Effects of Peganum harmala L. Seed Extract on Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) / Efeitos do extrato de semente de Peganum harmala L. em Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)

Mosquito-borne diseases result in the loss of life and economy, primarily in subtropical and tropical countries, and the emerging resistance to insecticides is increasing this threat. Botanical insecticides are promising substitutes for synthetic insecticides. This study evaluated the larvicidal and growth index of Culex pipiens of four solvent extracts of Terminalia chebula, Aloe perryi, and Peganum harmala against Cx. pipiens. None of the 12 extracts exhibited larvicidal potential against third instars except the ethyl acetate extract of P. harmala. After 24 h of exposure, the LC50 value was 314.88 ppm, and the LC90 value was 464.19 ppm. At 320 ppm, the hatchability was 25.83%, and it resulted in 100% mortality. In addition, the eggs treated with the EtOAc extract of P. Harmala exhibited a long larval period compared with the control. The larval period continued for 12 days, and the pupal period took three days in the treatment groups. The growth index data also exhibited a decrease (0.00­7.53) in the treated groups compare with 8.5 in the control. The transformation of eggs into adults decreased with increasing concentrations. This paper is the first report on the development and growth index of Cx. pipiens potential using P. harmala seeds.

As doenças transmitidas por mosquitos resultam na perda de vidas e economia, principalmente em países subtropicais e tropicais, e a resistência emergente aos inseticidas está aumentando essa ameaça. Os inseticidas botânicos são substitutos promissores dos inseticidas sintéticos. Este estudo avaliou o índice larvicida e de crescimento de Culex pipiens de quatro extratos solventes de Terminalia chebula, Aloe perryi e Peganum harmala contra Cx. pipiens. Nenhum dos 12 extratos exibiu potencial larvicida contra o terceiro ínstar, exceto o extrato de acetato de etila de P. harmala. Após 24 horas de exposição, o valor LC50 era 314,88 ppm e o valor LC90 era 464,19 ppm. A 320 ppm, a eclodibilidade foi de 25,83% e resultou em 100% de mortalidade. Além disso, os ovos tratados com o extrato de EtOAc de P. harmala exibiram um longo período larval em comparação com o controle. O período larval continuou por 12 dias, e o período pupal durou três dias nos grupos de tratamento. Os dados do índice de crescimento também exibiram uma diminuição (0,00-7,53) nos grupos tratados em comparação com 8,5 no controle. A transformação de ovos em adultos diminuiu com o aumento das concentrações. Este artigo é o primeiro relatório sobre o índice de desenvolvimento e crescimento de Cx. potencial de pipiens usando sementes de P. harmala.

Effects of Peganum harmala L Seed Extract on Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) / Efeitos do extrato de semente de Peganum harmala L em Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)

Mosquito-borne diseases result in the loss of life and economy, primarily in subtropical and tropical countries, and the emerging resistance to insecticides is increasing this threat. Botanical insecticides are promising substitutes for synthetic insecticides. This study evaluated the larvicidal and growth index of Culex pipiens of four solvent extracts of Terminalia chebula, Aloe perryi, and Peganum harmala against Cx. pipiens. None of the 12 extracts exhibited larvicidal potential against third instars except the ethyl acetate extract of P. harmala. After 24 h of exposure, the LC50 value was 314.88 ppm, and the LC90 value was 464.19 ppm. At 320 ppm, the hatchability was 25.83%, and it resulted in 100% mortality. In addition, the eggs treated with the EtOAc extract of P. Harmala exhibited a long larval period compared with the control. The larval period continued for 12 days, and the pupal period took three days in the treatment groups. The growth index data also exhibited a decrease (0.00–7.53) in the treated groups compare with 8.5 in the control. The transformation of eggs into adults decreased with increasing concentrations. This paper is the first report on the development and growth index of Cx. pipiens potential using P. harmala seeds.

As doenças transmitidas por mosquitos resultam na perda de vidas e economia, principalmente em países subtropicais e tropicais, e a resistência emergente aos inseticidas está aumentando essa ameaça. Os inseticidas botânicos são substitutos promissores dos inseticidas sintéticos. Este estudo avaliou o índice larvicida e de crescimento de Culex pipiens de quatro extratos solventes de Terminalia chebula, Aloe perryi e Peganum harmala contra Cx. pipiens. Nenhum dos 12 extratos exibiu potencial larvicida contra o terceiro ínstar, exceto o extrato de acetato de etila de P. harmala. Após 24 horas de exposição, o valor LC50 era 314,88 ppm e o valor LC90 era 464,19 ppm. A 320 ppm, a eclodibilidade foi de 25,83% e resultou em 100% de mortalidade. Além disso, os ovos tratados com o extrato de EtOAc de P. harmala exibiram um longo período larval em comparação com o controle. O período larval continuou por 12 dias, e o período pupal durou três dias nos grupos de tratamento. Os dados do índice de crescimento também exibiram uma diminuição (0,00-7,53) nos grupos tratados em comparação com 8,5 no controle. A transformação de ovos em adultos diminuiu com o aumento das concentrações. Este artigo é o primeiro relatório sobre o índice de desenvolvimento e crescimento de Cx. potencial de pipiens usando sementes de P. harmala.

N-containing compounds from seeds of Paganum harmala / 中国中药杂志

To investigate the N-containing compounds in the seeds of Paganum harmala,fourteen compounds were finally isolated from the 95% Et OH extract of P. harmala seeds by using various chromatographic techniques including silica gel,MCI resin,and ODS column chromatography as well as the semi-preparative HPLC. Depending on spectroscopic techniques and comparison with the reported data in the literatures,the structures of all compounds were identified as N-[3-(2-amino-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-oxopropyl]acetamide(1),dehydroharmalacidine(2),harmalacidine(3),harmine N-oxide(4),harmine(5),tetrahydroharmine(6),demethylharmalacidine(7),harmol(8),tetrahydroharmol(9),harmindol β-D-glucopyranoside(10),tryptophyl β-D-glucopyranoside(11),pegamineβ-D-glucopyranoside(12),vasicol(13) and vasicinone(14). Among them,1 was a new compound,and 2 and 10 were obtained as natural products for the first time.

Cytotoxic activities of Rosa brunonii, Calligonum polygonoides Pegnum harmala and Sueda fruticosa extract using brine shrimp

The present study was carried out to record and evaluate the effect of Rosa brunonii, Calligonum polygonoides, Sueda fruticosa and Pegnum harmala L., extracts on brine shrimp collected during March-June 2013 from different regions of District Bannu. These four plants were medicinal xerophytes and widely distributed throughout Pakistan. Rosa brunonii is commonly used as a hedge plant for gardening. Calligonum polygonoides and Sueda fruticosa are locally used as a fuel, while Pegnum harmala [L.] is the most important multipurpose medicinal xeric plant, which is used for various purposes. All these selected medicinal xerophytes have inhibitory effect on bacterial growth. In this study the effect of different concentration [10-70 microg/ml] were tested on brine shrimp. The results showed that maximum cytotoxic activities were observed in Rosa brunonii [100.0+/-0.4], Calligonum polygonoides [100.0+/-0.2] and Pegnum harmala [L.] [90.0+/-5.2] while Sueda fruticosa [50.0+/-7.1] has less cytotoxic property. These activities are may be due to the presence of bioactive constituents

Establishment of different origin Peganum harmala qualitative discrimination model based on near-infrared spectroscopy / 中国中药杂志

The optic-fiber sensor technology combined with near-infrared diffuse reflection spectroscopy was applied to directly analyze Peganum harmala and identify different origin of P. harmala on the basis of principal component analysis, clustering analysis, SIMCA method, which resulted in the establishment of a new method to rapidly and nondestructively identify the origin of P. harmala. The original full wavelength spectrum for principal component analysis and the score of first two principal components can distinguish four origins of P. harmala basically. In the wavelength range of 866-2,507 nm, MSC as pretreatment method to establish the best model of clustering analysis to forecast the samples with the accuracy of 91.67%, can distinguish the four origins of P. harmala while in the wavelength of 1,085-2,507 nm, normalization method as pretreatment methods to establish a best model of SIMCA to forecast the sample, all the samples except for the changji sample have been identified with a total recognition rate of 97.22%. The results show that using near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy combined with SIMCA is the best method that can be effectively used to identify the P. harmala.

Nutrient evaluation and elemental analysis of four selected medicinal plants of soon valley Khushab, Punjab, Pakistan

To check the nutritional and mineral contents of four medicinal plants viz., Peganum hermla, Solanum nigrum, Mentha longifolia, Achryanthus aspera, which are used as medicine traditionally in Soon Valley Khushab, Pakistan. Proximate analysis of plant sample determined that protein [7.491%] and ash [22.79%] was highest in Mentha longifolia, carbohydrate [75.23%] in Peganum hermla, fats [12.595%] and moisture [6.82%] was highest in Achryanthus aspera. In comparative assessment of the various species, the results showed that Achryanthus aspera. is the most significant species having higher concentrations of fat, fibre values compared to the other species. Absorption Spectrometric method was used for the elemental analysis of essential elements such as Fe, Cd, Cu,Mn, Pb, Cr, Ni and Na in medicinal plants in different range.

Efficacy evaluation of the protein isolated from Peganum harmala seeds as an antioxidant in liver of rats

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the curative effect of the 132 KD protein isolated from the seeds of Peganum harmala (P. harmala) L. against carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) induced oxidative stress in rats.@*METHODS@#Animals were post treated intraperitoneally with 132 KD isolated protein at doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg body weight and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (8 mg/kg body weight) as well as vitamin C (250 mg/kg body weight p.o.) for 7 d after they challenged with CCl(4) orally (1 mL/kg body weight) in olive oil (50%) for 2 d.@*RESULTS@#The purified protein from seeds of P. harmala plant showed in vitro antioxidant activity with DPPH assay. Administration of CCl(4) induced induction in serum aminotransferases (AST, ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lipid profile parameters and liver malondialdehyde (MDA) and decrease in serum total protein, liver superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels. 132 KD protein treatment of rats post CCl4 intoxication successfully alleviated the toxic effects of CCl(4).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The isolated protein possessed strong antioxidant activity comparable to that of BSA (negative control) and vitamin C (positive control).

Research on quality standards of herbs of Peganum harmala / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish the quality standards of the herbs of Peganum harmala.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 version, volume 1) and its appendix method, the water, total ash, acid insoluble ash, water-soluble extractives, and heavy metal were analyzed for herbs of P. harmala. TLC method was used to separate harmaline, harmine and vasicine from the herb samples by mixture of ethyl acetate-methanol-ammonia (10: 1.5: 0.5) as a developing solvent on high performance silica gel precoated plate (HSGF254) and to identify them inspected under UV 366 nm, visualized by spraying with both Dragendorff reagent, and by bioautographic assay. In the HPLC method, vasicine was separated on a C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column with metnanol-0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (15:85) as the mobile phase and detected at at 280 nm.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In the TLC procedures, 254 nm fluorescent and bioautographic assay for the detection of acetylcholinesterase inhibitor can be used for the qualitative identification of the active ingredients. For the HPLC quantitation method, the calibration curve of vasicine displayed ideal linearity over the range of 0.7923-792.3 mg x L(-1) with the regression equation of Y = 18,227X - 24.879 (r = 0.9999). The average recovery of vasicine was 101.6% with a RSD of 1.9%. The RSD values of intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 2%. The content of vasicine in 10 batches of herbs of P. harmala fluctuates between 0.23% and 1.47%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results indicated that the limit of vasicine was not lower than 0.6%, and the water, total ash, acid insoluble ash, and water-soluble extractives were not more than 10.0%, 20.0%, 1.7%, and 30.0%, respectively. The heavy metal of plumbum, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and copper were not more than 5, 3, 2, 2, and 20 mg x kg(-1), respectively. The qualitative and quantitative method established was suitable for the quality evaluation and assessment of herbs of P. harmala.</p>

New record for China of host plant of Cynomorium songaricumpeganum multisectum / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the distribution and host plants of Cynomorium songaricum, and provide a scientific basis for the artificial cultivation of C. songaricum and protect the ecological environment in the sandy area.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Specimens of C. songaricum in growing area was collected and accessed according to relevant literature and identified.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The results showed that a new host plant of C. songaricum-Peganum multisectum was found.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A new host plant of C. songaricum, Peganum multisectum was reported, and it is provide the necessary nutrition for normal growth of C. songaricum.</p>

[Effect of medicinal smokes on some nosocomial infection factors]

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a main problem in the treatment of infectious diseases. Thus, searching for alternative drug is essential in Iran and particularly Chaharmahal va bakhtiari province. People use medicinal smokes such as donkey dung and Peganum harmala seed smokes for treatment of infectious diseases. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial property of donkey dung and Peganum harmala seed smokes on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. In this interventional and laboratory study, groups of Peganum harmala seed smoke and donkey dung were considered as case groups and antibiotic disks as positive control group. Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were cultured in suitable medium [Blood Agar, EMB and Mueller-Hinton agar]. Antibiogram blank disks were fumigated separately with Peganum harmala seed and female donkey dung smoke then placed on microbial plate with sterile methods. Following 48 hours incubation at 37°C, the zone of growth inhibition evaluated by measuring the zone around the disks. Fumigation process was done in special chest that designed for this research. We repeated fumigation each 20 minutes for 24 times. Data about measuring the zone of growth inhibition were analyzed by using and mean statistic exam. Staphylococcus aureus was sensitive to Peganum harmala seed, and fdonkey dung smokes and Pseudomonas aeroginosa was sensitive to female donkey dung smoke. Staphylococcus aureus was resistant to cloxacilllin and Pseudomonas aeroginosa was sensitive only to erythromycin and ciprofloxacin. The increasing time of fumigation in sensitive cases enhanced antimicrobial effects and the zone of growth inhibition. Antimicrobial effects of donkey dung smokes on resistance pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Staphylococcus aureus revealed the necessity of performing expanded research about composition and property of this smoke

Investigation on representation methods of dissolubility property of total alkaloid extract from Peganum harmala / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the representation methods of dissolubility property of total alkaloid extract from Peganum hamala in different solvents, and to investigate the evaluation method of the dissolubility property of extracts from traditional Chinese medicine.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The dissolubility property of the whole extract and markers of harmaline and harmine, as well as the particle diameter distribution of the extract in different solvents were evaluated by precipitation method, solubility test, and the particle diameter test.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Both the alkaloid extract and it's index ingredients had good solubility in absolute ethanol, 95% ethanol, and 80% ethanol, while the solubility in 60% ethanol was poor, and worst in water. The sequence of particle diameter of extract in solvents was in the following order water > 95% ethanol > 60% ethanol > 60% ethanol > 80% ethanol.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The extract has good solubility in the ethanol solution whose concentration is over 80%. The results between precipitation method and index components method have certain correlation. The particle diameter method can provide distribution information of the extract in different solvents. Combination of those three methods could reflect the dissolubility property of extracts from traditional Chinese medicine more comprehensively.</p>

effect of Alkanna tincturia and Peganum harmala extracts on leishmania major [MRHO/IR/75/ER] in vitro

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an important health problem caused by Leishmania spp. As there is no vaccine, drug treatment is the only way to tackle leishmaniasis. In the present study, inhibitory and killing effects of Peganum harmala and Alkana tinctoria extracts on amastigotes and promastigotes forms of Leishmania were evaluated in-vitro. The seeds of Peganum harmala, Stems and roots of Alkanna tictoria were collected and crude extraction carried out. In this experimental study, Leishmania major promastigotes were cultured in RPMI-1640 with 10% FBS at 22-26°C, and infected macrophages with amastigotes were cultured in RPMI-1640 with 10% FBS at 37°C in 5% CO2. Then the extracts of each plant were added to cultivated parasites and incubated for 3 days. Promastigote and amastigote assay was carried out using counting assay based on growth inhibition. The results indicated that both extractions can inhibit the growth of promastigotes, and in concentrations of 40 micro g/ml of P. harmala, 200 micro g/ml of A. tincturia, and 20 micro g/ml of equal combination of P. hamala and A. tincturia are Inhibitory Concentration [IC50] for parasites growth. By adding these concentrations of the extracts to the infected macrophages in the culture, their effects were separately evaluated. The mean of amastigotes number in macrophages in the culture with P. harmala, A. ticturia, combination and control groups were 0.7, 0.7, 0.6, 2.3 amastigotes per macrophage, respectively. By this method, inhibition of intracellular and extracellular growth of L. major was demonstrated suggesting that, plant drugs with efficacy and safe products can be applied as new treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis

Inhibitory effect of estrogens, phytoestrogens, and caloric restriction on oxidative stress and hepato-toxicity in aged rats / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effect of 17beta-estradiol (E2), peganum harmala extract (PHE) administration and calorie restriction (CR) treatment (60%) on oxidative stress and hepato-toxicity in aged rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighteen months old animals that were treated at the age of 12 months were divided into 4 groups: normal control group with free access to food, E2 treatment group, PHE treatment group and CR treatment group of the food given to control group. Six male rats at the age of 4 months were used as a reference group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Aging significantly decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and increased lactate deshydrogenase (LDH), gamma-glytamyl transferase (GGT), phosphatase alkalines (PAL), aspartate and lactate transaminase (AST and ALT) activities in the liver. Aging also induced an increased lipid peroxidation level, histological changes and a decreased E2 level. However, treatment with E2, PHE, and CR increased 17beta-estradiol, and decreased hepatic dysfunction parameters and lipid peroxidation as well as histological changes in the liver of aged rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of PHE and CR is possibly attributed to its ability to increase E2 level, which as an antioxidant, acts as a scavenger of ROS. Further studies on the pharmaceutical functions of E2 in males may contribute to its clinical application.</p>

Protective effects of Peganum harmala extracts on thiourea-induced diseases in adult male rat.

Cancers and hepatoprotective prevention using traditional medicines have attracted increasing interest. The aim of our study was to characterize the putative protective effects of ethanol and chloroform extracts of Peganum harmala on thiourea-induced diseases in adult male rat. We seek to determine the effects of these plant extracts on body weight, thyroid and endocrine cancer parameters. In addition the putative hepatoprotective effect was checked by the determination of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities and the bilirubin level in the blood. Our data show that ethanol and chloroform extracts of Peganum harmala protected the animal against the carcinogenic effects induced by thiourea since neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and thyroglobulin (TG) levels were back to the normal range. In addition, the observed-hepatocytotoxicity after thiourea treatment was greatly reduced (AST and ALT activities were respectively 270 IU/l and 60 IU/l and in the same order of magnitude as in the untreated rats) as well as the bilirubin levels (6 micromol/l) especially for animals receiving the choroform preparation. Therefore we may suggest that extracts of Peganum harmala are efficient to reduce the toxicity induced by thiourea in male rat as far as the above parameters are concerned.

Protective effects of estrogens and caloric restriction during aging on various rat testis parameters / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the effects of 17beta-estradiol (E2), Peganum harmala extract (PHE) and caloric restriction (CR) on various testis parameters during aging.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twelve month-old male rats were treated for 6 months with either E2 or PHE, or submitted to CR (40%).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Our results show that estrogens and CR are able to protect the male gonad by preventing the decrease of testosterone and E2 levels as well as the decrease of aromatase and estrogen receptor gene expressions. Indeed, E2, PHE and CR treatments induced an increase in the superoxide dismutase activities and decreased the activity of testicular enzymes: gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate deshydrogenase as well as the aspartate and lactate transaminases in aged animals. In addition, the testicular catalase and gluthatione peroxidase activities were enhanced in E2, PHE and CR-treated rats compared to untreated animals at 18 months of age. Moreover, the positive effects of estradiol, PHE and CR were further supported by a lower level of lipid peroxidation. Recovery of spermatogenesis was recorded in treated rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Besides a low caloric diet which is beneficial for spermatogenesis, a protective antioxydant role of estrogens is suggested. Estrogens delay testicular cell damage, which leads to functional senescence and, therefore, estrogens are helpful in protecting the reproductive functions from the adverse effects exerted by reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced in large quantities in the aged testis.</p>

[ antibacterial effects of 20 herbal plants on methicillin resistant and sensitive s.aureus in Golestan provience]

Staphylococcus aurues is on important cause of community and hospital- aquired infections. Caused by methicillin or oxacillin- resistant s.aureus [MRSA] are mainly nosocomial and are increasingly from many countries word wide. Many attempt have been made by the reasearchers to find new compounds as a subsitute for this antibiotics. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of alcoholic extracts of 20 medical plants species of Golestan provience on clinical and standard strains of MRSA and MSSA and comprative and detect the best medical plant. In this study the compounds of the plant were extracted by percolation method and the effect of ethanolic extract of 20 Iranian medical plants against methicillin resistant and methicillin sensitve strains were assessed by disc diffusion method and each test were repeated 3 times and mean inhibition zone were recorded and then, the minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] of the extracts, that show good inhibition zone in disc diffusion method, was determined by the micro broth dilution method. The results of antibacterial activity of the ethanolic extracts of 20 plants revealed that, the ethamlic extracts of 8 plants have the best effect on strains and the maximum mean inhibition zone was 22.4 mm and the lowest MIC of plants was 0.01 mg/ml. The result of this study indicate that, ethanolic extract of Eucalyptus. Global, Peganum.hermla, Punica.granatum, Berberis.vulgaris, Ttamarixaphylla, Nnigella.sativa, Hypericum.perforatum AND, Artemisia. Herbaalba have the best antibacterial effect against MRSA andMSSA. The result obtained from these plants might be considered sufficent for further study

Observations on the ultrastructure of a rat mammary gland treated with harmal and borage

It had been indentified by histological, histochemical and morphometrical studies that peganum harmala is a mammogenic herb and borage officinalis is a lactogenic one. To complete our investigation about these two herbs, we performed electron microscopical study. Rats were grouped according to their physiological status into three groups. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups: one control and two experimental. The two experimental groups were treated daily; the 1[st] one with an aqueous extract of peganum harmala seeds and the 2[nd] with an aqueous extract of borage officinalis flowers. After two weeks of treatment, mammary glands were employed for electron microscopical study. In virgin rats, the epithelial and myoepithelial cells were partially differentiated when harmal was given and completely differentiated when borage was given. In pregnant rats, harmal and borage optimize mammary parenchymal growth and induce lactation when these herbs were given. In lactating rats, these herbs exhibited a picture similar to control lactating group but the budding of lipid droplets and the swelling of secretary vesicles were markedly increased. Both harmal and borage stimulate the release of prolactin and induce galactogenesis during pregnancy and promote it during lactation

Treatment of natural tropical theileriosis with the extract of the plant Peganum harmala

Theileria annulata, a protozoan parasite of cattle and domestic buffaloes, is transmitted by ticks of the genus Hyalomma, and causes a disease named Mediterranean or tropical theileriosis. In this research 50 cattle naturally infected with Theileria annulata were treated with the extract of the plant Peganum harmala. The treatment was continued for 5 days, the dose of the extract being 5 mg/kg per day. After the treatment, 39 cattle responded to the treatment and recovered, but 11 did not respond to the treatment and died. The recovery rate of animals treated with the extract of the plant Peganum harmala was 78%.

In vitro anthelmintic activity of Peganum harmala L. against Fasciola gigantica

In the present work, the seeds of the medicinal plant Peganum harmala L.were extracted by both water and methanol to evaluate their in vitro anthelmintic activity against fasciola gigantica. RPMI 1640 medium was used for maintenance of the parasite in culture. The highest concentrations of the seeds aqueous extract of Peganum harmala of 15000 and 5000 ppm gave 100% mortality one hour after the parasite exposure to the extract. The lower concentrations had revealed no effect against the parasite, except the concentration 1000 ppm which gave 25% mortality in the second hour and reached 100% mortality after the 6th. hour of exposure. The seed methanolic extract of Peganum harmala was significantly [P<0.001] potent and revealed mortality at both 1000 and 500 ppm as follows: 17, 17, 83, 100 and 100% and 0, 0, 17, 66, 83% respectively, at the exposure times of 1, 2, 3, 6 and 24 hours

Biotransformation of aromatic aldehydes by cell cultures of Peganum harmala L. and Silybum marianum [L.] Gaertn

Many aldehydes are important components of natural flavours. They are used in food, cosmetic, and biomedical industries in large amounts. Plant cells or microorganisms carry out their production by biotransformation, which is one of the biotechnological methods that allow them to be defined as 'natural'. Cell cultures of Silybum marianum and Peganum harmala have been studied with a view to investigate their abilities to produce flavonolignans and beta-carboline alkaloids respectively. However, we have isolated S. marianum and P. harmala culture strain, which are able to metabolise several aromatic aldehydes. Ten culture strains derived from S. marianum and P. harmala were examined for their ability to biotransform exogenous aromatic aldehyde compounds, including benzaldehyde, 2-methoxybenzaldehyde, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, cinnamaldehyde and 3-methoxy, 4-hydroxy benzaldehyde. Callus cultures of Silybum marianum and Peganum harmala were established from seedlings, and healthy suspensions were grown using the Murashige and Skoog medium. Exogenous aromatic aldehydes were fed to S. marianum and P. harmala cell suspension cultures. Biotransformation reactions were detected over 24 h of incubation. The cultures then extracted with dichloromethane and extracts subjected to GC and GC-MS analysis. The S. marianum cultured cells in this study exhibit greater selectivity in the reduction of aromatic aldehydes than P. harmala cultured cells. The ability of cultured plant cells to biotransform substrate appears to be dependent on the culture strains as well as the nature and position of the substituent on the aromatic ring