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Vinca rosea (Madagascar Periwinkle) and Adhatoda vesica (Malabar Nut)
Published in Azamal Husen, Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees of Potential Medicinal Benefits, 2022
Rajib Hossain, Md Shahazul Islam, Dipta Dey, Muhammad Torequl Islam
An extract of A. vasica leaf spissum was tested in rats for its potential abortive impact. Vasicine (0.85 0.03%) was the main alkaloid found in the extract. Between the first and ninth days of pregnancy, five pregnant females were given the extract (325 mg/kg/day) via a stomach cannula. Between the first and ninth days of pregnancy, 9 pregnant women were given 0.25 and 2.5% A. vasica in their water. The administration of A. vasica did not result in abortion in any of the treatment groups, according to the findings (Burgos et al., 1997).
Catalog of Herbs
Published in James A. Duke, Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2018
Used in Indian medicine for more than 2000 years, adhatoda now has a whole book dedicated to only one of its active alkaloids.77 In addition to antiseptic and insecticidal properties, vasicine produces a slight fall of blood pressure, followed by rise to the original level, and an increase in the amplitude of heart beats and a slowing of the rhythm. It has a slight but persistent bronchodilator effect. With a long history as an expectorant in India, vasicine has recently been modified to form the derivative bromhexine, a mucolytic inhalant agent, which increases respiratory fluid volume, diluting the mucus, and reduces its viscosity. Fluid extract of leaves liquifies sputum, relieving coughs and bronchial spasms. The plant also contains an unidentified principle agent active against the tubercular bacillus.111 Ad-hatodine, anisotinine, betaine, vasakin, vasicine, vasicinine, vasicinol, vasicinone, vasicoline, vasicolinone, are reported.41 Deoxyvasicine is a highly effective antifeedant followed by vasicinol and vasicine. “These plant products as antifeedants could be safely used for controlling pests on vegetable crops.”78
Phytochemistry of Harmal
Published in Ephraim Shmaya Lansky, Shifra Lansky, Helena Maaria Paavilainen, Harmal, 2017
Ephraim Shmaya Lansky, Shifra Lansky, Helena Maaria Paavilainen
The name vasicine derives from the common names vasa or vasaka, which refer to Justicia adhatoda, or by an alternative name, Adhatoda vasica, a medicinal plant native to Asia and employed in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and China that contains over 1% vasicine in its dried material (Figures 6.48 and 6.49). Vasaka or anatoda is well-known to Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani medicines with a reputation for improving respiratory function, though recent pharmacognostic investigations showing oxytocic or abortifacient actions of the plant have called into question its safety for use in treatment (Claeson et al. 2000), presumably owing at least in part to this vasicine and its congener, vasicinone (see below). Nevertheless, the plant has been a subject of several clinical trials, which have demonstrated its efficacy as an antitussive (Barth et al. 2015). In mice and guinea pigs, P. harmala–derived vasicine and deoxyvasicine, and vasicinone which was synthetically derived from vasicine, showed significant antitussive activity at the highest dose studied (45 mg/kg), which was comparable to codeine, and demonstrated bronchodilating and expectorant properties comparable to aminophylline (Liu et al. 2015c) (Figures 6.50 and 6.51).
Bromhexine and its inhibitory effect on lipase – kinetics and structural study
Published in Archives of Physiology and Biochemistry, 2022
Asma Gholami, Dariush Minai-Tehrani, Fereshteh Eftekhar
P. aeruginosa is a Gram-negative and opportunistic pathogenic bacterium which is the important cause of infection, particularly in the patients with cystic fibrosis, burn patients or hospitalised in intensive care units (Pollack 2000, Lyczak et al. 2002, de Bentzmann and Plesiat 2011). In this regard, P. aeruginosa uses some extracellular enzymes to degrade the extracellular matrix of host patients. The important extracellular enzymes produced by P. aeruginosa are protease (Frimmersdorf et al. 2010), elastase A and B (Cryz and Iglewski 1980), phospholipase C (Bever and Iglewski 1988) and lipases (Stuer et al. 1986, Ostroff and Vasil 1987). Some lipases are expressed and secreted by pathogenic organisms during the infection which causes biofilm in skin surface of patients. As a result, any agents that inhibit lipase activity may be important for medicine. Drugs are made to interact with certain receptors or enzymes, but irregularly; some drugs may bind to other enzymes or molecules in the body, which causes some side effect. Bromhexine is a synthetic substance obtained as a synthetic analog of vasicine, a substance found in a plant called Adhatoda vasica (Figure 1). It is a mucolytic agent which is used in the treatment of respiratory disorders associated with viscid or excessive mucus (Ellis and West 1970). In addition, bromhexine has antioxidant properties (Felix et al. 1996) and disrupts the structure of acid mucopolysaccharide fibers in mucoid sputum and produces less viscous mucus.
Carnosol suppresses microglia cell inflammation and apoptosis through PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway
Published in Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology, 2022
Yuhan Yan, Yu Liu, Yujiao Yang, Yi Ding, Xin Sun
PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation, metabolism, growth, differentiation, and apoptosis, and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammation, tumor, metabolism, and cardiovascular disease [17]. Altman et al. [37] found that vasicine can relieve the oxidative stress and inflammation through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Malnutrition, hypoxia, oxidative stress and other adverse factors can inhibit the activity of PI3K, reduce the activation of downstream AKT, inhibit cell proliferation, and induce cell apoptosis [38]. In this study, we found carnosol activates the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Then we speculated whether inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway would block the effect of carnosol. Interestingly, we found that LY294002 (an antagonist of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway) abrogated the therapeutic effect of carnosol on the proliferation, apoptosis, oxidative damage, and inflammation of OGD treated cells. These results illustrated that carnosol may relieve the process of ischemic stroke through regulating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.
Putative mechanism for cancer suppression by PLGA nanoparticles loaded with Peganum harmala smoke extract
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2021
Hoda Shabestarian, Masoud Homayouni Tabrizi, Monireh Movahedi, Ali Neamati, Fariba Sharifnia
Nowadays, many traditional medicines are enjoying a wide acceptance by the general public and continue to be used in their original form, including that of smoke. Among these medicinal smokes is the smoke from burning harmala seeds (Moloudizargari et al.2013, Shafiee and Moravej-Salehi 2015). Indigenous to Iran, harmala is a persistent, hairless plant, scientifically known as Peganum harmala from the Zygophyllaceae family (Abbott et al.2008, Marwat and Ur Rehman 2011). The active ingredients of Peganum include alkaloids that accumulate in its seeds and roots. These compounds are beta-carbolines, such as harmaline, harmine, harmalol, harman, and quinazoline, and their derivatives, such as vasicine and deoxyvasicinone (Kartal et al.2003, Passos and Mironidou-Tzouveleki 2016). In terms of temperament, harmala is warm and dry and has various properties characterised as hypnotic, antiperspirant, anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory (Lamchouri 2014).