BACKGROUND Heliotropium strigosum is used in traditional medicine to manage gastrointestinal pain, respiratory distress and vascular disorders. The present study was undertaken to provide scientific evidences for these folkloric uses by in vitro experimental settings. METHODS A crude methanol extract of the Heliotropium strigosum (Hs.Cr) was tested in vitro on isolated rabbit jejunum preparat...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether it is feasible to measure the segmental flux of small bowel content using MR phase-contrast (PC) pulse sequences. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using a phantom the accuracy of flux measurements was validated. Afterwards, 10 volunteers were included in a prospective clinical trial. To provide standardized small bowel distension, all volunteers ingested four equal portions...

Certain biological and pharmacological effects of the Thymus species have been experimentally proved, such the expectorant (1), spasmolytic (1-3), antibacterial (1,4), antifungal (5), antioxidant (6-9), etc. These activities are due to the specific composition of the essential oils (1, 4-9), flavonoids (1-3, 9), phenolic acids (4) and other chemical constituents of Thymus. Beside the data conce...

Ohwi (Leguminosae), has been clinically used as an antipyretic and spasmolytic agent in traditional Chinese medicine. Many Chinese herbal formulas contain Pueraria root as their major ingredient; most well-known being “Kakkon-To” (in Japanese), which is indicated for fever and chills with stiffness or rigidity of the neck and upper back. The constituents of Pueraria root have been studied exten...

Droperidol has been reported to cause bronchodilatation but its mechanism(s) of action is unknown. We have evaluated the spasmolytic effect of droperidol on histamine- and serotonin (5-HT)-induced bronchoconstriction in dogs. Bronchial cross-sectional area was assessed with a superfine fibreoptic bronchoscope. Twenty-eight mongrel dogs were allocated randomly to one of two groups (histamine and...

In vivo and in vitro research study was conducted on Cyperus rotundus to evaluate the sound mechanistic background in the treatment of gastrointestinal, bronchial and vascular disorders as well as in pain, emesis, pyrexia and bacterial infections. Results showed that crude extract of Cyperus rotundus (Cr.Cr) exhibited the dose-dependent spasmolytic effect in rabbit jejunum by inhibiting the spo...