Three known sesquiterpene lactones were isolated from the n-BuOH traction of the roots of Ixeris sonchifolia. Their structures were identified as macrocliniside A (1), glucozaluzanin C (2), and ixerin H (3), by spectral analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 are guaiane-type, while compound 3 is a germacrane-type sesquiterpene lactone. Compounds 1-3 are first isolated from I. sonchifolia.

Pygmaeopremna herbacea (Roxb.) Mold. (Verbenaceae) is a small herb or sometimes an undershrub arising from a perennial rootstock. The dry roots are dark muddy brown in colour having root nodules. Its extensively developed roots are widely used in tribal medicine. They are used as an aphrodisiac and for the treatment of gout, rheumatism and ulcers. This study deals with the detailed pharmacognostical evaluation of the dried roots and root nodules of P. herbacea which includes macro and microscopic studies, determination of physicochemical parameters and chemoprofiling of the extract using HPTLC fingerprint profiles. It was observed that the roots consist of a well developed cortical region consisting of tangentially elongated thin walled parenchymatous cells and contain polygonal stone cells as well as compound starch grains. Also the pith was parenchymatous. The HPTLC fingerprint profile of the methanolic extract showed the presence of seven major bands. Such an analysis may thus be utilized in identifying P. herbacea and in differenciating it from other species which are similar to it or are used as its adultrants/substitutes under the same vernacular name of Bharangi.

A rare flavonol glycoside identified as $eupalitin-3-O-{\beta}-D-glucoside$ (I) was isolated from Tephrosia spinosa (Leguminosae) and its anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated against carrageenin induced paw edema. The compound exhibited significant activity when compared to the standard drug indomethacin.

The ethanolic extracts of the leaves and bulbs of Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum (Liliaceae) collected from Daegwallyoung (D) and Ullung Island (U) in Korea were obtained using three different extracting methods. The first extracts, DL-1 DB-1, UL-1 and UB-1, were obtained from leaves (L) and bulbs (B) dried at $90^{\circ}C$, respectively, and the second extracts, DL-2, DB-2, UL-2 and UB-2, were obtained by extracting the leaves and bulbs of fresh plant parts. The third extracts DL-3, DB-3, UL-3 and UB-3 were obtained by incubating leaves and bulbs at $36^{\circ}C$. The six extracts obtained from A. victorialis var. platyphyllum at Daegwanllyoung (cultivated site) were orally administered to examine for a possible antihepatotoxic effect in $CCl_4-induced$ rats. DL-1 exhibited the most pronounced effect. The extracts inhibited serum ALT, AST, SDH, ${\gamma}-GT$, ALP and LDH activities elevated by $CCl_4$ injection and attenuated decreased glutathione S-transferase, glutatione reductase and ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase activities and a decreased hepatic glutathione. However, the extracts obtained from Ullung Is. (native site) were less active than the extracts from Daegwallyoung, suggesting that A. victorialis var. platyphyllum from the cultivated site is more useful for functional food than of native site. These results also suggest that the antihepatotoxic effect is due to a higher content of hepatic glutathione. Gas chromatography of the twelve extracts showed significantly different sulfides, disulfides or trisulfides contents belonging to volatile sulfur substances (VSS). Nine components were identified on the basis of their mass spectra, namely, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, diallyl disulfide, dipropyl disulfide, allyl methyl sulfide, allyl methyl trisulfide, 2-vinyl-4H-1,3-dithiin, 3,4-dihydro-3-vinyl-1,2-dithiin, and allithiamine. Extract DL-1 had the highest VSS content. Dried plant materials contained larger amounts of the VSSs than other extracts, and the leaves contained larger amount than the bulbs. These results suggest that heat treatment increases the antiheaptotoxic ability of A. victorialis var. platyphyllum by increasing the proportion of VSSs.

A new acetophenone named rumexin $(3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-O-{\beta}-D-glucopyranosyl\;acetophenone)$ was isolated from methanolic extract of Rumex aquatica together with eight known compounds, $quercetin-3-O-{\beta}-D-glucuropyranoside$, $musizin-8-O-{\beta}-D-glucopyranoside$, $quercetin-3-O-{\alpha}-L-rhamnoside$, $emodin-8-O-{\beta}- D-glucopyranoside$, caffeic acid, $1-O-caffeoyl-{\beta}-D-glucopyranoside$, 1-methyl caffeic acid, $kaempferol-3-O-{\beta}-D-glucuropyranoside$. All of the above compounds were isolated from Rumex aquatica for the first time, and structures of compounds were established by spectroscopic means.

Thirteen compounds were isolated from the roots of Angelica genuflexa through repeated silica gel column chromatography. Nine coumarins, isoimperatorin (1), osthol (2), demethylsuberosin (3), oxypeucedanin (4), heraclenin (5), pabulenol (7), umbelliferone (8), oxypeucedanin hydrate (9) and marmesinin (11), and four chromones, hamaudol (6), cimifugin (10), sec-O-glucosylhamaudol (12) and prim-O-glucosylcimifugin (13), were identified by physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. Among these, compounds 3, 5, 6, 8, 12, and 13 were isolated for the first time from the roots of Angelica genuflexa. These coumarins and chromones were examined for their anticomplement activity. Demethylsuberosin (3) showed a weak anticomplement activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of $390\;{\mu}M$.

The methanolic extract from the seeds of Arctium lappa was found to inhibit the LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells. Bioassay-guided fractionation of a methylene chloride soluble fraction led to the isolation of three lignan compounds, arctiin (1), arctigenin (2), and lappaol B (3). Their structures were elucidated by UV, IR, MS, and NMR data, as well as by comparison with those of the literatures. Arctigenin (2) and lappaol B (3) had an iNOS inhibitory activity with $IC_{50}$ values of 12.5 and $25.9\;{\mu}M$, respectively.

Effect of the neolignans, honokiol (1) and magnolol (2), isolated from Magnoliae Cortex on mushroom tyrosinase activity was investigated in vitro using L-tyrosine as a substrate. Honokiol (1) inhibited tyrosinase activity significantly in a concentration-dependent manner, on the other hand, magnolol (2) did not show tyrosinase inhibitory effect. Honokiol exhibited tyrosinase inhibitory effect with $IC_{50}$ value of $67.9\;{\mu}M$, and proved to act as a non-competitive inhibitor by the analysis of Lineweaver-Burk plot.

The antifungal activities of essential oils from the leaves of Glehnia littoralis, which is cultivated in Korea, were evaluated against pathogenic Trichophyton species by the broth dilution method and the disk diffusion test. Additionally, the effects of the oils together with ketoconazole were tested by the checkerboard titer test. The essential oil fraction and its main components showed significant inhibition of the tested Trichophyton fungi, with minimal inhibitor concentrations (MICs) in the range of 16-32 mg/ml. The results suggest that activities of this oil are based mainly on the contents of ${\alpha}-pinene$ (22.17%), the next prominent component of the oil fraction, while the first main components ${\beta}-pinene$ (57.83%) have relatively mild activity. The MICs of ${\alpha}-pinene$ and ${\beta}-pinene$ were 1-4 mg/ml and 4-32 mg/ml, respectively. Additionally the Glehnia oil fraction and its main components as well, exhibited significant synergism with ketoconazole against Trichophyton rubrum.

From the n-BuOH soluble traction of the 70% aqueous acetone extract of Rhododendron mucronulatum stem, twelve compounds were isolated. On the basis of spectral data, they were identified as scopoletin (1), (+)-taxifolin (2), quercetin (3), (-)-catechin (4), (+)-epicatechin (5), scopolin (6), lyoniside (7), ssioriside (8), fraxin (9), $(+)-lyoniresinol-3{\alpha}-O-{\beta}-D-glucopyranoside$ (10), $(+)-taxifolin-3-O-{\alpha}-L-arabinopyranoside$ (11), and astragalin (12), respectively. All isolated compounds were tested antioxidant activity against 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. Compounds 2 and 3 showed the potent antioxidant activity, and compounds 5, 8, and 11 showed moderate activity.

Bioflavone quercetin is thought to have an important role to inhibit bone loss by affecting osteoclastogenesis and regulating a number of systemic and local factors such as hormones and cytokines. In this study, we examined how quercetin acts on cytokine production and mineralization of osteoblast in the presence of tumor necrosis factor-alpha $(TNF-{\alpha})$ which has been known to play a pivotal role in bone metabolic diseases. Quercetin inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ secretion of $IFN-{\gamma}$ and IL-6 in differentiated MC3T3-E1 cells. As indicated by the markers that are characteristics of the osteoblast phenotype, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and calcium deposition, quercetin treatment slightly prevented the $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ dramatic inhibition of differentiation and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells. Further, quercetin inhibited the production of nitric oxide induced by $TNF-{\alpha}$ in the cells. Collectively, our findings indicate that quercetin inhibites $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ secretion of inflammatory cytokines in differentiated MC3T3-E1 cells without any cytotoxic effects.

Leucas aspera Link. (Lamiaceae) is an important medicinal plant in indigenous systems of medicine in India and commonly known as 'Thumbai'. It has various ethnomedicinal values as various traditional communities find diverse medicinal properties. It is used as antipyretic, stimulant, expectorant and diaphoretic drug. The present communication deals with the detailed pharmacognostical evaluation of whole plant of L. aspera collected from five different geographical zones of the country-Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, West Bengal and Gujarat. The botanical characters and TLC fingerprint profile of all the samples were quite similar but some variations were observed in physicochemical parameters. However, some microscopical characters and TLC profile can be used as diagnostic characters for identification of L. aspera, for example amphistomachic leaves and two types of trichomes-abundant, non glandular, uniseriate, 1-3 celled and few glandular, 2-5 celled stalk with rounded tip. Presence of some components at $R_fs-0.56$, 0.65 and 0.76 under UV 366 and at $R_fs-0.31$, 0.43, 0.60, 0.76 and 0.82 under visible light after derivetization in TLC profile may also be used as diagnostic character.

A $C_{21}$ steroid has been isolated from the whole plants of Caralluma umbellata (Asclepiadaceae) and its structure was unambiguously assigned by spectroscopy.