Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used for cancer treatment at the province of Nador, Morocco

Morocco has varied wealth of aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs) which are commonly used for prevention and treatment of vario us diseases or as complementary therapy such for cancer diseases. An ethnobotanical study was carried out in the province of Nador, located northeast of Morocco. A total of 418 persons were interviewed, information about their profile, type of medicinal pl ants existing in this area, plant characteristics and uses of those existing plants. Results showed 35 species distributed in 23 families, the most represented were Lamiaceae (7), Apiaceae (5) and Fabaceae (3). This study revealed that the population mainl y used seeds (28%), leaves (26%), aerial parts (20%) and fruits (14%). Moreover, it has shown that Nerium oleander were used by the local population for cancer treatments. Biological activity of N. oleander showed an antimicrobial effect on Escherichia col i , Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

Marruecos tiene una riqueza vegetal muy variada de plantas aromáticas y medicinales (AMP) y se utilizan com únmente para la prevención y el tratamiento de diversas enfermedades o como terapia complementaria, como las enfermedades del cáncer. Se llevó a cabo un estudio etnobotánico en la provincia de Nador, situada al noreste de Marruecos. Se entrevistó a un tota l de 418 personas, información sobre su perfil, tipo de plantas medicinales existentes en esta zona, características de las plantas, usos de las plantas existentes, etc. Los resultados mostraron una alta riqueza de especies de 35 especies distribuidas en 2 3 familias, las más representadas fueron Lamiaceae (7), Apiaceae (5) y Fabaceae (3). Este estudio reveló que la población utilizó preferentemente semillas (28%), hojas (26%), partes aéreas (20%) y frutos (14%). Además, se ha demostrado que la población loc al utilizaba Nerium oleander para tratamientos contra el cáncer. La actividad biológica de N. oleander mostró un efecto antimicrobiano sobre Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Staphylococcus aureus

Endophytic actinobacteria of medicinal plant Aloe vera: Isolation, antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxicity assays and taxonomic study

Objective: To explore the new sources of novel bioactive compounds having pharmaceutical and agricultural interest and to search the endophytic actinobacteria from medicinal plants. Methods: NAF-1 an endophyte actinobacteria was isolated from leaves of medicinal plant Aloe vera collected in Marrakesh, Morocco using Bennett agar as selective medium. NAF-1 was tested for its antimicrobial activity against five pathogenic bacteria such asStaphylococcus aureus PIC 53156,Micrococcus luteus ATCC381,Bacillus subtilis ATCC 14579,Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50090 and Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and four human clinic fungi belonging to the Candida,Aspergillus and Microsporum genera. Several antioxidant activities were studied such as DPPH free radical scavenging,β-carotene and linoleic acid and reducing power assays. The total of phenol and flavonoid was also calculated. Using Artemia salina shrimp assay, the cytotoxicity of NAF-1 crude extract was determined.Results: The results revealed that the actinobacteria showed a high activity (≥20 mm) against only Gram positive bacteria but it had a moderate activity (between 13 and 15 mm) against Human clinic fungi. The isolate also exhibited a LD50 of 14.20 μg/mL in the cytotoxicity assay. The result showed that the crude extract presented an interesting free radical-scavenging activity with IC50 value of (5.58 ± 0.26) μg/mL and a high value of phenolic and flavonoid compounds with (15.41 ± 0.18) μg GAE/mg extract and (11.41± 0.06) μg QE/mg extract respectively. Moreover, the taxonomic position of our endophyte actinobacteria using the morphological and physiological criteria and using16SrRNA gene sequence (polyphasic approach) showed that the NAF-1 isolate was similar to Streptomyces hydrogenans which was never described as an endophyte actinobacteria. Conclusions: This isolated strain appears promising resources of bioactive agents and can be exploited to produce therapeutic agents active against pathogenic disease.

Assessment of clinical profile of the patients treated at ayurvedic health facilities in North India

Since a very long time, a significant number of patients have been seeking treatment at Complementary and Alternative Medicine health facilities, but the disease burden at these facilities has never been assessed and documented. Present cross-sectional study was carried out at Ayurvedic tertiary care hospital to document and to assess the rationale of disease reporting at Ayurvedic institutions of the northern state of India from January 2011 to October 2011. Almost half of the patients' morbidities were not classified at all into any of the disease categories. The common reported morbidities at study hospital were: Respiratory [10.5%], neuromuscular [9.5%], digestive [9.2%] and circulatory [9.1%] disorders. As the majority of diseases were unclassified, so mainstreaming of the effective disease surveillance would be required to understand the morbidity pattern and successful treatment practices at health facilities

Anti-convulsant activity of Hilteet [Asafoetida] an experimental study

Hilteet [Asafoetida], an oleo-gum-resin, reported to be anti-convulsant and useful in various types of convulsions, was evaluated for anti-convulsant activity at various doses, in experimental animal model. A potent seizure-inducing model Metrazol test was followed to study the seizure-inhibiting activity of the test drug. The well-known anti-epileptic drug phenobarbitone was used as the standard drug for comparison. LD[50] and autopsy were also carried out to determine the margin of safety and gross changes in vital organs. The test drug showed significant dose dependent anti-convulsant activity without sedative effect as observed in phenobarbitone [Standard] group. The therapeutic index was computed and found to be very large indicating the safety margin of the test drug. Except visceral congestion, no significant histopathological changes were seen in autopsy

Behavioural effects and their mechanisms after kanamycin intoxication

Kanamycin 400 mg/kg body weight, was administered to male albino rats intramuscularly, daily for ten days. Open field test was done, ambulation rearing and preeening scores were markedly reduced in experimental group. Pentobarbitone Narcosis test was performed after introducing Kanamycin, 400 mg/kg body weight in experimental rats and same dose of physiological saline in controls the drug did not show any central depressant action. Finally, in vitro study on isolated frog rectus revealed that Kanamycin was muscle relaxant. In the light of available literatrue, it was concluded that behavioural alterations in the experimental animals were due to muscle weakness and ototoxicity