Vasorelaxant effect of essential oil isolated from Nigella sativa L. seeds in rat aorta: Proposed mechanism.

The effect of the essential oil extracted from Nigella sativa (L.) seeds (Nigella oil) was investigated for its vasorelaxant activity on isolated rat aorta. Nigella oil at concentrations of 10-100 μg/mL elicited a dose-dependent relaxation of the aorta, which was pre-contracted with noradrenaline (NA, 10(-6) M) or KCl (100mM).

The role of adiponectin in endothelial dysfunction and hypertension.

It has been two decades since the discovery of adiponectin, and today its role in insulin resistance, inflammation, and atherosclerosis are areas of major interest. Production of adiponectin is reduced in all inflammatory processes and states of insulin resistance such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease. Adiponectin regulates carbohydrate metabolism, and may also regulate vascular homeostasis by affecting important signaling pathways in endothelial cells and modulating inflammatory responses in the subendothelial space.

Toxoplasmosis--a global threat. Correlation of latent toxoplasmosis with specific disease burden in a set of 88 countries.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is becoming a global health hazard as it infects 30-50% of the world human population. Clinically, the life-long presence of the parasite in tissues of a majority of infected individuals is usually considered asymptomatic. However, a number of studies show that this 'asymptomatic infection' may also lead to development of other human pathologies.

Cytotoxicity of alkaloids isolated from Peganum harmala seeds.

Peganum harmala is used in traditional medicine to treat a number of diseases including cancer. Our preliminary studies show that the alkaloidal extract of PH seed is cytotoxic to several tumor cell lines in vitro and has antitumor effect in a tumor model in vivo. The present investigation was aimed at extending our previous studies in identifying the components in P.