There is a growing body of evidence that plant polyphenols such as resveratrol, anthocyanins, catechins, and terpenes like taxol are effectively used in the treatment of chronic conditions including cancer, Alzheimer, Parkinsonism, diabetes, aging, etc. The link between oxidative stress and inflammation is well accepted. Thus, the mechanism of action of these natural products is partly believed to be through their significant antioxidant properties. The main constituent of green tea, with clinical significance, is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). It has been associated with antitumor, anti-Alzheimer, and anti-aging properties, improve redox status at the tissue level possibly preventing system level structural damage. This review focuses on EGCG and its potential therapeutic role in health and disease.

Introduction:Hypertension and dyslipidemia are the two coexisting and synergizing major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The cellular constituents of blood affect the volume and viscosity of blood, thus playing a key role in regulating blood pressure. Overweight and obesity are key determinants of adverse metabolic changes including an increase in blood pressure. The aim of this study was to evaluate lipid profiles and hematological parameters in hypertensive patients at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.Methods:Laboratory-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 100 eligible hypertensive patients at the hospital. The required amount of blood was withdrawn from the patients by healthcare professionals for immediate automated laboratory analyses. Data were collected on socio-demographic factors, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and hematological parameters.Result:The mean serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein were significantly higher than their respective cut-off values in the hypertensive patients. Besides, 54%, 52%, 35%, and 11% of the hypertensive patients had abnormal low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein levels, respectively. Higher levels of low-density lipoprotein, hemoglobin, and red blood cell count were observed in the hypertensive patients whose blood pressure had been poorly controlled than the controlled ones (p < 0.05). Waist circumference had a significant positive association with the serum levels of total cholesterol and white blood cell count (p < 0.05).Conclusion:Hypertensive patients had a high prevalence of lipid profile abnormalities and poorly controlled blood pressure which synergize in accelerating other cardiovascular diseases. Some hematological parameters such as red blood cell count are also increased as do the severity of hypertension.

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In the Ayurvedic system of medicine, the roots and rhizomes of an indigenous Indian plant Acorus calamus are used together with the roots of Rauwolfia serpentina for treating many mental ailments. The influence of asarone and beta-asarone (the trans and cis forms of 2,4,5-trimethoxy-1-propenyl benzene), two active principles of Acorus calamus, when given alone and together with either reserpine or chlorpromazine, has been studied on the conditioned avoidance response of trained rats, on the fighting behaviour of paired mice subjected to mild foot shock and on electro-convulsions. Except for electro-convulsions, asarone in small doses potentiates the effects of reserpine and of chlorpromazine; beta-asarone has no such effect. Estimation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of rat brain showed that neither acorus oil nor its active principles increase the concentration of 5-hydroxytryptamine; nor do these compounds cause an additional decrease in the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of the brains of animals treated with reserpine. It is concluded that the potentiating effect of these principles is unrelated to 5-hydroxytryptamine concentration. In experiments using electro-convulsions, asarone increased the percentage mortality of animals treated with chlorpromazine but not of those treated with reserpine.

Background8-Aminoquinolines such as primaquine clear mature Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes that are responsible for transmission from human to mosquitoes and bring radical cure in Plasmodium vivax by clearing dormant liver stages. Deployment of primaquine is thus of relevance for malaria elimination efforts but challenged by the widespread prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDd) in endemic countries since primaquine in G6PDd individuals may lead to acute haemolysis. In this study, the prevalence of G6PDd was investigated in different settings in Ethiopia using phenotyping and genotyping approaches.MethodsCommunity and school based cross-sectional surveys were conducted from October to December 2016 in four administrative regions (Gambela, Benishangul Gumuz, Oromia, and Amhara) in Ethiopia. Finger prick blood samples were collected for G6PD enzyme activity using the CareStart™ G6PD screening test and genotyping of 36 selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the G6PD gene and its flanking regions.ResultsOverall, the prevalence of phenotypic G6PDd was 1.4% (22/1609). For the first time in the Ethiopian population, the African variant (A−) was detected in 3.5% (7/199) of the limited set of genotyped samples, which were all phenotypically normal. Interestingly, all of these individuals had a variation at the rs2515904 locus. Strong geographical variation was observed for both phenotypic and genotypic G6PDd; three-quarters of the phenotypically G6PDd individuals were detected in Gambela.ConclusionA very low prevalence of G6PDd was detected in the present study populations. The presence of the A− variant alongside other G6PD mutants and the patchy distribution of G6PDd indicate that larger studies specifically designed to unravel the distribution of G6PDd at small geographical scale may be needed to tailor malaria elimination efforts in Ethiopia to the local context.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12936-018-2437-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.