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Introduction Astragalus species have been widely used in Chinese herbal medicine to treat gastrointestinal and inflammatory disorders. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Astragalus sarcocolla (ASE) and to rationalize its medicinal use as an antispasmodic drug for the treatment of spasmodic gastrointestinal and inflammatory disorders associated with increased intestinal motility. Methods The ethanolic extract of ASE was studied to examine its antispasmodic effect on the isolated rabbit ileum preparations, and the contractions were recorded on PowerLab (ADInstruments, Sydney, Australia). Results ASE was able to inhibit spontaneous ileum contractions. It also completely inhibited K + (25 mM)-induced contractions but was unable to inhibit high K + (80 mM)-induced sustained contractions. Pretreatment of the tissue with glibenclamide, a potassium channel blocker, caused a rightward shift of the dose-response curve when stimulated with K + (25 mM) in the presence of an increasing concentration of the extract. Verapamil at very low doses inhibited both the 25 mM and 80 mM K +-induced contractions. Conclusion The results of our study demonstrated the spasmolytic activity of ASE with the potential mechanism of activation of K + ATP, which provides a strong basis for its medicinal use in motility and inflammatory disorders of the intestine.

Background: Iron deficiency anemia afflicts masses of all ages, worldwide. The disease tends to be prominent in the adolescence, students being more vulnerable due to their dynamic lifestyle, dietary habits and demanding growth spurt. Use of iron supplements can greatly reduce the burden of disease and associated morbidity. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anemia and use of iron supplements in MBBS students of CMH Medical College, Lahore. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in CMH Medical College, Lahore. A predesigned questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding use of iron supplements. Afterwards, hemoglobin level was measured using conventional Sahli’s method. The collected data was analyzed with SPSS 25 software. Results with p value < 0.05 were taken as significant. Results: Mean hemoglobin level was found to be 14.3±1.3 g/dL in males and 11.6±1.4 g/dL in females. Prevalence of anemia was found to be 38.7%. Anemia was found to be more prevalent in female students (57.8%) as compared to the male students (14.9%). Difference between prevalence of anemia in hostellites and day scholars was not found to be statistically significant (p = 0.17). Frequency of anemia was observed to be significantly higher in students who did not use oral iron supplements (p=0.03). Conclusion: Iron deficiency anemia is more common in female students than male students, of CMH Medical College Lahore. Majority of the anemic students do not take oral iron supplements. There is no difference in the prevalence of anemia among hostellites and day scholars. MeSH words: anemia, hemoglobin, iron supplements