ABSTRACT
Calligonum polygonoides L. subsp. comosum; locally known as “arta”, is tall woody shrub, perennial desert plant. TLC screening, estrogenic and antimicrobial activities of different fractions of hydroalcoholic extract of the leaves; n-hexane, CH2Cl2, EtOAc and n-BuOH, were studied in order to find the correlation between the phytoconstituents and the biological activity. Estrogenic activity was studied in immature ovariectomized female Wistar rats by oral administration of 75 and 150 mg extract/kg body weight for seven days using 1 μg estradiol/rat/day as positive control. The antimicrobial activity against Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia was carried out using agar diffusion method with determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The CH2Cl2 fraction showed significant estrogenic and antimicrobial activity by significantly increasing uterine weight and low MIC values for all tested microorganisms ranging from 0.03 and 3.9 mg/mL. The n-hexane fraction showed mainly the presence of sterols and/or triterpenoids. The EtOAc and n-BuOH fractions were the richest in flavonoids while that of methylene chloride was found to contain both classes of chemical compounds. In conclusion; flavonoids, sterols and/or triterpenes exhibit synergistic effect to the antimicrobial and estrogenic activity of Calligonum polygonoides leaves. Abbreviations: CH2Cl2: methylene chloride, EtOAc: ethyl acetate, n-BuOH: normal butanol, MIC: minimum inhibitory concentration, TLC: thin layer chromatography, b. wt. body weight, p. o.: oral administration, HE: n-hexane extracts of leaves, ME: methylene chloride extract of leaves, EE: ethyl acetate extract of leaves, BE: n-butanol extract of leaves, RCMB: Regional Center for Mycology and Biotechnology, NA: No activity.
ABSTRACT
Medicinal plant courses represent an essential part of the applied sciences component in the curriculum of pharmacy education in Egypt. One of the intended learning outcomes of these courses is to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the theory and practice of herbal medicine. The aim of the current work was to improve pharmacy students' knowledge and understanding of the herbs used for medicinal purposes. The students, in groups, conducted direct interviews with staff members of the university using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions about medicinal herbs used by the participants, purpose for use, method of preparation, and sources to obtain. The educational impact of this assignment was evaluated by a questionnaire distributed to the participated students. The majority of students agreed that carrying out the assignment helped them in improving their knowledge and understudying about medicinal herbs. Moreover, their oral communications skills were improved. The described active-learning assignment offered a great opportunity for the students to improve their communication skills and to gain knowledge about the commonly used medicinal herbs in their community.