Different approaches of alternative medicines in $acne$ $vulgaris$ treatment

Ghosh, V.K.,Nagore, D.H.,Kadbhane, K.P.,Patil, M.J. 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.1

Acne vulgaris is common dermatological disorder primarily acts on children and adolescents. This affects approximately 80% of the population between the ages of 12-25 years. The clinically used anti-acne drugs suffer from the disadvantage of side effects and high cost of treatment. Alternative to these drugs are traditional medicines and natural products, which offer a great hope in the identification of bioactive lead compounds and their development into drugs for the treatment of skin disorder like acne vulgaris. The use of traditional medicines and phytopharmaceuticals for treating various skin ailments dates back several centuries. The aim of the present review is to compile relevant data on the mechanisms of action of various natural compounds from ethnomedicinal plants and their role in the resolution of acne vulgaris. An attempt is also being made to enumerate the possible leads from Indian traditional medicinal system for the treatment of acne. We tried to provide the readers with the array of outcome variables, which can be further worked upon in clinical studies. Finally, this paper puts forth issues that need to be addressed by researchers in the future.

Neuropharmacological assessment of $Curcuma$ $caesia$ rhizome in experimental animal models

Karmakar, Indrajit,Saha, Pathik,Sarkar, Nilanjan,Bhattacharya, Sanjib,Haldar, Pallab K. 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.4

$Curcuma$ $caesia$ Roxb. (Zingiberaceae), called black turmeric in English, is a perennial herb found throughout the Himalayan region, North-East and Central India. The plant has been traditionally used in India for several medicinal purposes. The present study was carried out to evaluate the methanol extract of $C.$ $caesia$ rhizome (MECC) for some neuropharmacological activities in experimental animal models. MECC (at 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight) was evaluated for analgesic activity by acetic acid-induced writhing and tail flick tests. Locomotor activity was measured by means of an actophotometer. Anticonvulsant property was assessed against pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsion in mice and muscle relaxant effect was evaluated by using rota-rod apparatus. The results of the present study revealed remarkable analgesic, locomotor depressant, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant effects of $C.$ $caesia$ rhizome, demonstrating depressant action on the central nervous system. The outcome of present study can validate certain traditional uses of $C.$ $caesia$ rhizome in India.

Therapeutic potential of BaekJeol-tang in arthritis

Moon, Phil-Dong,Jeong, Hyun-Ja,Kim, Hyung-Min 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.1

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, and is a public health problem throughout the world. It remains the major cause of disability in the elderly, affecting about 60% of men and 70% of women above the age of 65. Even though there are many medicines for treatment of OA throughout the world, therapeutic potential of traditional Korean medicine (TKM) is not well known. Here we discussed the therapeutic potential of BaekJeol-tang (BJT, a prescription of TKM). Celecoxib is approved in one or more countries worldwide for the relief of the signs and symptoms of OA, rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Although celecoxib inhibited mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and increased mRNA expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, celecoxib did not significantly inhibit IL-$1{\alpha}$-induced release of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and only slightly reduced type II collagen. On the other hand, BJT significantly inhibited the release of GAG and type II collagen as well as regulated the mRNA expression of MMP-3 and TIMP-1. Through this article, we have tried to provide some therapeutic potential of BJT in arthritis.

Pre clinical studies of $Streblus$ $asper$ Lour in terms of behavioural safety and toxicity

Kumar, R.B. Suresh,Puratchikodi, A.,Prasanna, Angelene,Dolai, Narayan,Majumder, Piyali,Mazumder, U.K.,Haldar, P.K. 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.4

$Streblus$ $asper$ Lour (Family: Moraceae) is a medicinal plant wildly grows in most part of Asian countries. It has many traditional uses like leprosy, piles, diarrhoea, dysentery, elephantiasis, cancer etc. This present study was relates in terms of behavioural safety and toxicity studies of methanol and petroleum ether extracts of $S.$ $asper$. Brine Shrimps lethality bioassay method was established for the present study and cytotoxicity was reported in terms of 50% lethality concentration ($LC_{50}$). Different concentrations of drug solutions were added to the Brine Shrimps, surviving shrimps were counted after 24 h and 50% lethality concentration ($LC_{50}$) were assessed. Acute toxicity was studied on Swiss albino mice after single dose. Sub-Chronic toxicity was performed for 28 days and assessed with biochemical and histopathological parameters. On cytotoxicity studies of brine shrimps it was found methanol extract of $S.$ $asper$ (MESA) was weakly toxic, may be due to the presence of cardiac glycosides and bioactive compounds, however petroleum ether extract of $S.$ $asper$ (PESA) was non toxic. But, in case of acute and sub-acute toxicity study both extracts were found to be non-toxic.

Effects of $Acanthopanax$ $divaricatus$ $var.$ $albeofructus$ in mice submitted to protein restriction

Kim, Kyu-Yeob,Park, Chan-Won,Kim, Hyung-Min,Kang, In-Cheol,Jeong, Hyun-Ja 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.1

The present study was to investigate the effects of water extracts of $Acanthopanax$ $divaricatus$ $var.$ $albeofructus$ stem extract (ADE) on an exacerbated immune function through utilization of a protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) diet. ADE has been used in Korea as a tonic and sedative agents as well as a drug with ginseng like activities. However, there is no pronouncing about the immune system on the PEM feeding mice. The immobility time were significantly decreased in the ADE-administrated group as compared to the control group on the forced swimming test ($P$ <0.05). The level of aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase in blood was significantly reduced in the ADE-administrated group ($P$ <0.05). ADE also significantly decreased production of interferon- ${\gamma}$ and interleukin (IL)-4 but not IL-2 in splenocytes ($P$ <0.05). We used a manually antibody microarray to carry out the signaling protein microarray analysis. Unfortunately, we did not find change of protein expression. These results suggest that ADE have the anti-fatigue effect and the immune regulation effect.

Evaluation of antitumor activity of stigmasterol, a constituent isolated from $Bacopa$ $monnieri$ Linn aerial parts against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma in mice

Ghosh, Tirtha,Maity, Tapan Kumar,Singh, Jagadish 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.1

Cancer remains as one of the most common cause of mortality worldwide. Cancer chemoprevention by natural products is well accepted nowadays. Phytoserols are natural products, showing anticancer activity, besides other activities. The purpose of this study was to examine the antitumor and antioxidant activity of stigmasterol, a phytosterol isolated from aerial parts of $Bacopa$ $monnieri$ Linn. against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC) in swiss albino mice. The effect of stigmasterol on the growth of transplantable murine tumor, life span of EAC bearing hosts, simultaneous alterations in the hematological profile, liver biochemical parameters (lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes) and histopthological studies of liver were examined. Stigmasterol decreased tumor volume, packed cell volume and viable cell count, and increased mean survival time thereby increasing life span of EAC tumor bearing mice. Hematological profile reverted to near normal levels in stigmasterol treated mice. Stigmasterol decreased the levels of lipid peroxidation and increased the levels of glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase in the liver of EAC bearing mice. Histopathological study of liver tissues showed that stigmasterol had significant protective effect against EAC bearing mice, which corroborates the above findings. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in ascitic fluid increased while membrane microviscosity of the EAC cells decreased upon stigmasterol treatment indicating its effect in the membrane integrity functions. The antitumor activity of stigmasterol might be mediated through the activation of protein phosphatase 2A by ceramide causing apoptosis, as is shown by structurally similar phytosterol.

Pinexol inhibits in vitro inflammatory biomarkers by blocking NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling pathway and protects mice from lethal endotoxemia

Kim, Ki-Dong,Kim, Hyun-Jung,Park, Kyung-Ran,Kim, Sung-Moo,Na, Yun-Cheol,Shim, Bum-Sang,Kim, Sung-Hoon,Choi, Seung-Hoon,Ahn, Kyoo-Seok,Ryu, Seung-Hee,Lee, Sang-Wook,Ahn, Kwang-Seok 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.1

Korean red pine ($Pinus$ $densiflora$) bark extract is used for the treatment of chronic inflammatory-related ailments through as yet undefined mechanisms. The present study was conducted to explore the anti-inflammatory activities of Korean red pine bark extract (commercially called Pinexol in Korea) in murine RAW264.7 macrophages and LPS-induced shock in mice. Here, we set out to determine whether the anti-inflammatory effects of Pinexol are mediated to suppress nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$) activation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. We found that Pinexol significantly suppressed LPS-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) and IL-6 production without affecting cell viability. Pinexol inhibited the expression of LPS-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein and their mRNA expression. As a result, Pinexol inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, which is hypothesized as being due to the suppression of LPS-induced NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. Moreover, Pinexol improved the survival rate during lethal endotoxemia by inhibiting the production of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 in an animal model and our GC-MS analysis using derivertization showed that four major components of Pinexol were cathechin, epi-catechin, and methylated catechins. Therefore, we demonstrate here the evidence that Korean red pine bark extract potentially inhibits the biomarkers related to inflammation in vitro and in vivo, and might be provided as a potential candidate for treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Snake venom neutralising factor from the root extract of $Emblica$ $officinalis$ $Linn.$

Sarkhel, S.,Chakravarty, A.K.,Das, R.,Gomes, Aparna,Gomes, A. 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.1

In vivo evaluation of anti-diarrheal activity of the rhizome of Nymphaea alba (Nymphaeaceae)

Bose, Anindya,Sahoo, Moumita,Ray, Sarbani Dey 경희한의학연구센터 2012 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.12 No.2

Ethanol extract of the of rhizome of Nymphaea alba, at graded doses was investigated for anti-diarrhoeal activity in term of reduction in the rate of defecation in castor oil induced diarrhoea and anti-inflammatory activity in term of reduction in inflammation of rat paw. To understand the mechanism of its anti-diarrhoeal activity, its effect was further evaluated on intestinal transit and castor oil induced intestinal fluid accumulation (enteropooling). At various doses (100 & 200 mg/kg body weight) the extract showed a remarkable anti-diarrhoeal activity evidenced by the reduction in the rate of defecation. Results are comparable to that of standard drug diphenoxylate (5 mg/kg body weight). A single oral dose of N. alba extract of 100 mg/kg body weight produced a significant decrease in the severity of diarrhoea. Extract produced profound decrease in intestinal transit (25.73 and 37.29%) also significantly inhibited castor oil induced enteropooling comparable to that of intraperitoneal injection of standard drug atropine sulphate at doses of 0.1 mg/kg body weight and loperamide at 5 mg/kg body weight respectively. Results indicate N. alba possess significant anti-diarrhoeal activity and may be a potent source of anti-diarrhoeal drug in future. But the extract did not show anti-inflammatory activity.

Evaluation of phytochemical and antimicrobial properties of $Commelina$ $diffusa$ Burm. f.

Khan, Md. Ahad Ali,Islam, Md. Torequl,Sadhu, Samir Kumar 경희한의학연구센터 2011 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine Vol.11 No.4