OFFICIAL

Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology

JOURNAL OF
BANGLADESH
PHARMACOLOGICAL
SOCIETY

V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1 , 2 0 0 9 A T A G L A N C E

Chemical composition and antimicrobial properties

PAPERS IN
of different basil essential oils chemotypes from
OTHER PAGES
Togo
• Effects of the extract
of Nigella sativa Koffi Koba, P.W. Poutouli, Christine Raynaud, Jean-Pierre Chaumont and Komla Sanda
(kalajira) upon diabetic The aerial parts essential oils of anethole type; t-anethole type. the MIC varied from 200 µl.l-1
rats Ocimum basilicum from Togo The in vitro microbiological to 400 µl.l-1 and from 250 to
• Pattern of use of anal- were steam-distilled and inves- experiments revealed that 500 µl.l-1 respectively. These
gesics in a surgical tigated for their percentage only the methyleugenol and findings are supportive of the
unit composition and in vitro antim- methyleugenol/t-anethole potential of both basil oil
icrobial activities. Five oil chemotypes were active chemotypes for use as active
• Analysis of essential chemotypes were identified against tested fungi and bacte- ingredients in natural antibi-
oil of eaglewood tree
and classified as follows in line ria. Their minimum inhibitory otic drugs.
by GC-MS
with their principal compo- concentrations (MIC) ranged
• In vitro cytotoxic nents: estragole type; linalool/ from 80 to 150 µl.l-1 and from
activity of Cymbopo- estragole type; methyleugenol 200 to 500 µl.l-1 respectively.
gon citratus and type; methyleugenol/t- Likewise, on tested bacteria Page 1
Cymbopogon nardus
essential oils
Chemical investigation of the leaf and rhizome
essential oils of Zingiber zerumbet from Bangladesh
Md. Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan, Jasim Uddin Chowdhury and Jaripa Begum

Zingiber zerumbet leaf and rhi-
zome oils, obtained by hydro-
distillation, were analyzed by
gas chromatography mass
spectroscopy. Twenty-nine
components were identified in
the leaf oil. The major compo-
nents were zerumbone α-caryophyllene (19.00%) and
(36.98%); α-caryophyllene 1,5,5,8-tetramethyl-12-
(16.35%) and camphene oxabicyclo[9.1.0]dodeca-3,7-
(9.24%). Thirty components diene (4.28%). The composi-
were identified in rhizome oil tions of both oils varied quali-
with the main components tatively and quantitatively.
being in zerumbone (46.83%); Page 9

Synergistic activity of methanolic extract of Thespesia

populnea flowers with oxytetracycline
Arthanari Saravana Kumar, K. Venkateshwaran, J. Vanitha, V.S. Saravanan, M. Ganesh, M.
Vasudevan and T. Sivakumar

The object of this study was to
formulate new, cost effective
anti-microbial combination for
multidrug resistant diseases
based on the synergistic activ-
ity of oxytetracycline with
methanolic extract of Thespesia
populnea (Malvaceae) a medici-
nal plant common in South
India. The MIC of methanolic
extracts in combination with
oxytetracycline using 12 dif-
ferent both gram positive and
gram negative bacteria was
found to be around (62.5 µg/
ml to 1000 µg/ml). The syner-
gistic activity was verified
using Kirby and Bauer tech-
niques. 83.3% shows synergis-
tic activity against all 12 dif-
ferent bacteria both gram
positive and gram negative
species. The highest syner-
gism rate was attained against
Shigella boydii (ATCC8700).
.
Page 13
 Effects of the extract of Nigella sativa (kalajira) upon
PAGE 2

diabetic rats
Matira Khanam and Zesmin Fauzia Dewan

The study was carried out
to investigate into the effect
of concomitant administra-
tion of the crude and the n-
hexane extract of Nigella
sativa (kalajira) upon strep-
tozotocin-induced diabetic
adult male rats. Diabetes
was induced by a single
intraperitoneal injection of
streptozotocin on day 1
while crude nigella powder
in deionized water and the
n-hexane extract of nigella
were administered orally
concomitantly from day 1 to
21. Rats were sacrificed on
day 22. The serum glucose
and cholesterol concentra-
tions that were elevated in
diabetic rats were normal-
ized or near normalized by
the crude nigella or the n-
hexane extract administra-
tion; while the elevated se-
rum triglyceride concentra-
tions of the diabetic rats
were brought down to
lower than control values.
The pancreatic GSH was
closer to control value, and
pancreatic histology sug-
gested reappearance of β
cells. The crude nigella con-
comitant to streptozotocin
(STZ+Nc) administration
appeared to provide better
alleviation compared to the
n-hexane extract. Page 17

Pattern of use of analgesics in a surgical unit

Mohammad Abdullah Al Masud, Syed Ashrafuzzaman and Md. Jalaluddin Iqbal

The present study was de-
signed to evaluate the pre-
scribing pattern of analge-
sics in post-operative pa-
tients in a surgical unit. To-
tal number of 180 prescrip-
tions containing analgesics
was collected randomly.
The only drug in the opera-
tion day that was used was
pethidine (90.6%). Patients
(9.4%) did not receive any
analgesics in the operation
day. Associated analgesics
in the operation day were
either tramadol (42.2 %) or
ketorolac (54.4%). Only
3.3% did not receive any
such drugs. In first post-
operative day most of the
patients received single
drug tramadol (48.3%), ke-
torolac (38.9%) and
pethidine (0.6%). In second,
third, forth and fifth post-
operative day most patients
received tramadol (47.8%)
(44.4%), (41.4%) and (33.2%)
respectively. In sixth post-
operative day most of the
patients (81.1%) did not
receive any analgesics. In
this study tramadol was
found to be widely used
post-operative analgesics
with minimal side effects
and better adherence to this
drug by the patient.
Page 21

Analysis of essential oil of eaglewood tree by GC-MS

Md. Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan, Jaripa Begum and Md. Nurul Huda Bhuiyan

The study shows the differ-
ences in composition of oils
obtained from healthy,
naturally infected and arti-
ficially screws wounds
eaglewood (Aquilaria agallo-
cha Roxb.) using chroma-
tography mass spectrome-
try (GC-MS) analysis. Natu-
ral healthy plants agar con-
tained octacosane (19.83%),
naphthalene, 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a
-octahydro-1,8a-dimethyl-7
-(1-methylethenyl)-, [1R-
(1.alpha.,7.beta.,8a.alpha.)]-
(12.67%), 5-isobutyramido-2
-methyl pyrimidine
(13.52%), caryophyllene
oxide (11.25%) and (.+-.)-
cadinene (5.46%). Natural
infected plants agar (super
agar) contained cyclohep-
tane, 4-methylene-1-methyl-
2-(2-methyl-1-propen-1-yl)-
1-vinyl- (46.17%), caryo-
phyllene oxide (33.00%) and
7-Isopropenyl-4a-methyl-1-
methylenedecahydronaph-
thalene (20.83%). Artificially
screw injected plants agar
contained diisooctyl phtha-
late (71.97%), 1H-Cycloprop
[e]azulen-4-ol, decahydro-
1,1,4,7-tetramethyl-, [1ar-
(1a.alpha.,4.beta.,4a.beta.,
7.alpha., 7a.beta., 7b.alpha.)]-
(9.16%), hexadecanoic acid
(7.05%), naphthalene,
1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-
1,8a-dimethyl-7-(1-
methylethenyl)-, [1R-
(1.alpha.,7.beta.,8a.alpha.)]-
(6.45%) and aristolene
(5.36%).
Page 24

BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1, 2009 PAGE 3

In vitro cytotoxic activity of Cymbopogon citratus and

Cymbopogon nardus essential oils from Togo
Koba Koffi,, Sanda Komla, Guyon Catherine, Raynaud Christine, Chaumont Jean-Pierre, Nicod Laurence

The leaf essential oils of Cym-
bopogon citratus L. and Cymbopo-
gon nardus L. (Poaceae) from
Togo were steam-distilled, ana-
lyzed for percentage composi-
tion and investigated in vitro for
their potential cytotoxic activity
on human epidermic cell line
HaCat. The percentage composi-
tion showed that the main con-
stituents of essential oils sam-
ples were respectively geranial
(45.2%), neral (32.4%) and myr-
cène (10.2%) for C. citratus essen-
tial oil and citronellal (35.5%),
geraniol (27.9%) and citronellol
(10.7%) for that of C. nardus. The
in vitro cytotoxicity bioassays on
human epidermic cell line Ha-
CaT revealed that the toxicity of
the essential oil from C. citratus
(IC50: 150 µL.mL-1) was higher
than that of the essential oil
from C. nardus (IC50: 450 µL.mL-
1).Pure commercial neral, gera-
nial, and citronellal standards
showed respectively the follow-
ing IC50 values: 100, 250 and 300
µL.mL-1). Conversely, pure citro-
nellol standard appeared almost
non-toxic (IC50>1000 µL.mL-1),
proving the major role played in
synergy by neral and geranial in
the overall toxicity showed by
the citratus oil sample tested in
this work. Page 29

Analgesic property of extracts of Fragaria vesca in

experimental animal models
Lalit Kanodia and Swarnamoni Das

The aim of the study was to
compare the analgesic activities
of ethanolic extract of fruits and
whole plant of Fragaria vesca in
experimental animal models.
The extracts were prepared by
percolation method and oral
toxicity testing was performed
as per OECD guidelines. Anal-
gesic activity was assessed by
tail flick method (for central
action) and acetic acid-induced
writhing test (for peripheral
action). Fruit extract, whole
plant extract and aspirin
showed significant analgesic
activity, both central and pe-
ripheral, as compared to control
(p< 0.01). Although fruit extract
at dose of 500 mg/kg showed
better activity than 250 mg/kg
(p<0.05). Analgesic activities of
fruit extract 250 mg/kg and
whole plant extract 500 mg/kg
were almost equivalent while
aspirin was most potent among
all with significantly greater
activities as compared to all the
extracts (p<0.05).
Page 35

Prescribing pattern in a pediatric out-patient department in Gujarat

Nazima Y. Mirza, Sagun Desai and Barna Ganguly

This study was carried out to
find the medicine-prescribing
pattern in children taking treat-
ment in pediatric out-patient
department of a tertiary care
teaching hospital in rural Guja-
rat. Prescriptions of 606 patients
were collected over a period of
six months and analyzed for (i)
average number of medicines
per prescription, (ii) percentage
of medicines prescribed by offi-
cial names, (iii) essentiality
status of medicines, (iv) appro-
priateness of medicines used
and (v) cost of prescription. The
average number of medicines
per prescription was 3.72 ± 0.07
and 46.7% patients were pre-
scribed up to 3 medicines. Of the
1483 medicines prescribed, 456
(30.7%) were prescribed by offi-
cial names and 77.61% were
essential. Only 20.13% prescrip-
tions could be reckoned as most
appropriate. Twenty percent of
the total cost was on account of
non-essential medicines, of
which 95% was contributed by
non-essential fixed dose drug
combinations.
Page 39
PAGE 4 Consumption patterns of non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs by the community without
prescription in Dhaka City
Md. Khoshroz Samad

A cross-sectional study on
consumption patterns of
non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs) by the commu-
nity without prescription
was conducted in Dhaka
Metropolitan City. A total of
608 encounters from 16
pharmacies were inter-
viewed from people found
to purchase drugs of the
pharmacy from their self
demand. The commonest
purchased NSAIDs per en-
counter was paracetamol
(37.0%). Ibuprofen (13.8%),
diclofenac sodium (12.7%),
aspirin (7.4%), naproxen
(6.9%) and other group of
NSAIDs (22.2%) were also
purchased. The influence by
friends/relatives (30.3%)
previously advised by the
doctor to purchase the
NSAIDs for the same com-
plaint were (29.1%); phar-
macy salesmen’s advice
(28.3%) and other reasons
(12.3%). The total cost of
purchased NSAIDs per en-
counter were less than Tk. 5
(6.9%), Tk. 5 to less than Tk.
10 (45.4%), Tk. 10-25 (35.5%)
and more than Tk. 25
(12.2%). Single item of drug
was purchased along with
NSAIDs by 17.1% of en-
counters.
Page 43

Organochlorine insecticides (DDT and heptachlor) in

dry fish: Traditional washing and cooking effect on
dietary intake
Md. Nurul Huda Bhuiyan, Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan, Kabir Ahmed, Mamtaz Dawlatana,
K. M. Formuzul Haque, Matiur Rahim and Md. Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan

The concentrations of or-
ganochlorine insecticides
(DDT and heptachlor) were
investigated to estimate the
effect of various washing
and boiling/cooking to elu-
cidate the concentration
level we intake actually. For
this study five most popular
dry fish samples namely
bombay duck (loittya), rib-
bon fish (chhuri), shrimp
(chingri), chinese pomfret
(rupchanda) and Indian
salmon (lakhua) were ana-
lyzed. The highest concen-
trations of DDT and hepta-
chlor were found 737.238
ppb (Indian salmon, nor-
mal) and 44.806 ppb
(shrimp, normal) respec-
tively; after boiling treat-
ment a big amount was
washed out and remained
only 135.516 ppb and 16.868
ppb respectively. Boiling
treatment was found more
effective than the others.
Page 46

Anticonvulsant activity of bioflavonoid gossypin

Duraisami Rasilingam, Srinivasan Duraisamy and Ramaswamy Subramanian

The anticonvulsant activity
of gossypin was investi-
gated by studying the ef-
fects on seizures induced by
pentelentetrazole, strych-
nine and maximal electro-
shock convulsive methods
in mice. Gossypin (10 and
20 mg/kg) significantly
reduced the duration of
convulsion in tonic seizure
induced by pentelenetetra-
zole (95 mg/kg, intraperito-
neally). Gossypin (20 mg/
kg p.o) significantly re-
duced the tonic extensor
convulsion induced by
strychnine and maximum
electroshock-induced con-
vulsions. The data obtained
suggest that gossypin have
anticonvulsant property and
may probably be affecting
both GABA aminergic and
glycine inhibitory mecha-
nism.
Page 51

BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1, 2009 PAGE 5

Antiamoebic activity of marine sponge Haliclona exigua (Krikpatrick)

V. Lakshmi, A. Saxena, S.K. Mishra, M. Mishra, S. Srivastava and S. Ghoshal

The methanol and methanol-
chloroform (1:1) extracts of the
freshly collected Haliclona exigua
showed minumim inhibitory
concentration (MIC) of 125 µg/
ml and 250 µg/ml respectively
in in vitro studies, but when both
of these were tested in vivo in
rats, only methanol-chloroform
showed 80% inhibition of tro-
phozoites at the dose of 900 mg/
kg body weight against Enta-
moeba histolytica. Therefore only
methanol-chloroform extract
was further fractionated into
four fractions (hexane, chloro-
form, n-butanol soluble and n-
butanol insoluble fractions). Out
of these, only hexane and n-
butanol soluble fractions
showed 80% inhibition of tro-
phozoites at 900 mg/kg dose.
Further the chromatography of
the n-butanol fraction yielded
araguspongin-C which showed
promising results at different
doses.
Page 55

Cerebroprotective effect of Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn. root extract

on Hypoxic rats
P. Muralidharan, G. Balamurugan and Venu Babu

The present study was carried
out to evaluate the cerebropro-
tective effect of the aqueous
extract of the roots of Glycyrrhiza
glabra Linn. (250 and 500 mg/
kg) in hypoxic rats. Hypoxia
was induced by providing so-
dium nitrite drinking water to
rats for 14 days. Extract at the
tested doses promoted the loco-
motor activity and spatial be-
havior significantly, which was
impaired in hypoxic rats. The
extract administration restored
the decreased levels of brain
enzymes such as glutamate and
dopamine and decreased acetyl-
cholinesterase (AchE) activity
significantly. Levels of antioxi-
dant enzymes such as superox-
ide dismutase, glutathione per-
oxidase, glutathione reductase
and catalase were reduced due
to hypoxia and were restored to
near normalcy by administra-
tion of ethanol extract of G.
glabra. Increased lipid peroxida-
tion in hypoxic rats was also
restored significantly by extract
treatment. Thus, this study sug-
gests that ethanol extract of G.
glabra possess a cerebroprotec-
tive effect in hypoxic rats, which
may be mediated by its antioxi-
dant effects.
Page 60