Ethnopharmacological relevance of indigenous medicinal plants from district Bahawalnagar, Punjab, Pakistan

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Indigenous plants have played a key role in the treatment of human diseases. This study was aimed to report the indigenous medicinal plants from Bahawalnagar district of Southern Punjab, Pakistan to document the important medicinal plants and herbal preparations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Rapid appraisal approach (RAA) involved direct interaction with local people and observations during the field visits; was used to collect data during March to June and August to December 2012.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A total of 63 plants were reported to be effective for ailments treatment in the local healthcare system of the study area, belonging to 56 genera and 34 families. Among families Fabaceae was the predominant by contributing 09 species.

CONCLUSION

Plants knowledge is not uniformly distributed among the 488 informants interviewed by mean of questionnaire.

Ethnomedicinal knowledge and relative importance of indigenous medicinal plants of Cholistan desert, Punjab Province, Pakistan

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ethnomedicinal studies are significant for the discovery of new crude drugs from indigenous reported medicinal plants. The current study aimed to report the indigenous medicinal knowledge of plants and herbal remedies used as folk medicines in Cholistan desert, Punjab Province, Pakistan.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Rapid appraisal approach (RAA), semi-structured interviews, group meetings with herbalists, landowners and local people having awareness about the medicinal action of plants were employed to collect the data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This study reports 70 medicinal plants belonging to 27 families that were disseminated among 60 different genera and Poaceae was the predominant family over others with 13 reported medicinal plants. Among plant parts, leaves were the dominant over others with 26.4% used in herbal preparations followed by the stem (25.2%), fruit (21.5%), flower (16.3%), seed (6.5%), bark and pod (02%). Haloxylon recurvum exhibited the highest use vale (UV) 0.83 while least UV was exhibited by Mollugo cerviana that was 0.16.

CONCLUSION

Important medicinal plants, reported in this study have been screened for phytochemical and pharmaceutical activities in different parts of the globe. It is recommended that reported medicinal plants having potent action for cancer and hepatitis must be screened for pharmacological activities.

Relative importance of indigenous medicinal plants from Layyah district, Punjab Province, Pakistan

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ethnomedicinal reports are important for the discovery of new crude drugs from reported medicinal plants with high use value. The current study aimed to document the medicinal flora as well as medicinal knowledge of indigenous plants of local communities from Layyah district, Punjab Province, Pakistan.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Rapid appraisal approach (RAA), semi-structured interviews, group meetings with herbalists, landowners and local people having awareness about the medicinal action of plants were employed to collect the data. Use values (UV) and frequency of citation (FC) were calculated to check the relative importance of plants.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The current ethnomedicinal study reported 125 medicinal plant species diversified from 106 genus belonging to the 43 different families and Poaceae was the predominant family over others with 16 reported medicinal plants. Wild herbaceous plants were the predominant over other life forms while among plant parts, leaves contributed 32% followed by the stem (27%), fruit and flowers (15%). Allium sativum exhibited the highest use vale (UV) 0.92 while the lowest UV was exhibited by Lasiurus scindicus which was 0.15.

CONCLUSION

Local communities of district Layyah still have a strong faith on herbal medicines for basic healthcare needs. Indigenous plants having high UV and FC should be subjected to the detailed phytochemical investigations to explore new natural drugs.

Serum selenium concentration in liver cirrhotic patients suffering from hepatitis B and C in Pakistan

High rates of hepatitis B and C are present in Pakistan. Epidemiological surveys demonstrated an inverse association between selenium (Se) level and regional cancer incidence, as well as viral infection. In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, serum selenium concentration of 150 patients suffering from hepatitis B and C patients, along with 26 healthy controls, was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with hydride generation system. The mean and standard deviation of serum selenium concentration observed in male and female patients with hepatitis C were 101.60 ± 0.55 and 77.43 ± 0.47 μg/l, respectively, while the mean and standard deviation of serum selenium concentration observed in male and female patients with hepatitis B was 107.58 ± 0.44 and 137.8 ± 0.36 μg/l. Analysis of t test showed significant difference between hepatitis C and B (P < 0.001) patients in serum selenium concentration when compared with control.

Removal of a cationic dye from aqueous solutions by adsorption onto bentonite clay

The ability of bentonite to remove malachite green from aqueous solutions has been studied for different adsorbate concentrations by varying the amount of adsorbent, temperature, pH and shaking time. Maximum adsorption of the dye, i.e. >90% has been achieved in aqueous solutions using 0.05 g of bentonite at a pH of 9. Thermodynamic parameters such as DeltaH degrees, DeltaS degrees and DeltaG degrees were calculated from the slope and intercept of the linear plots of lnK(D) against 1/T. Analysis of adsorption results obtained at 298, 308, 318 and 328 K showed that the adsorption pattern on bentonite seems to follow the Langmuir, Freundlih and D-R isotherms. The temperature increase reduces adsorption capacity by bentonite, due to the enhancement of the desorption step in the mechanism. The numerical values of sorption free energy (E(a)) of 1.00-1.12 kJ mol(-1) indicated physical adsorption. The kinetic data indicated an intraparticle diffusion process with sorption being first order. The rate constant k was 0.526 min(-1). The concentration of malachite green oxalate was measured before and after adsorption by using UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

Removal of Fe(II) from the wastewater of a galvanized pipe manufacturing industry by adsorption onto bentonite clay

Bentonite clay has been used for the adsorption of Fe(II) from aqueous solutions over a concentration range of 80-200 mg/l, shaking time of 1-60 min, adsorbent dosage from 0.02 to 2 g and pH of 3. The process of uptake follows both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and also the first-order kinetics. The maximum removal (>98%) was observed at pH of 3 with initial concentration of 100 mg/l and 0.5 g of bentonite. The efficiency of Fe(II) removal was also tested using wastewater from a galvanized pipe manufacturing industry. More than 90% of Fe(II) can be effectively removed from the wastewater by using 2.0 g of the bentonite. The effect of cations (i.e. zinc, manganese, lead, cadmium, nickel, cobalt, chromium and copper) on the removal of Fe(II) was studied in the concentration range of 10-500 mg/l. All the added cations reduced the adsorption of Fe(II) at high concentrations except Zn. Column studies have also been carried out using a certain concentration of wastewater. More than 99% recovery has been achieved by using 5 g of the bentonite with 3M nitric acid solution.

Epidemiology of malaria in Al-Tameem Province, Iraq, 1991-2000

To determine the rates of malarial infection in different areas of Al-Tameem province, we conducted a cross-sectional study from 1991 to 2000. We found an overall infection rate of 0.76% by Plasmodium vivax. Infection rates were highest in Dibis district (1.12%), followed by infections from outside the province (0.93%) and in Hawija district (0.89%), Kirkuk (0.62%) and Dakok (0.17%). Rates of infection varied by year with the lowest rate in 1991 (0.02%) and the highest rate in 1996 (1.84%). All ages were represented, with the highest rate of infection among 21-30-year-olds. Males had a slightly higher rate of infection (0.78%) than females (0.73%).

Epidemiology of malaria in Al-Tameem Province, Iraq, 1991-2000

To determine the rates of malarial infection in different areas of Al-Tameem province, we conducted a cross-sectional study from 1991 to 2000. We found an overall infection rate of 0.76% by Plasmodium vivax. Infection rates were highest in Dibis district [1.12%], followed by infections from outside the province [0.93%] and in Hawija district [0.89%], Kirkuk [0.62%] and Dakok [0.17%]. Rates of infection varied by year with the lowest rate in 1991 [0.02%] and the highest rate in 1996 [1.84%]. All ages were represented, with the highest rate of infection among 21-30-year-olds. Males had a slightly higher rate of infection [0.78%] than females [0.73%]

Removal of Pb(ii) from aqueous/acidic solutions by using bentonite as an adsorbent

The ability of bentonite clay to remove Pb(II) from aqueous solutions and from nitric acid, hydrochloric acid and perchloric acid solutions (1.0-1 x 10(-5)) has been studied at different optimized conditions of concentrations, amount of adsorbent, temperature, concentration of electrolyte and pH. Maximum adsorption of Pb(II), i.e. > 98% has been achieved in aqueous solutions, while 86% is achieved from 1.0 x 10(-5) M HCl using 0.5 g of bentonite. The adsorption decreases by increasing the concentration of electrolytes. Flame atomic absorption spectrometer was used for measuring lead concentration. Isotherm analysis of adsorption data obtained at 25 degrees C, 30 degrees C, 40 degrees C and 50 degrees C showed that the adsorption pattern of lead on bentonite followed the langmuir isotherm and freundlich isotherm, respectively. DeltaH(o) and deltaS(o) were calculated from the slope and intercept of ln K(D) vs. I/T plots.

Radiotherapy of lung cancer in Iraq

The case records of 533 patients with lung cancer, treated between 1970 and 1981 at the Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Institute in Baghdad are reviewed. Of these 188 patients were too ill for anything other than terminal care. All the remaining patients received radiotherapy: 177 were given 30 Gy in 10 fractions, 121 received 40 Gy in 20 fractions and 47 were selected for radical treatment with 45 Gy in 20 fractions. There were no statistically significant differences between the survival of these three groups.