Acne vulgaris and acne-like disorders such as gramnegative folliculitis (herein preferred as acne for the entire article), are uncomfortable facial skin problems that possesses a prevalence of 80% in adults 1 . This disease significantly decreases the patient self-confidence and self-esteem, especially in teenagers. There are 4 common causes of acne, namely high sebum production, pilosebaceous follicles keratinization, uncontrolled bacterial growth, and immune-response inflammation. Among them, acne caused by bacteria such as the gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (for acne vulgaris) and gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) (for gramnegative folliculitis), are often serious and demand urgent treatments 2-5 . Nevertheless, these treatments, including topical benzoyl peroxide, topical/oral antibiotics, topical retinoids, and isotretinoin, although effective, cause lots of unwanted side effects that pose a significant health risks in patients [6][7] . Thus, numerous alternative approaches have been investigated, namely utilizing the natural plant extracts [8][9][10][11][12][13] . For instance, the green tea polyphenols demonstrates antibacterial action in acne infections and reduce the dermal sebum secretion 11 . To this end, an interesting plant that has gained much attention is the Piper betle L.Belong to the family Piperaceae, Piper betle (Betel vine, Betel, Betle, "Trầu không" [in Vietnamese]), originated from Central and East Malaysia and has been cultivated for more than 2500 years [14][15] , is a popular plant in

Background: Areca nut, the nut of the areca palm (Areca catechu L.) and the leaf of betel vine (Piper betle L.) are the two inevitable ingredients of the common chewing mixture popularly known as betel quid. Both traditional and modern research findings proved that these two plant products have many medicinal values, including anticancer properties. With this information, we formulated a polyherbal preparation chiefly containing these two plant products and evaluated its anticancer efficacy on the specific cancer cell line. Methods: The polyherbal preparation called ‘Pugasaram’ was prepared using 12 different plant products, including areca nut and betel leaf, in different proportions. It was screened for its anticancer properties against A549 cancer cell lines. Results: The study showed a dose-dependent cytotoxicity of ‘Pugasaram’ on cultured A549 cancer cells with the IC50 value of 109.32 µg/ml. Conclusion: The present study reveals great potential for ‘Pugasaram’ to develop as an effective anticancer drug. This information could be the basis for further studies in this field.

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are caused by the dysfunction of neurons. Neuronal death is associated with the aggregation of proteins in neurons and glial cells. The aggregated proteins impede mitochondrial function and induce oxidative stress. Increased oxidative stress produces more reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is detrimental to cells in the brain causes neuronal degeneration. There are no treatments for NDs other than reducing disease progression. Hence, the treatment strategies, which reduce oxidative stress and neuronal damage are in demand. Celastrus paniculatus Willd (CP) and Sida cordifolia Linn (SC) have been extensively used in the indigenous therapeutic systems for treating various brain-related ailments. The present investigation was carried out to examine the biochemical and histological alterations of seed oil of CP (SOCP) and aqueous root extract of SC (ARESC) on the hippocampus of the brain in Kainic acid (KA)-induced NDs. The extracts of SOCP and ARESC were administered for 14 days and KA was administered by i.p. on the 14 th day to all the groups except the vehicle control group. At the end of the study, the rat brain was removed, the hippocampus was separated, and the homogenate was prepared to estimate the antioxidant parameters (SOD, catalase, and LPO). LDH assay, dopamine (DA) level, α-synuclein immunohistochemistry, and ROS assays were conducted. The results revealed that the treatment with SOCP and ARESC increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes, reduced oxidative stress, decreased α-synuclein protein aggregation, and elevated the levels of DA neurotransmitters.