Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous disorder of carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism in which sugars in the body are not oxidized to produce energy due to lack of pancreatic hormone insulin leads to disturbances of the acid base balance. There are two types. Type 1 (IDDM) patients have little or no ability to produce the hormone and are entirely dependent on insulin, whereas Type II (NIDDM)   results from inadequate production of insulin which can be controlled by the oral hypoglycemic drugs. Aavaraiyathi churnam is one of the herbal based Siddha anti diabetic formulation for Type II maturity onset diabetes mellitus. The present study was aimed to evaluate the anti diabetic activity of polyherbal formulation Aavaraiyathi churnam in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Diabetic wistar albino rats were treated with standard drug glibenclamide and trial drug Aavaraiyathi churnam in two different doses 100mg and 200 mg. Hypoglycemic effect was evaluated in these rats and the efficacy of the trial drug was compared to the standard drug Glibenclamide. Oral administration of Aavaraiyathi churnam for 21 days in alloxan induced diabetic rats. At the end of the study period blood glucose level and body weight were statistically analyzed.  Based on these results Aavaraiyathi churnam produced a significant reduction in blood glucose levels and increased in body weight when compared with non treated diabetic rats. So the present research work was confirmed that the polyherbal formulation Aavaraiyathi churnam possess hypoglycemic effect significantly.

The teratogenicity of a commercial formulation of the insecticide deltamethrin (Decis®) in chick embryos was evaluated. Fertilized eggs of Gallus domesticus were immersed in aqueous emulsions of deltamethrin at concentrations of 12.5 mg L-1, 25 mg L-1 and 50 mg L-1 for 60 min at 37◦C on 4th day of incubation. Two control groups of eggs were used: One group was immersed in distilled water (vehicle) and the second group was kept as untreated to study background toxicity. On embryonic day 16; recovered embryos were evaluated for mortality rate, wet body weight, gross morphological and skeletal malformations. The result revealed that embryonic mortality markedly increased after administration of deltamethrin. The significant decrease (p≤0.05) in wet body weight and significant increase (p≤0.05) in percentage of abnormal survivors was observed in dose dependent manner.  A spectrum of external and skeletal malformations was exhibited by deltamethrin treated embryos. These finding suggests that deltamethrin exhibits embryotoxic and teratogenic effects in the developing chick embryos.

Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug is becoming a threat to ecological balance by its swipe at vultures. The decline in population of vultures has been attributed to high mortality due to diclofenac toxicity, which occurred via ingestion of carcasses treated with diclofenac. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of probenecid and allopurinol in preventing gout with urates in diclofenac-induced toxicity in domestic chickens. Dominant brown pullets from Zartech hatchery in Benin City were selected for this study. Four groups of five layers each were used for the various tests. Findings from our study showed that signs of diclofenac toxicity were severe in all test groups except for the group treated with allopurinol where mortality was reduced and survivors were more than observed in the other groups. The gross pathological lesions at necropsy were mild when compared with lesions observed in the other test groups. One observation from this study among birds treated with diclofenac only was that there were survivors despite the fact that a lethal dose of 10mg/kg of the drug was administered to all the chickens used in this study. That there were survivors establishes the fact that diclofenac toxicity is not uniformly lethal once clinical signs develop. Among birds treated with probenecid, gross pathological lesions observed at necropsy were a lot more severe than other groups hence probenecid is not suitable for the avian species since it did not remedy nor prevent diclofenac toxicity, rather it made it worst.

A medium term bioassay of ethanolic extract of Vitex leucoxylon Linn (EVL) was evaluated for its anti-oxidant and anti-hepatocarcinogenic activity against Diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and Phenobarbital sodium (PB) against male Wister rats. The DEN given with single dose administration of 200mg/kg/i.p. and progression of cancer was promoted by PB at dose of 0.05% p.o./day in drinking water. After 6 weeks, on treatment with EVL at high dose showed significant increase in food intake, water intake, body weight and decrease in liver weight as that of 5- FU than low dose. Haematological parameters like Hb, Neutrophils, Monocyte, Lymphocyte, PCV showed significant increase with EVL at high dose but Total WBC and ESR showed significant decrease in EVL treated rats as that of 5- FU than low dose when compared to DEN+PB control. Serum biochemical parameters showed significant decrease in SGOT, SGPT, SALP, Urea, Creatinine, Bilirubin, Cholesterol, TGL and showed significant increase in Total protein, HDL in EVL treated rats as that of 5- FU than low dose when compared to DEN+PB control. Anti-oxidant study was performed in liver homogenate which showed decrease in LPO levels and increase in SOD, CAT, GPx, GR, GST, GSH in EVL treated rats as that of 5- FU than low dose when compared to DEN+PB control. Histopathological studies of rat liver in EVL treated liver showed protective effects in higher dose treated group with no much loss in cell architecture as that of standard than the lower dose treated group when compared to DEN+PB control rats. Hence it can be concluded that ethanolic extract of Vitex leucoxylon Linn possesses significant anti-hepatocacinogenic activity in rats.