Determination of Antioxidant and Anti quorum Sensing Activity of Aegle marmelos Picrorrhiza kurroa and Swertia chirayita

From the ancient period, humans have been fighting pathogenic microorganisms for survivalpurposes and in this context, man has developed antibiotics as a powerful weapon to treat various infections caused by pathogens. Nevertheless, the need to discover new antimicrobial agents is increasing at an alarming rate. This is because the microorganisms have developed various mechanisms to resist the action of antibiotics. One such mechanism is the production of biofilm. Infections caused by biofilm-forming pathogenic microorganisms are very difficult to treat, even using potent antibiotics. However, in folk medicine, many plants are found to be helpful to treat certain infectious diseases. This is because of the synthesis of a variety of bioactive compounds by plants with high medicinal value. Hence, in the present study, three different plants were used viz Aegle marmelos, Picrorrhiza kurroa, and Swertia chirayita to determine their antioxidant and anti-quorum sensing activities. According to the literature, antioxidants delay the oxidation process and nullify the effect of free radicals that cause damage and accelerate aging. Quorum sensing is the chemical way of communication between biofilm-forming microorganisms. Among the alcoholic extracts, the methanolic extract of P. kurroa showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity of 82.11%. All the plant extracts under investigation exhibited anti-quorum sensing activity against the standard culture of Chromobacterium violaceum MTCC 2656; however, the plant extracts of A. marmelos were found to be more potent as compared to P. kurroa and S. chirayita. Plant extracts P. kurroa and S. chirayita showed almost similar anti-quorum sensing activity. This confirms the pharmaceutical importance of plant materials of interest, which might prove to be useful to treat damage caused by free radicals and biofilm-related infections, after due consideration of clinical trials for safety issues

PRELIMINARY ANTIMICROBIAL STUDY OF KANTAKARI (SOLANUM XANTHOCARPUM SCHRAD & WENDL) BY DITCH PLATE TECHNIQUE

Lower Urinary tract Infection (Lower UTI) is the second most common infection in human population. Escherichia coli is one of the microbial strain responsible for lower UTI in most of the cases. Standard antibiotics can control the infection but there is recurrence of episodes in many cases. Constant research is carried out in this field to discover new antimicrobial agents. It is difficult for the microorganisms to acquire resistance to herbs and the polycompounds in them. They may make potential and promising antimicrobial agents references from classical text of Ayurveda suggest Kantakari (Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad & Wendl) to be effective in urinary disorders. The antimicrobial activity of Kantakari was studied invitro in its traditional forms that is Swaras (juice), Kalka (paste) and Chuna (powder) against the strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeuriginosa, and Candida albicans. The study was carried out by using ditch plate technique and zones of inhibition were measured and statistically analyzed. It was observed that juice form and paste were more effective than powder form. Escherichia coli strain was found to be sensitive to the juice, paste and powder samples of Kantakari. Klebsiella pneumoniae showed intermediate resistance as compared to other organisms. In conclusion of this study it was found that Kantakari has good antimicrobial potential and must be studied further

Molecular and structural analysis of metachromatic leukodystrophy patients in Indian population

Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in arylsulfatase A ( ARSA) gene. No work on molecular genetics of MLD has been reported from India and the mutational spectrum in Indian patients is not known. The present study was undertaken to identify mutations in arylsulfatase A gene in Indian MLD patients, to evaluate genotype–phenotype correlation, and to see the effect of the novel mutants on the protein. Twenty MLD patients (16 families) were screened by ARMS PCR for the most common mutation (c.459+1G>A). Pseudodeficiency alleles were tested by RFLP method whereas rare and novel mutations were scanned by Conformation Sensitive Gel Electrophoresis (CSGE), followed by sequencing. The genotype–phenotype correlation was also attempted. Protein homology modeling analysis was carried out for two novel missense mutations identified, to assess the effect of these mutations on the protein conformation. Nine pathogenic alleles were found in 13 patients (65%). Four previously reported mutations and five novel variants were identified. Five patients (35%) were found to have pseudodeficiency alleles, c.1049A>G (p.Asn350Ser) and c.1524+95A>G. Genotype–phenotype correlation was found to be difficult to establish. Protein modeling studies showed that the mutations cause loss of interactions leading to conformational change in ASA protein. The study identified the mutational spectrum of Indian MLD patients, which will be helpful in genetic counseling, carrier detection and establishing prenatal diagnosis. Homology modeling helped to study conformational change in protein and has implications in generating novel therapeutic molecules