Response surface methodology-based optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of β-sitosterol and lupeol from Astragalus atropilosus (roots) and validation by HPTLC method

Objective: To optimize the ultrasonication method for efficient extraction of β-sitosterol and lupeol from the roots of Astragalus atropilosus using Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM), and its validation by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method.Methods: Ultrasonication method was used to extract β-sitosterol and lupeol from Astragalus atropilosus (roots). RSM was used to optimize the different extraction parameters viz. liquid to solid ratio (10–14 mL/g), temperature (60-80 ℃) and time (40–60 min) to maximize the yield of β-sitosterol and lupeol. The quantitative estimation of β-sitosterol and lupeol was done in chloroform extract of Astragalus atropilosus by validated HPTLC method on 10 cm × 20 cm glass-backed silica gel 60F254 plate using hexane and ethyl acetate (8:2, v/v) as mobile phase. Results: A quadratic polynomial model was found to be most appropriate with regard to R1 (yield of total extraction; R2/％ CV = 0.9948/0.28), R2 (β-sitosterol yield; R2/％ CV = 0.9923/0.39) and R3 (lupeol yield; R2/％ CV = 0.9942/0.97). The values of adjusted R2/predicted R2/signal to noise ratio for R1, R2, and R3 were 0.9782/0.9551/48.77, 0.9904/0.9110/31.33, and 0.9927/0.9401/36.08, respectively, indicating a high degree of correlation and adequate signal. The linear correlation plot between the predicted and experimental values for R1, R2, and R3 showed high values of R2 ranging from 0.9905-0.9973. β-sitosterol and lupeol in chloroform extract of Astragalus atropilosus were detected at Rf values of 0.22 and 0.34, respectively, at λ max = 518 nm. The optimized ultrasonic extraction produced 8.462％ w/w of R1, 0.451％ w/w of R2 and 0.172％ w/w of R3 at 13.5 mL/g liquid to solid ratio,78 ℃ of temperature and 60 min of time.Conclusions: The experimental findings of RSM optimized extraction and HPTLC analysis can be further applied for the efficient extraction of β-sitosterol and lupeol in other species of Astragalus.

Important Herbs in Treatment of Cancer.

Cancer is a major public health burden in bath developed and developing countries. Plant derived agents are being used for the treatment of cancer. Reservoir of bioactive compounds exists in many species of plants of Earth, only a small percentage of which have been examined and continued to be an important source of anticancer agents. Worldwide effects are ongoing to identify new anticancer compounds from plants. With the current decline in the number of new molecular entities from the pharmaceutical industry, novel anticancer agents are being sought from traditional medicines. In recent years owing to the fear of side effects people prefer more and more use of natural plant products for cancer. This article reveals a detailed review of important herbs in cancer from Indian medicinal plants which will be useful to treat various types of cancer. It will be helpful to explore the medicinal value of the plants and for the new drug discovery from them for the researchers and scientists around the globe.

Does hilly ecology prevent childhood diarrhoea?

Incidence of reported diarrhoeal diseases in hilly children are not precisely known. The pattern of diarrhoeal diseases in the hilly areas of Abha and Khamis Moshayet mountainous regions of Saudi Arabia has been studied. These areas are situated at 2,000 to 3,200 meters above the sea level and are devoid of river, canal or lake. The temperature ranges from 5 degrees C to 30 degrees C and humidity 30% to 60% usually. Diarrhoeal patients treated in the six health centres were recorded and analyzed for the years 1987-88 and 1989-90. Dysentery affected 2.37% of the children giving 0.023 episodes per head per year. It was almost uniformly distributed in all age groups but was higher in males 10 years and over than in females. Diarrhoea affected 8.00% of the whole population and 27.44% children giving 0.27 episodes per child per year. In all age groups, incidences in male were higher than in female. Incidences of both were higher during July to October and lower during March to April. The rate was highest in Umme Sarrar PHC area. Overall, 10.35% of the whole population and 30% of the children contracted diarrhoeal diseases. The episode of reported cases per child (0.30) per year was one-seventh of the Saudi national door-to-door survey findings (2.07) and one-fourth of the US hospital reported diarrhoea cases. This extremely low incidence in the hilly children may be due to hilly ecology, under reporting, low rate in the country or a combination of all. Further studies are needed in hilly areas of Bangladesh.

Factors influencing development of caries teeth.

A cross sectional study was conducted on the children of 146 randomly selected urban families of Abha, Saudi Arabia, to find out the common factors associated with caries teeth. The factors considered for association were per capita monthly income, sources of drinking water, consumption of soft drinks, daily brushing of teeth, daily consumption of candy, and the education levels of mothers. All children up to 12 years of age were examined by visiting their families. The results showed that the per capita monthly income, sources of drinking water and habit of drinking soft drinks had no significant relation with the prevalence rates of caries teeth in children. But the habit of nonbrushing of teeth daily, daily consumption of candies, and low or no education of mothers had significant association with the presence of caries teeth. Adequate health education of children about the ill effects of these practices and raising the educational levels of mothers and prospective mothers may contribute towards achieving dental health by the year 2000 as targetted by the World Health Organization.

Teething pattern and prevalence of dental caries.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on the children of 146 randomly selected families in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Counting of teeth and examination for caries teeth of children under 12 years of age were done by family visits. The results showed that no child developed teeth before 5 months. By 12 months there were on an average 3.3 teeth erupted per child, and by three years 18.8 teeth. At 12 years of age there were 24.4 teeth per child as compared to 28 in other countries. The DMF (decayed, missing and filled) index of children increased from 1.8 at the age of 4 to 5.1 at 7 and 5.2 at 10 years of age. The rate of caries teeth was higher than that in Australia, Great Britain, USA, India, China and Sudan. Further investigations on causes of high rate of caries teeth are recommended.