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

Identification and Structural Characterization of a New Three-Finger Toxin Hemachatoxin from Hemachatus haemachatus Venom

10.1371/journal.pone.0048112PLoS ONE710

Conjunctival impression Cytology; An Aid in the Diagnosis of Dry Eye Syndromes

Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial disease of tears and ocular surface resulting in ocular discomfort, visual disturbances and damage to the ocular surface with tear film instability. Diagnosis is based on symptom based assessment, clinical examination and tests like Schirmer’s, tear film break up time and Rose bengal staining of ocular surface. Conjunctival impression cytology (CIC) is a non-invasive, easy to perform test which can be used with other tests to diagnose dry eye. The present study aimed at evaluating the usefulness of impression cytology in the diagnosis of dry eye syndromes and to correlate the results of impression cytology with their aetiology. Materials and Methods: 150 eyes which met the inclusion criteria were subjected to clinical examination and diagnostic tests after obtaining informed consent. CIC samples were obtained from temporal bulbar conjunctiva and stained with periodic acid Schiff, Hematoxylin and eosin. The epithelial cell morphology was graded according to Nelson. Results: The eyes showed normal, grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3 scores of CIC in 26 (17.33%), 41 (27.33%), 55 (36.67%) and 28(18.67%) respectively. Abnormal CIC increased with declining schirmer’s, tear break up time values less than 10 seconds and increasing Rose Bengal staining. Thyroid ophthalmopathy and keratoconjunctivitis sicca were associated with severe while xerophthalmia was associated with mild cytological changes. Conclusion: Diagnostic tests when used in combination are more effective than when used alone in dry eye. CIC, a noninvasive and simple test can be used with other tests for the diagnosis and monitoring treatment of dry eye