Skin pigmentation is an important human phenotypic trait that gives special aesthetic hue to individuals and also protective covering against solar ultra violet radiations, but excessive pigment production and uneven distribution, appear as serious undesirable hyperpigmentory anomalies. To overcome this, various therapeutic agents and skinlightening cosmetics are in big demand across Asia, and the quest for fairness has led to identification of many new ingredients. The mechanisms underlying pigmentation has been researched extensively and the knowledge are being updated regularly. To understand the etiology of normal and uneven skin pigmentation, first part of the review serves us basic updated information regarding the normal process of melanogenesis and strict coherent attributes that monitor the skin pigmentation control machinery. While the later part of the review focuses on some abnormal hyperpigmentory anomalies, their mode of action at the cellular level and various approaches that exploit the natural botanicals for their permanent and cost effective treatment.

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of an Aloe vera leaf extract, along with its standard active ingredient aloin, on the isolated tail melanophores of Bufo melanostictus tadpoles, which are a type of disguised smooth muscle cells offering excellent in vitro opportunities for studying the effects of pharmacological and pharmaceutical agents. It was found that the leaf extract of A. vera and its active ingredient aloin induced powerful, dose-dependent, physiologically significant melanin aggregating effects in the isolated tail melanophores of B. melanostictus similar to those of adrenaline per se. These preliminary findings clearly demonstrate that the extract of A. vera and its active ingredient aloin cause melanin aggregation leading to skin lightening via alpha adrenergic receptor stimulation. The present study opens new vistas for the use of A. vera regarding its clinical application as a new nontoxic melanolytic agent for the treatment of hyperpigmentation.

Reduced production of melanin by decreased or the absence of melanocytes leads to various hypopigmentation disorders, and the development of melanogenetic agents for photoprotection and hypopigmentation disorders is one of the top priority areas of research. Hence, the present study was carried out to elucidate the ability of berberine, a principal active ingredient present in the roots of the herb Berberis vulgaris to stimulate pigment dispersion in the isolated skin melanophores of the toad Bufo melanostictus. In the present study, mean melanophore size index of the isolated skin melanophores of B. melanostictus was assayed after treating with various concentrations of berberine. A marked melanin dispersion response leading to skin darkening was observed in the isolated melanophores of toad in response to berberine, which was found to be mediated through beta-2 adrenergic receptors. The physiologically significant dose-related melanin dispersion effects of berberine per se were found to be completely abolished by propranolol, which is a specific beta-2 adrenergic receptor blocker. These per se melanin dispersal effects were also found to be markedly potentiated by isoprenaline, which is a specific beta-adrenoceptor agonist. The results indicate that berberine causes a tremendous, dose-dependent, physiologically significant pigment dispersing in the isolated skin melanophores of B. melanostictus.

No abstract

The present studies were aimed at developing and exploring the use of citric acid dendritic nanostructure for the solubilization and sustained delivery of an anti-viral drug, efavirenz. The citric acid dendritic nanostructure was synthesized and characterized by using IR and NMR spectroscopy. Efavirenz was efficiently loaded into citric acid dendritic nanostructure using dissolution process. Various physicochemical and physiological parameters such as UV, IR, DSC, NMR, SEM, drug loading, solubilization and in-vitro release concerning the citric acid dendritic nanostructure were evaluated.

No abstract

Most of the perennial crops exhibit biennial rhythm in fruiting and growth. Among the perennial crops, mango is an important fruit crop not only in India but also across the world. This crop acquires bienniality, a complex phenomenon, by carrying a heavy fruiting in one year called 'on' year and little or no fruiting in the next year called 'off'year. The presence of bienniality in the data may affect genetic parameter estimates like repeatability. In this paper, the extent and intensity of bienniality in mango has been studied by graphical as well as quantitative approaches. Besides, a test of significance for bienniality has been obtained for each tree using binomial distribution. On this basis, the percentage trees in 'on' years and in 'off' years has been quantified for four different locations. Also, variety-wise biennial rhythm has been studied in these locations. The results reveal that there exists a moderate to strong bienniality in mango crop. Besides, the errors become auto-correlated when bienniality is removed by taking moving average. Moving average methods have been applied to estimate the repeatability. The results reveal that the mango yield was moderate to highly repeatable.