Background:Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers and a lethal disease. In view of the limited treatment and a grave prognosis of liver cancer, preventive control has been emphasized.Materials and Methods:The methanolic extract of roots of Cynodon dactylon was screened for its hepato-protective activity in diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) induced liver cancer in Swiss albino mice. The plant extract at a dose of 50 mg/kg was administered orally once a week, up to 30 days after DEN administration. The animals were sacrificed; blood sample and liver tissue were collected and used for enzyme assay such as, asparatate amino transferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST). The liver marker enzymes AST and ALT produced significant results in the protective action.Results:The antioxidant enzyme assay results concerning the improved activity of GPx, GST and CAT. These results concluded that enhanced levels of antioxidant enzyme and reduced amount of serum amino transaminase, which are suggested to be the major mechanisms of C. dactylon root extract in protecting the mice from hepatocarcinoma induced by DEN. These biochemical observations were supplemented by histopathological examination of liver sections.Conclusion:The methanolic extract of C. dactylon possesses significant anticancer properties

Curcumin, the active, light sensitive agent, found in significant amounts in Curcuma longa L, is a potential therapeutic agent, possessing various pharmaceutical and industrial uses. The present extraction techniques, that are in application for many decades suffer from many economical and environmental demerits. This work is a prospective and noteworthy step towards conquering those disadvantages by means of optimizing the extraction process parameters and developing an energy efficient, environment friendly and economical process. In this study, various organic solvents were tested for their ability of curcumin extraction an concluded that acetone is most efficient. The process parameters like time, temperature and particle size were investigated and the minimum volume and concentration of solvent required were determined. Three potential pre-treatment process were analyzed for their capability to effectively distort the turmeric structure and aid in increasing the overall efficiency of the process. It was found that, employment of a mechanical distortion method by microwave assistance, and further followed by chemical disintegration, by means of enzymatic treatment, resulted in high attainable efficiency.

No abstract

No abstract