Ameliorative effect of ethanolic extract of roots of Tetracera akara (Burm. f.) Merr. on D-galactosamine induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats by downregulation of inflammatory mediators like TNFα, COX-2 and iNOS

161-171Tetracera akara, a climbing shrub locally called Nennalvalli or Pattuvalli, is an ethnomedicinal plant used by Kani tribe of Kerala to treat chronic liver disorders and inflammatory conditions.  The present study was aimed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of roots of Tetracera akara root on D-Galactosamine induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Hepatotoxicity was induced in Wistar rats by intraperitoneal injection of D-GalN (400 mg/kg in saline) in Wistar rats. Ethanolic extract of T. akara root (TA ETH) was administered to the experimental rats in varying doses of (50, 150 and 300 mg/kg/day), p. o. for 7 days. The hepatoprotective effect was evaluated by the estimation of biochemical markers of hepatic injury, anti-oxidant status of the liver by estimating hepatic catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and malondialdehyde, gene and protein expression level of inflammatory marker genes and histopathological evaluation of experimental animals. Administration of TA ETH (150 and 300 mg/kg) significantly (P ≤0.05) restored the levels of serum bilirubin, protein and other hepatic enzymes almost comparable to the standard drug Silymarin-treated groups. The levels of antioxidant enzymes like SOD and CAT were elevated and lipid peroxidation was inhibited as evident from the reduced levels of MDA. The gene expression studies by quantitative PCR method showed that TA ETH significantly (P ≤0.05) downregulated pro inflammatory cytokines, inflammatory COX-2 genes and upregulated IL 10 gene levels in D-GalN induced liver tissue, which was further confirmed in protein estimation by ELISA method. The histopathological observations were in correlation with the biochemical findings showing the presence of normal hepatic architecture, which further evidenced the hepatoprotective effect of TA ETH. Ethanolic extract of the root of T. akara possesses significant hepatoprotective activity mainly by scavenging reactive free radicals, boosting the endogenous antioxidant system in liver and inhibiting pro-inflammatory mediator like TNF α, COX-2, iNOS and promoting the anti-inflammatory IL 10, thus substantiating the tribal claim

X-ray crystallographic and structural studies of (benzothiazol-2-yl)ethanesulphonamide, and its antimicrobial properties

N-(benzothiazol-2-yl)ethanesulphonamide (ES2ABT) was synthesized by the condensation of 2-aminobenzothiazole and ethanesulphonylchloride in acetone at 130 °C. The resulting crude precipitates were recrystallized in absolute ethanol. ES2ABT was characterized using X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, elemental microanalysis, UV/VIS spectrophotometry, infra red, proton and 13C NMR spectroscopies. The antimicrobial tests of the compound were carried out on both multi-resistant bacterial strains isolated under clinical conditions and cultured species using agar-well diffusion method. The multi-resistant bacterial strains used were Escherichia coli, Proteus species, Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Staphylococcus aureus which were isolated from dogs. The culture species were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia Coli (ATCC 25922) Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), and the fungi, Candida krusei (ATCC 6258) and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028). The tests were both in vitro and in vivo. Thus the Inhibition Zone Diameter (IZD), the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), and the Lethal and Effective Concentrations (LC50 and EC50) were determined. The antimicrobial activity of the compound was compared with those of Ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole as antibacterial agents and Fluconazole as an antifungal drug. The compound showed varying activity against the cultured typed bacteria and fungi used. However, ES2ABT was less active than the antibacterial standard drugs used but not Fluconazole which did not show any activity against Candida krusei (ATCC 6258). The Lethal Concentration (LC50) is 338.80 ± 28.6 ppm. This is within the permissible concentrations. Key words: N-(benzothiazol-2-yl)ethanesulphonamide, antimicrobial, in vivo, in vitr

Micropropagation and conservation of selected endangered anticancer medicinal plants from the Western Ghats of India

Globally, cancer is a constant battle which severely affects the human population. The major limitations of the anticancer drugs are the deleterious side effects on the quality of life. Plants play a vital role in curing many diseases with minimal or no side effects. Phytocompounds derived from various medicinal plants serve as the best source of drugs to treat cancer. The global demand for phytomedicines is mostly reached by the medicinal herbs from the tropical nations of the world even though many plant species are threatened with extinction. India is one of the mega diverse countries of the world due to its ecological habitats, latitudinal variation, and diverse climatic range. Western Ghats of India is one of the most important depositories of endemic herbs. It is found along the stretch of south western part of India and constitutes rain forest with more than 4000 diverse medicinal plant species. In recent times, many of these therapeutically valued herbs have become endangered and are being included under the red-listed plant category in this region. Due to a sharp rise in the demand for plant-based products, this rich collection is diminishing at an alarming rate that eventually triggered dangerous to biodiversity. Thus, conservation of the endangered medicinal plants has become a matter of importance. The conservation by using only in situ approaches may not be sufficient enough to safeguard such a huge bio-resource of endangered medicinal plants. Hence, the use of biotechnological methods would be vital to complement the ex vitro protection programs and help to reestablish endangered plant species. In this backdrop, the key tools of biotechnology that could assist plant conservation were developed in terms of in vitro regeneration, seed banking, DNA storage, pollen storage, germplasm storage, gene bank (field gene banking), tissue bank, and cryopreservation. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to critically review major endangered medicinal plants that possess anticancer compounds and their conservation aspects by integrating various biotechnological tool

Nitric oxide species as oxidising agents and adducts for soft scorpionates

Bis-(κ-H,S,S-dihydrobis-(methimazolyl)borato) ruthenium(II), [Ru(Bm)], has been prepared and tested as a nitric oxide scavenger using NO, NOBF and NOBr. The products isolated show that, NO and NO are good one electron oxidising agents towards the ruthenium complexes but NO is not coordinated to the metal. The oxidised species, [Ru(Bm)]BF has been isolated and characterised. Reaction of "Ru(NO)Cl" with NaBm results in the removal of the borohydride from the ligand and formation of [Ru(mtH)(mt)(NO)Cl]

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Not AvailableStagnation and decline in productivity of most of the agricultural and plantation crops in Kerala, despite the genetic improvements in crop varieties and heavy external inputs of fertilisers and pesticides, prompted the Kerala State Planning Board to embark on a massive project to identify and map the soil related constraints to crop production. Highly weathered laterite soils, covering most of the state, are relatively infertile, acidic, gravelly clay depleted of basic cations and possessing low water and nutrient retention capacity. In order to assess the soil fertility in the state and to elucidate the soil related constraints nearly two lakh composite surface soil samples were collected from farmer’s fields all over the state and analysed for soil reaction, macro, secondary and micronutrients. Extensive acidification of the soils, build up of high levels of phosphorus and deficiencies of calcium, magnesium and boron were found to be the major soil related constraints in the state.Not Availabl

The first structurally characterised example of silicon in an S6 coordination sphere

The reaction of sodium hydro-tris(phenylthioimidazolyl)borate (NaTmPh) with silicon tetraiodide gives rise to the first crystallographically characterised molecular silicon compounds, [Si(TmPh)2] 2X (X = I- and I3- ), in which the silicon is found in a regular S6 environment. The [Si(TmPh)2]2+ cation is subjected to analysis using DFT methods to explain why an S6 coordination motif is preferred to an S4 coordination motif

The Stability of Mercaptobenzothiazole Based Soft Scorpionate Complexes

The chemistry of the hydrotris­(mercapto­benzo­thiazolyl)­borate anion (Tbz) with metal salts (HgI₂, SbI₃, BiI₃, CoCl₂) is reported in an attempt to probe the stability of the of Tbz ligand once coordinated to hard and soft metals. Complexes of Tbz with bismuth, containing the [Bi­(Tbz)­I₃]⁻ anion, are stable, but with the other metals this is not the case. Although simple complexes such as [Hg­(Tbz)­I] and [E­(Tbz)­I₃]⁻ (E = Sb, Bi) can be isolated from the reaction mixtures, subsequent reactions lead to ligand modification or decomposition. In the presence of mercury and antimony we observe the formation of a hitherto unseen cationic pentacyclic heterocycle. With cobalt we observe a small quantity of a product which suggests a more complete decomposition. A simple benzothiazole (bz) adduct [Co­(bz)₂Cl₂] has been identified, in which the Tbz ligand has disintegrated and the parent heterocycle, mercaptobenzothiazole, has been desulfurized. A rationale for these observations is given

The stability of mercaptobenzothiazole based soft scorpionate complexes

The chemistry of the hydrotris(mercaptobenzothiazolyl)borate anion (Tbz) with metal salts (HgI2, SbI3, BiI3, CoCl2) is reported in an attempt to probe the stability of the of Tbz ligand once coordinated to hard and soft metals. Complexes of Tbz with bismuth, containing the [Bi(Tbz)I3]− anion, are stable, but with the other metals this is not the case. Although simple complexes suchas [Hg(Tbz)I] and [E(Tbz)I3]− (E = Sb, Bi) can be isolated from the reaction mixtures, subsequent reactions lead to ligand modification or decomposition. In the presence of mercury and antimony we observe the formation of a hitherto unseen cationic pentacyclic heterocycle. With cobalt we observe a small quantity of a product which suggests a more complete decomposition. A simple benzothiazole (bz) adduct [Co(bz)2Cl2] has been identified, in which the Tbz ligand has disintegrated and the parent heterocycle, mercaptobenzothiazole, has been desulfurized. A rationale for these observations is given