for side by side is 0.4479, which proves the directionality and lower distortion of the signal. The prototype is successfully simulated, fabricated, and analyzed. The radiating fins of the proposed prototype are optimized to achieve the desired properties for breast phantom measurement. The antenna is used as the transceiver in a breast phantom measurement system to detect unwanted tumor cells inside the breast. An automated electromechanical imaging system with the necessary data post processing makes it an easy and suitable tool for microwave imaging to detect breast tumors

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Antenna Sensor Based Microwave Breast Imaging: A Review

Globally, breast cancer is reported as a primary cause of death in women. More than 1.8 million new breast cancer cases are diagnosed every year. Because of the current limitations on clinical imaging, researchers are motivated to investigate complementary tools and alternatives to available techniques for detecting breast cancer in earlier stages. This article presents a review of concepts and electromagnetic techniques for microwave breast imaging. More specifically, this work reviews ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna sensors and their current applications in medical imaging, leading to breast imaging. We review the use of UWB sensor based microwave energy in various imaging applications for breast tumor related diseases, tumor detection, and breast tumor detection. In microwave imaging, the back-scattered signals radiating by sensors from a human body are analyzed for changes in the electrical properties of tissues. Tumorous cells exhibit higher dielectric constants because of their high water content. The goal of this article is to provide microwave researchers with in-depth information on electromagnetic techniques for microwave imaging sensors and describe recent developments in these techniques

IEEE Access Special Section: Antenna and Propagation for 5G and Beyond

5G is not just the next evolution of 4G technology; it is a paradigm shift. “5G and beyond” will enable bandwidth in excess of 100s of Mb/s with a latency of less than 1 ms, in addition to providing connectivity to billions of devices. The verticals of 5G and beyond are not limited to smart transportation, industrial IoT, eHealth, smart cities, and entertainment services, transforming the way humanity lives, works, and engages with its environment

Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Effect of Scoparia dulcis in Alloxan induced Albino Mice

Abstract: Herbal drugs are frequently considered to be less toxic and also free from side effects, than synthetic ones. Hence, the present study was designed to evaluate antidiabetic and antioxidant principle of the ethanolic extract of Scoparia dulcis (EESD) for its antidiabetic and antioxidant potential against alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Hypoglycemic effect was evaluated in normal and alloxan induced diabetic mice The oral administration of plant extract at a dose of 100 & 200 mg/kg body weight were given to fasting glucose loaded (200 mg/kg body weight) mice with regard to normal control during 3 hr. study period and in alloxan-induced (150 mg/kg body weight) diabetic mice in comparison with reference drug, Metformin (600µg/kg) during 2 weeks study period. Considerable fall in elevated blood glucose level was observed in the normoglycemic (p<0.05) and alloxan induced diabetic (p<0.001) mice. The extract, at a dose of 100 & 200 mg/kg body weight showed glucose level reduction of 31.87% & 46.97% respectively in alloxaninduced diabetic mice while 50.74% was found for Metformin after 2 weeks. The antioxidant potential of ethanolic extract of plant was assessed by DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl, 2-picryl-hydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay at 517 nm and total antioxidant capacity by phosphomolybdenum method at 695 nm.The extract showed petite free radical scavenging capacity (IC 50 value 243.82 μg/ml for plant extract and 58.92 μg/ml for Ascorbic acid) and moderate total antioxidant capacity compared with Ascorbic acid. These results demonstrate the antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of ethanolic extracts of Scoparia dulcis and suggests that the plant may have therapeutic value in diabetes and related complications

Analgesic Activity, Chemical Profiling and Computational Study on Chrysopogon aciculatus

Present study was undertaken to evaluate the analgesic activity of the ethanol extract of Chrysopogon aciculatus. In addition to bioassays in mice, chemical profiling was done by LC-MS and GC-MS to identify phytochemicals, which were further docked on the catalytic site of COX-2 enzymes with a view to suggest the possible role of such phytoconstituents in the observed analgesic activity. Analgesic activity of C. aciculatus was evaluated by acetic acid induced writhing reflex method and hot plate technique. Phytochemical profiling was conducted using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In docking studies, homology model of human COX-2 enzyme was prepared using Easy Modeler 4.0 and the identified phytoconstituents were docked using Autodock Vina. Preliminary acute toxicity test of the ethanol extract of C. aciculatus showed no sign of mortality at the highest dose of 4,000 mg/kg. The whole plant extract significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited acetic acid induced writhing in mice at the doses of 500 and 750 mg/kg. The extract delayed the response time in hot plate test in a dose dependent manner. LC-MS analysis of the plant extract revealed the presence of aciculatin, nudaphantin and 5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6,22-diene-3β-ol. Three compounds namely citronellylisobutyrate; 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-(2H)-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one and nudaphantin were identified in the n-hexane fraction by GC-MS. Among these compounds, six were found to be interacting with the binding site for arachidonic acid in COX-2 enzyme. Present study strongly supports the traditional use of C. aciculatus in the management of pain. In conclusion, compounds (tricin, campesterol, gamma oryzanol, and citronellyl isobutyrate) showing promising binding affinity in docking studies, along with previously known anti-inflammatory compound aciculatin can be held responsible for the observed activity