Volume 66 (2020): Edition 3 (September 2020)

Fungal disseases are the most common opportunistic infection.

The main aims of the study were to determine phenolic content and to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-candida activity of the selected Indian-origin plant extracts from the fruit pulp, stem, leaves, and seeds of three plants of Indian origin.

The extracts from Terminalia chebula, Thuja occidentalic and Syzygium jambolanum were investigated. The total phenolic content, antioxidant potential of different crude extracts was accessed using the free radical, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS). Anti-candida activity was evaluated using disk diffusion method and broth dilution assay against Candida albicans.

Ethanol and methanol extracts of Indian traditional plants possessed high radical scavenging activity: T. chebula 29.38±0.15, T. occidentalis 6.26±0.24 and S. jambolanum 25.64±0.18 at 0.32 mg/ml. The extracts exhibited good zones of inhibition diameters ranged between: for T. chebula 6.33±0.57 mm and 19.66±1.52 mm in diameter, S. jambolanum 7.00±00 mm and 23.33±1.52 and T. occidentalis 7.66±0.57 and 17.00±1.00 mm. C. albicans were susceptible to all three tested extract at different concentrations. The lowest MIC 1.95 mg/ml was recorded with S. jambolanum while the T. chebula and T. occidentalis inhibited the growth at 3.90 mg/ml, respectively, against the C. albicans.

The study result paves an overall view on the bioactivities of three traditional Indian medicinal plants crude extracts.

AAES is a powdered form of Biostymina, herbal medicinal product of Phytopharm Klęka S.A., a water extract of Aloe arborescens Mill. leaves. Aloe arborescens Mill. (woody aloe, tree-like aloe) is known to have several traditional medicinal properties including anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiviral and antimicrobial activity.

The aim of this work was to study the in vivo effect of AAES on cellular (leukocyte-induced cutaneous angiogenesis, LIA test, and proliferative response to PHA) and humoral (anti-SRBC antibody response) immunity in mice.

Balb/c mice were fed AAES from 0.5 to 75 mg/kg body mass for seven days before grafting their splenocytes intradermally to F1 (Balb/cxC3H) recipients (LIA test). Neovascular reaction was evaluated 72 h later in dissection microscope. Spleen cell cultures were incubated with 0.5, 1 and 2 μg/ml of PHA. After 48 h of incubation, tritiated thymidine was added. After further 24 h, cells were harvested (Skatron) and incorporation of tritiated thymidine was measured using Beta-scintillation counter. Balb/c mice were fed for 7 days with AAES, then immunized intraperitoneally with 5% SRBC suspension and 7 days later the antibody response was measured with hemagglutination test.

Neovascular reaction was significantly higher in groups grafted with splenocytes collected from all AAES fed donors than from the controls. The proliferation of splenocytes taken from mice fed AAES at doses ranging from 0.5 mg/kg to 7.5 mg/kg was stimulated in all cultures. Suppression of proliferation was observed in cell cultures derived from mice fed with higher doses of AAES. Stimulation of anti-SRBC antibody production was seen in mice fed both 2.5 and 7.5 mg/kg dose of AAES.

Powdered form of Biostymina (AAES) might be useful in the treatment of patients with ischaemia of tissues and organs (myocardial infarction, stroke, necrosis) and in deficiency in the production of immune cells and growth factors (infections, chronic wound healing, ulceration and bone fusion).

This study evaluated the effects of combined ethanol extract of Funtumia africana and Abutilon mauritianum leaves (FAAM) on the liver function indices of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) induced rats.

The study used 30 rats divided into 5 groups, comprising normal control, BPH control, standard control, and BPH induced rats treated with 200 and 600 mg/kg/day of FAAM respectively.

The BPH induction caused significant (p<0.05) increases in aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities of the BPH control when compared with the normal control. The BPH control also had significantly (p<0.05) reductions in the total protein, albumin and globulin concentrations and significant (p<0.05) elevated total bilirubin and direct bilirubin concentrations relative to the normal control. The FAAM treated BPH-induced rats had non-significantly (p>0.05) reduced AST, and alanine transaminase (ALT) activities relative to the BPH control. The BPH-induced rats treated with 600 mg/kg/day of FAAM had significantly (p<0.05) reduced ALP activities relative to the BPH control. Treatment with FAAM caused significant (p<0.05) increases in the total protein, albumin, globulin concentrations and significant (p<0.05) reductions in the total bilirubin and direct bilirubin concentrations relative to the BPH control. BPH had no observable adverse effects on the liver histomorphology of the rats.

The findings of this study indicated that BPH impairs liver functions and treatment of BPH with combined ethanol extract of F. africana and A. mauritianum leaves restore normal liver functions in rats with BPH.

Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants (INF&MP) is involved in gathering and evaluation of genetic resources of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and medicinal plants, because Poland has signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Field trials were carried out in 1990–2001 in the Experimental Station in Wojciechów located in Opolskie region. The research material was accessions of genetic resources from the collection of flax, stored at the Institute of Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute in Radzików near Warsaw.

The aim of the publication was to evaluate the following biological features of flax: time of beginning of flowering and vegetation period to yellow maturity.

The characteristics data for flax accessions are presented according to the methodology of development of the International Flax Database. Each flax accessions from the world collection of flax genetic resources received one of the following assessments of two vegetation periods: very short, short, medium, long and very long. Descriptors of biological features of flax were used, presented in “List of flax descriptors (L. usitatissimum L.)” edited by Janka Nozkova, published in 2011. These descriptors are used to develop the International Flax Database, which in turn helps in the rapid evaluation of the L. usitatissimum genetic resource collection. Carrying out a detailed characterization of biological features of L. usitatissimum accessions is very helpful for breeders in selecting genetic material for breeding new varieties of flax.

The following results were obtained from the time of the beginning of flowering and the vegetation period to yellow maturity. Time of beginning of flowering was the following: very short – 0 accessions, short – 97 accessions, medium – 20 accessions, long – 2 accessions and very long – 0 accessions of flax. The genotypes tested were characterized by the following results in terms of vegetation period from sowing to yellow maturity: very short – 0, short – 37, medium – 62, long – 0 and very long – 0 accessions of flax.

Time of beginning of flowering and the vegetation period to yellow maturity shall be revalorised to the International Flax Database for those L. usitatissimum accessions that did not receive the same assessment of the biological features tested in the two or three years of the study.