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Background: Indigenous people residing in rural parts of the country still use medicinal herbs to cure diseases and injuries and possess inherent knowledge of their preparation and uses. However, contemporarily, this knowledge is less being practiced and is waning along with the introduction of modern pharmaceuticals. Objective: A survey research was carried in Myagdi district to study ethnobotany of medicinal plants and their practices. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 informants from the tribal communities were selected purposively and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data was entered in MS-Excel and narrative analysis of the information was carried out to derive the inferences needed. Results: The study showed that 93.51% of the informants, having traditional knowledge on medicinal plants, have been practicing their use and 87.20% of the respondents found them effective in curing several diseases and injuries. Medicinal plants are commonly used to cure diseases like bone fractures, abdominal pain, fever, common cold, dysentery, eye opacity, scabies, worm infection, reproductive problems, mental disorder, and cardiovascular problems. As reported, with access to modern pharmaceuticals, the use of medicinal plants has less been practiced and handed over the generations these days. The knowledge on medicinal plants and practices are restricted to older-aged groups of the community (76.32%) reflecting that valuable traditional knowledge is on the wane. Conclusions: This study portrays the commonly used medicinal plants along with their preparation techniques practiced in the study area.

Meniere's disease (MD) is a chronic inner ear disorder characterized by intermittent episodes of vertigo lasting from minutes to hours, with fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, and aural fullness. Endolymphatic hydrops is thought to be the pathological basis for MD and arise due to either excessive production or inadequate absorption of endolymph. The raised endolymphatic pressure causes periodic rupture or leakage in the membrane separating the endolymphatic from perilymphatic space. So, the treatment aims to reduce the production and increased the absorption of endolymph. The clinical objective of treatment is to stop vertigo spells, reduce or abolish tinnitus and preserve or even reverse hearing loss. The majority of the studies have focused on reducing vertigo attacks, which is the severest symptom of MD. There are several therapeutic options for MD, but none is considered effective by the scientific community. The prerequisites for successful pharmacotherapy for MD include correct diagnosis, correct drug, appropriate dosage, and appropriate duration of therapy. There are several groups of drugs that can be used for MD such as betahistine, oral corticosteroids, intratympanic corticosteroids, intratympanic gentamycin injections, and benzodiazepines. The objective of this review article is to discuss the current knowledge of the pharmacotherapy of MD. Appropriate treatment of MD prevents this morbid disease and improves the quality of life.

Piper sarmentosum is an herbaceous plant that belongs to Piperaceae family which possesses an antioxidant activity due to the presence of phenolic compounds. The extraction of phenolic compounds from this Piper species could be carried out by employing various conventional and nonconventional extraction techniques and solvents. Among the extraction techniques commonly applied are maceration, infusion, reflux, and water bath extraction which are classified as conventional methods. Meanwhile, among nonconventional approaches employed are microwaved-assisted extraction, ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted infusion, and agitation extraction. The recovery of phenolic content could be performed using different extracting solvents such as water, ethanol, methanol, butanol, hexane, n-hexane, acetone, chloroform, and ethyl acetate. In this manuscript, the effect of different extraction techniques and solvents on the total phenolic content (TPC) in P. sarmentosum was reviewed. Previous research recorded that the TPC which was expressed as gallic acid equivalent in P. sarmentosum ranges from 0.57 mg GAE/g for UAE to 430 mg GAE/g where the maceration technique produced the highest TPC. While for the extracting solvents, methanol gave the most significant amount of TPC with obtained value at 379 mg GAE/100 g. This research provides an overall review of different techniques of solvents which could be used as references on the optimization of extraction processes to enhance the recovery of phenolic content from P. sarmentosum.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a major endocrinopathy that affects women during their child-bearing age. PCOS women exhibit excess androgens, irregular or no ovulation, and polycystic ovaries. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic, anthropometric, physical, reproductive, metabolic, endocrine parameters, and ovarian volume (OV) of PCOS women. Materials and Methods: This study was case control including the clinically diagnosed PCOS women (100) and healthy women (100) as controls. Both groups were assessed for the demographic features such as age, anthropometric parameters such as height and weight, physical parameters such as body mass index (BMI), waist-Hip ratio, reproductive parameters such as menarche, and hirsutism (Ferriman Gallwey Score, acne, and alopecia), and the biochemical parameters including blood sugar fasting (BSF), hormone profile (luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH], testosterone, and prolactin), lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein [HDL], low-density lipoprotein [LDL], and very LDL [VLDL]), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) using prestructured questionnaire. The OV was observed by ultrasonography. Results: We observed significantly higher body weight, BMI, waist/hip ratio, reproductive cycle duration, prevalence of hirsutism, LH, FSH, testosterone, prolactin, triglycerides, HDL, LDL levels, and OV in patients compared to controls. However, the average number of cycles per year and VLDL levels were significantly lower in the patient. No significant difference was found in BSF and TSH levels between the patient and control groups. Conclusion: The proper evaluation of the demographic, anthropometric, physical, reproductive, metabolic, endocrine parameters, and OV may help in the accurate diagnosis of PCOS that will benefit the affected women with timely therapy commencement.

Online since 13^th November 2018