Essential oils are mixtures of volatile, lipophilic compounds originating from plants. Some essential oils have useful biological activities including antimicrobial, spasmolytic, antiplasmodial, and insect-repelling activities. In this study, we tested the antimicrobial activity of essential oil prepared from the aromatic plant, Cymbopogon citrates, against three important plant pathogenic and ...

Pheretima (family Megascolecidae) has been documented as a potent agent for the treatment of cough and breathing difficulty in traditional Chinese medicine for nearly 2000 years. The water extract of Pheretima was separated into three fractions of the ethanolic precipitate, the alkaline fraction and the acidic fraction. Among the three fractions, the acidic fraction showed the most potent spasm...

Background: A majority of people suffering from functional abdominal complaints treat themselves with OTC medication. Aim: To gain information on symptoms and their interpretation in patients self-treating abdominal cramping and pain with a spasmolytic (butylscopolamine). Method: 4,680 questionnaires were distributed by 306 pharmacists in Germany to patients suffering from abdominal complaints ...

A sixty-seven year old male patient admitted to the emergency department with complaints of epigastric pain and dark colored vomit which occurred while eating. The pain had a colic-like characteristic and spread to the chest. The patient vomited only once and continued to retch. No comorbid disease was present. The patient's blood pressurewas 167/101mmHg, pulsewas 67/min, respiratory rate was 2...

Musca domestica found in every habitation causing nuisance, diseases which results in public health problems. Conventional methods used for fly control caused several problems such as pest resistance, effects on non-target organisms, pest resurgence etc. To overcome these difficulties, it is important to search for new ecofriendly alternatives. In present work an effort has been taken to solve ...

Onion (Allium cepa) bulb from Liliaceae has antioxidant, spasmolytic and antihypertensive activities. The aim of present study was to investigate the antispasmodic effect of onion peel on rat ileum contractility. Onion peel powder was extracted by maceration in 70% alcohol for 72 h. A terminal portion of ileum from male Wistar rat was dissected and its contractions were recorded isotonically in...

Trefoil factor family 2 (TFF2), also known as spasmolytic polypeptide, is a member of the trefoil family of peptides and is expressed primarily in the mucous neck cells of the gastric mucosa. To study the physiologic role of TFF2, we have generated TFF2-deficient mice through targeted gene disruption. Homozygous mutant mice were viable and fertile without obvious gastrointestinal abnormalities....

Essential oils are complex blends of a variety of volatile molecules such as terpenoids, phenol-derived aromatic components, and aliphatic components having a strong interest in pharmaceutical, sanitary, cosmetic, agricultural, and food industries. Since the middle ages, essential oils have been widely used for bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, antiparasitical, insecticidal, and other medici...

Crude extract of Rubia cordifolia (RC) was tested in isolated tissue preparations for its possible calcium channel antagonistic activity. RC suppressed the spontaneous contractions of guinea-pig atria, rabbit jejunum and rat uterus in a concentration dependent manner (0.1-3 mg/ml). In rabbit aorta, it inhibited norepinephrine (10 microM) and KCl (80 mM) induced contractions. Replacement of phys...