Scientific Studies of a Popular Sri Lankan Indigenous Therapeutic Agent Rathakalka Used in Pediatric Practice

The test drug Rathakalka, selected for these studies, is a popular Sri Lankan indigenous medical recipe specially used for children. A clinical study of the Rathakalka recipe revealed significant changes in serum immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM, and IgA) and serum complements (C3, C4) levels in infants and young children. Animal experiment with albino rats showed its highest anti-inflammatory activity 3 hours after induction of edema. In-vivo experiment demonstrated that Rathakalka reduced yeast induced elevation of the body temperature in rats. In-vitro experiment revealed that the recipe has anti-bacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Listeria monoytogenes. In-vivo experiment showed that the prolong administration does not produce any toxicity changes in rabbits. Microbiological study indicated that the microbial colony counts observed in this study were with in the limits acceptable by the World Health Assembly (W.H.A.). These results scientifically evaluate that the drug samples are tested and deemed microbiologically safe and up to the microbial quality standards. These studies confirmed the presence of immune enhancing effect, anti-bacterial effect, anti pyretic effect, anti-inflammatory effect, non toxicity, and microbiological safety in Rathakalka. Acknowledgements: Thanks to the support and advice given by Prof. S. Widanapathirana, Prof. R.D. Sharma, Prof. Premawathi Tevari, Prof. Manjari Dwivedi, Dr. Usha Singh, Dr. N.C.Arya, Dr. B.M.Nageeb and all other co-researchers, and the financial grant from Link Natural Pharmaceuticals, and National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka, to carry out this research study.