All authors have none to declare. The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Institution of Excellence, University of Mysore, Mysore, India for providing the fellowship to one of the authors. “
“Traditional medicines are used by about 60 percent of the world’s population. These are not only used for primary health care just in rural areas, in developing countries, but also in developed countries, where modern medicines are predominantly used. buy Y-27632 While the traditional medicines

are derived from medicinal plants, minerals, and organic matter, the herbal drugs are prepared from medicinal plants only. Use of plants as a source of medicine has been inherited and is an important component of the health care system in India. There are about 45,000 plant species

in India, with high concentration in the region of Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Island. The officially documented plants with medicinal potential are 3000 but traditional practitioners use more than 6000. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs and is appropriately called the botanical garden of the Selleck LY294002 world. In rural India, 70 percent of the population is dependent on the traditional system of medicine, the Ayurveda, which is the ancient Indian therapeutic measure renowned as one of the major systems of alternative and complementary medicine. In this review article, we specifically discuss about Schleichera oleosa. Schleichera is a monotypic genus of plants in the family, Sapindaceae. S. oleosa is a tree and commonly known as Kusum that occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. This plant has been proved to be useful in numerous ways from times immemorial. Its leaves, twigs and seed-cake are used as fodder to feed cattle. The wood is suitable as firewood and makes excellent charcoal. The oil extracted from the seed, called ‘kusum oil’ is used for culinary and lighting purpose, cure of itching, acne, burns, other skin troubles, rheumatism (external massage), hair

dressing and for promoting hair growth. 1 The pinkish-brown heartwood is very hard, durable and excellent to during make pestles, cartwheels, axles, plows, tool handles and rollers of sugar mills and oil presses. In India, it is used as host for the lac insect [Laccifer lacca (Karr)]. 2 The product is called kusum lac and is the best in quality and in yield. In parts of southern India, it is a prominent bee plant for nectar. 3 It also has many medicinal uses and is used in traditional medicine for several indications. The powdered seeds are applied to wounds and ulcers of cattle to remove maggots. The bark is used as an astringent and against skin inflammations, ulcers, itching, acne and other skin infections. 2 It is generally used as an analgesic, antibiotic and against dysentery. 4 Recently, it was reported that the bark along with water is used to treat menorrhea.

In this form chlamydiae are refractory to killing by azithromycin [40] and this may allow for in vivo persistence of the pathogen. In humans, immune responses to resolve C. trachomatis genital tract infections apparently develop over months to years. In uncomplicated, productive chlamydial genital infections, a myriad of host immune responses are elicited

that include innate and adaptive immune mechanisms acting to clear infection and to resist re-infection [41] (summarized in Fig. 1(b) and reviewed in [42]). Chlamydia can, however, also grow inside macrophages and Selleckchem Linsitinib dendritic cells (DCs) to produce persistently infected cells (reviewed in [43]). In both productively and persistently infected chlamydial host cells inflammatory cytokines are released that may induce and sustain tissue damage and host inflammatory responses [44], [45] and [46]. Chlamydial infections induce both innate and adaptive cascades but it is acknowledged that the key effectors for

both protection and pathology pathways are IFN-g and interleukin 17. While high levels of IFN-g are chlamydicidal, low levels can actually result in persistence and this may lead to worse pathology. This highlights the critical nature of the correct balance between mechanisms of protection (as will be required for effective vaccines) versus triggering adverse Temozolomide mw pathology. During active primary infections in women, serum and genital mucosal IgA and IgG antibodies to chlamydial EBs and specific chlamydial proteins including heat-shock (HSP) and plasmid proteins, are usually detected [47]. In patients with current genital infections, the predominant serum responses are maintained for at least 6 months and are mainly IgG1 and IgG3 antibodies [48]. Local IgA antibodies correlate with reduced shedding of the chlamydial organism from the genital tract [49]. However, high titres of local IgA antibodies do not correlate with resolution

of infection, but can act as markers of prior chlamydial infections. The major role antibodies appear nearly to play in clearance of infection is in the enhancement of Th1 activation with CD4+ T cells secreting IFN-g correlating primarily with the resolution of infections. Of note however, is the fact that CD4+ T cell immunity is slow to develop and therefore infections frequently are repeated and chronic. Chronic infections are characterized by genital tract inflammation and infiltration of innate immune cells along with inflammatory mediators to the genital mucosa [for a summary of chemokines and cytokines produced during chlamydial infections see [50]. High levels of IFN-g are found in the cervix and fallopian tubes in women with C. trachomatis genital tract infections [51]. IFN-g delays the developmental cycle of Chlamydia which may result in persistent and in-apparent infections that might contribute to promoting inflammatory damage of the genital tract [52].

The spores (l × 106) were treated with different

concentrations of plant products achieved by serial two fold dilution. The test was performed in 96-well culture plates. Autoclaved Sabouraud Dextrose broth (90 μl) was added to the well of the culture plates. The plates were incubated at 37 °C and examined microscopically after 48 h for the growth of Aspergillus mycelia. Appropriate control wells treated with Amphotericin B and without any treatment were also included in the experiment. The extract was DAPT ic50 considered to be active if the wells appear clear without any visible growth of Aspergillus and the result were expressed as Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). The disc diffusion test was performed in radiation sterilized petriplates of 10.0 cm diameter. A suspension containing Aspergillus spores (1 × 106) spread evenly on the surface of Sabouraud Dextrose agar plates. Sterile Whatmann CP-868596 supplier No.1 filter paper was used to prepare

6 mm in diameter discs. These discs impregnated with different extracts were placed on the agar plates already inoculated with fungal spores. Amphotericin B was used as positive control or reference standard drugs for comparing the sensitivity of the test extract. The plates were incubated at 37 °C and examined after 48 h for zone of inhibition, if any, around the discs. 9 The values were recorded with the average (mm) of two diameter measurements per disc taken in two directions, roughly perpendicular. The different fungal species was grown on Sabouraud Dextrose agar plates at 37 °C for

96 h. The different wells of culture plate were inoculated with 10 μl of spore suspension containing 100 ± 5 spores. The plates were incubated at 37 °C for 10 h and then examined for Montelukast Sodium spore germination under inverted microscope. The numbers of germinated and non-germinated spores were counted and the Percent Spore Germination-Inhibition (PSGI) was calculated using following formula: PSGI=100−No.ofsporesgerminatedindrugtreatedwellNo.ofsporesgerminatedincontrolwell×100 The activity of the preparation was represented as the MIC90 which inhibit the germination of spores in the range of 90–100%. The lowest concentration of the tested extract which results in 90% inhibition of germination of spores in the wells was considered as MIC90.12 Crude extracts were prepared using Soxhlet extraction and aqueous extraction methods. Percent yield of Soxhlet based plants extract varies from 0.80 to 5.77%. Percent yields of petroleum ether and chloroform extracts of plant leaves was found to be in the range of 0.80–2.98%. Percent yields of acetone, methanol and water extract were found to ranging from 2.87 to 5.77. Total ten different plant extracts were prepared from ten plants using distilled water (Temp 25 °C). Percent extract yield of these plants extracts varies from 7.