Jundishapur Journal of Natural Pharmaceutical Products
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Nov 2014

Investigations across the world confirm dramatic increment in the use of complementary and alternative medicine in pregnant women. The most important aspect is lack of awareness of pregnant women about potential effects of using traditional medicine on fetus; some herbal products may be teratogenic in human and animal models. In this area, so far, no research has been conducted in Ethiopia to assess traditional medicine use in pregnant women.. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and use of herbal drugs among pregnant women attending Nekemte Hospital to provide baseline information for future studies..Patients and A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted by quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify the prevalence of using herbal medicines among pregnant women. About 50.4% of study participants used herbal drugs during their pregnancy. The proportion of herbal drug usage was gradually decreased along with the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The most and least commonly used herbs were ginger (44.36%) and tenaadam (9.15 %), respectively. The common indications of herbal remedies use during pregnancy were nausea (23.90%) and morning sickness (21.05%).. The result of the present study confirmed wide use of herbal drugs use during pregnancy that need to report the safety concerns of these drugs during pregnancy.. To achieve the requirements of pregnant women, it is vital for health care workers to be familiar with the effect of herbal medicine in pregnancy..

Targeted drug delivery to colon would ensure direct treatment at the disease site, decrease in dose administration and reduction side effects improved drug utilization.. The purpose of this research was to decrease gastric side effects of piroxicam by formulating microspheres of alginate and algino-pectinate beads of the drug.. Ionotropic gelation was used to entrap piroxicam into alginate and algino-pectinate mucoadhesive microspheres as a potential drug carrier for oral delivery of piroxicam. Microparticles with different drug to polymers ratio were prepared and characterized by encapsulation efficiency, particle size, DSC (differential scanning calorimetric), mucoadhesive property, gastroretentive time and drug release studies.. The best drug to polymer ratio of microparticles was 1:2.5 (F1) with Na-Alg and 1:7.5 (F4) with Alg-Na with pectin, respectively. The microparticles F1 and F4 showed 28.80%, 50.01% loading efficiency, 82.57%, 82.31% production yield and 945.4, 899.91 µm mean particle size. DSC showed stable character of piroxicam in drug-loaded microparticles and revealed amorphous form. It was found that microparticles (Na-Alg) prepared had faster release and microparticles (Alg-Na and pectin mixture) prepared had slower release than untreated piroxicam (P < 0.05). Microparticles (mixture of Na-Alg and pectin) exhibited very good percentage of mucoadhesion and flowability properties. Mucoadhesion strength and retention time study showed better retention of piroxicam microparticles in intestine. Besides, there was a significant higher retention of mucoadhesive microparticles in upper GI tract.. Algino-pectinate mucoadhesive formulations exhibited promising properties of a sustained release form for piroxicam and provided distinct tissue protection in stomach..

Perovskia abrotanoides Karel. is a medicinal plant used in Iranian folk medicine as a pain killer. Forty-one components have been identified in P. abrotanoides samples collected from Baluchistan Province, and 29 components have been recognized in samples collected from Khorasan Province. The leaves of P. abrotanoides have glandular trichomes (capitates and peltate) on both sides of the lamina.. This study aimed to evaluate the variation of oil constituents of the plant and illustrate the glandular trichomes types and then show the influence of environment on oil constituents and glandular trichomes.. The essential oil of the plant was obtained using hydrodistillation and the analysis of oils carried out using GC-MS. The anatomical analysis of leaves was done by fixing, coloring, and photoing the sections.. Glandular trichomes composed of capitates and peltate trichomes. The essential oil composition differs. Viridiflora and neryl acetate were not identified in yellow glandular trichomes.. It seems that there is no relation between anatomical characteristics of the plant leaves and its essential oil composition..

High expression of p-glycoprotein (P-gp) has been associated with a poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is likely that P-gp overexpression is responsible for multidrug resistance in HCC.. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of potent carcinogen nitrosamine with and without verapamil and rifampin drugs on P-gp expression at the mRNA level in HCC.. Four groups of rats (n = 5) were selected with different treatments and one group as control. mRNA concentration changes were monitored using quantitative PCR (QPCR).. A significant difference was found between verapamil treated group and the control regarding the mRNA level. The mdr1a mRNA was significantly decreased in the verapamil group (P ≤ 0.001). Rifampin administrated group had a decreased level of the mdr1a mRNA compared to the control group (P ≤ 0.006). No significant changes were observed in HCC induced rats regarding the mdr1a mRNA level when treated with verapamil and rifampin. An enhanced expression of the mdr1a gene was found In the HCC induced animals when treated with drugs.. Verapamil and rifampin were found specific and effective against P-gp expression in HCC. In conclusion, treatment efficacy of most anticancer drugs is increased in combination with verapamil and rifampin against most advanced HCC..

Urtica dioica is a flowering plant with long history of use in folk medicine and as a food source.. This study examined in vitro antibacterial potential of alcoholic extracts of U. dioica.. Hydroalcoholic extracts from aerial parts were prepared using aqueous solution of ethanol and methanol and their inhibitory effects against clinical isolates was examined by disc diffusion method at different doses. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) indexes were also investigated. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was also performed to find structural changes of affected bacteria consequent to exposing with extracts.. Both extracts were active against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli with respectively 16, 10, 18, and 14 mm (methanolic) and 11, 9, 17, and 16 mm (ethanolic) inhibition zone. The MIC of ethanolic extract against S. epidermidis and E. coli was respectively 10 and 40 mg/mL. The MIC of methanolic extract against S. aureus and S. epidermidis was 40 and 10 mg/mL, respectively. The MBC was found only for S. epidermidis (20 mg/mL). In SEM analysis the round shape of S. epidermidis was changed and irregular shapes were appeared, which suggest that the main target of these extracts was cell wall.. Extracts of U. dioica showed significant antibacterial effect against some clinically important pathogenic bacteria. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that U. dioica is useful as antibacterial and bactericidal agent in treating infectious diseases..

Irreversible myocardial ischemic injury begins 20 minutes after the onset of coronary occlusion. Then the infarcted cells show signs of necrosis and death.. This study investigated the effects of co-administration of Gallic acid (antioxidant) with cyclosporine (mitochondrial permeability transition pore [mPTP] inhibitor) on myocardial morphology of rats during ischemia and reperfusion.. Fifty-four male Wistar rats (250-300 g), were randomly divided into 9 groups: sham, control (Ca received saline, 1 mL/kg, Cb: perfused with cyclosporine CsA 0.2 µM), 3 groups pretreated with Gallic acid in saline (G1a:7.5, G2a:15, and G3a: 30 mg/kg/day, and gavage daily for 10 days, n = 6), and the other three groups were pretreated with Gallic acid then perfused using CsA, (G1b:7.5, G2b:15, and G3b: 30 mg/kg/day) at the first 13 minutes of reperfusion period. After 10 days pretreatment, the rat hearts were isolated and transferred to Langendorff apparatus and exposed to 30 minutes ischemia following 60 minutes reperfusion. Afterward, the hearts were preserved in 10% formalin for histological studies at the end of the experiment. Finally, hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining techniques were used for evaluating the changes in myocardial architecture, degradation of myofibers, and collagen integrity. The differences were analyzed using Pearson test.. Cell degenerative changes, pyknotic nuclei, contraction bands, edema, and loosening of collagen in between muscle fibers were observed during ischemia-reperfusion. Myocardial architecture and cellular morphology were recovered in co-administration groups, especially in (Gallic acid 15 mg/kg + CsA, P < 0.001).. The results suggest the important role of the antioxidant system potentiation in the prevention of myocardial damage..

Use of medicinal plants with high antioxidant properties could be effective to increase fertility and improvement of disorders such as hormonal imbalance, impotency, oligospermia and immotile sperm. Celery (Apium graveolens) is rich in antioxidant agents. The leaf and stems of celery contain phenols, furanocoumarin and luteolin. Apigenin is one of the main flavonoids of celery leaf.. This study aimed to investigate the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of celery on histological properties of testis and number of sexual cells in male rats.. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were divided into four groups of eight rats each. Control, did not receive any medication; sham, received normal saline; and two groups received celery extract orally in dosages of 100 and 200 mg/kg/BW once every two days for 60 days. At the end, animals were anesthetized, and caudal part of the right epididymis was used for sperm counting. After fixation of testis, tissue sections were prepared and studied microscopically to evaluate morphometric (lumen diameter, number of primary spermatocyte and sertoli cell) and histological changes. Data was analyzed by one-way ANOVA test using SPSS15 software. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.. There was a significant increase in the number of sperms, sertoli cells, and primary spermatocyte (P < 0.05) in groups receiving extract; however, structural changes were not observed in the groups.. It seems that celery increases spermatogenesis in male rats, but has no destructive effects on testicular tissue..

Well-documented studies reported several pharmacological properties for crocin, the active compound of Crocus sativus, such as its antitumor, radical scavenging, antidepressant, and memory-enhancing effects.. We aimed to evaluate the possible cytotoxic activity of crocin on B lymphocytes in human myeloma (U266 cell line) after 24- and 48-hour treatment.. For this purpose, cell viability was determined by the colorimetric MTT assay and cell death pattern was evaluated using Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI) apoptosis detection kit. ROS (reactive oxygen species) production and DNA fragmentation were assessed using 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) kit and PI staining, respectively.. The highest concentration of crocin significantly decreased ROS production after 48 hours of treatment. However, crocin had no effect on the expression level of HSP (Heat shock protein). Additionally, its administration caused a mild decline in cell viability and a mild increase in the population of DNA fragmented cells as well as apoptosis.. In our study, no prominent effect was seen; therefore, in order to have a better perspective of crocin activity against cancerous cell lines, further studies are highly recommended..

2-Aminopyridine and benzaldehydes mixture readily reacted with phenols at 80°C without any solvents to produce novel 2-[phenyl (pyridine-2-yl amino (methyl] phenol derivatives as pseudo-Betti products in good to high yields. These compounds are efficient processor for synthesis of the natural products.. We decided to report the synthesis of a series of novel N-heteroaryl-arylmethyl phenols via a simple three-component, one-pot method, using aromatic aldehydes, heteroaryl amines, and phenols in the absence of any acid catalysts and under solvent-free conditions.. All starting materials were purchased from Merck and Aldrich companies. The IR spectra were recorded on a Perkin-Elmer RXI infrared spectrometer.. The reaction is convenient, operationally simple, proceeds quickly, and does not need solvents or expensive starting materials. The structures of the products were characterized by their spectral (1H NMR and IR) data.. We have developed a new, simple, and efficient method for one-pot aminoalkylation of active phenol compounds with various imines prepared from 2-aminopyrimidine and benzaldehydes in good to high yields (40%-97%)..

Hepatotoxicity due to drugs is the most common cause of deaths. Nephrotoxicity of the drugs is usually associated with the drugs accumulation in renal tissue. Paromomycin sulfate (PMS) is an anti-leishmania drug. Although the topical approach for the treatment of leishmania is attractive, its use might cause nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity.. This study aimed to evaluate probable nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity of topically administered PMS liposomes.. Nine groups of male rats were used in this study; each group consisted of 6 rats that were evaluated in 3 time periods of 10, 20, and 30 days. Three groups were placed in each time period; a control group did not receive any medicine; a negative control group received liposome without paromomycin sulfate; and a positive control group received nanoliposomal formulations containing paromomycin sulfate. Pharmaceutical formulation (topical form) was used 2 times a day in a 12-hour interval. At the end of the period, hepatic enzymes (ALT, AST, and ALK), BUN levels, and serum creatinine were measured.. The results showed that no significant change was occurred in the amount of the above factors compared with the control group with the negative control group in 3 time periods (P > 0.05). The histopathological results of the liver and kidney showed that there was no difference in the between the negative control and positive control groups and the control group in the 10- and 20-day periods, and they had a normal structure. However, after the 30-day time period a reversible cellular inflammation in the liver and mild kidney necrosis was seen in the positive control group versus the control and negative control groups.. In general, it can be said that the application of nanoliposomal paromomycin sulfate formulations for topical treatment of the cutaneous leishmaniasis does not create serious side effects in the short term, but its long-term use leads to mild renal and liver side effects that requires more attention..