Withania somnifera

About: Withania somnifera is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2116 publications have been published within this topic receiving 43404 citations. The topic is also known as: Ashwaganda & Indian ginseng.

Formulation and evaluation of analgesic activity, anti- inflammatory and anti-anxiety activity of using plant extracts

Abstract: The aim of the present work is to evaluate the anti-anxiety activity of ethanolic extract of Datura stramonium (leaves), Terminalia arjuna (bark), Withania somnifera (root) in mice. Elevated plus-maze apparatus, light/dark apparatus were used for finding anti-anxiety activity of the ethanolic extract of Datura stramonium (leaves), Terminalia arjuna (bark), Withania somnifera (root) (100, 200 mg/kg i.p.) and diazepam (1 mg/kg i.p.) were administered half an hour before the administration. The result showed that the ethanolic extract of polyherbal formulation (100and 200 mg/kg) and diazepam (1 mg/kg) induced significantly (P<0.01) increase in the occupancy in the open arm and showed a decrease preference for the closed arm entries. Polyherbal formulation of the extracts of bark of Terminalia Arjuna leaves of Datura stramonium and roots of Withania somnifera were developed and compared with control saline sample and treated Diazepam sample. We concluded that Polyherbal formulation was endowed with significant antianxiety activity.

Anti-arthritic natural medicine: Classical Ayurvedic and ethnomedical source

Abstract: Seers of Ayurveda recorded their clinical findings from drugs of vegetable, animal, and mineral origin. Ayurvedic therapeutics contains single, simple as well as poly-herbal formulations for the management of arthritic disorders such as Āmavāta , Vātarakta , and Sandhigatavāta 0. In this paper, in addition to scientifically validated pharmacological studies, information about herbs from classical as well as ethno botanical sources are compiled, analyzed, and presented. Rāsnā ( Pluchea lanceolata (DC) Oliv. and Hiern), Gudūcī ( Tinospora cordifolia (Thunb.) Miers), Źunthi (Zingiber officinalis Roxb), Guggulu ( Commiphora mukul (Stocks) Hook), Aśvagandhā ( Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal), Śatāvarī ( Asparagus racemosus Willd.), Balā ( Sida cordifolia L.), Erandamūla ( Ricinus communis L.), Punarnavā ( Boerhavia diffusa L.) are a few prominent drugs in classical Ayurvedic literature recorded for joint disorders. Plants like Azadirachta indica A. Juss (seed oil and stem bark), Cardiospermum halicacabum L.(leaf) Drynaria quercifolia (rhizome), Hemidesmus indicus (L) R.Br, Dodonaea viscosa Jacq, and Leonotis nepetifolia (L.) R.Br were found to have multiple modes of administration for arthritis in ethno medicine.

Immunomodulatory activity in tumor-bearing mice treated with Withania somnifera extract

Abstract: We investigated some actions of Withania somnifera on the growth and differentiation of hematopoietic precursors [granulocyte/macrophage colony cell formation (CFU-GM)] of normal animals and EAT bearers, which were treated with different doses (20, 50, or 100 mg/kg/day). We also evaluated the presence of colony stimulatory factors in the animal's serum, as well as its survival. Furthermore, we analyzed lymphocyte proliferation, IFN-ɤ, and TNF-α concentrations in treated bearing mice. Our results demonstrated Withania somnifera effectiveness on hematopoietic precursors growth and differentiation in marrow and spleen TAE-bearing mice. As it was already expected, EAT produced myelosuppression and increased CFU-GM spleen number concomitantly. The treatment of EAT-bearing animals with W.S. (20, 50, and 100 mg/Kg) produced a dose-dependent increase in myelopoiesis, an increase in a lifetime, and a reduction in spleen colony number. All this happened parallel to survival. As to lymphocyte proliferation, they were also dose-dependent in treated bearing animals. Concerning IFN-γ levels, we observed a significant reduction in non-treated bearing mice. Levels of TNF-α of treated bearing mice significantly increased when compared to the non-treated bearing group. These results are encouraging since they favor the use of W.S. extract in therapeutic combinations with other chemotherapeutic agents to reduce myelotoxicity and supplement the tumoricidal efficacy of this plant.

Dietary ashwagandha, Withania somnifera (L. dunal) potentiates growth, haemato-biochemical response and disease resistance of Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) against Aeromonas hydrophila infection

Abstract: A 42 days experiment was conducted to understand the role of Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) administered through feed in growth, haemato-biochemical response and disease resistance of Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) against Aeromonas hydrophila infection during the period from February to March, 2009 at Department of Aquatic Health and Environment (AHE), College of Fisheries Lembucherra, Tripura, India. W. somnifera fed at 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 g/100 g of feed for 42 days to L. rohita, led to enhance disease resistance against experimental infection with A. hydrophila. At 0.2 g ashwagandha/100 g of feed, there was an increase in survivability (43.00±0.75%) compared with the control (2.00±0.03%). Moreover, there was a significant increase in growth and feed conversion. There were a significantly higher number of erythrocytes, leucocytes, haemoglobin, haematocrit value, neutrophils, lymphocytes, globulin, A/G ratio and enhanced bactericidal activities compared with the control following feeding with W. somnifera. This suggests that W. somnifera at 0.2 g/100 g of feed can be used as dietary supplement to improve the growth, haemato-biochemical response and disease resistance against A. hydrophila for L. rohita fingerlings.

Withania somnifera protects the haematological alterations caused by sodium arsenite in charles foster rats

Abstract: Thi s study was carried out to investigate the therapeutic role of the ethanolic extract of Withania somnifera on Sodium Arsenite induced haematological alterations in rats. Oral administration of sodium a rsenite at the dose of 8 mg/kg body weight daily caused haematological alterations in rats as manifested by the significant decrease in RBC’s count, Haemoglobin percentage, Haematocrit, Mean Cell Volume of RBC’s (MCV), Mean Cell Haemoglobin (MCH), Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) and White Blood Cell Count (WBC’s) as compared with control. The Lipid peroxidation also showed elevated levels in comparison to control. But, after o ral administration of ethanolic extract of Withania somnifera at the dose of 2 00 mg/kg body weight daily for 30 days to Sodium Arsenite pre treated rats there was an increase in the haematological parameters as well as lipid peroxidation levels decreased significantly. The study reveals that ethanolic extract of Withania somnifera possesses protective effect against haematological alterations caused by arsenic induced toxicity .