Alternative Medicine Studies

Associations between perceived stress, quality of life and complementary health practices in Japanese outpatients: a multicenter observational study

Tomoaki Kimura — 2013-08-05

In Japan and other countries, complementary health practices based on lifestyle modification such as exercise, diet, art and culture, gardening, and biofield therapy, have received increasing attention. This study was conducted to demonstrate associations between perceived stress, quality of life (QOL), and these complementary health practices. Computer-assisted data collection was conducted with Japanese outpatients in 10 clinics. Participants completed questionnaires that measured socioeconomic status (SES) and frequencies of complementary health practices. Psychological stress was measured using the 10-Item Japanese version of the Perceived Stress Scale. QOL was measured using the 10-Item Mokichi Okada Association Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using linear regression modeling. Baseline data of 1480 participants were available for cross-sectional analysis and data of 318 participants were available at follow-up for longitudinal analysis. Gender differences were not observed in stress and QOL, but age was positively correlated with QOL, and negatively with stress. A multiple regression model adjusted for age, gender, and SES indicated weak associations between each health practice and QOL in the cross-sectional (β=0.14-0.28) and the longitudinal analysis (β=0.17-0.27). Moreover, negative associations between each health practice and stress varied from -0.08 to -0.18, with the exception of biofield therapy in the cross-sectional analysis. In the longitudinal analysis, associations varied from -0.13 to -0.27, but diet and biofield therapy were not significantly associated with stress. These results suggest that complementary health practices had a significant effect on maintaining, or improving QOL, as well as in reducing stress of Japanese outpatients.

Antimicrobial activity of selected natural products against Gram-positive, Gram-negative and Acid-fast bacterial pathogens

Niket Yadav — 2012-09-06

Recurring epidemics of drug resistant bacterial diseases such as those caused by mycobacteria (tuberculosis and non-tuberculous infections), staphylococci (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA infections) and various Gram-negative enterobacteria (enterobacterial infections) have reinforced the need to search for alternative antimicrobials. In this context, we investigated the anti-bacterial potential of nine different natural products and compared them with the antibiotic controls, using three test bacterial species, representing the Gram-negative (Escherichia coli), Gram-positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis), and Acid-fast (Mycobacterium smegmatis) pathogen groups. Six of the nine products showed detectable but variable zones of inhibition (mm2). The anti-bacterial activity (mm2 per 100 mg) of the extracts from the four solid natural products was in the following order for all three pathogen groups: Mint (Mentha arvensis) leaf extract, 264-930>Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) cap extract, 112-241>Turmeric (Curcuma longa) root extract, 4-10>Ginger (Zingiber officinale) root extract, 3-9. For the liquid products, the activity measured on 100 μL aliquots was in the following order: Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globules) oil, 264-1044>Mustard (Brassica campestris L. var. brown sarson) oil, 45-96. Taken together, these results indicated the highest activity in Mint extract and Eucalyptus oil against all three test organisms. However, the individual test strains showed the following variable order of susceptibility: Mint extract (M. smegmatis>E. coli>S. epidermidis); Eucalyptus oil (M. smegmatis>S. epidermidis>E. coli). Based on these results it can be concluded that Mint leaves and Eucalyptus oil have an unusually broad spectrum activity and may, therefore, be promising sources of new broad spectrum antimicrobials.

Antitumor potential of Citrus limetta fruit peel in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing Swiss albino mice

Sriparna Kundusen — 2012-08-14

Citrus limetta Risso (Rutaceae), commonly known as sweet lime in English and Mousambi in India, has been traditionally used for several medicinal purposes. This study explored the relationship between Citrus limetta fruit peel and its antitumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) bearing mice. The antitumor activity of methanol extract of peel of Citrus limetta fruits (MECL) was evaluated against EAC cell line in Swiss albino mice. Twenty-four hours after intraperitoneal inoculation of tumor EAC cells in mice, MECL was administered at 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight i.p. daily for nine consecutive days. On the 10th day, half of the mice were sacrificed for the estimation of tumor growth (tumor volume, viable and non-viable tumor cell counts), and hematologic parameters (red blood cells, white blood cells and hemoglobin). The rest were kept alive for assessment of survival parameters, i.e. median survival time and percentage increase in life span of EAC bearing mice. Intraperitoneal administration of MECL at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg for nine days to the carcinoma induced mice demonstrated a significant (P<0.001) decrease in tumor volume, viable tumor cell count, tumor weight and a significant (P<0.001) improvement in hematological parameters and life span as compared to the EAC control mice. The present study establishes marked and dose dependant anti-tumor effect of C. limetta fruit peel against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing Swiss mice.

Physico-chemical characterization and antimicrobial activity of Ceiba pentandra (Kapok) seed oil

Ravi Kiran Chekuboyina — 2012-08-02

Oil extracted from Ceiba pentandra seed was studied to explore its suitability for ethnomedical uses with a special emphasis on its physiochemical characterization, antimicrobial behavior and spectrophotometric parameters. Some of the physiochemical properties were examined and compared with those of standard oils and, in particular, any common characteristics with cotton seed oil were evaluated. Spectrophotometric analysis of oil was carried out to obtain information regarding the types, numbers and position of chromophores and auxochrome, and saturated and unsaturated compounds. Crude Ceiba pentandra oil was found to show good to moderate activity against bacteria, and in particular Gram +ve (B. cereus, B. subtilis and S. aureus) and Gram -Ve (E. coli and P. aeurignosa) and fungal stains, more specifically Aspergillus flavans, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Maximum activity was observed on bacterial strains compared with fungal strains. Among bacteria, Bacillus subtilis was highly sensitive; fungi were less susceptible to oil and Saccharomyces cerivisiae were the most susceptible. Minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal and fungicidal concentrations of the seed oil varied between 3 to 10 mg/50 μL against all bacterial and fungal strains used in this study. In conclusion, Ceiba pentandra oil is a natural antimicrobial agent and could have therapeutic potential.