Central Drug Research Institute

About: Central Drug Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Leishmania donovani & Brugia malayi. The organization has 4357 authors who have published 7257 publications receiving 143871 citations. The organization is also known as: Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow & CDRI.

Plant products in the treatment and control of filariasis and other helminth infections and assay systems for antifilarial/anthelmintic activity.

Abstract: Lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, loaisis, and other helminth infections cause serious health problems especially in resource-limited tropical and subtropical developing countries of the world, and more than 2 billion people are infected with at least one helminth species. From times immemorial, man looked up to the plant kingdom in search of anthelmintics, antifilarials, and remedies for parasite-induced health problems. Although more than 50 % of drugs in modern medicine are derived from plants or leads from plants, a success story of plant-based anthelminthics or antifilarials is yet to be told. In the last 5 decades, more than 100 plant products were reported to be beneficial in the treatment or control of these parasitic infections but they could not be developed into viable drugs for a variety of reasons. This review focuses on the plant products reported to be useful in the control and treatment of human helminth infections with the main emphasis on filariasis and the in vitro and in vivo systems available for assaying anthelmintic activity.

Swerchirin induced blood sugar lowering of streptozotocin treated hyperglycemic rats.

Abstract: Effect of Swerchirin (1:8 dihydroxy 3:5 dimethoxy xanthone) isolated from hexane fraction of Swertia chirayita on the blood sugar level of healthy and streptozotocin treated rats was studied. Streptozotocin was administered in citrate buffer (pH-4.5) intravenously / 35 and 65 mg/kg body wt to Charles Foster strain albino rats. Swerchirin (50 mg/kg, po) suspended in gum acacia was fed through cannula to the above rats and to a group of healthy rats. Blood sugar estimated at 0, 1, 3 and 7 hr after, indicated a very significant lowering in healthy and streptozotocin (35 mg/kg iv) but not in streptozotocin (65 mg/kg) treated rats.