Preliminary screening of plant essential oils against larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae)

Preliminary screenings of 22 plant essential oils were tested for mortality of the mosquito larvae Culex quinquefasciatus under laboratory conditions. Percent (%) mortality of the mosquito larvae were obtained for each essential oil. At different exposure periods, viz. 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h among the 22 plant oils tested, eight oils viz., aniseed, calamus, cinnamon, clove, lemon, orange, thyme, and tulsi oils gave promising results on larvicidal activity. For larvicidal screening bioassay, the mortality was recorded at different exposure periods viz., 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h, and it was found that larval mortality increased when exposure time increased. The clove oil was found to be the most effective treatment. In the preliminary screening, clove oil gave 100% mortality at all exposure periods. Vetiver oil recorded 36.2, 61.2, 76.2, 87.5 and 100% mortality in 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h, respectively. Results of this study show that the essential oils may be a potent source of natural larvicides.Key words: Screening, essential oils, Culex quinquefasciatus, Larvicidal

CYTOTOXIC AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF FRACTIONS ISOLATED FROM FERONIA ELEPHANTUM

Objective: The leaves of Feronia elephantum are widely used in folk medicine in India to treat various ailments. In the present communication we report the cytotoxic and antioxidant properties of extracts and fractions of F. elephantum leaves. Methods: The leaves of F. elephantum were extracted with hexane and ethyl acetate and checked for cytotoxic properties against human A549 lung adenocarcinoma cancer cell line. The active extract was subjected to column chromatography and fractions were bio-assayed. The active fraction was subjected to GC-MS analysis. Results: Hexane extract exhibited good cytotoxic activity against A549 lung cancer cell line compared to ethyl acetate extract. Hexane extract showed 77.3% activity at the dose of 500 µg/mL with IC50 (50.6%) value of 125 µg/mL. Hexane extract was also tested at different time intervals of 12h, 24h, 48h and 72 h. The activity gradually increased. The active hexane extract was subjected to column chromatography. Based on thin layer chromatography profiles, similar fractions were combined to give 9 fractions. When the fractions were bio-assayed fraction 5 showed maximum cytotoxic activity. Fraction 5 was tested against A549 lung cancer cell line at different time intervals; the activity gradually increased. Fraction 5 was used to test the antioxidant properties using DPPH analysis. Maximum antioxidant activity was observed at 1000 µg/mL (71.63 ± 0.15). Active fraction 5 was identified using GC-MS. It showed the presence of Estragole (50.82%), trans-anethole (p-propenylanisole, anise camphor) (14.98%) and Caryophyllene (9.22%). Conclusion: The results showed that hexane extract of F. elephantum could be probed further in drug discovery programme

Chemopreventive potential of β-Sitosterol in experimental colon cancer model - an In vitro and In vivo study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Asclepias curassavica </it>Linn. is a traditional medicinal plant used by tribal people in the western ghats, India, to treat piles, gonorrhoea, roundworm infestation and abdominal tumours. We have determined the protective effect of β-sitosterol isolated from <it>A. curassavica </it>in colon cancer, using <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>models.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The active molecule was isolated, based upon bioassay guided fractionation, and identified as β-sitosterol on spectral evidence. The ability to induce apoptosis was determined by its <it>in vitro </it>antiradical activity, cytotoxic studies using human colon adenocarcinoma and normal monkey kidney cell lines, and the expression of β-catenin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in human colon cancer cell lines (COLO 320 DM). The chemopreventive potential of β-sitosterol in colon carcinogenesis was assessed by injecting 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH, 20 mg/kg b.w.) into male Wistar rats and supplementing this with β-sitosterol throughout the experimental period of 16 weeks at 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg b.w.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>β-sitosterol induced significant dose-dependent growth inhibition of COLO 320 DM cells (IC₅₀266.2 μM), induced apoptosis by scavenging reactive oxygen species, and suppressed the expression of β-catenin and PCNA antigens in human colon cancer cells. β-sitosterol supplementation reduced the number of aberrant crypt and crypt multiplicity in DMH-initiated rats in a dose-dependent manner with no toxic effects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found doses of 10-20 mg/kg b.w. β-sitosterol to be effective for future <it>in vivo </it>studies. β-sitosterol had chemopreventive potential by virtue of its radical quenching ability <it>in vitro</it>, with minimal toxicity to normal cells. It also attenuated β-catenin and PCNA expression, making it a potential anticancer drug for colon carcinogenesis.</p

Facultative alkalophilic bacteria from mangrove soil with varying buffering capacity and H+ conductance

382-385Facultative alkalophilic bacteria Planococcus sp. (EMGA-26), Bacillus sp. (EMGA-29) and Corynebacterium spp. (EMGA-33 and 130) were isolated from mangrove soil samples. Neutrophiles were predominant than alkalophiles. Buffering capacity and membrane H+ conductance were investigated for the strains grown in PPYG medium at pH 10.5 using acid pulse technique. Bacillus sp. showed higher buffering capacity than Planococcus sp. and Corynebacterium spp. Buffering capacity was two-fold higher in Corynebacterium sp. EMGA-33 than in EMGA-130. The membrane H+ conductance was high in Bacillus sp. and was directly proportional to the buffering capacity values. The Bacillus sp. (EMGA-29) had higher cell membrane adaptability in high pH environment than the Planococcus sp. and Corynebacterium spp

Buffering capacity and membrane H⁺ conductance of protease producing facultative alkaliphilic bacterium <i>Bacillus </i><i style="">flexus</i> from mangrove soil

261-265A facultative alkaliphilic protease-producing gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria (EMGA 5) was isolated from mangrove soil and confirmed as Bacillus flexus by the 16S rDNA sequence. Buffering capacity and membrane H+ conductance of this alkaliphilic isolate were investigated for the cells grown at pH 7.2 and 10.5 using acid pulse technique. Suspensions of B. flexus cells grown in poly peptone yeast glucose medium at pH 10.5 exhibited higher cytoplasmic membrane buffering capacity values (70 µmol H+/pH unit/mg protein at pH 9.9) than the cells grown at pH 7.2 (41 µmol H+/pH unit/mg protein at pH 9.9). B. flexus grown aerobically at pH 7.2 showed higher H+ conductance values than the cells grown at pH 10.5 (0.032 µmol H+/s/pH unit/mg protein at pH 9.9 and 0.028 µmol H+/s/pH unit/mg protein at pH 9.8, respectively). The present study revealed that the buffering capacity and membrane H+ conductance of the B. flexus isolates were influenced by pH of the medium

Toxic Effect of Cadmium on the Electrophoretic Protein Patterns of Gill and Muscle of Oreochromis mossambicus

The present study was carried out to determine the sub lethal toxic effects of the heavy metal cadmium on the electrophoretic protein fractions of gill and muscle tissues of Oreochromis mossambicus. Fishes were exposed to 10% sub lethal concentration (96 h LC50) of cadmium for a period of 10 days. The protein fractions in the muscle of experimental fishes were found to be increased (twelve fractions) with respect to controls (eight fractions). The numbers of protein fractions in the gills of test fishes were found to be lesser than the control fishes. The results of the present study prove that cadmium affects the protein fractions in the tissues of fishes

A study on food-medicine continuum among the non-institutionally trained siddha practitioners of Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Background Medicinal properties of the food species are one of the poorly documented and important areas of ethnopharmacology. The present survey quantitatively documented the medicinal foods prescribed by the non-institutionally trained siddha practitioners of Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. Methods Field work was carried out between December 2014 and April 2017 using a questionnaire. The illnesses mentioned by the informants were grouped as illness categories on the basis of emic perceptions. Sufficiency of sampling of this survey was assessed by plotting the cumulative number of UR and Shannon-Wiener’s index. The indices such as informant consensus factor (FIC), Index of Agreement on Remedies (IAR), and Cultural Food Significance Index (CFSI) were calculated. Results This study documented 165 medicinal foods used by 82 non-institutionally trained siddha practitioners of Tiruvallur district, and 73.93% of these preparations were plant based. Among the animal taxa, 82.05% were represented by fish taxa. The illness category gastrointestinal ailments is the majorly cited illness category treated with plant-based formulations. The illness categories viz., gastrointestinal ailments, hemorrhoids, and neural ailments had high consensus under the group of plant-based medicinal foods. In animal-based medicinal foods, kapha ailments had gained 23.07% of UR. The illness categories such as bone fractures, male reproductive ailments, blood ailments, and anabolic had high FIC values. Conclusions Deeper studies on different dietary cultures of India may help to derive better interpretations on food-medicine continuum. This study identified some important claims such as the use of citron, pomegranate and Solanum americanum (gastrointestinal ailments), Abutilon indicum, onions and elephant foot yam (hemorrhoids), Boerhavia diffusa (urinary ailments), Moringa oleifera (anemia), Aloe vera (gynecological ailments), Eclipta prostrata (liver ailments), ivy gourd (diabetes), citron (hypertension), Centella asiatica (psychological ailments), spade nose shark (lactogogue), reticulate whipray (wheezing and bronchitis), Katelysia opima (impotence), Indian squid (anemia), and Indian oil sardine (anabolic). More studies on these claims will help identify novel functional foods to add to the field of medical nutrition therapy, with traditional brand identity. Robust studies on the documentation of the traditional knowledge on marine resources will yield a good database for various stakeholders and policy makers