EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF SPENT CHILLI AND SPENT CUMIN OBTAINED AFTER OLEORESIN EXTRACTION

Objective: Chilli spent residue (CHSR) and Cumin spent residue (CSR) obtained after oleoresin extraction is known to be rich in polyphenols, however, the very limited commercial application is known except for its use as veterinary feeds. Considering that a huge residue is left over by oleoresin spice industry, application-oriented utilization of spent residue of chilli and cumin is warranted. In these lines, we in this study evaluate the antioxidant potential of Chilli spent residue (CHSR) and Cumin spent residue (CSR) obtained after oleoresin extraction by DPPH method.Methods: In vitro radical scavenging activity of CHSR and CSR obtained after oleoresin extraction was evaluated by checking its role in scavenging DPPH.Results: The spent chilli extract exhibited higher DPPH scavenging activity when compared to the spent cumin and the IC50 values of spent chilli; spent cumin and ascorbic acid were found to be 186.23±1.05 µg/ml, 284±1.03 µg/ml and 33.21±1.04, respectively. As CHSR and CSR obtained after oleoresin extraction is known to be rich in polyphenols, these might be responsible for potent and significant antioxidant activity observed.Conclusion: This study shows that by-products obtained/generated in oleoresin industry can be utilized as value added product. Future work will be interesting to know the chemical composition and better understand the mechanism of action of the antioxidants present in the extract for development as a drug for therapeutic application.Â

EVALUATING THE ANTIPROLIFERATIVE POTENTIAL OF METHONOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CASSIA NIGRICANS

Objective: It is well established that plants have always been useful source as anticancer compounds. This study was attempted to investigate the in vitro anti-cancer potential of methonolic extract of Cassia nigricans on breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines.Methods: The methanol extract of C. nigricans was screened for its anti-proliferative effect against MCF-7 (Breast cancer) cell lines using MCF-7 cells seeded 96 well plates.Results: Extract was exposed with MCF-7 cell lines for 24h and 72h at a range of increasing concentrations (0-500μg/ml) in order to obtain a dose-response graph and IC50 value. The C. nigricans extract showed cytotoxic effect in MCF-7cells with IC50 of 82.6μg/ml.Conclusion: The C. nigricans extract showed effective cytotoxic activity in a dose and time dependent manner. Future work will be interesting to know the chemical composition and also better understand the mechanism of action present in the extract for developing it as drug for therapeutic application.Â

IN-VITRO CYTOTOXIC EFFECT OF CANTHIUM DICOCCUM ON DIFFERENT CANCER CELL LINES

Objective: Cancer remains one of the most dreaded diseases causing an astonishingly high death rate. Despite the use of surgical resection and aggressive chemotherapy, nearly 50% of patients with carcinoma develop recurrent disease, highlighting the need for improved therapies. Henceforth, complementary and alternative medicine is slowly emerging as an option. A variety of ingredients of traditional medicines and herbs are being widely investigated in several parts of the world to analyze their potential as therapeutic agents against cancer. In the present study we investigated the efficacy of methanol extracts of Canthium dicoccum, for its clonogenic inhibition on Human Breast cancer (MD-MB-231), Prostate cancer (PC-3) and Lung cancer (Calu-6) cell lines.Methods: The cytotoxic effect of methanolic extract of Canthium dicoccum was evaluated by MTT assay on MD-MB-231, Calu-6, and PC-3 cells.Results: The methanol extract of C. dicoccum showed significant cytotoxicity against MD-MB-231and Calu-6, when compared to PC-3 cells.Conclusion: The methanol extracts of C. dicoccum showed effective cytotoxic activities in a dose and time dependent manner. Future work will be interesting to know the chemical composition and also better understanding the mechanism of action will help in developing it as drug for therapeutic application.Â

SCREENING FOR BIOACTIVES FROM INDIAN MEDICINAL HERBS – A SIMPLISTIC APPROACH FOR ANTIOXIDANT METABOLITES

Herbal extracts obtained from 20 Indian medicinal plants were evaluated for their cytoprotectivity on erythrocytes and antioxidant properties. Total phenol content and anti-rhizopus activity were also determined. Results indicated that, out of 20 extracts evaluated, radical scavenging capacity and anti-rhizopus activity were observed in aqueous extract of Ocimum tenuiflorum, Leucas aspera, Terminalia arjuna, Glycyrrhiza glabra and Nyctanthes arbortristis in a dose dependent manner. The total phenolic content was observed to be 1289, 3837, 372, 2831 and 1892 μg GAE/g for O. tenuiflorum, L. aspera, T. arjuna, G. glabra and N. arbortristis respectively. The antioxidant activity correlates with the phenolic content of the extracts. At 1 mg/ml the above extracts showed 98% protection on erythrocyte cell oxidation. These results demonstrate that the cytoprotectivity and antioxidant potency of these extracts could be the basis for their alleged health promoting potential. These herbs could serve as new sources of natural antioxidants or nutraceuticals with potential applications in reducing oxidative stress conditions.Â

PHYTO-ANTIQUORUMONES: AN HERBAL APPROACH FOR BLOCKING BACTERIAL TRAFFICKING AND PATHOGENESIS

Over centuries, plants are the richest resource of curative drugs as cited in folklore, traditional and modern medicinal systems and are been used as nutraceuticals, functional food supplements and in pharmaceuticals. Phytochemicals have exhibited beneficial effects against human acute and chronic ailments caused due to microbial pathogens. In recent years, phytochemicals and their derivatives have been extensively used as potent antimicrobials in humans and livestock due to their chemical stability, high bioavailability, low-molecular mass, safe consumption without any side-effect as seen in many antibiotic regimes. These phytocompounds have also been highlighted to function as Quorum Sensing Inhibitors (QSI) or antiquorumones in blocking bacterial pathogenesis preventing their regulatory mechanism and expression of specific set of virulence genes or cascades. However, the role of phytochemicals as QSI has been poorly identified but many of which remain unexplored. Therefore, this review summarizes most of the current scientific contributions focused on the use of plant phytochemicals as antiquorumones, highlighting the significance of plant derived molecules as bacterial inhibitors with larger emphasis on the mechanistic action of biofilm formation and quorum signaling networks mainly N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs), autoinducer-2 (AI-2) communications and their attributes in modulating the host immune response. A critical understanding of this complex trio-interaction between humans, microbes and phytochemicals has to be well explored, to exploit the usefulness of these metabolites ultimately paving newer paths for herbal drug discovery and their potential targets leading towards a better quality of life and human welfare.Â

THE ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE LEAVES EXTRACT OF CLERODENDRUM COLEBROOKIANUM WALP, (FAM: VERBENACEAE)

Objective: To investigate the in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of Clerodendrum colebrookianum leaves extract.Methods: The leaves of C. colebrookianum were collected from various parts of Aizawl, Mizoram, India. Subsequently, the leaves were extracted with solvents (chloroform, acetone, ethanol and methanol) in a Soxhlet extraction apparatus for 24hr. Further, the extracts were extensively examined for its in-vitro antioxidant (DPPH) and antimicrobial activities. The preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out using standard protocols.Results: The existence of alkaloids, flavonoids, diterpenes, saponins, glycosides, steroids and terpeinoids were revealed in the phytochemical screening. The aqueous and acetone extract had the highest total phenolic content (2.348 mg/ml), when compared to methanol, ethanol and chloroform extracts, which was 0.549 mg/ml, 0.408 mg/ml and 0.407 mg/ml, respectively. The antioxidant activity was more significant for aqueous extract, when compared to other extracts. The antimicrobial activity was more significant for acetone extract showed significant zone of inhibition of 14±0.3, 13±0.3 and 15±0.2 for E. coli, S. marcescens and S. aureus, respectively.Conclusion: The high level of antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of C. colebrookianum leaf extracts encourage its potential use for biomedical applications

INHIBITION OF MULTI-TOXIC PHOSPHOLIPASE A2 OF DABOII RUSELLII PULCHELLA VENOM BY THE ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF A. PANICULATA

Objective: Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) Nees is an important medicinal plant found in the tropical regions and has been traditionally used in Indian and Chinese medicinal systems. A. paniculata is found to exhibit anti-snake venom properties; however its inhibitory potential on multi-toxic Phospholipases A2 and its associated inflammatory reactions is not clearly understood. Henceforth, in this study we evaluate the inhibitory/neutralizing potential of alcoholic extract of A. paniculata on the isolated multi-toxic PLA2 (of Daboii rusellii pulchella and Naja naja) and its induced edema in Swiss albino mice.Methods: The multi-toxic-svPLA2-VRV-PL-V from the venom of Daboii rusellii pulchella was purified according established methods. The inhibition of enzymatic activity and edema inducing activity was carried out according to established methods.Results: A. paniculata extract dose dependently inhibited the multi-toxic svPLA2 enzymaticactivity with an IC50 value of 12.4±0.6 µg/ml. Further, the extract dose dependently inhibited the edema formation, when co-injected with the enzyme indicating a strong correlation between lipolytic activity and pro-inflammatory activity.Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of A. paniculata effectively inhibited the multi-toxic svPLA2 and its associated edema inducing activities, which substantiate their anti-ophidian properties. Further study is interesting to develop them into potent anti-ophidian agents.Â