Volume9,Issue12

Background: Onychomycosis is a fungal infection that affects toenails or fingernails and may involve any component of the nail unit.  Tea tree oil (TTO), or Melaleuca oil, is a pale yellow to nearly colorless, clear oil with a fresh camphoraceous odor that has antifungal effect if used from 5-100% concentration according to site of fungal affection. Aim: This study aimed to provide a new line for treatment of onychomycosis. Patients and methods: A randomized double blind interventional cohort prospective effectiveness trial, in which 66 patients with onychomycosis were recruited after their written consent was obtained. Patients on local or systemic treatment or with coexisting inflammatory skin disease were excluded. TTO efficacy in treatment of onychomycosis was evaluated by application of 100% TTO for 6 months with pre and post treatment nail culturing. Results: After 6 months treatment with TTO, 27% of patients were completely cured, 65% were partially cured and 8% had no response according to appearance of the index nail (the nail with the greatest fungal burden at the time of entry into the study). Calculation of P value by Chi-Square test, it equal 0.001 which is highly significant. Conclusion: TTO may play a role in treatment of onychomycosis without side effects of medications or surgical hazards caused by surgery.

Objective: The present work is an attempt to assess the in vitro antimicrobial activity of the leaves of Caesalpinia decapetala (Roth) fabaceae family collected from forest area of Tamilnadu, India. Methods: The crude drug was successively extracted by Soxhlet assembly using Petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol as solvents. Preliminary phytochemical screening of different extracts was carried out using several colour and precipitative chemical reagents as per described methods. Antimicrobial activity of the extracts was evaluated against fungal strains (Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans), Gram +ve bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes) and Gram –ve bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) using agar wells dilution method. Nutrient agar medium at37 ^oC and sabouraud dextrose e agar medium at 28 oC were used in antimicrobial activity evaluation and antifungal activity evaluation respectively. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening of C. decepetala leaves showed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, phytosterols, saponins and flavonoids crude drug. C. decapetala leaf extracts exhibited marked dose dependent antibacterial activity in vitro against tested bacteria. Methanolic extract was found to be more potent particularly against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram +ve bacteria) and staphylococcus aeruginosa (Gram -ve bacteria). Conclusion: Various phytochemicals were found to be present in C. decepetala leaves. Methanolic extract of C. decepetala leaves exhibited better antimicrobial activity in vitro and can be used as a good therapeutic approach for infectious disease management and therapy. Further studies on isolation of phyto-constituents and both in vitro and in vivo evaluation of pharmacological activities of isolated bioactive constituents of the crude drug are recommended as future works.

The objective of the present study was to find out the best organic solvent and extraction method for the isolation of thymoquinone from Nigella sativa L. seeds. The seeds of N. sativa were authenticated by a taxonomist, washed, dried and powdered. Different extraction techniques such as maceration, soxhlet, reflux and ultrasound assisted extraction  were employed for extraction of thymoquinone from seeds by using three solvents of different polarity like petroleum ether, hexane and methanol. Thymoquinone was quantified in each sample extract of seeds by simple high performance liquid chromatography technique. The content of thymoquinone was found to be higher in methanolic extract among the various techniques and solvents tried. Ultrasound assisted extraction technique was observed the best for extraction of thymoquinone. The calibration curve of standard thymoquinone demonstrated linear relationship in the concentration range of  1 to 0.0625 µg/ml with correlation coefficient, r² of 0.9976. It can be concluded on the basis of HPLC finding that ultrasound assisted extraction technique is the best for extraction of thymoquinone . This method will be preffered in industy or academia for extraction of thymoquine from N. sativa seeds.

The work was intended to investigate the antibacterial activity of the various medicinal plants viz. Calotropis procera, Jatropha curcas, Cryptostegia grandiflora, Clerodendron inermis and Cassia tora, collected from Indore (Madhya Pradesh, India) region. The aim of the study, with an objective, was to evaluate the antimicrobial potentials and to determine the zone of inhibition of extracts of selected plants on some medically important bacterial strains. The antimicrobial activity was determined in the extracts using agar disc diffusion method. Various plant extracts were tested for the antibacterial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium diphteriae. Zone of inhibition of extracts were compared with that of standards like streptomycin. The outcomes illustrated that the noteworthy inhibition of the bacterial growth was shown against the tested organisms. The phytochemical analyses of the plants were also carried out. The microbial activity of the selected plant was due to the presence of various secondary metabolites. Hereafter, these plants can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals research activities.

Food has been seen and known to be the very basis of human health and wellbeing since time immemorial. Also, ancient history and tradition, has helped to emphasize the benefits of herbs and spices in traditional medicine. Advancement in biomedical technology has led to the duty in science to study and review the interface between foods and medicines, particularly those derived from medicinal plants. Scientific supports for the health benefits of medicinal plants particularly herbs and spices, have led to increased consumer demands for some herbs and spices creating huge international demands and market. However, despite the huge resources of these raw materials in Nigeria and Africa, they remain an almost insignificant player in the global spice market. The interface between Nigerian plant products and resources used as food, herbs and spices on one hand and their potential for development as a competitive source of pharmaceutical raw material for nutraceutical industry and the global market of herb and spices on other hand, is discussed.

Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche (Proteaceae) is one of the major tree crops of the world. In addition to its nutritional value, macadamia also contains a number of phytochemicals that are responsible for a variety of bioactivities, among which hypocholesterolic activity which has been frequently studied. No previous studies were done on the Macadamia cultivated in Egypt, this encouraged the authors to perform the present study aiming to throw light on the nutritional profile of title plant. Proximate analysis of the leaves, pericarp and kernel Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche includes the determination of moisture content, total ash, total protein, total fats, total carbohydrates and crude fibers, study of vitamin E content by using HPLC, determination of the mineral content according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists(A.A.O.C). Macadamia showed a total fat (5.085%) in leaves, (67.96%) in kernel and (0.34%) in pericarp. The protein constitute (6.65 %) in leaves, (20.81%) in kernel and (6.91%) in pericarp. Carbohydrate constitutes (72.35%) in leaves, (5.8%) in kernel and (77.58%) in pericarp.   Moisture content ranged from (11.72%) in leaves, (2.83%) in kernel and (9,65%) in pericarp.  Ash content was (4.2%) in leaves, (2.6%) in kernel and (5.52%) in pericarp. The content of vitamin E in macadamia tested parts was (133.18 mg/100gm) in leaves, (61.49 mg/100gm) in kernel and (98.78 mg/100gm) in pericarp. The mineral contents of macadamia tested parts were resulted Calcium (851.51 mg/100gm) in leaves, (181.64 mg/100gm) in kernel and (177.16 mg/100gm) in pericarp, Potassium (838.16 mg/100g) in leaves, (3458.14 mg/100gm) in kernel and (7803.68 mg/100gm) in pericarp, Sodium constitutes (309.36 mg/100g) in leaves, (69.67 mg/100gm) in kernel and (156.58 mg/100gm) in pericarp, Iron was (9.72 mg/100g) in leaves, (9.48 mg/100gm) in kernel and (9.75 mg/100gm) in pericarp and Copper resulted (0.76 mg/100g)  in leaves, (0.634 mg/100gm) in kernel and (0.668 mg/100gm) in pericarp.

A new active  rolyeanone-type diterpenoid p-quinone  (Moquinone) against hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Hep G2 together with four known compounds were isolated from the aerial parts of Rosmarinus officinalis L. The structure of the new compound was determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis including IR, EIMS, 1D and 2D 400MHz NMR data (¹H, ¹³C NMR, DEPT 135 and ¹H-¹H COSY), whereas the structure of the known compounds were identified by comparison of their IR, MS, ¹H and ¹³C NMR analysis with those reported in the literature data.