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Ulcer is a common gastrointestinal disorder which is seen among many people. It is basically an inflamed break in the skin or the mucus membrane lining the alimentary tract. Ulceration occurs when there is a disturbance of the normal equilibrium caused by either enhanced aggression or diminished mucosal resistance. It may be due to the regular usage of drugs, irregular food habits, stress, and so forth. Peptic ulcers are a broad term that includes ulcers of digestive tract in the stomach or the duodenum. The formation of peptic ulcers depends on the presence of acid and peptic activity in gastric juice plus a breakdown in mucosal defenses. A number of synthetic drugs are available to treat ulcers. But these drugs are expensive and are likely to produce more side effects when compared to herbal medicines. The literature revealed that many medicinal plants and polyherbal formulations are used for the treatment of ulcer by various ayurvedic doctors and traditional medicinal practitioners. The ideal aims of treatment of peptic ulcer disease are to relieve pain, heal the ulcer, and delay ulcer recurrence. In this review attempts have been made to know about some medicinal plants which may be used in ayurvedic as well as modern science for the treatment or prevention of peptic ulcer.

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BackgroundIn the Indian ayurvedic system of medicine, Nymphaea nouchali is used for the treatment of diabetes, cutaneous diseases, inflammation, liver disorders, urinary disorders, menorrhagia, blenorrhagia, menstruation problem, as an aphrodisiac, and as a bitter tonic. However, despite its traditional usage as an antimicrobial agent, there is no information regarding its effectiveness in infections caused by pathogenic microbes. Hence, we evaluated 70% ethanol extract of the seeds of N. nouchali for its antimicrobial activity.MethodsThe antimicrobial activity of the extract at five different concentrations was tested against few common human pathogenic microorganisms by agar disc diffusion assay. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of the extract was determined by the modified resazurin method. Streptomycin (10 μg/ml) and amphotericin B (10 μg/ml) were used as standards for antibacterial and antifungal study respectively. Few phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by standard HPTLC technique.ResultsThe zone of inhibition was extremely great for P. aeruginosa (25 mm), S. aureus (20 mm) and C. albicans (19 mm). MIC value was the least at 0.03 mg/ml for bacteria: K. pneumoniae, S. dysenteriae and E. coli and 0.31 mg/ml for fungi: C. albicans and T. mentagrophytes. Moreover, through HPTLC analysis few phenolic compounds were quantified, among which catechin content was found to be the highest (3.06%), followed by gallic acid (0.27%) and quercetin (0.04%).ConclusionsThe results therefore clearly indicates that the crude extract from N. nouchali seeds could be used as a potential source of natural antimicrobial agent owing to the presence of the phytoconstituent catechin in abundance along with other active compounds and supports the traditional use of the plant in the treatment of infections.

The fruit of Phoenix pusilla Garetn. has been used in herbal medicines, as it is sweet, sour, cooling and laxative, cardiotonic, aphrodisiac, carminative and roborant. The objective of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant and antidiabetic effect of ethanolic extract of unripe fruit of Phoenix pusilla in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The extract was analyzed for the presence of various phytoconstituents like tannins, flavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, protein, carbohydrates, lipids and phenolic compounds. Streptozotocin (40 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) was administered to induce diabetes in adult rats. The extract (100 and 200 mg/kg) and glibenclamide (6 mg/kg) were administered orally for 21 days to evaluate antioxidant and antidiabetic activity. Blood glucose, serum total cholesterol and triglycerides levels were estimated. Carbohydrate and lipid metabolizing enzymes glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, glycolytic enzymes like hexokinase and liver-function enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), production of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), reduced glutathione (GSH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALP), renal-function markers like urea and creatinine level were also measured. Histopathology of pancreas was studied. The results indicated that extract normalized the blood, liver, renal and pancreatic functions in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Hence it can be concluded that the extract possesses antioxidant and antidiabetic activity. The findings support the conventional usage of Phoenix pusilla unripe fruit in treating diabetes.