ABSTRACT
Tanglad, or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) has been traditionally used as poultice or diluted essential oil in the alleviation of rheumatism, pain, joint stiffness, and sore muscles. However, this anti-inflammatory effect is yet to be tested experimentally Twenty-five mice were randomly assigned to receive high (57.04 g/kg), medium (28.59 g/kg), and low (14.33 g/kg) doses of tanglad extract by oral gavage for both the carrageenan-induced mice paw edema and the cotton pellet granuloma models of inflammation Carrageenan-induced mice paw edema. Carrageenan (1 percent) was injected to the right paw of the mice 30 minutes after the administration of the tanglad extract. Edema formation was determined every 30 minutes for 3 hours using a plethysmometer Cotton pellet granuloma. Cotton pellets were implanted in the right groin area of anesthetized rats. Tanglad extract was administered through oral gavage daily for seven days. On the eighth day, the rats were sacrificed and cotton pellets were retrieved. Both the wet and dry weights were determined Carrageenan-induced mice paw edema. Significantly, the medium dose group had the least mean edema formation (19.82 +/- 0.32) and the greatest percent inhibition (60.13 percent) over the span of 3 hours among the three tanglad treatments. Inversely, the low dose had the greatest mean edema formation (70.84 +/- 0.34) and least percent inhibition among all groups (-49.39 percent), including the negative control. The positive control had the greatest anti-inflammatory effect (9.61 +/- 0.27, 80.67) therefore exhibiting the highest percent inhibition and lowest edema formation as expected. The values obtained revealed a significant difference (at p0.001) between the positive control, high dose, and medium dose groups against the negative control group. A time-dependent pattern were also observed from the test doses Cotton pellet granuloma. Aspirin group possessed the highest anti-inflammatory activity among all the test groups. with the lowest granuloma weights for both wet (24.53 mg) and dry (8.46 mg). The high dose group (wet weight=39.25mg; dry weight=27.21mg) and medium dose group (wet weight=41.25mg; dry weight=25.77mg) had similar anti-inflammatory activities that were statistically significant (p0.05 for dry weight and p0.01 for wet weight). The low dose group had the highest granuloma formation in both the wet (63.25mg) and dry (34.46mg) weights and was not significant different from the negative control This study was able to demonstrate that the aqueous extract of tanglad (Cymbopogon citratus) possesses an activity against both the acute and chronic forms of inflammation in mice and rats. Compared with aspirin (ASA), tanglad extract exhibited a lesser degree of anti-inflammatory activity. Its inhibition of acute inflammation, through the reduction of edema formation, is both time- and dose-dependent. On the other hand, chronic inflammatory reaction, manifested by granuloma formation, is reduced dose-dependently. (Author)
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This retrospective study was performed to identify the patterns of calf vein thrombosis in patients in whom deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was suspected and to better define the role of color-flow duplex scanning (CDS) in the evaluation of this patient population. METHODS: Over a recent 9-month period, we reviewed the vascular laboratory charts of 540 symptomatic patients (696 limbs) who underwent CDS for clinically suspected acute DVT. Patients who had a previous episode of DVT were excluded. RESULTS: CDS satisfactorily visualized all three paired calf veins in 655 of the limbs (94%). Inadequate scans (n = 41) were attributed to edema in 29, excessive calf size in eight, and anatomic inaccessibility in four. Peroneal veins were the most difficult to visualize (n = 29), followed by posterior tibial (n = 10) and anterior tibial (n = 9) veins. CDS identified acute DVT in 159 of 655 limbs (24%) that had adequate scans. Calf vein thrombi were detected in 110 of the 655 limbs (17%) and in 69% of the 159 limbs with DVT. Clots were confined to the calf veins in 53 limbs with DVT (33%). Isolated calf vein thrombi were found in 45% of outpatient limbs and in 27% of inpatient limbs with DVT. The peroneal (81%) and posterior tibial veins (69%) were more frequently involved (p < 0.001) than the anterior tibial veins (21%). In limbs with calf DVT, the prevalence of thrombosis isolated to the peroneal and posterior tibial veins was similar (37% and 25%, respectively); no limb had an isolated anterior tibial DVT (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: CDS is a reliable method for evaluating calf veins for DVT. Calf vein thrombosis is common in patients who have acute DVT and often occurs as an isolated finding. The peroneal and posterior tibial veins are involved in the majority of cases; thrombi occur much less frequently in the anterior tibial veins. We conclude that CDS should be the noninvasive method of choice for the initial evaluation of patients in whom DVT is suspected, and we recommend that calf veins should always be studied but that routine scanning of the anterior tibial veins may not be necessary.
