Antimicrobial and antioxidant potentials of essential oil and acetone extract of Myristica fragrans Houtt. (aril part)

The antifungal, antibacterial, and antioxidant potentials of essential oil and acetone extract were carried out by different techniques. In poison food medium method, the essential oil showed complete zones of inhibition against Fusarium graminearum at the all tested doses. For other tested fungi and bacteria, they gave good to moderate zone inhibition. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring peroxide, thiobarbituric acid and total carbonyl values of rapeseed oil at fixed time intervals. Both the extract and essential oil showed strong antioxidant activity in comparison with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). In addition, their inhibitory action in linoleic acid system was studied by monitoring peroxide concentration in emulsion during incubation. The results were well correlated with above values. Their radical scavenging capacity was carried out on 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydracyl (DPPH) radicalm, and they showed strong scavenging activity in comparison with synthetic antioxidants. Their reducing power was also determined, which also proved strong antioxidant capacity of essential oil and extract. Gas chromatographic-mass spectroscopy studies on essential oil resulted in the identification of 49 components representing 96.49% of the total amount, and the major component was sabinene (20.22%), followed by terpinen-4-ol (12.08%), safrole (10.32%), α-pinene (9.7%), β-phellandrene (6.56%), and γ-terpinene (5.93%). The acetone extract showed the presence of 23 components representing 71.66% of the total amount. The major components were isocroweacin (18.92%), elemicin (17.68%), methoxyeugenol (8.13%), linoleic acid (4.12%), dehydrodiisoeugenol (4.06%), palmitic acid (2.8%), and trans-isoeugenol (2.76%). © 2005 Institute of Food Technologists.Fil: Singh, Gurdip. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University India; IndiaFil: Marimuthu, P.. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University India; IndiaFil: De Heluani, Carola S.. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Catalan, Cesar Atilio Nazareno. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Química del Noroeste. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Química del Noroeste; Argentin

Synthesis and Characterization of Cube-Shaped Cu2O Nanoparticles for Heat Transfer Enhancement Application

This project studies on the synthesis of cube-shaped cuprous oxide nanoparticles and evaluation of thermophysical properties of the nanofluid containing synthesized nanoparticles for heat transfer applications. Nanofluids are proven to have higher potential as a cooling medium in heat transfer applications due to its high thermal conductivity property. However, the nanofluids are not stable as the nanoparticles are not well dispersed and forms two layers. Shape of the nanoparticle is also an important factor in ensuring enhanced thermophysical properties of the nanofluid. Hence, in this project, cube-shaped cuprous oxide nanoparticles are synthesized because cube shape has high surface area to volume ratio. A two-step method is chosen as the procedure to prepare the cuprous oxide nanofluid which first focuses on the synthesis of the cuprous oxide nanoparticles in powder form using different bases and continued with the preparation of nanofluid using methanol as the base fluid. The thermophysical properties of the prepared nanofluid is then evaluated to determine the thermal conductivity, viscosity and density

Oral delivery of therapeutic peptides using GCPQ nanoparticles

Oral delivery of therapeutic peptides poses serious challenges in the field of drug delivery. The main concerns in developing an oral formulation of therapeutic peptide is that the peptide can be susceptible to enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract, poor solubility, short circulation time in plasma and fast renal clearance. This study focuses on improving the oral availability of therapeutic peptide by its encapsulation in a biodegradable polymer called GCPQ. GCPQ has been reported previously to solubilize small molecular weight hydrophobic drugs and peptides. GCPQ also demonstrated to improve their oral bioavailability. In the present study, two therapeutic peptides, Methionine enkephalin (anticancer peptide) and Labyrinthopeptin (anti-noiciceptive peptide) was characterized and formulated with GCPQ nanoparticles. Labyrinthopeptin, a hydrophobic peptide having poor solubility was solubilized using GCPQ nanoparticles and their oral uptake was evaluated in vivo. Anti-noiciceptive activity of Laby GCPQ B2 formulation was evaluated in rat CFA model and compared against Laby glycofurol formulation. Therapeutic effect of Laby GCPQ B2 oral and nasal formulation was found to be significantly higher to control at time points 240 min and 40 min respectively as demonstrated in rat CFA model. Laby glycofurol formulation also showed significant therapeutic effect (40 and 60 min) after nasal administration as a result of permeation enhancing property of glycofurol itself. Concentrations of Laby in plasma were observed to be higher for Laby GCPQ B3 oral and nasal formulation compared to Laby glycofural formulation, suggesting that GCPQ improves oral uptake of Laby peptide. However, concentrations of Laby in plasma for Laby GCPQ B1 formulation were lower than that it was observed for Laby GCPQ B3 and Laby glycofural formulation, suggesting that the characteristics of GCPQ can be modified to control the uptake of Laby peptide. Similarly, Methionine enkephalin, a peptide having poor stability in the gut was formulated with GCPQ B1 & B2 and characterized in vitro and in vivo. Their therapeutic effect was evaluated in nude mice tumor xenograft model. Significant reduction in tumor volume for mice treated with MENK-GCPQ B2 oral formulation was observed compared to MENK formulation and control. The concentration of MENK following oral administration of MENK GCPQ B2 formulation (100 mg/kg) were variable and at nanogram levels. However, this concentration could be sufficient to cause therapeutic effect in mice xenograft model. The concentrations of MENK in plasma were observed to be at nanogram levels (298 ng/mL), 180 min after administration of MENK-GCPQ B1 IV formulation. Following administration of MENK IV formulation, the concentrations of MENK in mice plasma were not detectable after 5 min. This result also suggests that only a fraction of MENK was encapsulated in MENK GCPQ B1 formulation. Although, there were significant differences in pharmacokinetic effect between MENK and MENK GCPQ B1 IV formulations, the therapeutic effect of MENKGCPQ B1 IV formulation in tumor xenograft model was only significant to that of control but insignificant to that of MENK IV formulation. Excess MENK concentration resulting from MENK-GCPQ B1 IV formulation may not have improved the therapeutic effect due to saturation of OGFr receptor and clearance from the system. An alternative mode of MENK-GCPQ administration such as subcutaneous or intra-peritoneal could delay MENK release in the systemic circulation and thereby enhancing the therapeutic effect compared to MENK only formulation

Establishing monoxenic culture of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices through root organ culture

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are soil fungi distributed worldwide, forming symbiosis with most of the vascular plants for their growth and survival, which is used for sustainable agriculture and ecosystem management. This study investigated the establishment of monoxenic cultures of Glomus intraradices in association with transformed carrot hairy root. The G.intraradices spores were isolated from sugarcane rhizosphere by wet sieving and decanting technique and propagated in open pot culture. Transformation in to carrot hairy root was done using Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Surface sterilization of G.intraradices spores co-cultured with transformed carrot hairy root in Modified Strulla and Romand (MSR) medium was found the host root growth as well as for germination AM spores. After three months of incubation in dark condition, significant production of extensive hyphal growth on MSR medium and an average of 8500-9000 spores per petri dish was observed. The in vitro inoculum exhibited higher potential of root colonization due to numerous intraradices mycelium with extensive spore load. The produced monoxenic inoculum can be used in place of traditional system where it has a advantage of producing contaminant free propagulas. Thus the monoxenic culture system, a powerful tool, of AM sporulation, can be used for the mass production of monoxenic inoculum of AM fungi besides studying its biology

Ferulic Acid: Therapeutic Potential Through Its Antioxidant Property

There has been considerable public and scientific interest in the use of phytochemicals derived from dietary components to combat human diseases. They are naturally occurring substances found in plants. Ferulic acid (FA) is a phytochemical commonly found in fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, sweet corn and rice bran. It arises from metabolism of phenylalanine and tyrosine by Shikimate pathway in plants. It exhibits a wide range of therapeutic effects against various diseases like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative. A wide spectrum of beneficial activity for human health has been advocated for this phenolic compound, at least in part, because of its strong antioxidant activity. FA, a phenolic compound is a strong membrane antioxidant and known to positively affect human health. FA is an effective scavenger of free radicals and it has been approved in certain countries as food additive to prevent lipid peroxidation. It effectively scavenges superoxide anion radical and inhibits the lipid peroxidation. It possesses antioxidant property by virtue of its phenolic hydroxyl group in its structure. The hydroxy and phenoxy groups of FA donate electrons to quench the free radicals. The phenolic radical in turn forms a quinone methide intermediate, which is excreted via the bile. The past few decades have been devoted to intense research on antioxidant property of FA. So, the present review deals with the mechanism of antioxidant property of FA and its possible role in therapeutic usage against various diseases

Giant lipoma: an unusual cause of carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome, in its idiopathic form, is an extremely common entrapment neuropathy in the clinical practice however secondary compressive causes are rare. Among secondary causes, tumors are even rarer. Although lipomas are the most common soft tissue tumor in the body, <5% of the benign tumors of the hand are lipomas. A 48-year old manual laborer man presented to us with a two-year history of numbness, tingling and burning pain in the palmar surface of the left hand and fingers along with a progressively increasing swelling in the hand and wrist. His medical history was unremarkable and no trauma episode was reported. According to the clinical examination and the result of median nerve conduction study (NCS) the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome was established. Operative release of the transverse carpal ligament was subsequently performed along with excision of the lipoma using extensile open approach. Intraoperatively, median nerve and its digital branches were found to be stretched over the giant lipoma causing substantial compression to median nerve. Histopathological findings of the resected mass were consistent with lipoma. After two years the patient was pain-free without any sign of tumor recurrence. Lipomas are infrequently seen in hand and wrist, however giant lipoma as a cause of secondary carpal tunnel syndrome is even more rare, which makes this case interesting.Key words: Lipoma, carpal tunnel syndrome, median nerve, nerve compressio

Association of Urine Levels of C-Reactive Protein with Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Pneumonia: A Pilot Study

Finding relevant biomarkers as a potential predictor of severity for patients hospitalized with community acquired pneumonia (CAP), in addition to the clinical scoring system, could advance progress towards more effective patient management. The inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein (CRP), which is elevated in the pathogenesis of many infectious diseases, may be a key biomarker target for CAP. Previous studies have shown that serum CRP may be a useful diagnostic marker for pneumonia in hospitalized patients with acute respiratory symptoms. The main aims of this study were to determine the correlation between serum and urine CRP levels in hospitalized patients with CAP, and any correlation with patient outcomes. Our laboratory employed a commercially available human high sensitive CRP ELISA kit to check the level of CRP in the corresponding patient urine sample. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between patient serum and urine CRP levels. In addition, we showed the correlation of urine CRP levels with certain patient comorbidities, time to clinical stability, length of patient hospital stay, and mortality

Impact of Pooling Samples on Analytic Sensitivity of a Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase PCR Assay for SARS CoV-2

During the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratories experienced periods of shortages for certain critical materials required to meet the high demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration provided a template for molecular diagnostic testing, including guidance for a specimen pooling process in order to evaluate performance of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification assay. This study aimed to evaluate the testing of pooled specimens consisting of four nasopharyngeal swab specimens using the Luminex ARIES® nucleic acid amplification platform. Results indicated that there was a loss of analytic sensitivity with pooled nasopharyngeal swab samples, demonstrating that this approach should be balanced against material shortages and the clinical utility of a less sensitive assay