Salacca zalacca: A short review of the palm botany, pharmacological uses and phytochemistry

Salacca zalacca (Gaertn.) Voss (family Arecaceae) is the snake fruit commonly known in Malay language as salak in Malaysia. This exotic fruit has diverse and potential pharmacological properties due to its high antioxidant content. It is often consumed due to its sweet taste. The abundant natural sugar and fibre along with minerals and vitamin makes it a nutritious fruit. Phytochemical investigation on this fruit has revealed the presence of flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides as well as some volatile and aromatic compounds, including gallic acid, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, proanthocyanidins, lycopene and β-carotene. Pharmacological studies on the fruit flesh and peel have shown some tremendous antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antidiabetic potential. This review provides the botanical information of Salacca zalacca as well as its scientific investigations involving the distinct pharmacological and phytochemical benefits. This could help in highlighting the lacking data and research gaps on this plant.

Salacca zalacca: A short review of the palm botany, pharmacological uses and phytochemistry

Salacca zalacca (Gaertn.) Voss (family Arecaceae) is the snake fruit commonly known in Malay language as salak in Malaysia. This exotic fruit has diverse and potential pharmacological properties due to its high antioxidant content. It is often consumed due to its sweet taste. The abundant natural sugar and fibre along with minerals and vitamin makes it a nutritious fruit. Phytochemical investigation on this fruit has revealed the presence of flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides as well as some volatile and aromatic compounds, including gallic acid, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, proanthocyanidins, lycopene and β-carotene. Pharmacological studies on the fruit flesh and peel have shown some tremendous antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antidiabetic potential. This review provides the botanical information of Salacca zalacca as well as its scientific investigations involving the distinct pharmacological and phytochemical benefits. This could help in highlighting the lacking data and research gaps on this plant.

Coagulation disturbances in pregnancy and post delivery period in Sudan

Coagulation problems during pregnancy and after delivery are major health problems leading to fatal complications. Coagulation complications in pregnancy are related to hypertension [PIH], placenta previa or gestational diabetes as well as some chronic problems that effect pregnancy like heart disease and asthma. The study was intended to measure the coagulation profiles, prior and post delivery, to find out coagulation hazards among those ladies compared to non-pregnant ladies as control group. A descriptive comparative study was conducted from Jan to June 2007 using 70 blood samples obtained from non-pregnant ladies [control] and 140 blood samples obtained from 70 ladies during pregnancy and after delivery. The coagulation tests [prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time and platelets count] were performed on all samples by the same manner. Results showed that prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time and platelets count prior and post delivery were significantly decreased compared to control, unlike platelets which were increased rather than in control without statistical significance. Also the coagulation profiles were significantly affected by the type of delivery [cesarean section and normal], while not affected by mothers' age, circumcision, history of abortion and diabetes mellitus. There is observable effect of weight and contraceptive. It is concluded that the coagulation profile prior and post delivery were significantly decreased compared to control, while platelets were increased more than that counted in control. It is recommended to investigate pregnant ladies for coagulation profile before and after delivery and treatment should be offered to ladies with high risk

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor activity of some fused pyrazole and pyrazoline ring systems

This research work describes the synthesis of some pyrazole and pyrazoline fused ring systems substituted with variable biologically-active chemical species. All of the newly synthesized target compounds were selected by the NCI for in-vitro antitumor screening. Six compounds namely, 3, 4a,b, 5a,b and 9a have passed successfully through the primary 3-cell line assay and were promoted for the full panel 60-cell line assay. These active compounds exhibited broad spectrum of antitumor activity against most of the tested tumor cell lines. Compound 5a proved to be the most active antitumor agent in the present study with GI[50], TGI and LC[50] MG-MID values of 8.12, 25.7 and 69.2 microM, respectively, with high sensitivity towards some leukemia, melanoma and renal cell lines. The other five active compounds showed variable degrees of appreciable antitumor activity [GI[50] and TGI MG-MID values range 14.1-19.5 and 38.0-53.7 micro M, respectively]

Malaysian mosquitocidal soil bacterium (Bacillus thuringiensis) strains with selective hemolytic and lectin activity against human and rat erythrocytes.

The objective of this study is to determine the role of carbohydrates on the toxic effect of parasporal inclusion proteins isolated from Malaysian mosquitocidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains on erythrocytes (human and rat). Dose response analyses on the effect of these parasporal inclusions on human and rat erythrocytes suggest that toxin action is selective depending on bacterial strains and source of erythrocytes. Results from this study suggest Bt toxin is a lectin which recognizes specific plasma membrane glycoconjugate receptor(s) with a terminal residue of either D-mannose (Man), N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc), N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) or even a combination of these monosaccharides.