Bioactivity and Pharmacological Potential of Trianthema portulacastrum L. (Angiosperms: Aizoaceae): An Overview

Trianthema portulacastrum L. ( Biskhapra/ Horse purslane) is widely found in tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world. This weed automatically spread in cultivated fields. From the ancient time it is used for curative purposes. The plant pertains wide range of applicability and henceforth used as an Ayurvedic herb. The decoction of this herb utilized as a vermifuge, antidote prepared from that helps in treating alcohol poisoning and leaves cure the wound. In the era of phytomedicines lot of work has been done related to its morphology, ethno-pharmacology, medicinal uses, phyto-chemistry and pharmacological properties. Various pharmacological properties like antimicrobial properties, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-hyperglycemic, hepato-protective activity makes this plant very renowned amongst researchers as they utilized it somewhat like a panacea. Different parts of plants are utilized for the therapeutic purposes and extract prepared in different solvents used in the treatment of various disorders. In this review, an attempt has been made to provide all inclusive information of this plant about its bioactive compounds and their pharmacologoical importance

Pharmacognostical analysis of different parts of Cyperus rotundus L.

Medicinal plants have been used as chief antidotes for the cure of numerous diseases since time immemorial. To investigate the quality assurance and authentication of medicinal plants, pharmacognostical, physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical studies of the different parts (root, stem and flower) of Cyperus rotundus were carried out. Present study deals with WHO (World Health Organization) recommended methods, fluorescence, phytochemical characteristics for standardization of plant parts by using a soxhlet apparatus in order of increase polarity. The extracts were subjected to qualitative phytochemical screening using standard procedures. Phytochemical investigation led to the revelation of the presence of enormous kinds of primary and secondary metabolite’s as protein, carbohydrate, phenole, flavonoid, alkaloid, terpenoid, and saponin, etc., in trace, moderate and high amount in various extracts of different parts of experimental plant. It was concluded that the plant is rich in phytochemicals with significant pharmacological applications that may supply drugs for modern medicines and can be valuable for the therapeutic index. Information obtained from these studies help in determining the antioxidant capacity and contributes to the predominant group of bioactive components which can be used as markers in the identification and standardization of this plant as a herbal remedy

Analysis of human collagen sequences

The extracellular matrix is fast emerging as important component mediating cell-cell interactions, along with its established role as a scaffold for cell support. Collagen, being the principal component of extracellular matrix, has been implicated in a number of pathological conditions. However, collagens are complex protein structures belonging to a large family consisting of 28 members in humans; hence, there exists a lack of in depth information about their structural features. Annotating and appreciating the functions of these proteins is possible with the help of the numerous biocomputational tools that are currently available. This study reports a comparative analysis and characterization of the alpha-1 chain of human collagen sequences. Physico-chemical, secondary structural, functional and phylogenetic classification was carried out, based on which, collagens 12, 14 and 20, which belong to the FACIT collagen family, have been identified as potential players in diseased conditions, owing to certain atypical properties such as very high aliphatic index, low percentage of glycine and proline residues and their proximity in evolutionary history. These collagen molecules might be important candidates to be investigated further for their role in skeletal disorders