A preliminary study of patients' concerns related to GI endoscopy.

Objectives: In addition to the well known complications of bleeding and perforation, GI endoscopy also can produce discomfort, anxiety, and dissatisfaction. In this pilot study, our objective was to obtain information on the fears and concerns of patients about to undergo endoscopy and to assess the relationship of such worries to patient satisfaction and difficulty with the procedure.

Methods: At our two referral hospitals, 793 unsedated patients (45% men, 55% women, average 58 yr) were interviewed by GI nurses before the intended procedure.

Ethnopharmacognostical survey of Azadirachta indica A. Juss (Meliaceae).

Literature data on respectively botany, chemistry, ethnopharmacology, pharmacology and toxicology of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Meliaceae) are reviewed and evaluated.

Activity-guided isolation and identification of Azadirachta indica bark extract constituents which specifically inhibit chemiluminescence production by activated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

The A. indica crude aqueous bark extract inhibits the generation of chemiluminescence by activated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Guided by this activity the responsible compounds were purified by extraction with different organic solvents and HPLC.

Characterization of anti-complement compounds from Azadirachta indica.

The crude aqueous extract of Azadirachta indica bark possesses an inhibitory activity on both classical (CP) and alternative pathway (AP) activation of human complement. Purification of the compounds with the guidance of the AP-inhibitory activity involved extraction with methanol, dialysis, ion-exchange procedures and gel-permeation chromatography. This sequence yielded two polymers, NB-I and NB-II, one a highly active compound with a relatively low molecular weight (NB-II) and the other a less active compound with a high molecular weight (NB-I).

An ethnopharmacognostic approach to the search for immunomodulators of plant origin.

The search for immunomodulating plant constituents through basic and field inquiries into the literature and practices of traditional Indian medicine is treated. The strategy of data collecting proceeds through aspects of an ethnobotanical, an ethnopharmaceutical, an ethnopharmacological, and an ethnomedical nature. In the experimental immunopharmacognostic phase, immunomodulatory compounds are isolated and purified through action-guided fractionation procedures.