The present innovative research work deals with the individual use of chitosan (2.5g/kg), Aloe vera (10g/kg), triclosan (10g/kg), TiO2-nanoparticles (TiO2-NP's, 10g/kg), silicon micro-emulsion (20g/kg) or a water/oil-repellent agent (40g/kg) for modifying the pigment print paste to produce functionalized cotton/wool and viscose/wool pigment prints in one step process. The imparted functional properties such as antibacterial, antibacterial/UV-protection, soft-handle or water/oil-repellency together with the change in the printing properties were evaluated. Some of the obtained pigment prints were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy dispersive X-rays (EDX) to confirm deposition of certain functional additives on printed fabrics. The wide-range of imparted functional properties together with the depth of the obtained pigment prints were maintained over 80% even after 15 consecutive laundering cycles. The extent of retention in functional and pigment printing properties is influenced by the type of functional additive as well as the kind of substrate.

Aloe ferox is an important medicinal plant in Southern Africa whose seeds could be useful as a source of oil. The fatty acid composition of A. ferox seed oil was determined using gas chromatography. The physicochemical properties of the oil were analysed using standard methods. The seeds yielded 19.4% of a light textured oil using the Blight and Dyer's method and 12.3% using the Soxhlet extraction method. The saponification value of the seed oil was 241.9 mg KOH/g and the peroxide value was 8.9 meq/kg. The acid value of the seed oil was 51.5 mg KOH/g (25.9% free fatty acids). The major fatty acids found in the seed oil were linoleic acid (71.8%), oleic acid (12.0%), palmitic acid (11.2%) and stearic acid (2.9%). The results obtained suggest that as A. ferox seed oil is high in linoleic acid, it could be potentially exploited in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic mucocutaneous disorder commonly found in middle-aged women. Despite the progress in research and advance in knowledge on OLP, a successful management is still difficult to achieve. The main aim of OLP treatment is to control the symptoms of the affected patients. Steroids and other immunosuppressive drugs have been recommended and widely used in the treatment of OLP. Topical corticosteroids are the mainstay of OLP treatment, but strong evidence on their effectiveness is lacking. The effectiveness of alternative ways of managing OLP has been recently reported. Topical aloe vera, topical pimecrolimus and oral curcuminoids are the most promising of the new treatment modalities. Other interesting modalities are topically applied thalidomide and amlexanox. Nevertheless, the careful assessment between the risks and benefits of these drugs is crucial and larger and well-conducted trials need to confirm the above encouraging results.

Dachaihu Granule, commonly used for treating cholecystitis, is derived from a famous traditional Chinese formula named Dachaihu Decoction. No analytical method has been reported for simultaneous determination of 10 bioactive compounds for quality control in Dachaihu Granule so far.To develop a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with diode array detector (DAD) for simultaneous determination of 10 bioactive compounds (paeoniflorin, aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol, physcion, naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, and baicalin) in traditional Chinese medicine Dachaihu Granule.The samples were separated on a Kromasil C18 (250 × 4.6 mm,i.d. with 5.0 μm particle size)column with multi-wavelength detection method by a gradient elution using acetonitrile (A) and 0.2% acetic acid (B) as the mobile phase. The column temperature was maintained at 30°C and the detection wavelength was set at 230 nm for paeoniflorin, 254 nm for aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol, and physcion, 280 nm for naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, and baicalin.The developed method provided satisfactory precision and the accuracy of this method was in the range from 94.0% to 103.1%, all of the 10 compounds showed good linearity (r > 0.999) in a detected concentration range.The validated method was successfully applied to the simultaneously of these active components in Dachaihu Granule from different production batches.

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate troponin I (TnI) in patients with gynecological cancers.

METHODS:

Highly-sensitive (HS) and conventional TnI were measured in 25 patients with untreated ovarian cancer, 25 with endometriosis and 25 with benign masses.

RESULTS:

Both HS and conventional TnI were increase in cancer patients. Values above the cut-off were found in 44% and 16% cancer patients using HS and conventional TnI methods, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

Cardiac involvement is frequent in patients with gynecological cancers and should be preferably assessed using HS troponin immunoassays.

Aloe vera is a semi-tropical plant of Liliaceae family which has a wide range of applications in traditional medicine. In the present study, we sought to investigate the heptaoprotective potential of Aloe vera gel as a diet supplement. To achieve this goal, we have designed in vitro and in vivo experimental models of chemical-induced liver damage using male Sprague-Dawley rat. In the in vitro model, its effect was evaluated on Fenton's reaction-induced liver lipid peroxidation. Co-incubation with gel significantly reduced the generation of liver lipid peroxide (LPO). Next, to see the similar effect in vivo, gel was orally administered to rats once daily for 21 successive days. Following 1 hour of the last administration of gel, rats were treated with intra-peritoneal injection of CCl4. Dietary gel showed significant hepatoprotection against CCl4-induced damage as evident by restoration of liver LPO, serum transaminases, alkaline phosphatase, and total bilirubin towards near normal. The beneficial effects were pronounced with the doses used (400 and 800 mg/kg body weight). Besides, we did not observe any significant drop in serum albumin, globulin as well as total protein levels of gel-administered rats. Histopathology of the liver tissue further supported the biochemical findings confirming the hepatoprotective potential of dietary gel.

 Fresh-cut apples are easily susceptible to browning and microbial spoilage. In this study, an edible coating prepared from Aloe vera gel containing antibrowning solution was applied to preserve the quality of fresh-cut apples during storage. Fresh-cut apples were treated with both an Aloe vera gel and an Aloe vera gel containing 0.5% cysteine and then stored at 4 °C for 16 d. The color, firmness, weight loss, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, microbial analysis, and sensory evaluation were analyzed during storage. Fresh-cut apples coated with the Aloe vera gel showed delayed browning and reduced weight loss and softening compared to the control. The Aloe vera gel coating was also effective in reducing the populations of the total aerobic bacteria and yeast and molds. In particular, Aloe vera gel containing 0.5% cysteine was most effective in delaying browning and the reduction of microbial populations among the treatments. These results suggest that an Aloe vera gel coating can be used for maintaining the quality of fresh-cut apples.

INTRODUCTION:

The succulent leaf mesophyll in Aloe species supports a burgeoning natural products industry, particularly in Africa. Comparative data necessary to prioritise species with economic potential have been lacking.

OBJECTIVE:

To survey leaf mesophyll monosaccharide composition in the genus Aloe using a predictive phylogenetic approach.

METHODOLOGY:

Monosaccharide composition was assessed in 31 species, representing the morphological and taxonomic diversity of Aloe sensu stricto. Leaf mesophyll polysaccharides were partially hydrolysed in a trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-SilA assay. Oximes and trimethylsilyl ether products were detected by GC-MS. Constituent monosaccharides accounting for the greatest variation among species were identified by principal component analysis. Two plant DNA barcoding regions were sequenced in 28 of the sampled species and the resulting maximum likelihood tree was used to evaluate phylogenetic signal in monosaccharide composition throughout the genus.

RESULTS:

Nineteen peaks (Rt=16.76-23.67min) were identified in the GC-MS spectra. All samples were dominated by one constituent; glucose was the major monosaccharide in 19 species, mannose in eight species, and xylose in one species (Aloidendron pillansii). Three monosaccharides therefore account for 90% of the variation in leaf mesophyll in Aloe. Species which do not share this typical monosaccharide profile appear to group outside the core Aloe clade in the phylogeny.

CONCLUSION:

Preliminary findings suggest that leaf mesophyll monosaccharide composition is conservative in Aloe. Characterisation of within-species variation and quantitative differences between species will be necessary to authenticate leaf mesophyll products, whereas unusual monosaccharide profiles could be diagnostic in some species. The common glucose-mannose-xylose profile identified in commercially important species is shared by many other Aloe species.

A rapid and sensitive UPLC-ESI/MS method was established and validated to determine 17 active constituents (aconitine, hypaconitine, mesaconitine, benzoylaconine, benzoylhypaconine, benzoylmesaconine, berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, coptisine, baicalein, wogonin, baicalin, wogonoside, emodin, aloe-emodin and rhein) in Sanhuang Xiexin Tang (SXT) and Fuzi Xiexin Tang (FXT), which are two classic compound recipes from Xiexin Tang categorized formulas in traditional Chinese medicien. The separation was performed on a UPLC BEH C18 column gradient eluted using acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid as mobile phase. ESI/MS was operated in positive ([M + H](+) ) in selected ion recording mode for analysis of alkaloids and flavones, while in negative ([M - H](-) ) selected ion recording mode for anthraquinones. All of the 17 constituents exhibited good linearity in a relatively wide concentration ranges with the lowest limits of detection of 0.38 ng/mL. All of the relative standard deviation values of intra- and inter-precisions and stabilities of 17 constituents were within 5%. The method was successfully applied to determine 17 active constituents in decoctions and macerations of SXT and FXT. The results indicated that different preparative methods resulted in significant diversity in concentrations of the 17 analytes. Herb-herb interaction appeared between aconitum alkaloids in Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata and another three herbs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.