The most abundant water soluble natural food colors are betacyanins and anthocyanins. Similarly, lycopene, bixin, beta-carotene, and chlorophyll are water insoluble colors. Pure betanin, bixin, lycopene, chlorophyll, beta-carotene, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside were isolated from Beta vulgaris, Bixa orellana,Lycopersicum esculentum, Spinacia oleracea, Daucus carrota, and Prunus cerasus, respectively. These natural pigments, alone and in combination, were evaluated for their relative potencies against cyclooxygenase enzymes and tumor cell growth inhibition by using MCF-7 (breast), HCT-116 (colon), AGS (stomach), CNS (central nervous system), and NCI-H460 (lung) tumor cell lines. Among the colors tested, betanin, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, lycopene, and beta-carotene inhibited lipid peroxidation. However, all pigments tested gave COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition and showed a dose-dependent growth inhibition against breast, colon, stomach, central nervous system, and lung tumor cells, respectively. The mixtures of these pigments were also evaluated for their synergistic effects and chemical interactions at various concentrations. The mixture of anthocyanin and betanin negated their efficacy in the cell growth inhibitory assay and did not enhance the COX enzyme inhibitory activity. This is the first report of a comparative evaluation and the impact on biological activities of these pigments alone and in combination.

Background: Yoga has been shown to be a simple and economical therapeutic modality that may be considered as a beneficial adjuvant for type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study investigated the impact of Hatha yoga and conventional physical training (PT) exercise regimens on biochemical, oxidative stress indicators and oxidant status in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: This study investigated the knowledge, awareness and practices of health care workers towards universal precautions at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The study also examined the prevalence of injuries experienced by health care workers, as well as incidence of accidents and compliance with post-exposure prophylaxis. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted in September and October 2007. A 28-item self-administered questionnaire was provided to two hundred health care workers including medical doctors, medical technologists, nurses and porters to assess knowledge and practices regarding universal precautions, prevalence of injuries and incidence of accidents. Results: Almost two-thirds (62.3%) of the respondents were aware of policies and procedures for reporting accidents while one-third (33.2%) were unsure. All nurses were aware of policies and procedures for reporting accidents, followed by medical doctors (88%) and medical technologists (61.2%). The majority (81.5%) of the respondents experienced splashes from bodily fluid. Over three-quarters of medical doctors (78%) and two-thirds of nurses (64%) reported having experienced needle stick injuries, while the incidence among medical technologists was remarkably lower (26%). The majority of the respondents (59%) experienced low accident incidence while just over one-tenth (14%) reported high incidence. Eighty four respondents reported needle stick injuries; just under two-thirds (59.5%) of this group received post-exposure treatment. Conclusions: The study found that majority of health care workers were aware of policies and procedures for reporting accidents. Splashes from body fluids, needle stick injuries and cuts from other objects were quite prevalent among health care workers. There is a need for monitoring systems which would provide accurate information on the magnitude of needle stick injuries and trends over time, potential risk factors, emerging new problems, and the effectiveness of interventions at The University Hospital of the West Indies and other hospitals in Jamaica.

Intravenous administration of the hexane extract of the bark of Anacardium occidentale (cashew) in normal, healthy dogs produced a significant lowering of the blood glucose levels. Pursuit of the hypoglycaemic principle(s) in the hexane extract resulted in the isolation and characterization of two compounds, stigmast-4-en-3-ol (1) and stigmast-4-en-3-one (2). These compounds were purified by chromatographic methods and the structures were characterized by spectroscopic methods. Both compounds produced significant hypoglycaemic activity after intravenous administration at a dose of 1.3 mg/kg body weight. The bark of the cashew plant, A. occidentale, exhibited a hypoglycaemic effect probably due to the presence of these compounds.