Studies on the antidiarrhoeal activity of Aegle marmelos unripe fruit: Validating its traditional usage

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Aegle marmelos </it>(L.) Correa has been widely used in indigenous systems of Indian medicine due to its various medicinal properties. However, despite its traditional usage as an anti-diarrhoeal there is limited information regarding its mode of action in infectious forms of diarrhoea. Hence, we evaluated the hot aqueous extract (decoction) of dried unripe fruit pulp of <it>A. marmelos </it>for its antimicrobial activity and effect on various aspects of pathogenicity of infectious diarrhoea.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The decoction was assessed for its antibacterial, antigiardial and antirotaviral activities. The effect of the decoction on adherence of enteropathogenic <it>Escherichia coli </it>and invasion of enteroinvasive <it>E. coli </it>and <it>Shigella flexneri </it>to HEp-2 cells were assessed as a measure of its effect on colonization. The effect of the decoction on production of <it>E. coli </it>heat labile toxin (LT) and cholera toxin (CT) and their binding to ganglioside monosialic acid receptor (GM1) were assessed by GM1-enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay whereas its effect on production and action of <it>E. coli </it>heat stable toxin (ST) was assessed by suckling mouse assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The decoction showed cidal activity against <it>Giardia </it>and rotavirus whereas viability of none of the six bacterial strains tested was affected. It significantly reduced bacterial adherence to and invasion of HEp-2 cells. The extract also affected production of CT and binding of both LT and CT to GM1. However, it had no effect on ST.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The decoction of the unripe fruit pulp of <it>A. marmelos</it>, despite having limited antimicrobial activity, affected the bacterial colonization to gut epithelium and production and action of certain enterotoxins. These observations suggest the varied possible modes of action of <it>A. marmelos </it>in infectious forms of diarrhoea thereby validating its mention in the ancient Indian texts and continued use by local communities for the treatment of diarrhoeal diseases.</p

Apoptosis-inducing activity of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed oil in lung, colorectal and cervix cancer cells

WOS: 000516463300002Carthamus tinctorius L. (Safflower) has been often preferred because of rich fatty acid, flavonoid, alkaloid, and polysaccharide contents in its different parts in medicine and industrial area. Although its antioxidant, antienflamatuar, and antitumor properties have been proven in many studies, the mechanism underlying the anticancer activity is still more unclear. This study was first conducted to elucidate the apoptotic gene expression changes in human colorectal (CaCo-2), lung (A549), and cervix cancer (HeLa) cells after exposure to safflower seed oil (SFO). Cytotoxic activity of cancer cells was evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl2H-tetrazoliumbromide) assay and then, total RNA derived from cell lines to analyze the gene expression profile on Real-Time Ready Human Apoptosis Panel 96 was used. MTT results showed that SFO greatly inhibited A549, CaCo-2 and HeLa cell proliferation, with a value of IC50 of 1.26, 3.92 and 13.12 mu g/ml, respectively. According to the cDNA microarray analysis, 56 genes were interpreted in connection with extrinsic, intrinsic, PI3K/AKT, JAK/STAT, and NF kappa B pathways. SFO treatments triggered apoptosis through the caspase-dependently pathway along with upregulated the expressions of many pro-apoptotic genes in the extrinsic and intrinsic pathway in HeLa cells. However, in A549 and CaCo-2 cells, SFO treatments were inhibited cell survival mechanism through frequently caspase-independent genes following downregulated the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. It is noteworthy that although cancer cells have different sensitivity, SFO induced apoptosis through different pathways. Taken together, SFO, as a natural resource, has the potential to be used as a promising agent against cancer, especially in gene therapy level.Ege University BAP projectEge University [2013/FEN/051]The study is supported by Ege University BAP project (2013/FEN/051)