Bioactive Components of Magical Velvet Beans

The plant Mucuna is an annual climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over fifteen meters in length. About 100–150 Mucuna species are found in the tropic and subtropic regions of both hemispheres of the earth. The genus Mucuna belongs to the family Leguminosae. It is commonly known as Kewanch, velvet bean, cowhage and kappikachhu and is found widely in India as a hardy, herbaceous, vigorous, twining annual plant. The size and dimension of the Mucuna seeds, pods, platelets and leaves change from species to species. The hair present on pods is anthelmintic, which causes itching. People are seeking great attention towards Mucuna due to its several medicinal properties, including L-DOPA (L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) along with supplementary antioxidants that are used for treating Parkinson’s disease and many neurodegenerative diseases. Thus it is being used in about 200 medicinal formulations. The current chapter outlines the work that determines the influence of different nutritional, anti-nutritional and medicinal values and bioactive agents from different parts of the Mucuna species present in India and its importance in medicine

Parkinsonism and Potential of Mucuna Beans

Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease, which is common all over the world. Various aspect like damages of reactive oxygen species, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation-facilitated cell damages are included in the etiology of disease. Good-balanced nutrition is an important part involved in the body health maintenance and reduction in the risk of chronic diseases. Genus Mucuna falls under family Fabaceae, containing high contents of L-DOPA (commonly used as an anti-Parkinson drug). Plant-based medicines are the superfluous source of polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, antioxidants (ROS and RNS), terpenoids, isoflavonoids, and other biologically active phytochemicals. All these molecules have health beneficial effects with superlative pharmaceutical values. The existing chapter summaries to determine the influence of different nutritional, anti-nutritional, and medicinal potential of the Mucuna species present in India and its significance in the management of Parkinson’s disease (Shaking Palsy) as well as other medicinal values. It also covers various treatment models used in studying the Parkinson’s disease like Drosophila melanogaster, zebrafish, mice, rat, and humans. This chapter also focuses light on the neurosurgical treatments used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. This study concluded that the use of Mucuna seeds for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease is the best choice besides chemical drugs and other therapies

Comparative biophysical characterization: A screening tool for acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

Among neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most grievous disease. The oldest cholinergic hypothesis is used to elevate the level of cognitive impairment and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) comprises the major targeted enzyme in AD. Thus, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI) constitutes the essential remedy for the treatment of AD. The study aims to evaluate the interactions between natural molecules and AChE by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). The molecules like alkaloids, polyphenols and substrates of AChE have been considered for the study with a major emphasis on affinity and kinetics. To better understand the activity of small molecules, the investigation is supported by both experimental and theoretical approach such as fluorescence, Circular Dichroism (CD) and molecular docking studies. Amongst the screened ones tannic acid showed promising results compared with others. The methodology followed here have highlighted many molecules with a higher affinity towards AChE and these findings may take lead molecules generated in preclinical studies to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, we suggest a unique signature for the heterogeneous analyte model using competitive experiments for analyzing simultanous interactions of both the analytes

Biotransformation studies of textile dye Remazol Orange 3R

In the present study, biotransformation of Remazol Orange 3R (RO3R) was studied using well-known bacterial isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain BCH. The dye was decolorized up to 98 % within 15 min. The induction in the level of various oxidoreductive enzymes viz. laccase, tyrosinase, veratryl alcohol oxidase and DCIP reductase were observed in the cells obtained after decolorization of RO3R, which supports their role in decolorization. The metabolites of RO3R obtained after biodegradation were identified and characterized by various analytical techniques viz, HPLC, FTIR, and GC–MS. The RO3R was transformed to the N-(7 amino 8 hydroxy-napthalen-2yl) actamide (m/z, 198), Acetamide (m/z, 59) and Napthalen-1-ol (m/z, 144)

Mucuna pruriens Protects against MPTP Intoxicated Neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s Disease through NF-κB/pAKT Signaling Pathways

Till date, drugs that have been used to manage Parkinson’s disease (PD) have only shown symptomatic relief with several adverse effects besides their inability to prevent neurodegeneration. Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the advancement of PD and can be targeted for its effective treatment. Researchers have suggested that herbal plants exhibiting the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties are therefore beneficial to human health. Conventionally, Mucuna pruriens (Mp) seeds are used for maintaining male virility in India. Reportedly, Mp is used as a rejuvenator drug having neuroprotective property. Our study aimed to investigate effects of aqueous extract of Mp (100 mg/kgbwt) on neuroinflammation, orally administered to mice intoxicated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) as well as the molecular mechanism involved in the progression of PD. In this study, we have observed significant behavioral abnormalities beside decreased antioxidant defense in MPTP intoxicated mice. We have also observed significant increase in inflammatory parameters like Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein, Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase, Intercellular Cell Adhesion Molecule, and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) of parkinsonian mice, while Mp treatment has notably reduced these inflammatory parameters. Mp also inhibited the MPTP induced activation of NF-κB and promoted pAkt1 activity which further prevented the apoptosis of the dopaminergic neurons. Moreover, Mp exhibited significant antioxidant defense by inhibiting the lipid peroxidation and nitrite level, and by improving catalase activity and enhancing GSH level in nigrostriatal region of mouse brain. Mp also recovered the behavioral abnormalities in MPTP treated mice. Additionally, Mp treatment considerably increased the immunoreactivity of Tyrosine Hydroxylase and Dopamine Transporter in SNpc of parkinsonian mice. Our high performance liquid chromatography analysis of the Mp seed extract have shown L-DOPA, gallic acid, phytic acid, quercetin, and catechin equivalents as the major components which might cause neuroprotection in PD mice. Our result suggested that Mp extract treatment containing L-DOPA and a mixture of rich novel phytochemicals significantly alleviates the MPTP induced neurotoxicity by NF-κB and pAkt pathway. The findings observed thereby indicate that Mp extract have suggestively ameliorated MPTP induced neuroinflammation, restored the biochemical and behavioral abnormalities in PD mouse and thus provided a scientific basis for its traditional claim