@article {1063, title = {Neuro-protective Effect of Ayurveda Formulation, Saraswatharishtam, on Scopolamine Induced Memory Impairment in Animal Model}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Journal}, volume = {12}, year = {2020}, month = {February 2020}, pages = {6-13}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {6}, abstract = {

Introduction: In the management of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases, memory loss remains very challenging. Saraswatharishtam (SWRT) is an ayurvedic formulation prescribed for several neurological illnesses like acute anxiety, partial memory loss, slurred speech, neuro degenerative diseases like Parkinson{\textquoteright}s, Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s etc. Methods: Present study explores the possibilities of curative effects of SWRT on Scopolamine induced memory impairment and to compare the effects of commonly used drug piracetam. Adult Wistar Swiss albino mice were used for this experiment and divided into five different groups for the treatments of the drugs in various combinations. The first group was vehicle treated control while the second group was treated with scopolamine to induce memory impairment. The third group of animals were treated with Scopolamine where the mice were pretreated with standard neuroprotective drug Piracetam, while the fourth and fifth group of animals were treated with scopolamine and the animals were pretreated with SWRT at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively to compare with the effect of Piracetam. Scopolamine was administered on day eight, only for 45 minutes in all the cases (Group I- Group V). Several neurobehavioral parameters were examined to confirm the neuroprotective effects of SWRT. Results: Saraswatharishtam significantly reversed the memory loss in mice model revealed from elevated plus maze, radial maze and rectangular maze experiments justifying its neuroprotective potential as observed in usually used synthetic Piracetam. SWRT was found to be nontoxic and very promising antioxidant recorded from acute and chronic toxicological studies. Conclusions: It is suggested that SWRT, could be used as safe and easily available Ayurveda medicine to treat neurological dysfunctions without any side effects. Further translational research is needed to explore its neuro-protective potential.

}, keywords = {Antioxidant, Ayurvedic medicine, Elevated Plus Maze, Neuroprotection, Piracetam, Saraswatharishtam, Scopolamine}, doi = {10.5530/pj.2020.12.2}, author = {Jai Prabhu and K Prabhu and Anathbandhu Chaudhuri and Mudiganti Ram Krishna Rao and VS Kalai Selvi and TK Balaji and Sruthi Dinakar} } @article {249, title = {Investigation of cytotoxicity induced by Nigella sativa and Azadirachta indica using MDA-MB-231, HCT 116 and SHSY5Y cell lines}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Journal}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {February 2017}, pages = {192-195}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {192}, abstract = {

Background: Indian herbal plants are widely used as medicine in the ancient ayurvedic and culinary purposes. Nigella sativa that also called as in black cumin is a flowering plant in the family ranunculiceae that is native to Southeast Asia. More recently Nigella sativa is also been used as anti cancer drug and protective agent against gamma radiation induced adverse effects in cell lines. Azadirachta indica commonly called as neem, is a tree belonging to mahogany family meliaceae. Azadirachta indica is also a traditional medicinal plant that used from a very long time in Indian ayurvedic and it is also been reported to have many beneficial effects including but not limited to anti-cancer and anti-diabetic effects. Objective: Find the IC50 values of Nigella sativa and Azadirachta indica ethanolic extracts in MDA-MB-231, HCT 116 and SHSY5Y cell lines. Methods: In this study we selected two cancerous cell lines (MDA-MB-231, HCT 116) and one neuronal cell line (SHSY5Y) and studied the effect of the two plant extracts namely Nigella sativa and Azadirachta indica on the cell metabolic activity. Results: This study revealed that cancerous cell lines are more prone to the plant extracts than the neuronal cell lines. These results suggest positive clues on how such medicinal plant extracts act against cancerous cells alone while affecting the normal cells to a limited extent. However, further studies are required to find if this effect is due to cytotoxicity, cytostaticity, or anti-adhesive property.

}, keywords = {Ayurvedic medicine, Cancer cells, Herbal plants, Neuronal cells}, doi = {10.5530/pj.2017.2.31}, url = {http://phcogj.com/fulltext/298}, author = {Sayani Banerjee and Shefali Pandey and Purbasha Mukherjee and Afia Sayeed and Apoorva Vasant Pandurangi and Shinomol George and Sahabudeen Sheik Mohideen} }