Zafar Iqbal

University of Western Australia | UWA · Harry Perkins Institute of Medical research

Ethnobotany Research and Applications 28:13 (2024)-http://dx. Abstract Background: This study documented ethnomedicinal importance of wild edible Fruits (WEFs) from the wild floristic emporium of North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. There is good diversity of plant species in the studied area which are being used for therapeutic purpose...

Background: This study documented ethnomedicinal importance of wild edible Fruits (WEFs) from the wild floristic emporium of North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. There is good diversity of plant species in the studied area which are being used for therapeutic purpose for a wide range of applications. Methods: Ethnomedicinal data was coll...

Objective: This study aimed at recording therapeutic plant species used by inhabitants to treat dental disorders in the district of North Waziristan, Pakistan. The indigenous people of the studied area are dependent on medicinal plants for their basic health care needs including dental care. Methods: Ethnomedicinal data were collected using a semi-...

Ethnobotany Research and Applications 26:68 (2023)-http://dx. Abstract Background: Therapeutic plants are the wealth of any area for disease treatment. The current study was focused on report the traditional knowledge of unexplored areas of District North Waziristan, Pakistan. This was the first quantitative survey for studying the medicinal plants...

This study was to designed to develop sorafenib-loaded polymeric nanoparticles, surface-modified with pluronic F-127 for the effective treatment of hepatocellular (HCC) and renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Poly lactic coglycolic acid (PLGA) was used to encapsulate different concentrations of sorafenib by a simple modified solvent evaporation method app...

Background This paper provides noteworthy information about the use of therapeutic plants for treating musculoskeletal disorders in a district, in North Waziristan, Pakistan. This survey aimed to document information regarding indigenous uses of plants in basic healthcare practices among rural people in regions, which may guide natural drug discove...

Objective: This study aimed at recording therapeutic plant species used by inhabitants to treat dental disorders in the district of North Waziristan, Pakistan. The indigenous people of the studied area are dependent on medicinal plants for their basic health care needs including dental care. Methods: Ethnomedicinal data were collected using a semi-...

One of the main goals of ecological studies is to disentangle the dynamics that underlie the spatiotemporal distribution of biodiversity and further functions of the ecosystem. However, due to many ecological and geopolitical reasons, many remote areas with high plant species diversity have not been assessed using newly based analytical approaches...

Nanoparticles have numerous applications as drug carriers in drug delivery. The aim of the study was to produce tamoxifen nanoparticles with a defined size and higher encapsulation for efficient tissue uptake with controlled drug release. The quality by design approach was utilized to produce tamoxifen-loaded Eudragit nanoparticles by identifying t...

The aim of this study is to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of the sorafenib loaded polymeric nanoparticles, surface modified by the pluronic F-127 for the treatment of hepatocellular (HCC) and renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Poly Lactic co-glycolic acid (PLGA) was used to encapsulate sorafenib by simple modified solvent evaporation technique. T...

In the current study, wheat varieties Inqulab-91 and AS-2002 were milled from a roller mill and analyzed for chemical characteristics through Near Infra-Red spectroscopy. Friabilin was extracted with Triton X-114 buffer and evaluated on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis against known molecular weight protein standards. Curre...

Background: The current survey aimed to assess the traditional knowledge and use of therapeutic plants to treat various respiratory disorders by traditional healers. The local communities of District North Waziristan are reliant on therapeutic plant species for their primary health care needs. Methods: Ethnobotanical data were collected through sem...

Background: The current survey aimed to assess the traditional knowledge and use of therapeutic plants to treat various respiratory disorders by traditional healers. The local communities of District North Waziristan are reliant on therapeutic plant species for their primary health care needs. Methods: Ethnobotanical data were collected through sem...

The inactive ingredients (excipients) are integral to the pharmaceutical drug delivery system. If not selected intelligently and added without a proper scientific approach can lead to the instability of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), low therapeutic outcome, or untoward effects. In this investigation, pre-formulation studies were carri...

A high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed, optimized and validated as per ICH guidelines for the measurement of tamoxifen citrate in polymeric nanoparticles. Afour-factor, three-level, full factorial design was employed to optimize the effects of various factors. The four factors were (i) mobile phase flow rate, (ii) pH of...

The study documents the role of traditional medicinal and therapeutic plants in treating various skin ailments by indigenous communities of the tribal district of North Waziristan, Pakistan. A total of 130 informants and traditional dermatologists were interviewed. They employed 77 plant species belonging to 49 families to treat various skin ailmen...

Background: Since the beginning of civilization, medicinal plants have been used in human healthcare systems. Studies have been conducted worldwide to evaluate their efficacy, and some of the results have triggered the development of plant-based medications. Rural women in Pakistan frequently experience gynaecological disorders due to malnutrition...

A highly sensitive and rapid liquid chromatography– tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of artemether and its metabolite dihydroartemisinin in human plasma using artemisinin as an internal standard. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Supelco Discovery HS C18 RP column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm; B...

A novel liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of rosuvastatin (rosuva) and its metabolite N-desmethyl rosuvastatin (NDM-rosuva) in human plasma using atorvastatin as internal standard. The method was validated according to international guidelines. The analytical column used was HiChrom...

The current study aimed at the evaluation of, in vivo, the effect of omeprazole on the pharmacoki-netics of rosuvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor. Omeprazole is an acid suppressant and CYP2C9, CYP3A4, and CYP2C19 substrate and inhibitor, as well as inhibitor of transporters (like P-gp). This was a rando...

A method was developed for the determination of omeprazole, 5-hydroxy-omeprazole, and omeprazole-sulphone in human plasma. The mobile phase with 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water (40=60 v=v) was used successfully for the first time for the analysis of these analytes. Analysis was carried out using Hichrom RP18 (150 Â 3....

Oral administration of pH sensitive/stimuli responsive nanoparticles are gaining importance because of the limited side effects, minimum dose and controlled drug release. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate pH sensitive polymeric nanoparticles for methotrexate with the aim to maximize the drug release at target site. In the pres...

The current research was carried out to characterize the phytosociology of the forests of one of Pakistan's most valuable tree species (Deodar) across its native range. In this context, our main hypothesis was that, along the altitudinal gradient, we would find different plant communities that would be driven by different environmental variables (c...

The aim of the study was to design and formulate an antibody-mediated targeted, biodegradable polymeric drug delivery system releasing drug in a controlled manner to achieve a therapeutic goal for the effective treatment of breast cancer. Antibody-mediated paclitaxel-loaded PLGA polymeric nanoformulations were prepared by the solvent evaporation me...

Domestic animals play a vital role in the development of human civilization. Plants are utilized as remedies for a variety of domestic animals, in addition to humans. The tribes of North Waziristan are extremely familiar with the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants as ethnoveterinary medicines. The present study was carried out during 2018–20...

By assessing plant species composition and distribution in biodiversity hotspots influenced by environmental gradients, we greatly advance our understanding of the local plant community and how environmental factors are affecting these communities. This is a proxy for determining how climate change influences plant communities in mountainous region...

During this research study on the basis of altitude 5 altitudinal ranges were formed from 2396 to 6742 ft. from Lower Tanawal, Abbottabad Pakistan. From these 05 altitudinal ranges 17 plant communities were established, 3 plant communities were documented from altitudinal range I (2396-3054 ft). Four plant communities were formed from altitudinal r...

Nematodes belong to phylum Nematoda, also known as Nemata; due to their moulting nature, they are placed under superphylum Ecdysozoa. They are most ubiquitous multicellular animals on earth. Rice is the vital crop of the world, which attacked by different plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs). Rice parasitic nematodes (RPNs) attack both foliage and root...

Rice is being used as an important source of food by a large number of people. Its production needs to be maintained to feed the increasing number of people on this planet. Various diseases are affecting this important source of food and decreasing both quality and quantity. Fungal diseases contribute a lot in this regard. Many methods have been ad...

Plant species are distributed in different types of habitats, forming different communities driven by different sets of environmental variables. Here, we assessed potential plant communities along an altitudinal gradient and their associations with different environmental drivers in the unexplored Manoor Valley (Lesser Himalaya), Pakistan. We have...

Purpose: To develop a simple, novel, sensitive and rapid reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method for simultaneous determination of paclitaxel, sorafenib and omeprazole in standard solutions and spiked human plasma and its application to the in-vitro and in-vivo evaluation of paclitaxel polymeric nanoparticle formulations.Method...

The ecotonal zones support populations that are acclimated to changing, fluctuating, and unstable conditions, and as a result, these populations are better equipped to adjust to expected change. In this context, a hypothesis was tested that there must be vegetation dominated by unique indicator plant species under the influence of ecological gradie...

Epidermal micro-morphological investigations have drawn the consideration of many researchers because of their taxonomic usefulness, but their relationship with environment is not completely known. Keeping this in view, quantitative leaf epidermal features (number of epidermal cells and stomata, and stomata length and width) were examined in the sp...

Improving the bioavailability of a drug at the ocular surface presents a profound challenge. Due to ocular physiological barriers, conventional eye drops exhibit poor bioavailability of drugs. Sustained-release nanoparticles may improve the residence time and hence increase absorption of the drug from the corneal surface. The current study focuses...

Trace elements play an important role to boost the immunity and fight against parasitic infections. Concentration of trace elements like Copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co), Manganese (Mn) and Zinc (Zn) were determined in soil, forages and sera of sheep. An associative analysis was also made between the burden of Gastrointestinal (GI) parasites and concentrat...

In the present study, anthelmintic activities of Arundo (A.) donax L., Areca (Ar.) catechu L., and Ferula (F.) assa-foetida L. were determined. Leaves of A. donax L., latex of F. assa-foetida L. and seeds of Ar. catechu L. in different solvent fractions were subjected to in vitro (egg hatch assay; EHA, and adult motility assay; AMA) and in vivo (fa...

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of fresh pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice on the pharmacokinetic profile of artemether in healthy volunteers. A randomized, open-label, crossover study was conducted on healthy subjects (n = 26). Each volunteer received 250 mL of fresh pomegranate juice twice daily for 2 weeks. On day 14, they we...

Two fungicides, Aliette and ThiovitJet @ 0.15%, containing Aluminum tris (O-ethyl phosphonate) and sulphur compounds, respectively; two plant extracts, Melia azedarach and Azadirachta indica @ 8% and one biocontrol agent, Trichoderma harzianum @ 10 7 conidia ml-1 were investigated against ascochyta blight of chickpea under field conditions. Treatme...

In spite of the remarkable achievements in healthcare sector over the recent decades, difficulties in accessibility and affordability of these facilities coexist throughout Pakistan. The aim of the present investigation was to explore and document the cultural knowledge of Asteraceae members used medicinally and apply multivariate approaches to gai...

Flooding induces low oxygen (hypoxia) stress to plants, and this scenario is mounting due to hurricanes followed by heavy rains, especially in subtropical regions. Hypoxia stress results in the reduction of green pigments, gas exchange (stomatal conductance and internal CO2 concentration), and photosynthetic activity in the plant leaves. In additio...

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of fresh pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice on the phar-macokinetic profile of artemether in healthy volunteers. A randomized, open-label, crossover study was conducted on healthy subjects (n = 26). Each volunteer received 250 mL of fresh pomegranate juice twice daily for 2 weeks. On day 14, they w...

Alpine life zones exist at the cold edge above the tree line in mountains where tree species do not grow, however, a large plant diversity thrives due to alpine climate adaptations to short growing seasons and low temperatures. Keeping this phenomenon in view, study was designed to determine the influential environmental variables responsible for s...

The development of vegetation communities is typically influenced by their response to variation in environmental, geographic and as well as physiographic gradients. The current study was planned to evaluate the influence of environmental gradients upon the structure of plant communities and to highlight their respective indicators in subalpine pas...

Selection of suitable cultivar for an agro-climatic zone is of prime concern for soybean growers. Moreover, identification of suitable plant traits showing maximum contribution to final seed yield is important for plant architects. To find out superior varieties and plants traits for semi-arid conditions of Pakistani Punjab, growth and yield perfor...

A study was conducted to explore the plant biodiversity, phenology, life form and leaf size spectra of the vegetation of Biha Valley, District SWAT. The study area was surveyed thoroughly in different seasons of the year. Floristic diversity of the area consists of 202 plant species belonging to 154 genera and 70 families. There were two flowering...

Field surveys were carried out to evaluate the floristic diversity and biological spectrum of Lower Tanawal, District Abbottabad in different seasons during 2016-2018. This study area was divided into 80 stands on the basis of physiognomy of the vegetation. Life form classes and leaf spectra were classified following Raunkier's methodology. In tota...

The present study was planned to assess the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of floristic diversity at species level along environmental gradients by using a TWINSPAN for recognizing major plant communities of Sathan Gali [Guzara forest (unprotected)], Mansehra, KP, Pakistan. On the basis of vegetation physiognomy, the study area was di...

Determination of compatibility of excipients with active ingredients and other excipients is required to develop a safe and effective dosage form. Objective of the study was to evaluate compatibility of methotrexate with selected excipients (polymers and surfactants) used in formulation of nano-pharmaceuticals. Binary mixture approach was applied f...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) in controlling chemotherapy induced emesis in comparison with conventional tablets of domperidone. A single centered, cross over, prospective design was applied to the study. Patients taking anthracycline based anticancer chemotherapy were divided into t...

In spite of the remarkable achievements in the healthcare sector over recent decades, inequities in accessibility and affordability of these facilities coexist throughout Pakistan. Thus, we aimed to explore and document the cultural knowledge of herbal teas used medicinally by the local community members of Manoor Valley, Pakistan. Field investigat...

An alytical and decision support tools have played a very vital role in the growth and development of agriculture, especially in the developed countries. This chapter deals mainly with the experiences of advanced and novel statistical approaches applied in various agricultural studies. Recent advances and subsequent applicaion of statistical techni...

Plants have evolved several metabolic pathways as a response to environmental stress like low temperatures. In this perspective, it is paramount to highlight physiological mechanisms of plant responses to changing environments. To determine the impact of cold stress on the physiological attributes of high altitude plant natives, i.e. Pedicularis pu...

In current study, the pharmacokinetics (PK) of rosuvastatin were evaluated in Pakistani healthy volunteers and compared with those reported in other population. This was a randomized and open labeled clinical trial in which a single oral dose of 40 mg rosuvastatin was administered to the overnight fasted healthy volunteers. Plasma concentrations of...

Objective: To study the effect of hashish consumption on liver function and coagulation parameters. Methodology: Chronic hashish consumers (n=62) and healthy controls (n=43) were studied. Serum bilirubin, Liver enzymes alanine transaminase and alkaline phosphatase were studied to evaluate hepatic malfunctioning using manual colorimetric method. The...

Objective: To study the effect of hashish consumption on liver function and coagulation parameters. Methodology: Chronic hashish consumers (n=62) and healthy controls (n=43) were studied. Serum bilirubin, Liver enzymes alanine transaminase and alkaline phosphatase were studied to evaluate hepatic malfunctioning using manual colorimetric method. Th...

Plants have evolved several metabolic pathways as a response to environmental stressors such as low temperatures. In this perspective, it is paramount to highlight physiological mechanisms of plant responses to altitudinal gradients as a proxy to evaluate changing environments. Here, we aimed to determine the impact of elevation on the physiologica...

The aim of the study is enhancement of mechanical strength of tablets prepared by direct compression, by sintering technique and optimization of process variables. In the present work metronida-zole tablets, containing varying concentration of poly ethylene glycol as sintering polymer, were prepared by direct compression and subjected to sintering...

Phytophthora is among the most influential disease causing organisms responsible for number of diseases in economically important plants all over the world. Tree and crop production losses occur from nursery to fruit production. It is need of time to manage these destructive plant pathogens to increase citrus production. Hence, present review focus...

There are several ways to manage plant diseases like use of resistant varieties, biological control agents, plant extracts, use of synthetic chemicals and integrated plant disease management. Among them, use of chemicals is most practised and easy way to manage plant diseases. There are many fungicides available in the market for this purpose. Fung...

Citrus wither tip (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) is most prevalent disease in Sargodha and is the most important fungal disease contributing towards citrus decline in this area. During field surveyed, it was recorded that citrus wither tip was 100% prevalent in tehsil Kotmomin, Bhalwal and Silanwali and lowest was recorded in Shahpur while highes...

Citrus wither tip (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) is most prevalent disease in Sargodha and is the most important fungal disease contributing towards citrus decline in this area. During field surveyed, it was recorded that citrus wither tip was 100% prevalent in tehsil Kotmomin, Bhalwal and Silanwali and lowest was recorded in Shahpur while highes...

This study was conducted to assess the floristic composition, biological spectra and phenology of Tehsil Balakot. Frequent visits were made in different seasons during 2012–13. Field notebook was used to record the data within field. Biological spectrum and leaf sizes classes were determined. The floristic diversity revealed 228 plant species belon...

The aim of the study is enhancement of mechanical strength of tablets prepared by direct compression, by sintering technique and optimization of process variables. In the present work metronidazole tablets, containing varying concentration of poly ethylene glycol as sintering polymer, were prepared by direct compression and subjected to sintering a...

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a popular pulse crop in the world. It is attacked by various biotic diseases but collar rot caused by Phytophthora megasperma occurs in severe form and causes colossal losses every year. At present this disease is controlled by application of fungicides. But due to serious health hazards of pesticides and environmental con...

Plum (Prunus domestica L.) is an important stone fruit grown in different parts of world and has high nutritive as well as medicinal values. Many diseases attack on plum, among these Rhizopus rot, caused by Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.:Fr.) Vuill is a main postharvest disease of economic worth worldwide which managed by the use of several conventio...

The utilization of resistance inducing salicylic acid (SA) and botanicals could be valuable alternatives for the management of postharvest diseases of tomato. The aim of this study was to assess the antifungal activity of salicylic acid and plant extracts against sour rot, pink mold rot and Rhizopus soft rot of tomato. Antifungal activity of all bo...

Citrus is one of the best fruits those are used fresh or in processed form in whole world. Pakistan is one of the best citruses producing country and Pakistani mandarin is appraised all over the world. There are many varieties of the rutacae those are being cultivated in the region such as Kinno, mandarin, musambi, fruiter, red blood, shakri etc. o...

Citrus is important fruit crop of the world that belongs to family Rutaceae. It is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of the world in near about 140 countries. Brazil is at the top with more than 20 million tons production, China ranked second with 19.6 million tons and United State is the third largest producer with 10 million tons. Ot...

Cryptosporidiosis is an emerging food and water borne zoonotic disease, which is caused by genus Cryptosporidium. The first Cryptosporidium spp. was isolated from mice in 1907 and gained importance when it was found in an HIV positive patient. It usually causes self-limiting diarrhea in young children and immunocompetent patients. However, it may l...

Fascioliasis, caused by Fasciola (F.) hepatica, affects a large number of animals in terms of morbidity, production losses, treatment cost and high mortality rate. Economic losses of about 3.6 billion US$ per year have been reported due to this parasite throughout the world. The present study was planned to investigate the prevalence and related ri...

A novel class of spiroimidazolidine-2ʹ,4ʹ-diones substituted with aryl sulfonyl group at different positions was designed and synthesized. The target compounds were evaluated for their potential to release insulin from MIN6 cell line derived from in-vivo immortalized insulin-secreting pancreatic cells. The MIN6 cells represent an important model of...

The main source of botanical information of a particular area is its floristic checklists. Floristic study of any given area helps to evaluate the plant wealth and its potential values. To assess floristic diversity of an unexplored remote valley (Manoor Valley), frequent field visits were arranged in different growing seasons during 2015 to 2018....

Pakistan has rich history of indigenous folk medicine, and of the 6000 species of higher plants found in the country 12% are used in medicinal formulations. This immensely important knowledge of folk practices to cure different ailments has been learned after centuries and is mostly verbally communicated. Therefore, a field study was designed to in...

This first ever study was carried out to explore the floristic composition of protected and unprotected forests of Sathan Gali, District Mansehra, KP, Pakistan. The study area being the part of the Western Himalayas harbours rich floristic diversity. In the current investigation, an effort was made to record primary data about floral diversity of t...

The present studies aimed to explore plant diversity and ethnoecologically important plants of the Sarban Hills in District Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The area is gifted with diverse and unique flora because of the extension and mixing of three type of forests, i.e., subtropical pine forest, subtropical broadleaf forest, a...

Main purpose of this study was to investigate the ethno-ecological profile of Tarnawai, Abbottabad District, KP, Pakistan. Tarnawai is located at elevation of 1524 m. It is situated between 34°16′15’ North and 73°17′47’ East. Questionnaires were used during interviews for the documentation of data. Plants were photographed, collected, and pressed i...

Humans use plant resources for various purposes. However, there is often an exacerbated use of these plants, directly influencing the floristic composition of the site Sarban Hills (Abbottabad) is an unexplored area of Pakistan, which seems to be a place with intense use of plants. Then it is imperative to investigate the flora of this region, as w...

Main objective of the study was to record the ethnobotanical uses of indigenous plants of the federally administered tribal area (FATA), Bhittani (Local Tribe). Total interviewed local informants of different ages through questionnaire were 212 (196 male and 16 female). Well-known statistical indices, Use Value (UVi) formula and Fidelity Level (FL%...

This study was designed to evaluate a comparative single dose (40mg) pharmacokinetics (PK) of Omeprazole (OMP) and its two metabolites, 5-hydroxy Omeprazole (5-OH-OMP) and Omeprazole sulphone (OMP-S) in poor (PM) and extensive (EM) metabolizer Pakistani healthy adult volunteers. The frequency of CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 varies widely in different populat...

In spite of the remarkable achievements in the health care sector over recent decades, inequities in accessibility and affordability of these facilities coexist throughout Pakistan, which has led us to explore and document the cultural knowledge of medicinal plants used in skin disorders by the local community members of Manoor Valley, Pakistan. Fi...