Phytochemical analysis and oral hypoglycemic activity of leaf extract of leaves of andrographis stenophylla C.B. Clarke (acanthaceae).

Andrographis stenophylla C.B. Cclarke (Acanthaceae) leaves are commonly used as folk medicine in south India. The present study is planned to determine the oral hypoglycemic activity of dichloroethane (DCE) extract of Andrographis stenophylla leaves. The Andrographis stenophylla leaves showed high yield extract values in DCE, DCM (dichloromethane) and carbinol. The DCE extract showed clear compound separation in thin layer chromatography, hence that extract was used for phytochemical analysis and pharmacological study. The DCE extract showed significant oral hypoglycemic activity in rats. The present study concludes, the DCE extract of Andrographis stenophylla leaves are suitable for isolate the terpene and it’s showed significant oral hypoglycaemic activity.

Heart-lung transplantation in India: initial experience.

Heart-lung transplantation is a well accepted and standard form of therapy for the surgical management of patients with end-stage cardiopulmonary disorders. The first heart-lung transplant in India was performed at our institution on May 3, 1999 and, subsequently, 2 more patients have undergone this procedure. The initial experience is encouraging and heralds a new era of thoracic organ transplantation in India.

Ross procedure in an infant.

The Ross procedure is gaining acceptance as the procedure of choice for aortic valve replacement in children. We present the case of a 4-month-old child (weight 3.2 kg) suffering from congenital valvar aortic stenosis who underwent a Ross procedure. We believe that this is the youngest patient to have undergone this procedure successfully in the Indian subcontinent.

Batista procedure as a bridge to cardiac transplantation.

A 37-year-old male patient with dilated cardiomyopathy and end-stage heart failure underwent Batista procedure. After 6 months, he underwent orthotopic heart transplantation. Though he did not survive the procedure, we conclude that Batista procedure may serve as a cost-effective biological bridge to cardiac transplantation.

Role of B-ring of colchicine in its binding to Zn(II)-induced tubulinsheets.

Colchicine-tubulin dimer complex, a potent inhibitor of normal microtubule assembly undergoes extensive self-assembly in the presence of 1 × 10–4 Μ zinc sulphate. Polymers assembled from colchicine-tubulin dimer complexes are sensitive to cold. Although colchicine can be accomodated within the polymeric structure, the drug cannot bind to tubulin subunits in the intact polymers. This is evidenced by the fact that (a) the colchicine binding activity of tubulin is lost when allowed to polymerize with zinc sulphate, (b) the loss in colchicine binding could be prevented by preincubation of tubulin with 1 × 10–3 Μ CaCl2 or 1 × 10–5 Μ vinblastine sulphate and finally (c) no loss in colchicine binding activity is found when tubulin is kept at a concentration far below the critical concentration for polymerization. Unlike colchicine, its B-ring analogues desacetamido colchicine (devoid of the B-ring subtituent) and 2-methoxy-5- (2’,3’,4’-trimethoxyphenyl) tropone (devoid of the B-ring) can bind to tubulin subunits in the intact polymers. Thus we conclude that the colchicine binding domain on the tubulin molecule is mostly (if not completely) exposed in the Zn(II)-induced polymers and the B-ring substituent plays a major role in determining the binding ability of a colchicine analogue to tubulin in the intact Zn(II)-induced sheets.