Maslinic acid protects against isoproterenol-induced cardiotoxicity in albino Wistar rats.

The present study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of maslinic acid (MA) on body weight, heart weight, lipids, lipoproteins, lipid peroxidation (LPO), cardiac marker enzymes, and paraoxonase (PON) in normal control and isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infarcted albino Wistar rats. After treatment with MA (15 mg/kg) for 7 days, myocardial infarction was induced by subcutaneous injection of ISO (85 mg/kg) for two consecutive days. ISO caused a considerable decrease in body weight and increased the heart weight. The concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides, very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were higher, whereas that of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was lower, in the serum of ISO-administered rats. The activities of the cardiac marker enzymes creatine kinase, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and γ-glutamyl transferase and levels of malondialdehyde were elevated in the serum of ISO-treated rats. ISO-administered rats also exhibited a decline in the activity of PON. Pretreatment of rats with MA reduced the effects of ISO on all parameters tested. This is the first report of the protective effect of MA on ISO-induced cardiotoxicity and of an association between PON status and MA supplementation. The observed cardioprotective effects may be due to the antihyperlipidemic potential of MA, inhibition of LPO, and antioxidant activity.

Cardioprotective effect of HPLC standardized ethanolic extract of Terminalia pallida fruits against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in albino rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Terminalia pallida is an evergreen endemic tree, mentioned in Ayurveda as the fruits of Terminalia pallida are excellent in cardioprotective property. Tribal people use Terminalia pallida fruit for the treatment of diabetes and this plant widely used in many other disorders. AIM OF STUDY: The present investigation was to evaluate the antioxidant, biochemical profile and histological studies of qualitatively standardized ethanolic extract of Terminalia pallida fruits (TpFE) against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TpFE was standardized by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectroscopy (MS). Rats were pretreated orally with different doses of TpFE (100, 300, and 500mgkg(-1) body weight) and cardioprotective positive control gallic acid (GA) for 30 days prior to isoproterenol (ISO) induced myocardial infarction. The rats were sacrificed, hearts were collected and homogenized for biochemical analysis. The effects on total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), lipid peroxidation (LPO) marker, malondialdehyde (MDA), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), sodium potassium (Na(+)/K(+)), calcium (Ca(2+)) and magnesium (Mg(2+)) adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) were estimated in heart tissue homogenate. RESULTS: Rats administered with ISO showed a significant increase in TC, TG, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and MDA and a significant decrease in HDL-C, cardiac marker enzymes - CK, LDH, ALT and AST. ISO significantly reduced antioxidants - CAT, GPx, and membrane bound enzymes - Na(+)/K(+), Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) ATPases. Pretreatment with TpFE (100, 300, and 500mgkg(-1) bw) and GA (15mgkg(-1) bw) for a period of 30 days significantly inhibited the effects of ISO. Moreover, biochemical findings were supported by histopathological observations. CONCLUSION: The present study provide evidence for the first time, that TpFE pretreatment ameliorated myocardial injury in ISO-induced myocardial infarcted rats and exhibited cardioprotective activity.

Source identification of Indian opium based on chromatographic fingerprinting of amino acids.

Total and free pool of amino acids was determined in Indian opium samples using liquid chromatography (LC) with post-column opthalaldehyde derivatization followed by its fluorimetric detection. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be in the range of 2-10 pmol with a signal to noise ratio of 3:1 and limit of quantitation (LOQ) was found to be in the range of 7-31 pmol with a signal to noise ratio of 10:1. The recovery of amino acids was found to be in the range of 86-103%. A total of 124 Indian opium samples were collected from the states of Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan (Raj), covering 14 licit opium growing divisions of India were chromatographically fingerprinted for the presence of various amino acids. The amino acids identified in sample hydrosylate included D, T, S, S, G, A, V, I, L, Y, F, H, K and R, while the analysis of free pool of amino acids (80% aqueous ethanol extract) indicated the presence of D, T, S, E, A, V, I, L, Y, H, K respectively. Multiple discriminant analysis was applied to the quantitative total amino acid data to determine an optimal classifier in order to evaluate the source of Indian opium. The foremost amino acid variables that accounted for the true discrimination were identified as D, E, G, A, F and K in evaluating the geographical origin of Indian opium and the predictive value based on the discriminant analysis was found to be 90% in relation to the source of opium samples. Chemometrics performed with amino acid analytical data was used successfully in discriminating the licit opium growing divisions of India into three major groups, viz. groups I, II and III. The methodology developed may find wide application in forensic analysis.

Determination of diazepam in cold drinks by high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

A methodology was developed for the detection and quantitation of diazepam in non-alcoholic carbonated beverages and fruit drinks which are adulterated for criminal motives. The extraction of diazepam from the five brands of spiked and simulated cold drinks was carried out at pH 8.5 by two different extraction solvents viz., diethylether and chloroform. The identification of diazepam was done on the basis of RF values and in situ UV spectra. The quantitation was carried out by densitometric scanning of the chromatogram at a wavelength of 230 nm. The method is rapid and reliable for qualitative and quantitative analysis of cold drinks adulterated with diazepam and can be used by law enforcement laboratories for routine analysis.