Preliminary Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Potentials of Different Extracts of Aegiceras corniculatam L. and Ceriops tagal Pers

The chloroform extract of A. corniculatam showed maximum zone of inhibition of 13 mm against S. dysenteriae and S. cervaceae. Furthermore, the aqueous extract of A. corniculatam showed maximum antibacterial activity with 10 mm zone of inhibition against P. aeruginosa & S. dysenteriae. However, n-hexane, chloroform and aqueous leaf extracts of C. tagal did not exhibit promising antimicrobial activity. Phytochemical screening of both plant extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, tannins and resin. The chloroform and aqueous extract of A. corniculatam proved the presence of reducing sugar, cardiac glycoside, anthraquinone glycoside and saponin. Most extracts of C. tagal contained reducing sugar, saponins and alkaloids. The results of this study support the use of mangrove plants as a source of antibiotic substance against human pathogenic organisms.The study was aimed to analyze the phytochemicals and antimicrobial potentials of different fractions of Aegiceras corniculatam and Ceriops tagal, two mangrove plants of Bangladesh. Leaves of A. corniculatam and C. tagal were extracted using methanol by cold extraction method followed by partitioning with n-hexane, chloroform and the remaining part was considered as aqueous fraction. All fractions were screened for phytochemicals and subjected to Disc diffusion method to investigate antimicrobial activity against fourteen microorganisms including gram (+ve) (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Sarcina lutea), gram (-ve) (Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio mimicus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shigella boydii, Pseudomonus aeruginosa) and fungi (Saccharomyces cerevaceae, Candida albicans, Asperagillus niger).The chloroform and aqueous extract of A. corniculatam exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity against all studied pathogenic microorganisms where n-hexane extract did not show any inhibitory activity.

Bangladesh’s Story of Change in Nutrition: Strong Improvements in Basic and Underlying Determinants with an Unfinished Agenda for Direct Community Level Support

Bangladesh has made considerable progress in reducing child stunting and is lauded as a success story in global nutrition fora. This mixed-methods study considers available statistical and qualitative evidence to help reveal the critical factors behind Bangladesh's ‘story of change’ in nutrition. Much of the improvement in nutrition in Bangladesh in recent years is explained by what can be seen as nutrition-sensitive drivers within a wider enabling environment of pro-poor economic growth. Key amongst these factors have been improving incomes; smaller family sizes and greater gaps between births; parental - and particularly women's - education and wider health access. Research and interviews with key stakeholders and work at a community level has helped shed light on the policy and programmatic choices which lie behind these wider determinants. Community based nutrition programmes have not yet been operating at scale as in other countries and the current governance arrangements for nutrition delivery are weak. But as Bangladesh faces growing new nutritional problems and still suffers from a relatively high burden of child stunting, such ‘nutrition-specific’ programmes will have to play a greater role than in the past, as the further gains from some of these wider drivers may be limited and are likely to have plateaued

Prevalence and socio-economic determinants of inadequate dietary diversity among adolescent girls and boys in Bangladesh: findings from a nationwide cross-sectional survey.

Malnutrition among adolescents is often associated with inadequate dietary diversity (DD). We aimed to explore the prevalence of inadequate DD and its socio-economic determinants among adolescent girls and boys in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the 2018-19 round of national nutrition surveillance in Bangladesh. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify the determinants of inadequate DD among adolescent girls and boys separately. This population-based survey covered eighty-two rural, non-slum urban and slum clusters from all divisions of Bangladesh. A total of 4865 adolescent girls and 4907 adolescent boys were interviewed. The overall prevalence of inadequate DD was higher among girls (55⋅4 %) than the boys (50⋅6 %). Moreover, compared to boys, the prevalence of inadequate DD was higher among the girls for almost all socio-economic categories. Poor educational attainment, poor maternal education, female-headed household, household food insecurity and poor household wealth were associated with increased chances of having inadequate DD in both sexes. In conclusion, more than half of the Bangladeshi adolescent girls and boys consumed an inadequately diversified diet. The socio-economic determinants of inadequate DD should be addressed through context-specific multisectoral interventions

Substantial and sustained reduction in under-5 mortality, diarrhea, and pneumonia in Oshikhandass, Pakistan : Evidence from two longitudinal cohort studies 15 years apart

Funding Information: Study 1 was funded through the Applied Diarrheal Disease Research Program at Harvard Institute for International Development with a grant from USAID (Project 936–5952, Cooperative Agreement # DPE-5952-A-00-5073-00), and the Aga Khan Health Service, Northern Areas and Chitral, Pakistan. Study 2 was funded by the Pakistan US S&T Cooperative Agreement between the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC) (No.4–421/PAK-US/HEC/2010/955, grant to the Karakoram International University) and US National Academies of Science (Grant Number PGA-P211012 from NAS to the Fogarty International Center). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effect of Ardhabilva Kvatha Curna, an ayurvedic formulation, on liver and kidney function parameters of rat plasma after chronic administration

Ardhabilva Kvatha Curna (ADR), a widely used Ayurvedic formulation of Bangladesh, is the preparation of five important medicinal plants. In the present study, the liver and kidney function parameters of rats' plasma were studied after chronic administration of ADR usually used in the treatment of Malabandha (obstructed feces). The animal used was albino rats (Rattus novergicus: Sprague-Dawley strains) and the drug was administered per oral route at a dose of 40 ml/kg body weight, once daily, up to 41 days for all the experiments. Forty rats, equally of both sexes, were randomly grouped into four where one male and one female group were used as control and other groups were used as test. In both of the male and female rats, there was a statistically very high significant increase in Bilirubin and Creatinine (p=0.001***). Except ALP and total protein, the other parameters that demonstrates liver function also increased significantly in both male and female rats as sGOT (male, p=0.283, female, p=0.029*), sGPT (male, p=0.028*, female, p=0.008**). A decreased concentration of both ALP and total protein was observed in both male and female rats and it was not statistically significant. The increase in albumin content was statistically very high significant in both sexes of the animal (p=0.001***). A decreasing trend of both Urea and Uric acid content was noticed in male and female rats and incase of female rats, it was statistically significant (p=0.038* and p=0.048* respectively)

Two rare flavonoid glycosides from Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C. B. Rob.: experimental and computational approaches endorse antidiabetic potentiality

Abstract Background Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C. B. Rob. belongs to the Litsea genus and is categorized under the family of Lauraceae. The study aimed to investigate the phytoconstituents and pharmacological properties of methanol extract of leaves of Litsea glutinosa, focusing on antidiabetic activity via in vivo and in silico techniques. Methods Extensive chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques were applied to isolate and characterize the constituents from the L. glutinosa plant species. The antidiabetic activity was studied in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mice, and the computational study of the isolated compounds was carried out by utilizing AutoDock Vina programs. In addition, the pharmacokinetic properties in terms of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) and toxicological profiles of the isolated compounds were examined via in silico techniques. Results In the present study, two flavonoid glycosides 4΄-O-methyl (2 ̋,4 ̋-di-E-p-coumaroyl) afzelin (1) and quercetin 3-O-(2 ̋,4 ̋-di-E-p-coumaroyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (2) were isolated from the leaves of L. glutinosa and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, and mass spectral data. Although compounds 1 and 2 have been reported twice from Machilis litseifolia and Lindera akoensis, and Machilis litseifolia and Mammea longifolia, respectively, this is the first report of this isolation from a Litsea species. Administering the methanolic extract of L. glutinosa at doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg/day to mice with diabetes induced by streptozotocin led to a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose levels (p < 0.05) starting from the 7th day of treatment. Besides, the computational study and PASS analysis endorsed the current in vivo findings that the both isolated compounds exerted higher binding affinities to human pancreatic α-amylase and aldose reductase than the conventional drugs. The in silico ADMET analysis revealed that the both isolated compounds have a favorable pharmacokinetic and safety profile suitable for human consumption. Conclusion According to the current outcomes obtained from in vivo and in silico techniques, the leaf extract of L. glutinosa could be a natural remedy for treating diabetes, and the isolated phytoconstituents could be applied against various illnesses, mainly hyperglycemia. However, more investigations are required for extensive phytochemical isolation and pharmacological activities of these phytoconstituents against broader targets with exact mechanisms of action

Studies of lipid profile, liver function and kidney function parameters of rat plasma after chronic administration of "Sulavajrini Vatika"

The successful use of Ayurvedic medicines is for many years but there is no guideline for studying the toxicity of these preparations through preclinical or clinical investigations. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of conventionally prepared Sulavajrini Vatika (SBB), an Ayurvedic formulation on various biochemical parameters of experimental animals after chronic administration. The animal used was albino rats (Rattus norvegicus: Sprague-Dawley strain) and SBB was administered orally at a single dose of 100 mg kg b.wt. day, up to 62 days. During the study, forty rats, equally of both sexes, were randomly grouped into four where one male and one female group were used as control and other groups were used as test. Among the lipid components, Triglyceride (TG) was decreased very high significantly in both sexes of animal. The decrease of Total Cholesterol (TC), Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were also highly significant. Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) decreased in all SBB treated group. In the liver function parameters, the total protein and albumin content were increased very high significantly in both sexes of rat. But the bilirubin was decreased insignificantly in male and female rats. Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (GPT), Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (GOT) and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) were decreased in all treated animals and it was very high significant. In case of kidney function parameters, creatinine was increased very high significantly but the urea was decreased very high significantly in both sexes of rat. The decrease in uric acid was not significant in none of the sexes of rat. The present study confirms that SBB can be contributory for the complications in diabetics with hyperlipidemia and nephropathy as it lowers most of the lipids components and improves liver function and kidney function parameters

Molecular Insight into the Therapeutic Promise of Targeting APOE4 for Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes chronic cognitive dysfunction. Most of the AD cases are late onset, and the apolipoprotein E (APOE) isoform is a key genetic risk factor. The APOE gene has 3 key alleles in humans including APOE2, APOE3, and APOE4. Among them, APOE4 is the most potent genetic risk factor for late-onset AD (LOAD), while APOE2 has a defensive effect. Research data suggest that APOE4 leads to the pathogenesis of AD through various processes such as accelerated beta-amyloid aggregations that raised neurofibrillary tangle formation, cerebrovascular diseases, aggravated neuroinflammation, and synaptic loss. However, the precise mode of actions regarding in what way APOE4 leads to AD pathology remains unclear. Since APOE contributes to several pathological pathways of AD, targeting APOE4 might serve as a promising strategy for the development of novel drugs to combat AD. In this review, we focus on the recent studies about APOE4-targeted therapeutic strategies that have been advanced in animal models and are being prepared for use in humans for the management of AD

COVID-19 Outbreak: Pathogenesis, Current Therapies, and Potentials for Future Management

International audienceAt the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus (CoV) was found at the seafood market of Hubei province in Wuhan, China, and this virus was officially named coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) by World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 is mainly characterized by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2) and creates public health concerns as well as significant threats to the economy around the world. Unfortunately, the pathogenesis of COVID-19 is unclear and there is no effective treatment of this newly life-threatening and devastating virus. Therefore, it is crucial to search for alternative methods that alleviate or inhibit the spread of COVID-19. In this review, we try to find out the etiology, epidemiology, symptoms as well as transmissions of this novel virus. We also summarize therapeutic interventions and suggest antiviral treatments, immune-enhancing candidates, general supplements, and CoV specific treatments that control replication and reproduction of SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)