Objectives: To determine regular use of alternative remedies amongst undergraduate students. Design: Questionnaire covered use of alternative remedies as well as demographic details. Settings/Location: Online completion of the questionnaire. Subjects: Sixty-nine participants (55 female, 14 male) aged between 18 to 30 years studying undergraduate psychology at Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK. Interventions: Structured open and closed questions; all questions were given to all of the participants. Outcome Measures: Qualitative comments were captured as well as percentage of respondents according to answers collected. Results: Most respondents had used remedies for exam "anxiety" and obtained these products from relatives or friends or relatives....

Shea butter is traditionally used in Africa for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. In this study we explored the anti-inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract of shea butter (SBE) using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine macrophage cell line J774. It was observed that SBE significantly reduced the levels of LPS-induced nitric oxide, Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukins, 1β (IL-1β), and -12 (IL-12) in the culture supernatants in a dose dependent manner. Expression of pro-inflammatory enzymes, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were also inhibited by SBE. These anti-inflammatory effects were due to an inhibitory action of SBE on LPS-induced iNOS,...

Raphanus sativus (abbreviated in this paper as Rs.Cr) and Areca catechu (Ac.Cr), commonly known as radish and betel nut respectively, are traditionally used in South Asia for different gastrointestinal, gallbladder, and hepatic diseases. There has not been any study to see how they modulate gallbladder contractility. We selected isolated rabbit gallbladder tissue preparations, mounted them in tissue baths containing Krebs-Henseleit solution at 37°C, and then recorded the changes in baseline tone of the tissues upon administration of Rs.Cr and Ac.Cr. Both the extracts exhibited concentration-dependent stimulant effect on the baseline tone of gallbladder tissues, similar to carbachol, a muscarinic receptor...

Diabetic neuropathic pain, an important microvascular complication in diabetes, is recognised as one of the most difficult types of pain to treat. The development of tolerance, inadequate relief, and potential toxicity of classical antinociceptives warrant the investigation of the newer agents to relieve this pain. Reactive oxygen/nitrogen species, increased oxidative stress, cytokines, and apoptosis are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of methanolic extract of aerial parts of H. spinosa (HSME) on alloxan induced diabetic neuropathy in Wistar rats. Diabetic rats developed neuropathy after the third week of...

Capparis sepiaria L. known as Himsra is an important drug in Ayurveda. In this study extracts of the root of C. sepiaria were evaluated for their hepatoprotective potential on acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in albino Wistar rats. The extent of hepatoprotection was evaluated by estimating the serum levels of hepatic transaminases (SGPT and SGOT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP), and bilirubin (total and direct). Aqueous and ethanol extracts of C. sepiaria significantly reduced the increased liver weight as well as serum levels of SGPT, SGOT, ALP, and bilirubin, and normalized the reduced serum protein levels in the treated rats. These observations...