introduction to general methodology for screening of medicinal plants

Screening of plants is essential to explore the presence of novel compounds and to investigate their biological activities. Once the presence of such compounds is suspected, they are generally isolated in order to have material available for further biological and toxicological test[1, 2]. It is a cumbersome, tedious and lengthy process that starts from the selection of suitable plant/s to find out their pure constituents.It involves a continued effort that might last from weeks to years and includes the following steps: 1.Correct identification of the plant with the aid of specialists [botanists]. 2. Collection and drying of the vegetable material; precautions need to be taken to avoid the formation of artifacts. 3. Preparation of extracts using different solvents; analysis of these extracts by different chromatographic methods. 4.Fractionation of the extracts by different preparative chromatographic techniques [column chromatography, centrifugal partition chromatography etc.]. 5. Purity control of the isolated products. 6. Structure elucidation of the constituents by combination of diverse spectroscopic techniques [UV/VIS, IR spectrophotometry, carbon and proton nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction] and chemical techniques [hydrolysis, formation of derivatives, degradation reactions etc.]. 7. Synthesis or semi-synthesis of the natural product. 8. Modification of structure with a view to establish structure-activity relationships. 9. Pharmacological and toxicological testing

Clinical investigation of hypoglycemic effect of coriandrum sativum in type-2 [NIDDM] diabetic patients

The present study was designed to investigate clinically the hypoglycemic effect of Coriandrum sativum in Type-2 diabetes mellitus. After assaying fasting plasma and urinary glucose, 10 patients of type-2 diabetes mellitus with no previous medication, 10 patients of type-2 diabetes mellitus taking oral hypoglycemic agents with history of inadequate control and six control subjects were given low [2.5 g tid] and high [4.5 g tid] doses of powdered part, aqueous extract and alcoholic extract of Coriandrum sativum for 14 days. On 15[th] day blood and urine samples for glucose were taken. Based on results obtained it was found that Coriandrum sativum has significant hypoglycemic activity in high dose and can be successfully combined with oral hypoglycemic agents in type-2 diabetic patients whose diabetes is not controlled by these agents

Characteristics of psychiatric hospital absconders

Absence of patients without leave is common in psychiatric hospitals causing anxiety to staff, relatives and the lay public. This study is an attempt to identify some of the characteristics of patients absconding from the Mental Hospital, Lahore over one year. Absconders were predominantly young males who were compulsorily admitted and diagnosed as cases of schizophrenia. They tended to be single and had history of frequent and a relatively longer period of hospitalisation. Police were more often involved in their admission. Reasons for absconding and implications for management of newly admitted psychiatric patients are discussed