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Background: Herbo-mineral preparations used in Ayurveda are seen as a matter of concern nowadays; especially for containing metals such as mercury, lead, and copper. One of such formulations is hṛdayārṇava rasa (HR) which contains black sulfide of mercury and tāmra bhasma. Till date, no safety profile of this formulation is available. In the present study, acute oral toxicity of HR prepared from tāmra bhasma in aśodhita and śodhita form was evaluated to provide the safety profile on acute administration. Materials and Methods: HR prepared from śodhita tāmra bhasma (STBHR) and HR prepared from aśodhita tāmra bhasma (ATBHR) was prepared as per the classical reference. Acute toxicity test was evaluated as per OECD 425 guidelines with 2000 mg/kg as a limit test. Fifteen Wistar strain albino female rats (Rattus norvegicus) were randomly divided into three groups of five animals each. One group served as control, and other two served as experimental groups. Test formulation was administered orally to overnight fasted female rats, and detailed behavioral changes and mortality were recorded for 14 days. Parameters such as body weight, hematological and biochemical parameters, and histopathological study of some important organs were assessed. Results: No significant changes in behavior, mortality, body weight, and hematological parameters were observed in all the animals. Some biochemical parameters such as blood urea, alkaline phosphatase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase were affected in both the test drugs. In histopathological study, sections of liver and kidney showed some degenerative changes; comparatively more in ATBHR. Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrate that LD₅₀ of both the test drugs are higher than 2000 mg/kg. It was concluded that both the test drugs at higher dose levels can cause hepatorenal toxicity. However, further chronic toxicity evaluation is necessary to establish the safety profile on chronic administration.

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gṛdhrasī is a common disorder explained in the context of vāta vyādhi in Ayurveda which greatly interferes with the quality of life. The symptoms of Gṛdhrasī simulate with sciatica. Sciatica is one of the most common causes of pain and disability. The treatment available in modern medicine for sciatica is either conservative such as rest, immobilization, analgesics, anti-inflammatory, or surgical which is not much satisfactory. Here, a case of 58-year-old female complaining of low backache radiating to the left lower limb along with numbness in the distal portion of the left leg and inability to walk without support, is reported. basti cikitsā (medicated enema) is the prime treatment modality among the pañcakarma (five main purifcation procedures) for vāta doṣa and śodhana therapy has already been established being better than śamana, a specific śodhana (purificatory), śamana (palliative) and bṛṃhaṇa (nourishing the tissues and producing anabolic effects) basti was planned in this particular case. The case under the study showed remarkable improvement in almost all the subjective and objective parameters within a span of 8 days of basti and after the follow-up of 1 month. śodhana, śamana, and bṛṃhaṇa Basti were satisfactory on subjective, objective as well as radiographic parameters and can be applied on cases of sciatica after consideration of the doṣas involved.

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Lumbar disc disease (LDD) is a common cause of chronic or recurrent low back and leg pain most likely to occur at the L4-L5 and L5-S1 levels. The pain may be located in the lower back only or may refer to the leg, buttocks, or hip. There is less improvement with modern medicines and recurrence due to surgical decompression. Various Ayurvedic drugs along with required pañcakarma procedures have been proved useful for these manifestations. We present a case of LDD (kaṭi asthi sandhi gata vᾱta) having acute severe lower back pain above left hip joint radiating towards the left thigh and calf muscle since 14 days. His visual analog scale (VAS) score was 10 when he arrived at the hospital. The case was treated for 3 months with a combination of ᾱyurvedic drugs and pañcakarma procedures. Ayurvedic treatments, in this case, were directed toward alleviating pain and to reduce disability to walk. The patient was considered suffering from kaṭi asthi sandhi gata vᾱta (vᾱtaj disorder involving lumbar region) and was given harītakī cῡrṇa 5 g with lukewarm water on the first night for vᾱtᾱnulomana. ekāṅgavīra rasa, punarnavādi maṇḍūra, rᾱsnᾱsaptaka kvᾱtha, balāriṣṭa, ajamodādi cūrṇa, orally have been given with saindhavādi taila for local application for 3 months. For śodhana cikitsā sarvāṅga abhyaṅga and sarvāṅga patra piṇḍa svedana (PPS), kaṭi basti with pañcaguṇa taila and kᾱla basti (nirῡha with rᾱsnᾱ eraṇḍādi kvᾱtha and anuvᾱsana with dhānvantaraṃ taila) for 16 days is given. Patient's condition was assessed for symptoms of kaṭi asthi sandhi gata vᾱta and VAS scale for pain, Fukushima lumbar spinal stenosis scale-25, and 6 min walking test before and after the treatment which showed substantial improvement. This study shows that the cases of lumbar disc disease which may be successfully managed with ayurvedic treatment.

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Chronic urticaria (CU) is a debilitating disease that considerably affects health-related quality of life. CU symptoms affect a wide range of daily activities, from personal care to sleep/rest, work performance, and social relationships. Physical and emotional functioning is subjectively impaired beyond the severity of the actual disease symptoms. Chronic autoimmune urticaria is caused by anti-FcεRI and less frequently, by anti-immunoglobulin E autoantibodies. Chronic autoimmune urticaria has been found to be associated with autoimmune thyroid disease. A 38-year-old woman having more severe and difficult-to-control urticaria which was a diagnosed case of autoimmune urticaria by AIIMS, New Delhi, underwent vamana (therapeutic emesis) therapy and got satisfactory results. Assessment was done on UAS7 score which reduced from 42 to 0 after 3 months medication. Similarly, CU-Q2oL score reduced from 110 to 24 and Dermatology Life Quality Index score from 30 to 1. This is important because it was a rare case which was not responding to parenteral steroids and cyclosporine.

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