The formation of free radicals is a widely accepted pivotal mechanism leading to skin ageing. Skin ageing is a complex, progressive, time-dependent deterioration caused by intrinsic and extrinsic factors or environmental factors. Skin is equipped with an elaborate antioxidant system that protects it from oxidative damage due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. However, the natural antioxidant pool can be compromised or overwhelmed by oxidative stress of excess UV exposure, as well as cigarette smoke and other airborne pollutants. Topical antioxidants have been demonstrated to protect the skin from free radical damage and its regular application can actually reverse pervious photodamage. Topical antioxidants are available in over-the-counter skin care products that are aimed at preventing the clinical signs of photoageing. The present review summarises scientific literature regarding efficacy of topical antioxidants and significance of novel delivery systems for topical antioxidant delivery for combating skin ageing.

In recent times use of plant natural products has increased tremendously, and there is a very high demand of herbal products for therapeutic, clinical, agricultural purposes. Plant latex is a rich source of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and immune allergens. It also contains important biomolecules such as glycosides, tannins, phytosterols, Flavonoids, acetogenins and saponins, which show diverse biolgical activities against bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoans, nematodes, insects, and cancer and tumours. It is also used as disinfectant, anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative agent that provides protection in wounds. It contains wide variety of industrially important metabolic substances which can be harvested, modified, quenched, and polymerized easily for making goods and materials by up-gradation of technology. No doubt it is a future raw material for many bioengineering and biotechnological industries.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) occur throughout the world. In Nigeria, STDs are one of the leading diseases affecting a vast majority of people. The prevalence rate of these diseases is high in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, especially in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. Majority of the population turn to traditional medical practitioners (TMPs), who are available in every community for the treatment of STDs, due to lack of access to modern health facilities and also due to the social stigma associated with the diseases. An ethnomedicinal survey was conducted on the TMPs of various communities of Akwa Ibom and Rivers States of Nigeria to obtain and document information on the medicinal plants used to treat STDs. Interviews were conducted in the local language about plant parts, ailments treated, method of preparation and dosages. The statistical analyses used were use-value, fidelity level, bar chart, and pie chart. Thirty-six plant species representing 26 families were reported by 105 TMPs as remedies for STDs including gonorrhoea and syphilis. Gonorrhoea was the most important disease treated. The medicinal plants used may serve as a source of new and effective drugs and the TMPs may serve as additional source of health manpower.

The objective of the present investigation was to study the protective role of aqueous extract of pulps of Benincasa hispida (BH) on nimesulide-induced hepatotoxicity model in adult male albino rats. Hepatotoxicity in rats was caused by nimesulide at a dose of 10 mg-/ ml/kg body weight. Hepamerz (L-ornithine, L-aspartate) was administered orally as standard hepatoprotective agent for 14 consecutive days prior to nimesulide treatment at a dose of 10 mg-/ml/kg body weight. This drug has many side effects. These side effects have prompted the scientific world for the search of alternative herbal remedies of liver damage. In our country BH is easily available, cheap and has no side effects. The aqueous pulp extract of BH was administered orally to rats daily for 14 days before nimesulide treatment. The biochemical parameters were investigated. The results indicated that biochemical changes produced by nimesulide were restored to normal by aqueous extract of pulps of BH. The aqueous pulp extract of BH showed significant hepatoprotective effect through the modulation of antioxidant-mediated mechanism by altering serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidation levels against nimesulide-induced hepatotoxicity model in rats.

Acute liver injury is a serious state of extensive damage of liver tissue caused by various reasons. In traditional medicine, certain medicinal plants have been used to cure and prevent some liver diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of oil extract of Nigella sativa seeds in rabbit models with induced acute liver injury. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl ₄ ) was used to induce hepatotoxicity at a dose of 1.25 ml/kg as a mixture with olive oil. N. sativa oil extract was administered at a dose of 0.2 ml/kg/day orally for 7 days. The hepatoprotective effect was assessed by liver function tests and histopathological sections of the liver. Significant reduction in the liver damage was found in animals treated with the extract, as indicated by low levels of serum enzymes, serum bilirubin and improvement of serum protein. Besides, restoration of hepatocellular architecture was evident, as indicated by the presence of normal hepatic vessels, absence of necrosis, and fatty infiltration. The oil extract of N. sativa seeds showed significant hepatoprotective activity.

In the present study, the in vitro immunomodulatory activity of Ricinus communis Linn (Euphorbiaceae) was determined on human neutrophils. The isolated compound (tannin) of R. communis leaves was screened for its possible immunomodulatory activity by carrying out nitroblue tetrazolium test, phagocytosis of killed Candida albicans, neutrophil locomotion and chemotaxis. The isolated compound was tested at concentrations, viz. 10 μg/ml, 20 μg/ml, 40 μg/ml, 100 μg/ml and 1000 μg/ml. The isolated compound of R. communis showed predominantly significant activity on human neutrophils in all the parameters tested, which was comparable to the standard and control at different concentrations, indicating the possible immunostimulating effect.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that leads to dementia, behavioural and cognitive impairments. The study was aimed to investigate the effect of Ageratum conyzoides (AC) on memory and whole brain acetylcholinesterase activity in mice by employing the exteroceptive behavioural models like elevated plus maze and Morris water maze and interoceptive behavioural models like scopolamine and natural ageing inducing amnesia. AC (250, 500 and 750 mg/kg, orally p.o.) produced a dose-dependent improvement in learning capability and retention memory of both young and aged mice. Furthermore, it also reversed the scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg, i.p.) and natural ageing-induced amnesia in young and old mice respectively. One more important thing about AC is that it increases the acetylcholine indirectly by reducing the whole brain acetylcholinestrease activity. Hence AC may have a beneficial effect in the management of neurodegenerative disorder of Alzheimer's type.

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of phytochemicals has grown as a promising technique in recent years. MAE method was developed for extraction of Lupeol from Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. growing on different hosts. An open vessel modified microwave system has been used for extraction of Lupeol. Various critical parameters such as use of solvent, solvent volume, power and time of irradiation were optimized. Methanol was selected as an extraction solvent based on its high dielectric constant value and maximum solubility of Lupeol. The solvent volume, microwave power and irradiation time were optimized to 10 mL, 160 Watts and 3 min respectively. The developed method is a good alternative to time consuming conventional extraction techniques.

Roots of Clerodendrum phlomidis are used by the local people of Dibrugarh district of Assam state India as a dietary supplement for treating weight issues and are also mentioned in the traditional system of Indian medicine as a remedy for obesity. We examined the anti-obesity effect of Clerodendrum phlomidis (family Verbenaceae) L. roots against cafeteria diet (CD) and progesterone-induced obesity. In CD-induced model obesity was induced by feeding CD for 48-days and increase in body weight and fat storage was suppressed co-administration with methanolic extract of Clerodendrum phlomidis (MECP) at 400 mg/kg. Blood analysis showed that the levels of triglyceride and cholesterol were significantly lowered by MECP administration and there is subsequent rise in HDL-cholesterol level. From this experiment, we demonstrated that MECP is effective in ameliorating the CD-induced hyperglycemia, hyperinsulimenia, dyslepidemia, increase in wet weight of white adipose tissue, and hypertrophy of fat cells. In drug induced obesity model hyperphagia was induced by progesterone (10 mg/kg s.c.) for 28 days and was suppressed by co-administration with MECP in dose dependent manner. It is tempting to speculate that these protective effects shown by Clerodendrum phlomidis is by multiple mechanisms. MECP contains β-sitosterol in the abundant quantity because of the structural similarity it do the physical competition with natural sterols while absorption of food stuffs from GIT and moreover the crude saponin and flavonoid has been reported for it's the appιtit suppressant property and hence reduces hyperphagia produced by progesterone. This is the first report demonstrating that Clerodendrum phlomidis is effective in ameliorating insulin resistance and visceral obesity induced by CD and Progesterone.

The antimicrobial activities of crude methanolic extracts of five spices and herbs viz. Cuminum Cyminum (Family: Apiaceae), Nigella sativa (Family: Ranunculaceae), Pimpinella anisum (Family: Apiaceae), Trachyspermum copticum (Family: Umbelliferae), and rhizome of Zingiber officinale (Family: Zingiberaceae) were investigated by agar well diffusion method against gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were assessed by the diameter of zone of inhibition against test strains. The extract of N. sativa showed the best inhibition against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The extract of Z. officinale and P. anisum showed same minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against all the test strains. The extract showed significant inhibitory activity against B. amyloliquefaciens, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus. The extract of C. cyminum significantly inhibited S. aureus, B. amyloliquefaciens, and P. aeruginosa. The extract of T. copticum was effective against E. coli, B. amyloliquefaciens, and P. aeruginosa, while the highest MIC obtained against S. aureus. The diameters of zone of inhibition obtained for standard antibiotics viz. ampicillin, erythromycin, and tetracycline at MIC values of the extracts were compared with the crude methanolic extracts and found equally or more effective against the test strains. Phytochemical analysis showed carbohydrates, inulin, alkaloids, and glycosides in all the five extracts. Flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, reducing sugars, soluble phenols, and saponin glycosides were also detected. Steroids were absent. The organoleptic properties of the extracts were determined. The study indicated the great potential of these extracts as effective antimicrobial agents.

Fisetin, a tetrahydroxy flavone, exhibits many biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. The aim of present study was to unravel the therapeutic potential of fisetin at a dose of 10, 20, 30 mg/kg, per oral (p.o.), in ethanol-induced gastric ulcer and pylorus ligation-induced gastric ulcer. Omeprazole (20 mg/kg) was used as a standard drug. In ethanol-induced ulcer, after the pretreatment period of 1 hr gastric ulcer was induced with absolute ethanol at a dose of 8 ml/kg (p.o.), where as in pylorus ligation-induced gastric ulcer; after the pretreatment period of 1 hr ulcer was induced by tight ligation of pylorus portion of stomach. In the pylorus ligation-induced ulcer model there was a significant reduction in the ulcer area as well as the total volume, free acidity and total acidity and increase in the pH of gastric content along with the mucous production were found. There was a significant decrease in ulcer area and significant increase in the mucosal production in the ethanol-induced gastric ulcer model. Fisetin significantly lowered the level of lipid peroxidase, neutrophil infiltration along with gastric mucosal nitrite in both models of the gastric ulcer. The present findings elucidate the therapeutic value of fisetin in the prevention of experimental gastric ulcer by virtue of its antioxidant mechanism.

Kutki or Picrorhiza kurroa is a herbal medicinal plant belonging to Scrophulariaceae family and is found in the Himalayan region in India. This herb has been traditionally used in treating liver disorders. The antioxidant properties of P. kurroa were evaluated in vitro using different radical scavenging assays. Furthermore, liver slice culture system was used to test the antioxidant activity of this extract and ethanol was used as a hepatotoxin to generate oxidative stress. Hepatotoxicity was quantified in terms of release of intracellular marker enzymes lactate dehydrogenase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase. Oxidative stress induced by ethanol and its modulation in the presence of P. kurroa extract was tested by estimating the levels of antioxidant enzymes like catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase, and of antioxidant molecules like uric acid and reduced glutathione that were quantitated along with lipid peroxidation. Our results clearly demonstrate that aqueous extract of P. kurroa with high antioxidant activity, as demonstrated using different radical scavenging assays, was effective in suppressing the deleterious effects of ethanol. Addition of P. kurroa aqueous extract along with ethanol restored the activities of antioxidant enzymes and significantly reduced lipid peroxidation.