Evaluation of Anxiolytic Activity of Flower Extracts of Tagetes Erecta Linn (Asteraceae) in Rats.

Tagetus erecta (Asteraceae) is a plant with diverse medicinal properties hence the present work was selected to evaluate the anxiolytic activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of flowers of T. erecta. Dried flower powder of T. erecta was extracted by maceration process to get alcoholic (AEFTE) and aqueous (AQEFTE) extract. Preliminary phytochemical investigations were carried out to identify various constituents present in AEFTE and AQEFTE. The LD50 studies of AEFTE and AQEFTE were conducted in mice till the highest permitted dose level of 2000 mg/Kg following Up and Down method of OECD Guidelines. From the LD50 2 doses of extract as 1/20th (low) and 1/5th (high) were selected. The anxiolytic activity of AEFTE and AQEFTE was evaluated in laboratory animal models like Elevated plus maze and Light-dark exploration models in rats. Preliminary phytochemical tests revealed that both AEFTE and AQEFTE contained glycosides, phenols, steroids, flavonoids. The LD50 studies revealed that both AEFTE and AQETE did not produced any abnormal behaviour or mortality even at the highest permissible dose of 2000 mg/Kg in mice. The Diazepam (2 mg/kg), AQEFTE and AEFTE (100, 400 mg/kg) were tested on Elevated plus maze and Light dark chamber models. After treated with AFETE and AQEFTE shows significant reduction in anxiety activity with the extracts at low and high doses.

Diagnosis of scrub typhus in Malaysian aborigines using nested polymerase chain reaction.

A rapid diagnostic system for scrub typhus using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to clinical samples from Malaysian Aborigines. Whole blood from twenty-four patients suspected of scrub typhus infection were tested using nested polymerase chain reaction and sera were evaluated by the indirect immunoperoxidase test. Antibody responses towards Rickettsia tsutsugamushi were observed in seventeen patients with the majority having high titers of IgG antibodies. Seven patients were seronegative. The nested PCR amplified R. tsutsugamushi DNA from six patients, of which two were negative serologically and four had high titers of IgG antibodies. Second samples collected seven days after treatment were negative by PCR testing. Nested PCR is highly sensitive and specific and may be used to provide rapid confirmation of scrub typhus cases in endemic region.

Seroprevalence of Toxocara canis antibodies among Orang Asli (aborigines) in Peninsular Malaysia.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using excretory-secretory antigens of the second stage larvae maintained in vitro was used to determine the seroprevalence of Toxocara antibodies in Orang Asli (aborigines) of Peninsular Malaysia. The mean + 3 SD optical density of 30 healthy subjects was used as the cut-off point. Overall prevalence was found to be 31.9%. No significant relationship was found between positive rates with sex and age groups, though children between 0 to 9 years recorded the highest positive rates. Eosinophil counts were found to be closely related to the proportion of positivity to toxocaral infection and mean optical densities. There was some degree of cross-reaction with Trichuris trichuria positive sera.