Withania somnifera L. Dunal (Family: Solanaceae) is extensively used in traditional Indian medicine as a nerve tonic and is thought to improve memory. We assessed the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity and kinetics of an aqueous extract of W. somnifera root, in the context of its potential role in regulating the levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the brain. The assessment of cholines...

BACKGROUND Withania somnifera, also known as ashwagandha, is an important herb in ayurvedic and indigenous medical systems. The present study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of an 80% aqueous methanolic extract of W. somnifera roots (WSREt), fruits (WSFEt) and leaves (WSLEt). METHODS Several assays were performed to determine the antioxidant properties of...

Withania somnifera, commonly known as Ashwagandha an important medicinal plant largely used in Ayurvedic and indigenous medicine for over 3,000 years. Being a medicinal plant, dried powder, crude extract as well as purified metabolies of the plant has shown promising therapeutic properties. Withanolides are the principal metabolites, responsible for the medicinal properties of the plant. Availa...

Withanolides are a group of naturally occurring steroidal lactones present in roots and leaves of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal. Withanolides possesses a wide range of pharmacological activities including anticancer to treat various neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. In recent years, several pharmacological studies have been conducted to util...

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is a valued medicinal plant with pharmaceutical applications. The present study was undertaken to analyze the salicylic acid induced leaf transcriptome of W. somnifera. A total of 45.6 million reads were generated and the de novo assembly yielded 73,523 transcript contig with average transcript contig length of 1620 bp. A total of 71,062 transcripts were annotated ...

Sleep disruption involves extensive changes in physiological function, including EEG, motor, metabolic, autonomic processes physiological homeostasis and psychological balance that are necessary for physical health. Benzodiazepines are the most widely used drugs for the sleep related problems in spite of their limitations and side effects. Objective of the study was to investigate the protectiv...

Withania somnifera has been used in traditional medicine for a variety of neural disorders. Recently, chronic neurodegenerative conditions have been shown to benefit from treatment with this extract. To evaluate the action of this extract on traumatically injured neurons, the efficacy of W. somnifera root extract as a neuroprotective agent was examined in cultured model neurons exposed to an in...