Antibacterial and antioxidant potential of biosynthesized copper nanoparticles mediated through Cissus arnotiana plant extract

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Environment friendly methods for the synthesis of copper nanoparticles have become a valuable trend in the current scenario. The utilization of phytochemicals from plant extracts has become a unique technology for the synthesis of nanoparticles, as they possess dual nature of reducing and capping agents to the nanoparticles. In the present investigation we have synthesized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) using a rare medicinal plant Cissus arnotiana and evaluated their antibacterial activity against gram negative and gram positive bacteria. The morphology and characterization of the synthesized CuNPs were studied and done using UV-Visible spectroscopy at a wavelength range of 350–380 nm. XRD studies were performed for analyzing the crystalline nature; SEM and TEM for evaluating the spherical shape within the size range of 60–90 nm and AFM was performed to check the surface roughness. The biosynthesized CuNPs showed better antibacterial activity against the gram-negative bacteria, E. coli with an inhibition zone of 22.20 ± 0.16 mm at 75 μg/ml. The antioxidant property observed was comparatively equal with the standard antioxidant agent ascorbic acid at a maximum concentration of 40 μg/ ml. This is the first study reported on C. arnotiana mediated biosynthesis of copper nanoparticles, where we believe that the findings can pave way for a new direction in the field of nanotechnology and nanomedicine where there is a significant potential for antibacterial and antioxidant activities. We predict that, these could lead to an exponential increase in the field of biomedical applications, with the utilization of green synthesized CuNPs, due to its remarkable properties. The highest antibacterial property was observed with gram-negative strains mainly, E. coli, due to its thin peptidoglycan layer and electrostatic interactions between the bacterial cell wall and CuNPs surfaces. Hence, CuNPs can be potent therapeutic agents in several biomedical applications, which are yet to be explored in the near future

Emerging trends in the novel drug delivery approaches for the treatment of lung cancer

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Cancer is one of the major diseases that cause a high number of deaths globally. Of the major types of cancers, lung cancer is known to be the most chronic form of cancer in the world. The conventional management of lung cancer includes different medical interventions like chemotherapy, surgical removal, and radiation therapy. However, this type of approach lacks specificity and also harms the adjacent normal cells. Lately, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising intervention in the management and treatment of lung cancers. Nanotechnology has revolutionized the existing modalities and focuses primarily on reducing toxicity and improving the bioavailability of anticancer drugs to the target tumor cells. Nanocarrier systems are being currently used extensively to exploit and to overcome the obstructions induced by cancers in the lungs. The nano-carrier-loaded therapeutic drug delivery methods have shown promising potential in treating lung cancer as its target is to control the growth of tumor cells. In this review, various modes of nano drug delivery options like liposomes, dendrimers, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and metallic nanoparticles have been discussed. Nano-carrier drug delivery systems emerge as a promising approach and thus is expected to provide newer and advanced avenues in cancer therapeutics

Nonequilibrium Dynamics in Noncommutative Spacetime

We study the effects of spacetime noncommutativity on the nonequilibrium dynamics of particles in a thermal bath. We show that the noncommutative thermal bath does not suffer from any further IR/UV mixing problem in the sense that all the finite-temperature non-planar quantities are free from infrared singularities. We also point out that the combined effect of finite temperature and noncommutative geometry has a distinct effect on the nonequilibrium dynamics of particles propagating in a thermal bath: depending on the momentum of the mode of concern, noncommutative geometry may switch on or switch off their decay and thermalization. This momentum dependent alternation of the decay and thermalization rates could have significant impacts on the nonequilibrium phenomena in the early universe at which spacetime noncommutativity may be present. Our results suggest a re-examination of some of the important processes in the early universe such as reheating after inflation, baryogenesis and the freeze-out of superheavy dark matter candidates.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure

Dietary Crocin is Protective in Pancreatic Cancer while Reducing Radiation-Induced Hepatic Oxidative Damage.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the fatal causes of global cancer-related deaths. Although surgery and chemotherapy are standard treatment options, post-treatment outcomes often end in a poor prognosis. In the present study, we investigated anti-pancreatic cancer and amelioration of radiation-induced oxidative damage by crocin. Crocin is a carotenoid isolated from the dietary herb saffron, a prospect for novel leads as an anti-cancer agent. Crocin significantly reduced cell viability of BXPC3 and Capan-2 by triggering caspase signaling via the downregulation of Bcl-2. It modulated the expression of cell cycle signaling proteins P53, P21, P27, CDK2, c-MYC, Cyt-c and P38. Concomitantly, crocin treatment-induced apoptosis by inducing the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol. Microarray analysis of the expression signature of genes induced by crocin showed a substantial number of genes involved in cell signaling pathways and checkpoints (723) are significantly affected by crocin. In mice bearing pancreatic tumors, crocin significantly reduced tumor burden without a change in body weight. Additionally, it showed significant protection against radiation-induced hepatic oxidative damage, reduced the levels of hepatic toxicity and preserved liver morphology. These findings indicate that crocin has a potential role in the treatment, prevention and management of pancreatic cancer

Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications

Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise kernel.In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime: we compute the two-point correlation functions for the linearized Einstein tensor and for the metric perturbations. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a quasi-static black hole.Comment: 75 pages, no figures, submitted to Living Reviews in Relativit

Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications

Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise kernel. In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime, compute the two-point correlation functions of these perturbations and prove that Minkowski spacetime is a stable solution of semiclassical gravity. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a black hole and describe the metric fluctuations near the event horizon of an evaporating black holeComment: 100 pages, no figures; an update of the 2003 review in Living Reviews in Relativity gr-qc/0307032 ; it includes new sections on the Validity of Semiclassical Gravity, the Stability of Minkowski Spacetime, and the Metric Fluctuations of an Evaporating Black Hol

WHO systematic review of maternal morbidity and mortality: the prevalence of severe acute maternal morbidity (near miss)

AIM: To determine the prevalence of severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM) worldwide (near miss). METHOD: Systematic review of all available data. The methodology followed a pre-defined protocol, an extensive search strategy of 10 electronic databases as well as other sources. Articles were evaluated according to specified inclusion criteria. Data were extracted using data extraction instrument which collects additional information on the quality of reporting including definitions and identification of cases. Data were entered into a specially constructed database and tabulated using SAS statistical management and analysis software. RESULTS: A total of 30 studies are included in the systematic review. Designs are mainly cross-sectional and 24 were conducted in hospital settings, mostly teaching hospitals. Fourteen studies report on a defined SAMM condition while the remainder use a response to an event such as admission to intensive care unit as a proxy for SAMM. Criteria for identification of cases vary widely across studies. Prevalences vary between 0.80% – 8.23% in studies that use disease-specific criteria while the range is 0.38% – 1.09% in the group that use organ-system based criteria and included unselected group of women. Rates are within the range of 0.01% and 2.99% in studies using management-based criteria. It is not possible to pool data together to provide summary estimates or comparisons between different settings due to variations in case-identification criteria. Nevertheless, there seems to be an inverse trend in prevalence with development status of a country. CONCLUSION: There is a clear need to set uniform criteria to classify patients as SAMM. This standardisation could be made for similar settings separately. An organ-system dysfunction/failure approach is the most epidemiologically sound as it is least open to bias, and thus could permit developing summary estimates

Effects of Neonatal Neural Progenitor Cell Implantation on Adult Neuroanatomy and Cognition in the Ts65Dn Model of Down Syndrome

As much of the aberrant neural development in Down syndrome (DS) occurs postnatally, an early opportunity exists to intervene and influence life-long cognitive development. Recent success using neural progenitor cells (NPC) in models of adult neurodegeneration indicate such therapy may be a viable option in diseases such as DS. Murine NPC (mNPC, C17.2 cell line) or saline were implanted bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus of postnatal day 2 (PND 2) Ts65Dn pups to explore the feasibility of early postnatal treatment in this mouse model of DS. Disomic littermates provided karyotype controls for trisomic pups. Pups were monitored for developmental milestone achievement, and then underwent adult behavior testing at 14 weeks of age. We found that implanted mNPC survived into adulthood and migrated beyond the implant site in both karyotypes. The implantation of mNPC resulted in a significant increase in the density of dentate granule cells. However, mNPC implantation did not elicit cognitive changes in trisomic mice either neonatally or in adulthood. To the best of our knowledge, these results constitute the first assessment of mNPC as an early intervention on cognitive ability in a DS model

Inhibition of Interferon Induction and Action by the Nairovirus Nairobi Sheep Disease Virus/Ganjam Virus

The Nairoviruses are an important group of tick-borne viruses that includes pathogens of man (Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus) and livestock animals (Dugbe virus, Nairobi sheep disease virus (NSDV)). NSDV is found in large parts of East Africa and the Indian subcontinent (where it is known as Ganjam virus). We have investigated the ability of NSDV to antagonise the induction and actions of interferon. Both pathogenic and apathogenic isolates could actively inhibit the induction of type 1 interferon, and also blocked the signalling pathways of both type 1 and type 2 interferons. Using transient expression of viral proteins or sections of viral proteins, these activities all mapped to the ovarian tumour-like protease domain (OTU) found in the viral RNA polymerase. Virus infection, or expression of this OTU domain in transfected cells, led to a great reduction in the incorporation of ubiquitin or ISG15 protein into host cell proteins. Point mutations in the OTU that inhibited the protease activity also prevented it from antagonising interferon induction and action. Interestingly, a mutation at a peripheral site, which had little apparent effect on the ability of the OTU to inhibit ubiquitination and ISG15ylation, removed the ability of the OTU to block the induction of type 1 and the action of type 2 interferons, but had a lesser effect on the ability to block type 1 interferon action, suggesting that targets other than ubiquitin and ISG15 may be involved in the actions of the viral OTU

In vivo efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine against uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Central Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>In vivo </it>efficacy assessments of the first-line treatments for <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>malaria are essential for ensuring effective case management. In Ethiopia, artemether-lumefantrine (AL) has been the first-line treatment for uncomplicated <it>P. falciparum </it>malaria since 2004.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between October and November 2009, we conducted a 42-day, single arm, open label study of AL for <it>P. falciparum </it>in individuals >6 months of age at two sites in Oromia State, Ethiopia. Eligible patients who had documented <it>P. falciparum </it>mono-infection were enrolled and followed according to the standard 2009 World Health Organization <it>in vivo </it>drug efficacy monitoring protocol. The primary and secondary endpoints were PCR uncorrected and corrected cure rates, as measured by adequate clinical and parasitological response on days 28 and 42, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 4426 patients tested, 120 with confirmed falciparum malaria were enrolled and treated with AL. Follow-up was completed for 112 patients at day 28 and 104 patients at day 42. There was one late parasitological failure, which was classified as undetermined after genotyping. Uncorrected cure rates at both day 28 and 42 for the per protocol analysis were 99.1% (95% CI 95.1-100.0); corrected cure rates at both day 28 and 42 were 100.0%. Uncorrected cure rates at day 28 and 42 for the intention to treat analysis were 93.3% (95% CI 87.2-97.1) and 86.6% (95% CI 79.1-92.1), respectively, while the corrected cure rates at day 28 and 42 were 94.1% (95% CI 88.2-97.6) and 87.3% (95% CI 79.9-92.7), respectively. Using survival analysis, the unadjusted cure rate was 99.1% and 100.0% adjusted by genotyping for day 28 and 42, respectively. Eight <it>P. falciparum </it>patients (6.7%) presented with <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>infection during follow-up and were excluded from the per protocol analysis. Only one patient had persistent parasitaemia at day 3. No serious adverse events were reported, with cough and nausea/vomiting being the most common adverse events.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>AL remains a highly effective and well-tolerated treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria in the study setting after several years of universal access to AL. A high rate of parasitaemia with <it>P. vivax </it>possibly from relapse or new infection was observed.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01052584">NCT01052584</a></p