Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of a crude root extract of Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng) Pedersen

The anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of the crude hydroalcoholic extract (PE) of Pfaffia glomerata roots was assessed in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema at the doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, using different animal models. An anti-inflammatory dose effect response correlation of r=0.997 and Y=11.67x+0.02 was found. At the same doses, the extract-inhibited acetic acid-induced writhing in mice, but no dose response correlation was found. Oral administration of 100 mg/kg of PE and 0.5 mg/kg of dexamethazone inhibited by 29 and 61%, the granulomatous tissue formation (p>0.05), respectively. These results indicate the potential of this plant extract to treat chronic inflammation. At the assayed doses no significant activity was found in the hot plate test, as well as in the cell migration-induced by carrageenan.

Evaluation of the trypanocidal and leishmanicidal in vitro activity of the crude hydroalcoholic extract of Pfaffia glomerata (Amarathanceae) roots

Three different concentrations (1, 10 and 50 microg/ml) of lyophilized hydroalcoholic crude extract of Pfaffia glomerata roots were assayed in vitro against strains of Trypanosoma cruzi (Y) and Leishmania braziliensis. It was observed that P. glomerata hydroalcoholic extract was relatively active within the tested concentrations for L. (V) braziliensis, but inactive against T. cruzi. Despite the fact that both protozoans belong to the Trypanosomatidae family, we suggest that the difference observed for activity should be related to the biological differences between the two parasite species.

Sinonasal tract seromucous adenocarcinomas: a report of 12 cases

Sinonasal seromucous adenocarcinomas may originate from the surface epithelium or from the submucosal glands. We reviewed the clinicopathologic material from 12 patients with sinonasal tract seromucous adenocarcinomas at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX). There were nine men and three women age 30 to 87 years (mean age, 56.3 years). The clinical presentation included nasal obstruction, nasal mass, and epistaxis. Eight tumors were located in the nasal cavity, three in the ethmoidal sinuses, and one involved the nasal cavity and ethmoid. Histologically, in nine cases the neoplastic glands were lined by a single cell type, arranged back to back without intervening stroma and often inducing desmoplastic reaction. The remaining three tumors also had a cribriform and papillary pattern. All patients were treated by surgical resection. Three patients had recurrences, which occurred at 36, 36, and 48 months after initial therapy. Their treatment involved surgery and irradiation. Eleven patients are alive and free of disease at 36 to 108 months after diagnosis. One patient died 48 months after diagnosis of another cause. Sinonasal tract seromucous adenocarcinomas arise purely from submucosal seromucous glands. The diagnosis is facilitated by their anatomic location, the absence of tumor within the mucosal surface epithelium, and the striking similarity to terminal tubules of the seromucous glands.