ANTIDIABETIC AND ANTIHYPERLIPIDAEMIC ACTIVITY OF SONERILA TINNEVELLIENSIS FISCHER WHOLE PLANT IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Objective: The ethanol extract of Sonerila tinnevelliensis Fischer whole plant was investigated for its antidiabetic and antihyperlipidaemic effect in Wistar Albino rats. Methods: Diabetes was induced in Albino rats by administration of alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg, i. p). The ethanol extracts of S. tinnevelliensis at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg of body weight were administered at single dose per day to diabetes induced rats for a period of 14 d. The effect of ethanol extract of S. tinnevelliensis whole plant extract on blood glucose, plasma insulin, creatinine, urea, glycosylated haemoglobin, serum lipid profile [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein–cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein–cholesterol (VLDL-C), high density lipoprotein–cholesterol (HDL-C) and phospholipid (PL)] serum protein, albumin, globulin, serum enzymes [serum glutamate pyruvate transaminases (SGPT), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminases (SGOT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)] were measured in the diabetic rats. Results: The ethanol extract of S. tinnevelliensis whole plant elicited significant reductions of blood glucose (p<0.05), lipid parameters except HDL-C, serum enzymes and significantly increased HDL-C. The extracts also caused significant increase in plasma insulin (p<0.05) in the diabetic rats. Conclusion: The ethanol extracts of S. tinnevelliensis whole plant possesses significant antidiabetic and antihyperlipidaemic effects in alloxan induced diabetic rats

Natural occurrence of trichothecene-producing Fusaria isolated from India with particular reference to sorghum

In this study a total of 167 isolates collected from different food materials (68.8% from sorghum and the remaining from various other food materials) were assayed by PCR for amplification of the tri 5 gene present in trichothecene-producing Fusaria. Amplification of the tri 5 fragment was observed in 45 isolates (39 isolates from sorghum and 6 isolates from vegetables). Isolates found positive for presence of the tri 5 gene were classified into different morphological groups based on their cultural and conidial characters; 11 of the tri 5 positive isolates from moldy grains of sorghum, one from each morphology group were selected for further analyses. Five deoxynivalenol producers and three deoxynivalenol and Fusarenon- X producers were detected by analysing culture filtrates of the 11 isolates using GC-MS. One isolate each were identified as producers of NIV alone, or NIV along with DON or DAS toxins. Identification of these isolates to the species level was carried out using spore morphology and sequence comparison of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a) gene against the database as well as using phylogenetic analyses. The isolates were identified as Fusarium proliferatum (6), F. nelsonii (2), F. equiseti (1), F. thapsinum (1) and F. sacchari (1). Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) based grouping clustered the isolates of same species together. This is the first detailed study of trichothecene production by Fusarium spp. associated with sorghum grain mold in India and the identification of F. nelsonii and F. thapsinum as producers of trichothecenes

Multi-instrument multi-scale experimental damage mechanics for fibre reinforced composites

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Reliable investigation of damage in fibre reinforced composites requires concurrent in- and ex-situ application of multiple instruments at different scale: digital image correlation, acoustic emission registration, optical/electron microscopy, C-scan, X-ray imaging and micro-computed tomography. The multi-instrument experimental mechanics allows detailed damage monitoring and inspection

Evaluation of Growth Inhibitory Activities of Extracts of Whole Plant of Emblica officinalis Gaertn. on Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria

The present study focussed on the quantitative estimation of in vitro antibacterial activity of aqueous extracts of fruits, stem, root, leaves and seeds of Emblica officinalis against Gram-positive versus Gram-negative bacteria. The study employed Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively, as the test organisms and the assay was carried out by using agar well diffusion method. S. aureus was more susceptible to the extracts of fruits, stem, leaves and seeds of Emblica. The aqueous extract of leaves maximally inhibited the growth of S. aureus at its minimum concentration (0.1 µg) when compared to E. coli (1.0 µg). MIC for fruit and seed extracts were 1.5 and 3.75 µg and 1.5 and 5.0 µg, respectively, for S. aureus and E. coli.  The aqueous extract of stem had the least activity where more quantities of the extract were required to inhibit the growth of both S. aureus (15.0 µg) and E. coli (20.0 µg). Both the test organisms were resistant to the aqueous extracts of root of Emblica officinalis. It could be attributed from the present study that the inhibitory effect of Emblica officinalis is more against Gram-positive than Gram-negative bacteria. The leaf of Emblica is more inhibitory to the growth of bacteria than fruits, seeds or ste