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“Background: The increasing number of multidrug-resistant
Plasmodium strains warrants exploration of new anti-malarials. Medicinal plant research has become more important, particularly after the development of Chinese antimalarial drug artemisnin from Artemisia annua. The present study shows evaluation of anti-malarial effects of two plants commonly used against malaria in the Garhwal region LBH589 clinical trial of north-west Himalaya, in order to discover the herbal-based medicine.
Methods: In vitro anti-plasmodial sensitivity of plant extracts was assessed using schizont maturation and parasite lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) assay. Cytotoxic activities of the examined extracts were determined on L-6 INCB024360 research buy cells of rat skeletal muscle myoblast. The 4-day test for anti-malarial activity against a chloroquine sensitive
Plasmodium berghei NK65 strain in Swiss albino mice was used for monitoring in vivo activity of plant extracts.
Results: Chloroform extract of H. antidysenterica (HA-2) and petroleum ether extract of V. canescens (VC-1) plants significantly reduced parasitaemia in P. berghei infected mice. The extract HA-2 showed in vitro anti-plasmodial activity with its IC(50) value 5.5 mu g/ml using pLDH assay and ED(50) value 18.29 mg/kg in P. berghei infected Swiss albino mice. Similarly petroleum ether extract of V. canescens (VC-1) showed in vitro anti-plasmodial activity with its IC(50) value 2.76 mu g/ml using pLDH assay and ED(50) 15.8 mg/kg in P. berghei infected mice. The extracts coded as HA-2 at 30 mg/kg and VC-1 at 20 mg/kg exhibited parasite inhibition in mice: 73.2% and 63.0% respectively. Of these two plant extracts, petroleum ether extract of V. canescens was found slightly cytotoxic.
Conclusion: The present investigation reflects the use of these traditional medicinal plants against malaria and these plants may work as potential source in the development of variety of herbal formulations for the treatment
of malaria.”
“The melt blending of polylactide (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomer was performed in an effort to toughen the PLA. The phase morphology, mechanical properties, and toughening mechanism ABT-263 of the PLA/TPU blends were investigated. The results indicate that the spherical TPU particles dispersed in the PLA matrix, and the uniformity decreased with increasing TPU content. There existed long threads among some TPU droplets in blend with 30 wt % TPU. TPU improved the toughness of the PLA. With 30 wt % TPU, the elongation at break of the blend reached 602.5%, and samples could not be broken in the notched Izod impact tests at room temperature. The matrix ligament thickness of the PLA/TPU blends was below the critical value, and the blends deformed to a large extent because of shear yield caused by debonding, the formation of fibers upon impact; this dissipated a large amount of energy. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.