The ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Hassk. yielded rhodomyrtone (5) [6,8-dihydroxy-2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-7-(3-methyl-1-oxobutyl)-9-(2-methylpropyl)-4,9-dihydro-1H-xanthene-1,3(2H)-di-one] which had significant activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The structural elucidation followed from spectroscopic evidence and from a single-crystal X-ray structural determination.

Rhodomyrtone, an Antibiotic from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa. --(DACHRIYANUS; SALNI; SARGENT, MELVYN V.; SKELTON, BRIAN W.; SOEDIRO, IWANG; SUTISNA, MUMU; WHITE, ALLAN H.; YULINAH, ELIN; Aust.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by multisystem inflammation due to immune complex deposits in the organs like kidneys, joints, pleura, skin, and so on. Physalisangulata known as mullaca, has been widely studied for its pharmacological activities such as antiinflammatory, immunosuppressive, cytotoxic, and also inhibition of organ rejection in transplantation. This study was directed to investigate the activities of P. angulata extract as an immunomodulatory agent. P. angulata powder was extracted by maceration with 70% of ethanol. An animal model of lupus was obtained by an injection 0.7 mL of pristane, i.p. Successful induction obtained in two weeks after injection which can be monitored by measuring total leukocyte count. For ensuring successful induction, another test was done four weeks and eight weeks after injection by detecting the presence of specific antinuclear antibodies using SDS PAGE method. Other measured parameters were including nonspecific immune response (measurement of total leukocyte count and differential leukocyte count), specific humoral immune response (hemagglutination test), specific cellular immune responses (delayed type hypersensitivity test), organ index and histology of kidney and spleen. As the results shown, ethanolic extract of Physalisangulata at dose of 1000 mg/kg BW orally, gave immunomodulatory effect in Lupus rat model. The extract worked primarily on specific immune response by lowering immune response near to the normal value, it was not suppressing immune response as prednisone.

No abstract

Kombinasi ekstrak bulbus bawang putih (Allium sativum Linn.) dan rimpang kunyit (Curcumma domestica Val.) dapat digunakan sebagai obat antidiabetes oral pada penderita diabetes melitus (DM) tipe 2, dan secara klinis telah terbukti dapat menurunkan kadar glukosa darah dengan dosis 2,4 g/hari. Penelitian klinis dilakukan untuk melihat efek antidiabetes kombinasi ekstrak dibandingkan dengan antidiabetik oral, glibenklamid. Subjek adalah usia >35 tahun dengan DM tipe 2 yang berobat ke poliklinik Penyakit Dalam dan Endokrin Rumah Sakit Hasan Sadikin Bandung periode November 2007-Agustus 2008 dan telah mendapat terapi gizi medis selama 2 minggu. Penelitian dilakukan secara paralel, acak, dan tersamar ganda. Penggunaan kombinasi ekstrak menunjukkan penurunan kadar glukosa darah puasa rata-rata 9,25 mg/dL, glukosa darah 2 jam postprandial (PP) 22,25 mg/dL, HbA1c 1,30%, serta insulin 12,57 mg/dL bila dibandingkan dengan baseline glibenklamid rata-rata kadar glukosa darah puasa 72,37 mg/dL, glukosa darah 2 jam PP 114,25 mg/dL, dan HbA1c 4,12%, tetapi meningkatkan insulin 3,34 mg/ dL. Kombinasi ekstrak tidak mempengaruhi fungsi hati, ginjal, dan profil hematologi. Kesimpulannya kombinasi ekstrak memiliki efek antidiabetes tetapi efek yang ditimbulkan tidak sebaik glibenklamid.