Kamal Ahmad Rizvi as a Dramatist

Kamal Ahmed Rizvi (1930-2015) is among the very first people to give credence to Pakistan Television Urdu drama. He is one of the first rate and accomplished dramatists, director, actor, as well as a visualizer. In the world of drama he has a very versatile presence. He is also one of the first persons to affect the transition of the Urdu drama from stage to television, as such, he is an indelible name in the history of our art and theatre. Whenever Pakistan Television drama is mentioned, his name can never be omitted; or if its history is written, it shall be incomplete without reference to him. If Kamal Ahmad Rizvi is called an institution by himself, it shall not be wrong, because he is a creative writer, a translator, a director and a producer; and until now there has been no other individual with like qualities in the history of Pakistan Television, and this is his mark of distinction. ______

Biochemical Profiling and Cardioprotective Potential of Various Combination of Medicinal Plants

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the most dreaded menace and its incidences are increasing gradually. Although many of the major and minor risk factors play a crucial role in the development of MI, however the hypertension and hyperlipidemia are its major risk factors. In spite of significant pharmacological advancements regarding drug development has been made, but most of the available drugs have a long list of side effects which limit their use in clinical medicine. Hence there is a dire need to integrate complementary and alternative medications into the practice of conventional medicines, for the treatment of MI. The research was planned to be carried out into two sections including in vitro and in vivo analysis. In vitro analysis involved the screening of medicinal plants by Angiotensin Converting Enzyme inhibition assay. Among all the selected medicinal plants, methanolic extracts of Terminalia arjuna, Piper nigrum, Coriandrum sativum, Allium sativum, Rauvolfia serpentina, Eletaria cardamom and Crataegus oxyacantha showed maximum ACE inhibition potential. These medicinal plants were further subjected to LC-MS analysis which confirmed the presence of important phytoconstituents and phenolic acids in extracts. The antioxidant execution of selected medicinal plants has performed by DPPH and DNA protection assay. The dose dependant response for antioxidative potential i.e, the activity of all the medicinal plants in term of % age inhibition increased with increase in concentration. The toxicity assay of selected medicinal plants exhibited no hemolytic effect and considered to be safe herbal product for effective fighting against various diseases. Section- II comprised of In vivo analysis was conducted in three phases. The phase-I included the preliminary trial, in which the RSM optimized the dose of salbutamol (80 mg/kg b. wt.) to induce myocardial infarction. In phase-II, the optimal concentrations of selected medicinal plants were evaluated against salbutamol induced myocardial infarction by using Response Surface Methodology. In case of Phase-III, the optimized doses of selected medicinal plants were used to formulate four different herbal combinations with appropriate ratio. The herbal combination (HC4) showed maximum restoration of cardiac markers (CK-MB, AST and LDH) and haemodynamic parameters (MAP, HR, LVEDP). The histopathological examination also confirmed the cardioprotective potential of HC4. Thus the HC4 being safe, inexpensive and cardioprotective herbal combination, could be considered an alternate of synthetic drug.