Background: Dengue is an infectious disease associated with high mortality and morbidity. Being a viral disease, there is no specific drug available for treatment. There are some reports that Carica papaya leaf extract may improve the clinical condition of dengue patients. However, to support this, at present, there is no systematically searched and synthesized evidence available. Hence this study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of commercial preparation of Carica papaya leaves with freshly prepared Carica papaya leaf extracted.Methods: 48 albino rats were randomly divided into eight groups of six each. Thrombocytopenia was induced by giving hydroxyurea (15mg/kg) orally. Group I and II served as saline and toxic control group respectively. Other six groups were given two different doses of either commercial extract or fresh extract orally for five days. 1ml of blood was withdrawn at baseline,3rd and 6th day of the study. Platelet, WBC, RBC count, clotting and bleeding time were determined.Results: Mean platelet count increased significantly on day 6 in both low dose (2.06 to 4.93lakh/mm3) and human equivalent dose (2.73 to 7.66lakh/mm3) of commercial extract groups compared to the toxic control group (p<0.05). Similarly, the mean platelet count increased significantly for human equivalent dose in fresh leaf extract group (3.17 to 4.69lakh/mm3) but the increase in low dose fresh extract (3.28 to 3.76lakh/mm3) was not significant. There was no significant rise in mean platelets count, mean RBC count, WBC count, decrease in mean bleeding and clotting time between commercial extract and fresh leaf extract group for both low dose and human equivalent dose.Conclusions: Efficacy of fresh leaf extract of Carica papaya was not inferior to commercial available preparation. Fresh Carica papaya leaf extract no doubt offers a potential therapeutic efficacy which is cost effective, more affordable and accessible treatment in patients with thrombocytopenia.

Objective: The objective of this study to evaluate the anticonvulsant activity of flaxseed oil alone and as an adjuvant to phenytoin sodium. Methods:A total of 24 albino rats were used for this study. Four groups -control, standard (phenytoin sodium), test (flaxseed oil), and flaxseed oil along with phenytoin were made with six rats in each group. Maximal electroshock seizures 60-Hz AC of 150 mA intensity for 0.2 s were induced using an electroconvulsiometer with ear electrodes 60 min after oral drug administration. Duration of tonic hind limb extension (THLE) in seconds was used as a measure of seizures induced. Results:The mean duration of THLE in 4 groups was 11.66 (Group I), 5.67 (Group II), 3.85 (Group III), and 2.69 (Group IV). Duration of THLE was reduced in flaxseed oil group (P < 0.000) compared to both control and standard. Other parameters such as regain of righting reflex and recovery time also showed improvement. The group where flaxseed oil was used as an adjuvant to phenytoin also showed significant anticonvulsant activity. It showed a greater reduction in the parameters compared to either drug alone. Conclusion:The study showed that flaxseed oil possesses marked anticonvulsant activity when used alone and as an adjuvant to phenytoin. This study shows the potential of flaxseed oil in generalized tonic-clonic seizure.

Background: Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of psychiatric condition. Medications commonly given for treatment can elicit several central nervous system (CNS) side-effects that patients find difficult to tolerate. So there is a need for new pharmacotherapeutic approaches to treat anxiety with greater efficacy and fewer side effects. Hence this study has been taken up to evaluate the anxiolytic effect of furosemide at three different doses (75mg/kg, 150mg/kg and 200mg/kg) in Albino rats.Methods: After obtaining approval from the institutional animal ethical committee 30 Albino rats weighing about 150-200gm were taken and divided into 5 groups of 6 rats each. Group 1: Normal Saline 10ml/kg (control); Group 2: Diazepam 2mg/kg (standard); Group 3: Furosemide 150mg/kg (test group 1); Group 4: Furosemide 200mg/kg (test group 2); Group 5: Furosemide 75mg/kg + Diazepam 1mg/kg (sub threshold dose). The anxiolytic activity of furosemide was tested by elevated plus maze and digital actophotometer models. Data was analysed using one way ANOVA followed by Posthoc Tukey’s test.Results: Furosemide (150mg/kg and 200mg/kg) have shown significant increase in open arm entries (p<0.05) and time spent in open arm (p<0.05) compared to control. Also furosemide (150mg/kg and 200mg/kg) have shown statistically significant decrease in locomotor activity (p<0.05) compared to control in actophotometer model. Potentiation of time spent and number of entries in open arm and decrease in locomotor activity were noticed when sub threshold doses of combination of diazepam and furosemide were used.Conclusions: These results suggest that furosemide possesses significant anxiolytic activity at both the doses. Furosemide given in sub threshold dose potentiates the antianxiety effect of sub threshold dose of diazepam when used in combination. Hence, after further studies, furosemide can be used as an anxiolytic drug.

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