Antimicrobial activity of Ocimum sanctum leaves extracts and oil

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of ethanol, Hexane and Chloroform leaf extracts of O. sanctum against pathogenic bacteria to determine their potentials as antibacterial agent. Ocimum sanctum Linn known as Holy Basil is an aromatic plant native to the tropics of Asia and Africa being medicinally important plant in the family Lamiaceae. The family Lamiaceae is one of the most exploited medicinal plant family worldwide not only as a source of medicinal plants but also with its valuable essential oils being used as spices and flavours for various food products. Leaves have petioles, and are ovate, up to 5 cm long, usually slightly toothed. Leaves were separated from the stem, washed in clear water and dried until they were adequately dry to be ground (dried for 7 days). Dried leaves were powdered separately in an electric grinder until a homogenous powder was obtained. Ethanolic, Hexane, Chloroform extract was prepared from the powder obtained using “cold extraction method. The activity of Tulsi extract against K. pneumonia & Staphylococcus aureus was found to be higher at a concentration of 100% followed by 75% & 50% respectively. The maximum zone of inhibition was found to be 21&11mm against Kleibsiella pneumonia and 18&15mm against Staphylococcus aureus. The antimicrobial efficacy of Ocimum sanctum leaves indicates that the plant possesses potent antimicrobial properties as well as Ocimum is widespread in India, it can be recommended as an easily available and renewal source of antimicrobial agent instead of synthetic chemicals. Keywords:  Ocimum santum, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsialla pneumonia, Disc Diffusio

Screening of antioxidant property of Eclipta alba

The aim of the study was to examine the possible antioxidant activities of the methanolic extracts of medicinal plants, Eclipta alba. We examined for such properties such as nitric oxide radical scavenging assay, DPPH radical scavenging activity. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have one or more unpaired electrons on its outer orbital, highly reactive, and could damage cell inside human body. Human body produce antioxidant to neutralize free radicals, but human ageing and stress oxidative conditions would increase the formation of free radicals, therefore an exogenous antioxidant are needed. Asteraceae is the largest family among the plant kingdom, therefore it has a great potential as source of exogenous antioxidant. The flavonoid content of the plant extract was estimated by the method of (Lamaison and Carnat, 1990). Briefly 1.0 ml of plant extract was mixed with 1.0 ml of aluminium chloride reagent and resultant colour was read at 430 nm. The flavonoid content of the extract was expressed as mg quercetin equivalent/gm dry wt. of extract. The coarsely powdered plant materials of Eclipta alba (2000 g) were extracted separately to exhaustion in Soxhlet apparatus for 72 hours by using methanol solvent The crude extract was filtered using 125 mm Whatman® qualitative filter paper under sterile condition. A methanol solution of the sample at various concentrations was added to 0.5 ml of 0.1 mM methanolic solution of DPPH and allowed to stand for 30 min at 25°C in darkness. The absorbance of the sample was measured at 517 nm. A 0.1 mM solution of DPPH in methanol was used as control, whereas ascorbic acid was used as reference standard.  The absorbance of the pink chromophore formed during the diazotization of the nitrite with sulphanilamide and the subsequent coupling with naphthyl ethylenediamine dihydrochloride was measured at 546 nm.  The percentage of inhibition of the extract shown 39% in 25µg and in 100µg it was 73 percent

The Methods to Improve Quality of Service by Accounting Secure Parameters

A solution to the problem of ensuring quality of service, providing a greater number of services with higher efficiency taking into account network security is proposed. In this paper, experiments were conducted to analyze the effect of self-similarity and attacks on the quality of service parameters. Method of buffering and control of channel capacity and calculating of routing cost method in the network, which take into account the parameters of traffic multifractality and the probability of detecting attacks in telecommunications networks were proposed. The both proposed methods accounting the given restrictions on the delay time and the number of lost packets for every type quality of service traffic. During simulation the parameters of transmitted traffic (self-similarity, intensity) and the parameters of network (current channel load, node buffer size) were changed and the maximum allowable load of network was determined. The results of analysis show that occurrence of overload when transmitting traffic over a switched channel associated with multifractal traffic characteristics and presence of attack. It was shown that proposed methods can reduce the lost data and improve the efficiency of network resources.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, 1 equation, 1 table. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1904.0520

Structure of the TPR Domain of AIP: Lack of Client Protein Interaction with the C-Terminal alpha-7 Helix of the TPR Domain of AIP Is Sufficient for Pituitary Adenoma Predisposition

PMCID: PMC3534021This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Brief Report: AIP Mutation in Pituitary Adenomas in the 18th Century and Today

From New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 364, issue 1, p.43-50. Copyright © (2011) Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted with permission.Gigantism results when a growth hormone–secreting pituitary adenoma is present before epiphyseal fusion. In 1909, when Harvey Cushing examined the skeleton of an Irish patient who lived from 1761 to 1783,1-3 he noted an enlarged pituitary fossa. We extracted DNA from the patient’s teeth and identified a germline mutation in the aryl hydrocarbon–interacting protein gene (AIP). Four contemporary Northern Irish families who presented with gigantism, acromegaly, or prolactinoma have the same mutation and haplotype associated with the mutated gene. Using coalescent theory, we infer that these persons share a common ancestor who lived about 57 to 66 generations earlier

Emergence of Pituitary Adenoma in a Child during Surveillance: Clinical Challenges and the Family Members' View in an AIP Mutation-Positive Family.

Introduction: Germline aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) mutations are responsible for 15-30% of familial isolated pituitary adenomas (FIPAs). We report a FIPA kindred with a heterozygous deletion in AIP, aiming to highlight the indications and benefits of genetic screening, variability in clinical presentations, and management challenges in this setting. Patients: An 18-year-old male was diagnosed with a clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA). Two years later, his brother was diagnosed with a somatolactotrophinoma, and a small Rathke's cleft cyst and a microadenoma were detected on screening in their 17-year-old sister. Following amenorrhoea, their maternal cousin was diagnosed with hyperprolactinaemia and two distinct pituitary microadenomas. A 12-year-old niece developed headache and her MRI showed a microadenoma, not seen on a pituitary MRI scan 3 years earlier. Discussion: Out of the 14 members harbouring germline AIP mutations in this kindred, 5 have pituitary adenoma. Affected members had different features and courses of disease. Bulky pituitary and not fully suppressed GH on OGTT can be challenging in the evaluation of females in teenage years. Multiple pituitary adenomas with different secretory profiles may arise in the pituitary of these patients. Small, stable NFPAs can be present in mutation carriers, similar to incidentalomas in the general population. Genetic screening and baseline review, with follow-up of younger subjects, are recommended in AIP mutation-positive families.Pedro Marques is supported by Barts and The London Charity Clinical Training Research Fellowship. Márta Korbonits’s project on familial pituitary adenomas is supported by the Medical Research Council, UK

The Immunophilin-Like Protein XAP2 Is a Negative Regulator of Estrogen Signaling through Interaction with Estrogen Receptor α

XAP2 (also known as aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein, AIP) is originally identified as a negative regulator of the hepatitis B virus X-associated protein. Recent studies have expanded the range of XAP2 client proteins to include the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors. In this study, we show that XAP2 is recruited to the promoter of ERα regulated genes like the breast cancer marker gene pS2 or GREB1 and negatively regulate the expression of these genes in MCF-7 cells. Interestingly, we show that XAP2 downregulates the E2-dependent transcriptional activation in an estrogen receptor (ER) isoform-specific manner: XAP2 inhibits ERα but not ERβ-mediated transcription. Thus, knockdown of intracellular XAP2 levels leads to increased ERα activity. XAP2 proteins, carrying mutations in their primary structures, loose the ability of interacting with ERα and can no longer regulate ER target gene transcription. Taken together, this study shows that XAP2 exerts a negative effect on ERα transcriptional activity and may thus prevent ERα-dependent events