PURPOSE To evaluate the acute hepatotoxicity of Equisentum arvense L. in rats. METHODS Fifty Wistar rats were used, these being divided in four groups, one being the control (receiving only water) and the other groups receiving graded doses of Equisentum arvense L. (30, 50, and 100mg/kg respectively) for 14 days. Blood samples were obtained to determine TGO, TGP, FA, DHL and GT-gamma activiti...

The petroleum ether (PE), chloroform (CH), ethanol (ETH) and water extracts of E. arvense stems were evaluated for anti-anxiety activity in mice using elevated plus maze model. Ketamine induced hypnosis and actophotometer was used to evaluate sedative effect with various extracts in mice. The results were compared with standard drug diazepam. The ethanolic extract of E. arvense (50 and 100 mg/k...

BACKGROUND With the emergence of strains resistant to conventional antibiotics, it is important to carry studies using alternative methods to control these microorganisms causing important infections, such as the use of products of plant origin that has demonstrated effective antimicrobial activity besides biocompatibility. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of p...

Vacuolar type ATPases have been found on various endomembranes of eukaryotic cells, e.g. lysosomes, chromaffin granules, vesicles derived from the Golgi apparatus, endosomes and vacuoles. Although this ATPase type is targeted to different compartments in one cell, only one gene for each subunit had been found per genome. Using PCR across intron-exon boundaries we show that two different genes e...

The global herbal products market has grown in recent years, making regulation of these products paramount for public healthcare. For instance, the common horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) is used in numerous herbal products, but it can be adulterated with closely related species, especially E. palustre L. that can produce toxic alkaloids. As morphology-based identification is often difficult or...