Pharmacognostic and phytochemical studies on Amaranthus graecizans L.

In present paper an attempt has been made to find out the pharmacognostic, phytochemical and analytical characteristics of Amaranthus graecizans, an important medicinal plant being used traditionally for the treatment of various ailments. The important parameters studied are macroscopic characteristics, fluorescence behaviour under UV light, successive extractive values, total ash, acid insoluble ash, quantitative ash analysis for inorganic constituents and qualitative analysis of different extractives for organic chemical constituents. TLC, UV, TLC finger prints of different extractives and their analyses have also been performed

Kerosene poisoning in children

Accidental kerosene ingestion is the commonest cause of poisoning and its subsequent mortality and morbidity in children less than five year of age in developing countries. Low socio- economic status and frequent use of kerosene for cooking, lighting and heating are the major cause. To study the epidemiology, presentations and radiological appearance of kerosene poisoning in children. A prospective study comprised fifty patients, who were admitted with accidental kerosene poisoning into children welfare hospital in medical city complex /Baghdad. In the period from the 1[st] of January to the 31[st] of august 2008. History was taken from the relatives on a specially designed questionnaire. Every patient was examined completely concentrating on symptoms of cough, dyspnea, cyanosis, drowsiness, vomiting, and fever. Chest X-ray was done to every patient after 6-8 hours from the time of ingestion. White blood cell count was done to 39 patients within the 1[st] 24 hour of admission. Fisher's exact test was considered for the statistical analysis with a significance level of P< 0.05. Of the fifty admitted children, 86% of them aged between 1-3 years, 31[62%] were boys, the majority from poor and crowded families, and the kerosene ingested, in the majority, from small containers. The most common presentations were cough [96%], fever [94%] and dyspnea [80%].Vomiting which occurred in 90%, had a significant association with the development of pneumonitis the major radiological abnormality was right lower lobe infiltration in 16 patients [32%]. The major complication was pneumothorax, pleural effusion and respiratory failure. Fever appeared in 94% of the patients in the first 24 hours, lasting 2-7 days. Pneumonitis occurred in 42 patients who were diagnosed clinically and radiologically. All patients improved except one who died. All the kerosene poisoning was accidental, occurred in children under five year of age. Ignorance and poor storage of kerosene played a big role in the kerosene ingestion process. The respiratory system is the main target involved. Vomiting playing a role in the development of pneumonitis

Pharmacognostic and phytochemical standardization of Ammi visnaga

In continuation of our earlier studies[1, 2, 3] the standardization of raw plant materials, the present study includes the morphological anatomical characteristics of the fruits along with the determination of physico-chemical constants, phytochemical screening. U V, IR, TLC, HPLC and GC-MS finger printing of different extractives of the powder of fruits of Ammi visnaga. The morpho-anatomical characteristics and results of the different chemical protocols would surely serve as a standard reference for identification of Ammi visnaga fruits

Standardization of Laooq-E-Zeequn nafs

Laooq-e-Zeequn Nafs is a compound formulation of Unani drugs and is used for curing the respiratory ailments and asthma. It consists of nine ingredients with concentrated sugar syrup as base. The ingredients are used as demulcent, expectorant, diuretic, emollient, sedative in coughs, laxative. In the present study an attempt has been made to find out the analytical characteristics of Laooq-e-Zeequn Nafs which may prove a prelude to fixing the standards for this Unani formulation