Catharanthus roseus (Nyantara), Azadirachta indica (Neem), Allium sativum (Garlic) are medicinal plants, used in Ayurveda for treating various diseases, one of which is diabetes mellitus. In the present study of 12 months period from January to December 2007, aqueous extract of this plants were prepared and blood glucose lowering effect and improvement of body weight gain in Streptozotocin (50 mg/kg bwt i.p.) induced diabetic rats were measured and compared with that of a patent drug glimepride in the Department of Pharmacology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Rats were administered Catharanthus roseus, Azadirachta indica, Allium sativum extracts at the dose rate of 1g/kg, 500 mg/kg and 1g/kg bwt orally for 14 days, respectively. Blood glucose level and body weight was measured by Glucotrend kit and Electronic balance and that compared with a patent drug Glimepride at a dose rate of 100 mg/kg bwt. The data were compared statistically by using student's unpaired t-test. The herbal preparations of these plants significantly increased body weight gain and decreased blood glucose as compared with the patent drug. The present study clearly indicated the significant antidiabetic activity of Catharanthus Roseus, Azadirachta indica and Allium sativum and supports the traditional usage of the herbal preparations by Ayurvedic physicians for the therapy of diabetics. Key words: Catharanthus roseus, Azadirachta indica, Allium sativum, Glimepride, Streptozotocin, diabetic rat INTRODUCTIONDiabetes mellitus is a major health problem not only in urban but also in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Diabetic patients of rural areas usually do not register themselves in diabetic clinics or hospitals because the medical facilities are mainly concentrated in the urban areas. So, with the ever-increasing incidence of diabetes, it's management is becoming costly not only for the individual and his/her family but also for the national health care sector. Now-a-days various medicinal plants are becoming very popular for the treatment of different diseases in our country as well as all over the world. There are a number of plants to control the blood glucose level such as Nayantara (Catharanthus roseus), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Garlic (Allium sativum), Karela (Momordica indica), Methi (Trigonella foenum graecum), etc, which are indigenous plants of Bangladesh. So, this study with such above-mentioned plants might offer a natural key to unlock a dialectologist's pharmacy in future. For considering all these constraints, in this experiment we wanted to establish indigenous system of medicine (herbal therapy) as anti-diabetic drugs instead of chemical drugs and rat was used as model of animal.

ABSTRACT

Chitosan is naturally occurring compound potentially used in sustainable agriculture to control plant diseases and enhance growth. An attempt was made to control anthracnose or ripen fruit rot of chilli caused by Colletotrichum capsici in the field under inoculated condition and to increase the growth and yield of chilli by different concentrations of chitosan as seed treatment and foliar application methods. C. capsici isolate "So" was found to be the most virulent against chilli at the time of pathogenicity test. Chitosan at 1% concentration was found to be most effective against the radial growth of C. capsici. Subsequently, seed treatment or foliar spray was done with C. capsici spore suspension (5×10 6 ml -1 ) and different concentrations of chitosan as per requirement of the treatments. Anthracnose or ripen fruit rot of chilli and postharvest disease incidence (DI) and percent disease index (PDI) were significantly lowest in the treatment T8, where seeds were treated with 1% chitosan combination with foliar spray of chitosan (0.5%) in pathogen inoculated condition. On the contrary, anthracnose or ripen fruit rot of chilli and post-harvest DI and PDI were significantly highest in the treatment T1, where seeds were treated with C. capsici. Germination percentage, growth promoting components, yield and thousand seed weight (TSW) were also highest in treatment T8 compared to all other treatments. As a result, the combined use of chitosan as seed treatment (1%) and foliar spray (0.5%) appeared to be most effective in controlling anthracnose of chilli and increased yield and yield contributing characters.

Determining the best way to persuade consumers to consume more healthy foods is challenging. In Bangladesh, however, daily newspapers consistently show that various hazardous chemicals (e.g. calcium carbide, sodium cyclamate, cyanide and formalin, etc.) are mixed with or added to foods and foodstuffs. These chemicals are very dangerous to humans. This present study examines the reasons behind the use of hazardous chemicals in foods as well as the extent to which food producers/sellers use such chemicals. In addition, this study assesses consumer perceptions of and attitudes towards these contaminated food items and explores how adulterated foods and foodstuffs affect consumer health. The empirical data were collected from 110 consumers, 25 sellers or producers, seven doctors and seven pharmacists in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This study shows that nearly every consumer (93.7%) is aware that various foods and foodstuffs contain hazardous chemicals, and that 95.5% of consumers are aware that these adulterated foods and foodstuffs are harmful to their health. This paper explores the myriad reasons why consumers nevertheless feel compelled to consume such chemically treated foods.

A survey was conducted using a pre-tested interview schedule in the village Charnelukhia under Gouiripur upazilla of Mymensingh district to study the present status, problems and prospects of pigeon farming in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Data were collected from 15 pigeon farmers. Housing cost, height of house, duration of house, quantity of feed supplied to each pigeon/day, male female ratio, marketing age, weight, price of squab, number of squab/pair of pigeon, production of squab/year/pair of pigeon, price of each pigeon and mortality of pigeon were Tk. 113.33, 3.50m, 5 years, 34.50g, 1.07, 26.66 days, 258g, Tk. 51, 1.67, 19.53, Tk. 113.33 and 6.67% respectively. Most of the pigeon farmers rear pigeon in small scale scavenging system with supplementary feeding. They have no idea about breed and variety of pigeon and prevention of diseases. There is a lot of demand of squab meat in the market due to its delicacy and taste. The pigeon farming may be increased with government initiative providing training to farmers and extending loans. Introduction of meat breeds, good flock size and balanced feed need to be ensured for improving income and employment opportunity.

Response of southern peas (Vigna sinensis L. Endl. var. Burgundy) to different levels of water deficit at three different stages of growth was measured in a greenhouse. In each stage, plants were stressed to three levels of leaf water potential: — 14 bars, — 21 bars, and —28 bars. Crop susceptibility factors (fractional reductions in yield compared to a nonstressed treatment) were determined for each stage of growth and level of plant water deficit. The flowering period was found to be the most sensitive stage, regardless of deficit level. The pod development stage was found to be least sensitive to level of deficit. A water deficit of — 28 bars, however, caused a yield reduction of greater than 50% for all growth stages. Stress‐day index values were calculated and related to crop yield. The use of the stress‐day index concept in irrigation scheduling is discussed. Leaf water potential varied linearly with soil water potential between 0 and — 15 bars. Leaf diffusion resistance became high and transpiration was negligible after the leaf water potential reached — 10 to — 12 bars; the corresponding soil water potential was — 5 bars. Water‐use efficiencies were highest for the nonstressed treatment and the treatment with the low deficit level during the first stage.

SUMMARYThe present study showed a novel finding that the development of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) in Lewis rats was completely prevented by incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) injected 21 or 28 days before complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) challenge. Hexadecane also completely prevented AA and squalane, methyl oleate and pristane moderately prevented AA, though pristane by itself induced mild arthritis in two out of five rats. Concanavalin A-stimulated lymph node cells (LNCs) isolated from AA rats were able to adoptively transfer the severe polyarthritis to all the naive recipients or even to the IFA pretreated recipients with earlier onset and more rapid progression than those of AA. The LNCs from the donors who had been pretreated with IFA and subsequently challenged with CFA could induce mild arthritis in only two out of eight naive recipients, whereas all the recipients who were challenged with CFA immediately after intravenous injection of these LNCs developed significantly less severe arthritis. However, the LNCs from IFA-pretreated donors failed to prevent AA. According to the T helper type 1 ( Th1)/Th2 paradigm, it was suggested that the adjuvant-active vehicles such as IFA, hexadecane, squalane, methyl oleate and pristane, can affect and deviate the Th1/Th2 balance of immune responses in host. CFA could promote the propagation of Th2 cells rather than Th1 cells in these vehiclepretreated rats through as yet undetermined mechanisms, eventually resulting in the prevention of AA. Finally, we discussed a regulatory role of adjuvant vehicles for induction and suppression of AA.

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) has already been recognized as one of the important cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. The reported prevalence of CHD in live newborns tends to vary a lot due to various unrecognizable lesions at birth and lack of technical expertise. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in the department of Neonatology at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH), Bangladesh from January to December 2010 to find prevalence of CHD in neonates. Results: Out of 6560 admitted neonates, 51 were found to have CHD. The prevalence was 7.8/1000 live births. Mean age was 10.2±9.8 days and weight was 2380.5±590.5gms. Respiratory distress was the commonest symptom (71%) followed by cyanosis (26%) and reluctant to feed (24%). Among the CHD Ventricular septal defect (VSD) was the commonest 15/51 and then Atrial septal defect (ASD) 12/51, Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) 5/51, Transposition of great arteries ( TGA) 4/51, Complex heart disease 4/51 and Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) 3/51 cases. Some associated non-cardiac anomalies like Down’s syndrome, polydactyly, syndactyly, cleft lip, cleft palate and cataract were found. Risk factors associated with CHD were diabetes mellitus (10%), hypertension (8%) and maternal infection (4%). Among the drugs, anti-pyretic by 20%, anti-emetic by 18%, anti-epileptic by 4%, vitamin-A and hormone each by 2% of mothers respectively. Conclusion: VSD and ASD were the commonest CHD in this study. Thorough clinical examination and proper investigations immediately after admission is essential, which may help us for proper counseling and early intervention. Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences | Volume 02 | Number 02 | July-December 2013 | Page 91-95 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v2i2.8942