http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/3317 Search the Channel search http://nopr.niscair.res.in/simple-search http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/7255 Title: Hypolipidemic activity of <i>Hibiscus rosa sinensis</i> root in rats <br/> <br/>Authors: Kumar, Vishnu; Singh, Pradyumn; Chander, Ramesh; Mahdi, Farzana; Singh, Sushma; Singh, Ranjana <br/> <br/>Abstract: <smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"> The hypolipidemic activity of <i>Hibiscus rosa sinensis </i>(family Malvaceae) root extract was studied on triton and cholesterol-rich high fat diet (HFD) induced models of hyperlipidemia in rats. In triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipidemia, feeding with root extract (500 mg/kg body wt/day p.o.) exerted lipid-lowering effect, as assessed by reversal of plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC), phospholipids (PL) and triglycerides (TG) and reactivation of post-heparin lipolytic activity (PHLA) of plasma. The other model was fed with cholesterol-rich HFD and root extract (500 mg/kg body wt/ day p.o.) simultaneously for 30 days. This also caused lowering of lipid levels in plasma and liver homogenate and reactivation of plasma PHLA and hepatic total lipoprotein lipase activity. The hypolipidemic activity of <i style="">Hibiscus rosa sinensis </i>root was compared with a standard drug guggulipid (200 mg/kg body wt/day p.o.), a known lipid- lowering agent in both models. Histopathological findings in rat liver supported the protective role of <i>H. rosa sinensis </i>root<i> </i>extract in preventing cholesterol-rich HFD-induced hepatic steatosis. </smarttagtype> <br/> <br/>Page(s): 507-510 http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/7254 Title: Blood pressure lowering, fibrinolysis enhancing and antioxidant activities of Cardamom (<i style="">Elettaria cardamomum</i>) <br/> <br/>Authors: Verma, S K; Jain, Vartika; Katewa, S S <br/> <br/>Abstract: <smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="metricconverter"> <i style="">Elettaria cardamomum </i>(L.) Maton. (Small cardamom) fruit powder was evaluated for its antihypertensive potential and its effect on some of the cardiovascular risk factors in individuals with stage 1 hypertension. Twenty, newly diagnosed individuals with primary hypertension of stage 1 were administered 3 g of cardamom powder in two divided doses for 12 weeks. Blood pressure was recorded initially and at 4 weeks interval for 3 months. Blood samples were also collected initially and at 4 weeks interval for estimation of lipid profile, fibrinogen and fibrinolysis. Total antioxidant status, however, was assessed initially and at the end of the study. Administration of 3 g cardamom<i style=""> </i>powder significantly (p<0.001) decreased systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure and significantly (p<0.05) increased fibrinolytic activity at the end of 12^th week. Total antioxidant status was also significantly (p<0.05) increased by 90% at the end of 3 months. However, fibrinogen and lipid levels were not significantly altered. All study subjects experienced a feeling of well being without any side-effects. Thus, the present study demonstrates that small cardamom effectively reduces blood pressure, enhances fibrinolysis and improves antioxidant status, without significantly altering blood lipids and fibrinogen levels in stage 1 hypertensive individuals.<b style=""></b> </smarttagtype> <br/> <br/>Page(s): 503-506 http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/7253 Title: Therapeutic role of L-arginine on free radical scavenging system in ischemic heart diseases <br/> <br/>Authors: Tripathi, Pratima; Misra, M K <br/> <br/>Abstract: Increased production of free radicals under oxidative stress conditions plays a vital role in the impairment of endothelial function and also in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart diseases. Ischemia, followed by reperfusion, leads to the exacerbated formation of oxy- free radicals. These reactive oxygen species through a chain of reactions damage the cardiomyocytes and cause more injury to the myocardium. L-Arginine is reported to act as free radical scavenger, inhibits the activity of pro-oxidant enzymes and thus acts as an antioxidant and these roles of L-arginine are mediated by nitric oxide (NO). In the present study, the effect of oral administration of L-arginine (3 g/day for 7 days) on some antioxidant enzymes, total thiols, lipid peroxidation measured as malondialdehyde (MDA), and plasma ascorbate levels in myocardial ischemic patients was investigated. We observed an increase in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), total thiols (T-SH) and plasma ascorbate levels and a decrease in the activity of xanthine oxidase (XO), MDA levels, carbonyl content and serum cholesterol in the patients on oral administration of L-arginine. The present study demonstrates that L-arginine administration may be beneficial to patients with myocardial ischemic disorders, such as acute myocardial infarction and acute angina. <br/> <br/>Page(s): 498-502 http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/7252 Title: Novel multi-layer APPPA microcapsules for oral delivery: preparation condition, stability and permeability <br/> <br/>Authors: Ouyang, Wei; Chen, Hongmei; Jones, Mitchell L; Haque, Tasima; Martoni, Christopher; Afkhami, Fateme; Prakash, Satya <br/> <br/>Abstract: Oral therapy utilizing cell microencapsulation has shown promise in the treatment of many diseases. Current obtainable microcapsule membranes, however, show inadequate stability in the gastrointestinal (GI) environment, thus restricting the general application of live cells for oral therapy. To overcome this limitation, we have previously developed a novel multi-layer alginate/poly-L-lysine/pectin/poly-L-lysine/alginate microcapsule (APPPA) with demonstrated improvement on membrane stability over the frequently reported alginate/poly-L-lysine/alginate (APA) microcapsules. In this study, we further examined the effects of preparation conditions on microcapsule formation, and assessed the membrane strength and GI stability. Results showed that increased membrane strength of the APPPA microcapsules was attained by using pectin with low degree of esterification as the mid-layer material, saline as the solvent for the preparation solutions and washing medium, and 0.1 M CaCl₂ as the gelling solution for alginate cores. Resistance of this membrane to the simulated GI fluids was also investigated. Permeability of and release profiles from the APPPA microcapsules were found comparable to the APA microcapsules. These findings suggested that the multi-layer APPPA microcapsule formulation may have potential in oral delivery of proteins, live bacterial cells and other biomedical applications. <br/> <br/>Page(s): 491-497