EVALUATION OF ANTIEPILEPTIC ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF AZIMA TETRACANTHA ROOT IN MICE

Objective: To evaluate the antiepileptic activity of ethanolic extract of Azima tetracantha root (EEATR) against Maximal electroshock (MES) and Pentylene tetrazole (PTZ) induced seizures in mice.Methods: 48 adult male mice were used and 4 groups with six in each were allocated to each model. 4 Groups are divided into control, standard and two test groups. Control group received normal saline, standard group, Sodium valproate-200 mg/kg and the two test groups received ethanolic extract of roots of Azima tetracantha (EEATR) 250 and 500 mg/kg respectively. Antiepileptic activity was assessed based on hind limb tonic extension duration, onset of convulsions and mortality. The results were compared with control and standard.Results: In MES model EEATR reduced the duration of hind limb extension (HLE) and seizure protection was 50% and 66.6% with 250 and 500 mg/kg respectively. In PTZ model both the doses of EEATR delayed the onset of clonic phase and prevented death in 50% of animals in group treated with 500 mg/kg EEATR, similar to sodium valproate. Results were analyzed by ANOVA with p<0.05 considered as significant.Conclusion: EEATR has shown anticonvulsant activity in both MES and PTZ models. 500 mg/kg of EEATR has better protection than 250 mg/kg against seizure in MES model and equally efficacious as sodium valproate standard in PTZ model

Neuroprotective effect of secretin in chronic hypoxia induced neurodegeneration in rats

Background: Hypoxia is a condition in any stage in the delivery of oxygen to cells which include decreased partial pressures of oxygen, less diffusion of oxygen in the lungs, insufficient hemoglobin, inefficient blood flow to the end tissue, and breathing rhythm. Secretin is an amino acid which plays proper functioning of gastro intestinal system.Methods: The current study was conducted to evaluvate the effect of exogenously administrated secretin on chronic hypoxic damage of brain in rat model. Experimental design consists of control animals, Control animals + secretin hypoxia exposed animals; hypoxia exposed animals +secretin (20ng/kg.bw).Results: The results of this study point to a possible role of Secretin as neuroprotectant.Conclusions: Further research on secretin needs to be conducted in order to confirm the deductions made by this study

Bacillus horneckiae sp. nov., isolated from a spacecraft-assembly clean room

Five Gram-stain-positive, motile, aerobic strains were isolated from a clean room of the Kennedy Space Center where the Phoenix spacecraft was assembled. All strains are rod-shaped, spore-forming bacteria, whose spores were resistant to UV radiation up to 1000 J m^(–2). The spores were subterminally positioned and produced an external layer. A polyphasic taxonomic study including traditional biochemical tests, fatty acid analysis, cell-wall typing, lipid analyses, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DNA–DNA hybridization studies was performed to characterize these novel strains. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and lipid analyses convincingly grouped these novel strains within the genus Bacillus as a cluster separate from already described species. The similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequences among the novel strains was >99 %, but the similarity was only about 97 % with their nearest neighbours Bacillus pocheonensis, Bacillus firmus and Bacillus bataviensis. DNA–DNA hybridization dissociation values were <24 % to the closest related type strains. The novel strains had a G+C content 35.6±0.5 mol% and could liquefy gelatin but did not utilize or produce acids from any of the carbon substrates tested. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0 and the cell-wall diamino acid was meso-diaminopimelic acid. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic results, it is concluded that these strains represent a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus horneckiae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 1P01SC^T (=NRRL B-59162^T =MTCC 9535^T)

Exploring the Anti-quorum Sensing and Antibiofilm Efficacy of Phytol against Serratia marcescens Associated Acute Pyelonephritis Infection in Wistar Rats

Quorum Sensing (QS) mechanism, a bacterial density-dependent gene expression system, governs the Serratia marcescens pathogenesis through the production of virulence factors and biofilm formation. The present study demonstrates the anti-quorum sensing (anti-QS), antibiofilm potential and in vivo protective effect of phytol, a diterpene alcohol broadly utilized as food additive and in therapeutics fields. In vitro treatment of phytol (5 and 10 μg/ml) showed decreasing level of biofilm formation, lipase and hemolysin production in S. marcescens compared to their respective controls. More, microscopic analyses confirmed the antibiofilm potential of phytol. The biofilm related phenomenons such as swarming motility and exopolysccharide productions were also inhibited by phytol. Furthermore, the real-time analysis elucidated the molecular mechanism of phytol which showed downregulation of fimA, fimC, flhC, flhD, bsmB, pigP, and shlA gene expressions. On the other hand, the in vivo rescue effect of phytol was assessed against S. marcescens associated acute pyelonephritis in Wistar rat. Compared to the infected and vehicle controls, the phytol treated groups (100 and 200 mg/kg) showed decreased level of bacterial counts in kidney, bladder tissues and urine samples on the 5th post infection day. As well, the phytol treatment showed reduced level of virulence enzymes such as lipase and protease productions compared to the infected and vehicle controls. Further, the infected and vehicle controls showed increasing level of inflammatory markers such as malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) productions. In contrast, the phytol treatment showed decreasing level of inflammatory markers. In histopathology, the uninfected animal showed normal kidney and bladder structure, wherein, the infected animals showed extensive infiltration of neutrophils in kidney and bladder tissues. In contrast, the phytol treatment showed normal kidney and bladder tissues. Additionally, the toxic effect of phytol (200 mg/kg) was assessed by single dose toxicity analysis. No changes were observed in hematological, biochemical profiles and histopathological analysis of vital organs in phytol treated animals compared to the untreated controls. Hence, this study suggested the potential use of phytol for its anti-QS, antibiofilm and anti-inflammatory properties against S. marcescens infections and their associated inflammation reactions

Nephroprotective effect of ethanolic extract of Azima tetracantha root in glycerol induced acute renal failure in Wistar albino rats

The gravity of the impact of renal failure on human health is well known and as there is no specific pharmacotherapy for renal failure, the current study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of root extract of Azima tetracantha, an ancient medicinal plant used in Siddha and Ayurvedhic systems of medicine. The experiment was done in glycerol-induced acute renal failure in Wistar albino rats. Thirty rats were divided into five groups. Group 1 was given normal saline (10 ml/kg) per oral, group 2 with single dose of hypertonic glycerol (8 ml/kg) by intramuscular injection into the hind limbs, group 3 with glycerol and ethanolic extract of A. tetracantha root (ATR) 250 mg/kg, group 4, glycerol and ATR 500 mg/kg and group 5, 500 mg/kg ATR. Extract was given orally 60 min prior to glycerol injection. 24 h urine output, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, total proteins and albumin were measured for all the groups. Kidneys were examined for histopathological changes. The antioxidant activity of the extract was tested in vitro and in vivo. Rats treated with ATR showed significant improvement in biochemical parameters and histopathological changes compared to glycerol treated group. The protective effect was highly significant at 500 mg/kg. Both in vitro and in vivo assays showed significant antioxidant activity. The in vitro activity was comparable to vitamin-C. The ethanolic extract of ATR has nephroprotective effect in glycerol-induced acute renal failure and the mechanism of action could be the antioxidant effect