Resveratrol in Management of Diabetes and Obesity: Clinical Applications, Bioavailability, and Nanotherapy

Diabetes is the most common serious metabolic disorder and one of the five leading causes of death worldwide. It is characterized by persistent hyperglycemia coincident with the induction of oxidative stress and alterations in glucose and lipid metabolism–regulating enzymes. Resveratrol has immerged as one of the leading natural ingredients to combat diabetic and its complications. Despite an abundance of laboratory and animal research, there is little clinical evidence to establish resveratrol effectiveness as a therapeutic against diabetes. Further, the poor bioavailability and stability of resveratrol in humans have been a major concern for translating basic science findings into clinical utility. In this review, we embark on large, well-controlled clinical studies to confirm the efficacy of resveratrol in the management of diabetes mellitus and gain a better insight into its biological effects in humans. Further possible methods of increasing the stability and bioavailability for such trials are also discussed

Expression, Purification and Functional Antibacterial Characterization of Novel Antimicrobial Peptide Gene Pediocin against Salmonella typhii

Salmonella is known to be the major cause for the serious food infections prevailing round the world. Growing resistance to most of the antibiotics also makes the strain more problematic and threat. Food industry is experiencing a fatal loss both in terms of economy and the lives of cattle

Role of serum LDH in preeclampsia as a prognostic factor – a cross sectional case control study in tertiary care hospital

Background: LDH is an intracellular cytoplasmic enzyme. It is ubiquitous to all the major organ systems. Cellular enzymes in extracellular space have no metabolic function, although they serve as indicators of disturbances in cellular integrity. Serum LDH is abnormal in many disorders, therefore total serum LDH is highly sensitive but nonspecific test. In preeclampsia also LDH may be elevated and can indicate the prognosis for both mother and fetus. We conducted this study to examine the relationship between lactate dehydrogenase concentration and the severity of the disease and the occurrence of its complications.Methods: 200 pre-eclamptic women (121 with mild and 79 with severe pre-eclampsia) and 200 healthy normotensive controls were studied prospectively at Government Kilpauk medical college and hospital between January and December 2015. Demographic, hemodynamic, and laboratory data were compared among the three groups. The symptoms and complications of severe pre-eclampsia along with fetal outcome were analyzed according to the levels of LDH.Results: Severely pre-eclamptic patients were significantly younger, with low gravidity and parity. On the other hand, they had significantly increased systolic and diastolic pressure and liver enzymes, uric acid, urine albumin, and LDH levels. The symptoms and complications of pre-eclampsia along with perinatal mortality were increased significantly in patients with LDH >800 IU/l compared with those who had lower levels.Conclusions:  Lactate dehydrogenase is a useful biochemical marker that reflects the severity of pre-eclampsia. In our study, LDH has been evaluated as a biochemical marker for preeclampsia and as a prognosticator of the disease severity. Detection of high-risk patients with increased levels of LDH mandate close monitoring and management to prevent maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality

OPTIMIZATION OF SPEED PARAMETERS IN BURNISHING OF SAMPLES FABRICATED BY FUSED DEPOSITION MODELING

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is one of the best Rapid Prototyping Processes proved to be. Many researchers have produced a lot of work using the FDM process and many papers were published. Many researchers have concentrated on optimizing the parameters to obtain higher surface finish. Burnishing is one of the processes used to get higher surface finish on light metals. The present paper deals with the application of burnishing process on the samples fabricated with FDM. The burnishing process is applied on the samples at different speeds and the surface finish results are recorded in the present experimentation

G-Code Controlled 2D Robotic Plotter

2D Robotic Plotter is implemented based on the principle of Computer Numeric Control (CNC). Normally,Computer Aided Design software (CAD) can be used as the replacement for manual drafting with an automated process. A 2D Robotic Plotter basically works with two stepped motors and a Servo motor with the control of ATMEGA168p Microcontroller. In our proposed methodology an ARDUINO IDE platform controls the Motor Driver Shield (L293D) for the movement of the pen in the x and y direction to the rotation in stepper motors. The servo motor is used for raising and lowering the pen in vertical directions. Ink-scape and G-Code is used for converting the drawing into control signals used by Microcontroller. In Ink-scape (0.48.5)is an open source software that binds the program along with the diagram for the efficient plotting. Also G-code is a numeric control programming language which is used mainly in computer aided manufacturing to control automated machine tools. The2D robotic plotter is a low cost embedded equivalent CNC controller and can be widely used in areas where the accuracy is considered

Virulence of Phytophthora isolates from Piper nigrum L. and their sensitivity to metalaxyl-mancozeb

Foot rot disease caused by Phytophthora capsici in black pepper is the most destructive disease. A total of 82 isolates from the National Repository of Phytophthora at ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research were evaluated for their sensitivity to metalaxylmancozeb and also tested for their virulence. Of the 82 isolates studied, 19 (23.2%) were highly sensitive to metalaxyl-mancozeb and six (7.3%) were comparatively insensitive (EC90 value >40 ppm; range 41.3 to 68.5 ppm). The isolates also varied in the degree of virulence, viz., 34 (41.5%) were highly virulent, 39 (47.6%) moderately virulent, 4 (3.7%) mildly virulent, and 5 (6.1%) non-virulent. There was neither any significant correlation between sensitivity to metalaxyl-mancozeb and virulence nor with the geographical location.Â

IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTICANCER POTENTIAL OF ERYTHRINA VARIEGATA L. ON BREAST CANCER CELL LINES

Objective: Species of Erythrina variegata L. is reported to be used in the treatment of cancer in traditional/folklore medicine which could be explored for their anticancer potential. We aimed to evaluate the anticancer activity of crude extracts of the leaves of E. variegata with two solvents; explore the mechanism of cytotoxicity with the effective extract and correlation with the phytochemicals in the extract.Methods: The extracts with Erythrina variegata L methanol (EVM) and chloroform (EVC) as solvents were screened for cytotoxicity by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium assay on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines. The effective extract was further evaluated on MDA-MB-231 cells by nucleoprotein content estimation, and cell morphology was studied. High resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HRLCMS) of EVM was done to find the phytochemical composition.Results: Among the two extracts, EVM was effective at an inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 92 μg/ml and 143 μg/ml on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, respectively. At the IC50 value (143 μg/ml) the nucleoprotein content of the cells was 58.2%, and the apoptotic index was calculated to be 51.8%. EVM treated group showed significant morphological changes suggestive of apoptosis. HRLCMS revealed the presence of rutin, podocarpatriene, and cepharanthine which are known to be cytotoxic.Conclusion: This report is a contribution toward the validation of E. variegata as a potential source of anticancer agents

IMMUNOMODULATORY ACTIVITIES OF SOME COMMON LICHEN METABOLITES

Objective: To evaluate the immunomodulatory activities of some of the common lichen compounds by using chemiluminescence based cellular assays.Methods: Number of secondary lichen metabolites, representing a breadth of lichen substances, were investigated for their effects on the respiratory burst of human whole blood phagocytes, isolated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and murine macrophages using luminol or lucigenin-based chemiluminescence probes. Results: This study identify a clear suppressive effect of some lichen metabolites on phagocytosis response upon activation with serum opsonized zymosan by several lichen substances. Amongst the compounds tested, orsellinic acid, methyl orsellinate, methyl haematomate, lecanoric acid and lobaric acid, showed a potent immunomodulatory activity as compared to the standards. The lobaric acid suppressed both the myloperoxidase dependent and myloperoxidase independent, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production in the oxidative burst of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) at the lowest concentration tested (3.1 µg/ml). Whereas, lecanoric acid, suppressed only the myloperoxidase dependent ROS production with IC50< 3.1µg/ml when compared to the standard sodium diethyldithiocarbamate trihydrate (SDT) (IC50 = 1.3 ± 0.2 µg/ml). Orsellinic acid, methyl orsellinate and methyl haematomate showed a selective myloperoxidase independent pathway with IC50 values; < 3.1µg/ml; 6.1 ± 1.0 µg/ml;  3.3 ± 0.1 µg/ml, respectively, being lower as compared to standard SDT (IC50 = 8.2 ± 1.9 µg/ml). Conclusion: Based on the results obtained it is appropriate to conclude that lichen are not only a good source of antioxidants, but also potent immunomodulators, and thus deserve to be investigated further.Â

Potential of Lichen Compounds as Antidiabetic Agents with Antioxidative Properties: A Review

The advancement in the knowledge of potent antioxidants has uncovered the way for greater insight in the treatment of diabetic complications. Lichens are a rich resource of novel bioactive compounds and their antioxidant potential is well documented. Herein we review the antidiabetic potential of lichens which have received considerable attention, in the recent past. We have correlated the antidiabetic and the antioxidant potential of lichen compounds. The study shows a good accordance between antioxidant and antidiabetic activity of lichens and points out the need to look into gathering the scarce and scattered data on biological activities for effective utilization. The review establishes that the lichen extracts, especially of Parmotrema sp. and Ramalina sp. have shown promising potential in both antidiabetic and antioxidant assays. Ubiquitous compounds, namely, zeorin, methylorsellinate, methyl-β-orcinol carboxylate, methyl haematommate, lecanoric acid, salazinic acid, sekikaic acid, usnic acid, gyrophoric acid, and lobaric acid have shown promising potential in both antidiabetic as well as antioxidant assays highlighting their potential for effective treatment of diabetic mellitus and its associated complications. The available compilation of this data provides the future perspectives and highlight the need for further studies of this potent herbal source to harvest more beneficial therapeutic antidiabetic drugs