Evaluation of Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Activities on Ethanolic Extract of <i>Terminalia chebula</i>Fruits in Experimental Animal Models

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of ethanolic extract of Terminalia chebula (commonly known as Haritaki) fruits in experimental animal models. The study was carried out using Swiss Albino mice (20-25 g) and Long Evans rats (100-150 g) of either sex. The analgesic activity of Terminalia chebula was assessed by using hot plate method. For the determination of analgesic effect, doses of ethanolic extract of Terminalia chebula used in the present study were 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight (BW). Anti-inflammatory effect was analyzed by carrageenan induced paw edema method with the administration dose of 300 mg/kg BW of animals. The analysis of experimental data was performed by statistical process of ANOVA to determine the variability of sample, while Dunnet’s test was performed for evaluation of comparative analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Terminalia chebula with control and standard. The animals were divided into four treatment groups of six animals each and the “Mean ± SEM” is the statistical identifiable value of the data and P values <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Hot plate test showed a significant increase in the mean reaction time to heat stimuli in hot plate method at both 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg BW doses throughout the observation period in 30 minutes and 60 minutes after treatment, which was comparable to the standard ketorolac and control group. In carrageenan induced paw edema method, considerable results were found after determining the percentage change in paw volume in extract. In both cases of analgesic and anti-inflammatory study, % inhibition of pain and inflammation were evaluated. Comparing with control, largest inhibition was found in inhibiting inflammation 5 hours after treatment, while the largest inhibition of pain was obtained in 30 minutes and 60 minutes after treatment of doses. The present study suggests that ethanolic extract of Terminalia chebula fruits has significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities.

Investigation of Antidiabetic Effect of Ethanolic Extract of <i>Phyllanthus emblica</i>Linn. Fruits in Experimental Animal Models

Hypoglycemic effects were investigated in the ethanolic extract of fruits of Phyllanthus emblica Linn. with long evans rats (100-120 g). Residual gut sucrose content, gut perfusion and disaccharidase activity studies were carried out to assess these activities. The residual gut sucrose content study was carried out to reveal the amount of sucrose remaining in the gastro intestinal tract (GIT) at six different segments. The ethanolic fruit extract of Phyllanthus emblica Linn. significantly increases the residual sucrose content throughout the gut after sucrose ingestion. Study on intestinal enzyme activity showed that the extract caused a significant (p 0.05), dose dependent inhibition of intestinal disaccharidase enzyme activity. Evaluation of the effect of the plant extract on intestinal enzyme activity showed significant inhibition of intestinal disaccharidase activity, suggesting that reduction of sucrose absorption may be partly related to the inhibition of disaccharidase activity in the gut. The gut perfusion analysis showed that the extract significantly reduced intestinal glucose absorption. The results of the present study suggest that ethanolic extract of Phyllanthus emblica Linn. has significant antidiabetic effects in a dose dependent manner and this may be effective in the treatment of diabetes.

Implementation of Effluent Treatment Plants for Waste Water Treatment

This work is aimed at giving emphasis on the present pollution scenario in Bangladesh due to textile effluent and the consequent solution of the problem by installation of effluent treatment plant. Though the medium and small-scale industrial activities have a positive impact on the economy of our country, the increasing industrialization is contributing severe pollution to the environment by the toxic waste discharge. The liquid effluents from industries are causing a major havoc to the environment, ecology, agriculture, aquaculture and public health since the development of textile industries in the country. So, it is time to give a pause to the pollution and phase it out gradually to protect the river system. It had become a prerequisite to set up ETP in each industrial establishment, particularly at dyeing industries that were discharging huge amount of liquid waste to the rivers every day. Since the highest number of factories is of textile category and these types of factories play a major role in polluting the nature, Government’s main focus is on the textile mills and industries related to textile. But, for the successful implementation of ETPs, industry owners will have to be socially responsible and at the same time, government should provide the factory owners with logistic supports and relaxed timeframe to set up ETPs.

A Study of Evaluation for the Management of Diabetes in Bangladesh

Diabetes Mellitus is a leading cause of death in present world. This study was carried out to evaluate the management, control, complication profile and treatment strategies in patients with diabetes and to determine what extent management of diabetes in a tertiary-care diabetic hospital in Bangladesh adhered to current guidelines. Total 140 diabetic pa- tients (type-1 = 3, type-2 = 137) were randomly selected from outpatient department of a tertiary care diabetic hospital in the Rajshahi city, Bangladesh, during the month of August to September. A standard questionnaire was constructed in local language and interview was administrated. The result was expressed as mean ± SD and the age was 53.2 ± 10.5 yr, duration of diabetes was 6.3 ± 5.6 yr and age at the onset of diabetes was 46.9 ± 9.9 yr. The study group comprised of about 43% male and 57% female with varying risk factors including family history (49%), smoking (11%) and both smoking and family history (4%). Results showed deteriorating glycemic control with mean FBG (fasting blood glucose) and PPG (postprandial blood glucose) level was 8.9 ± 3.6 mmol/L and 11.2 ± 4.7 mmol/L respectively. About 25% patients had FBG level < 6.1 mmol/L, 24% had FBG 6.1 - 7.8 mmol/L and rest 51% had FBG > 7.8 mmol/L. Of the 51% patients with hypertension, 94% were taking anti-hypertensive medicine and 21% patients with dyslipidemia, 59% were treated with lipid lowering agents. Micro-vascular and Macro-vascular complications were reported in 49% and 11% patients respectively. The rates of diabetic complications were cataract 19%, diabetic retinopathy 14%, neuropathy symptoms 35%, nephropathy 6%, MI 6%, cerebral stroke 4% and history of angina pectoris was 7%. Proportion of patients on diet control alone, oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA), insulin and combination of insulin & OHA was 10, 44, 25 and 21 percent respectively. Quality of life evaluation showed that about half of patients have poor quality of life as well as poor adherence to diet, exercise and self testing of blood glucose. In conclusion, majority of the patients were still not satisfactorily controlled. There is an urgent need for effective remedial measures to increase adherence to practice guidelines and to educate both patients and healthcare personnel on importance of achieving clinical targets for metabolic control.