Background: Nature is vibrant and has an abundance of colors. The use of natural hues in histopathology could offer an economical and feasible alternative to the routinely used stains in special circumstances. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of the extract of Hibiscus as a counterstain to hematoxylin. Methodology: Hibiscus calyces were sun dried and powdered. Alcoholic and water extracts were obtained by refluxing the powder with 95% ethanol and distilled water, respectively, for 3 h, and then cooled and filtered. Sections from 12 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, including both oral mucosal and skin tissues, were used. Nuclear staining was done with hematoxylin, following which the sections were stained with both alcoholic and aqueous Hibiscus extract for 10 min at room temperature using a dropper. All the slides were coded and were reviewed by three blinded oral pathologists for staining efficiency and intensity. NPar test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Kappa statistics were done to assess the staining efficiency, intensity, and interobserver reliability for the selected parameters. Results: Statistically significant difference was not seen between Hibiscus extract and the controls, except in relation to staining of the basement membrane. Conclusion: Easily available and economical Hibiscus extract is an attractive alternative to eosin. Further studies involving the addition of mordants to the extract and its use as a special stain has to be explored.

Since thousands of years natural products have played a very important role in health care and in prevention of disease. To evaluate the anti-microbial & antidiabetic activities of leaf extracts (chloroform and methanol) of ixora chinensis. A complete literature survey of ixora chinensis revealed that most of the activities reported on leaves and flowers were anti-oxidants, anticancer, anti-microbial activities. For preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts, we performed tests for alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavanoids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, proteins and steroids. From this study, we can conclusively state that methanol, chloroform leaf extracts of Ixora chinensis has anti-hyperglycemic activity, anti-microbial activity. These results support the use of the plant in folk medicine to manage microbial infections, diabetics and other related diseases.

Safety pharmacology is a study of unfavorable, pharmacodynamic effects of a drug on physiological functions with therapeutic range by using International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) S7A guidelines. The cardiovascular, central nervous, and respiratory systems are most affected by pharmacological side effects, resulting withdrawal of multiple medications from the market. Kalyanaka ghrita (KG) is an Ayurvedic formulation with ghee as a major basic component, though a promising candidate in treatment of AD, KG has not been documented for its safety profile, which prompted the study. In this study we evaluated safety pharmacology of KG oral (4, 2, 1g/kg), and nasal (100, 50, 25 µl/rat), in Wistar rats for 28 days subjected to CNS, CVS and the respiratory safety profile was evaluated on day 0, 14 and 28. At the end of the study the nasal turbinate was evaluated histopathologically. In the present study KG did not cause any significant change in CNS profile. However KG treatment had increased the grooming and rearing behaviors, which were not significant compared to vehicle control and did not cause change in CVS and respiratory profile upon treatment with KG for 28 days. The epithelium of nasal turbinate of animals was found intact after 28 days of nasal administration. After sustained dosing, the KG oral and intranasal treated groups showed no harmful events, which illustrates the CNS, CVS and respiratory safety profile of Kalyanaka ghrita.