In an attempt to dissect the mechanism of Strychnos nux-vomica, a commonly used Chinese folk medicine in the therapy of liver cancer, the cytotoxic effects of four alkaloids in Strychnos nux-vomica, brucine, brucine N-oxide, strychnine, and isostrychnine, on human hepatoma cells (HepG2) were screened by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrasolium bromide (MTT) assay. Brucine, among th...

Marcel Proust was one of the greatest French writers of all times. Since early in his life, Proust was interested in arts and particularly literature. He also demonstrated a great knowledge of medicine, particularly neurology. His father was a doctor, and contributed to neurology through studies on aphasia, stroke, hysteria, and neurasthenia. During his childhood, Proust had the first asthma at...

In Ayurveda, a series of pharmaceutical procedures which converts a poisonous drug into a therapeutically very effective medicine for various ailments is termed as Shodhana. Various medias are being used for processing the herbal poisonous drugs, are quite interesting to understand with modern scientific technology. The analysis of media before and after Shodhana (purification /processing) will...

An enantioselective total synthesis of the Strychnos alkaloid (+)-minfiensine has been accomplished. Prominent features of this synthesis include (i) a new enantioselective organocatalytic Diels-Alder/amine cyclization sequence to build the central tetracyclic pyrroloindoline framework in four steps from commercial materials and (ii) a 6-exo-dig radical cyclization to forge the final piperidiny...

William Osler's 1892 textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine became the dominant medical text in the English-speaking world. Osler was labeled a therapeutic nihilist by some. The topic of migraine, including treatment, was succinctly covered in his text. The objectives of this study were to review Osler's thoughts on migraine, and outline his therapeutic recommendations. Preventively O...