Isolation and Characterization of secondary metabolites With antioxidant activity from seaweeds from Southeastern coasts of India

Seaweeds offer valuable bioactive molecules with antioxidative properties, newlineand are abundantly available in the Gulf of Mannar region of the Southeastern newlinecoasts of India. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidative properties of different seaweed newlinespecies available in this region and isolating the compounds with potential radical scavenging newlineactivity. The methanol extract and solvent fractions (n-hexane, dichloromethane and ethyl newlineacetate) of the brown seaweeds Turbinaria conoides, Turbinaria ornata, Anthophycus newlinelongifolius, Sargassum plagiophyllum, Sargassum myriocystum, Padina tetrastomatica, newlinePadina gymnospora and Stoechospermum marginatum and the red seaweeds Laurencia newlinepapillosa, Gelidiella acerosa and Acanthophora spicifera collected from the Gulf of Mannar newlineregion of Mandapam were screened for potential antioxidant properties by different model newlinesystems. newlin

Combined information from Raman spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography for enhanced diagnostic accuracy in tissue discrimination

We thank the UK EPSRC for funding, the CR-UK/EPSRC/MRC/DoH (England) imaging programme, the European Union project FAMOS (FP7 ICT, contract no. 317744) and the European Union project IIIOS (FP7/2007-2013, contract no. 238802). We thank Tayside Tissue Bank for providing us with the tissue samples under request number TR000289. K.D. is a Royal Society-Wolfson Merit Award Holder.Optical spectroscopy and imaging methods have proved to have potential to discriminate between normal and abnormal tissue types through minimally invasive procedures. Raman spectroscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) provides chemical and morphological information of tissues respectively, which are complementary to each other. When used individually they might not be able to obtain high enough sensitivity and specificity that is clinically relevant. In this study we combined Raman spectroscopy information with information obtained from OCT to enhance the sensitivity and specificity in discriminating between Colonic Adenocarcinoma from Normal Colon. OCT being an imaging technique, the information from this technique is conventionally analyzed qualitatively. To combine with Raman spectroscopy information, it was essential to quantify the morphological information obtained from OCT. Texture analysis was used to extract information from OCT images, which in-turn was combined with the information obtained from Raman spectroscopy. The sensitivity and specificity of the classifier was estimated using leave one out cross validation (LOOCV) method where support vector machine (SVM) was used for binary classification of the tissues. The sensitivity obtained using Raman spectroscopy and OCT individually was 89% and 78% respectively and the specificity was 77% and 74% respectively. Combining the information derived using the two techniques increased both sensitivity and specificity to 94% demonstrating that combining complementary optical information enhances diagnostic accuracy. These results demonstrate that a multimodal approach using Raman-OCT would be able to enhance the diagnostic accuracy for identifying normal and cancerous tissue types.Publisher PD

Long term Ultra-Violet Variability of Seyfert galaxies

Flux variability is one of the defining characteristics of Seyfert galaxies, a class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Though these variations are observed over a wide range of wavelengths, results on their flux variability characteristics in the ultra-violet (UV) band are very limited. We present here the long term UV flux variability characteristics of a sample of fourteen Seyfert galaxies using data from the International Ultraviolet Explorer acquired between 1978 and 1995. We found that all the sources showed flux variations with no statistically significant difference in the amplitude of UV flux variation between shorter and longer wavelengths. Also, the flux variations between different near-UV (NUV, 1850 - 3300 A) and far-UV (FUV, 1150 - 2000 A) passbands in the rest frames of the objects are correlated with no time lag. The data show indications of (i) a mild negative correlation of UV variability with bolometric luminosity and (ii) weak positive correlation between UV variability and black hole mass. At FUV, about 50% of the sources show a strong correlation between spectral indices and flux variations with a hardening when brightening behaviour, while for the remaining sources the correlation is moderate. In NUV, the sources do show a harder when brighter trend, however, the correlation is either weak or moderate.Comment: Accepted by Journal of Astrophysics and Astronom

Phytochemical, pharmacological and tissue culture studies of some important species of the genus Barleria L. (Acanthaceae) - a review

Ayurvedic sciences helped the early humans to overcome chronic dangerous diseases. There are thousands of varieties of herbs and medicinal plants used to overcome such dreadful diseases. The genus Barleria L. belongs to family Acanthaceae, a medicinally significant group of plants having diversified phytochemicals used for different pharmacological properties. It has been utilized since ancient times for medicinal purposes. It has many plant secondary metabolites such as terpenes, flavonoids, lignins, alkaloids, particularly the iridoid glycosides. The secondary metabolites extracted from Barleria spp. show potential pharmacological activities viz., anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-fertility, anti-arthritic and anti-ulcer activity. In view of these, present review is focused on the phytochemistry, pharmacology and tissue culture studies of some of the important species of the genus Barleria L

Effect of Media Strength and pH on the Growth of Hairy Roots and Production of Gymnemic Acid from Gymnema Sylvestre

Gymnema sylvestre (Madhunashini) is one of the most important medicinal plants used as a crude drug for its preventive and therapeutic properties. Among other constituents of Gymnema, gymnemic acid is a major component responsible for biological and pharmacological actions. The present study deals with the influence of different media strength and initial medium pH on the growth of hairy roots and gymnemic acid production from Gymnema sylvestre. Higher strength of the media (1.5X) favoured the biomass production (114.64 g/L FW and 12.63 g/L DW) and gymnemic acid content (11.7 mg/g DW) in the tested range of 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 X strength. Among the different hydrogen ion concentration (pH) of 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 5.8, 6.0 and 6.5, initial medium pH of 6.0 favoured the biomass production (102.41 g/L FW and 11.52 g/L DW) and medium pH of 5.8 favoured the gymnemic acid production (11.30 mg/g DW)

Effect of Inoculum Density and Different Media on the Growth of Hairy Roots and Production of Withanolide-A from Withaniasomnifera

Withaniasomnifera (L.) Dunal. (Indian ginseng) is one of the most important medicinal plants used as a crude drug for its preventive and therapeutic purposes. Among the diverse constituents of Withania, withanolides are found to be the major components responsible for their biological and pharmacological actions. The present study deals with the effect of inoculum density and different media on the growth of hairy roots and withanolide-A production from Withaniasomnifera. An inoculum size of 10 g/L FW favoured the biomass accumulation(120.42 g/L of FW and 11.98 g/L DW) and withanolide-A production(11.96 mg/g DW) inthe tested range of 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 g/L FW. Among different media tested [Murashige and Skoog (MS), Gamborg’s (B5), Nitsch and Nitsch (NN) and Chu’s (N6)], MS medium favoured both biomass accumulation (121.15 g/L FW and 11.96 g/L DW) and withanolide-A production (11.50 mg/g DW)

Evaluation of efficacy and safety profile of tamsulosin in benign prostatic hyperplasia

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of alpha-1A receptor subtype specific antagonist-tamsulosin in benign prostatic hyperplasia.Methods: An open label, non-randomised, prospective, single centred study who were visiting urology department with confirmed diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were included in the study. Thirty patients with BPH were prescribed tamsulosin and were followed up to three months. The initial or baseline data collected were identification of the patients such as international prostate symptom score (IPSS), prostate specific antigen, urine analysis, and ultrasonography of prostate including post void residual urine. The patients were followed up to 3 months to measure clinical and laboratory outcomes (IPSS score, post void residual urine, uroflow rates etc.).Results: In our study, patients receiving tamsulosin 0.4 mg once daily showed a significant improvement in post-void residual urine (PVRU), uroflow rates and IPSS score. The improvements in the above parameters were found to be statistically insignificant at first and third month of follow-up.Conclusions: In our study, tamsulosin an alpha-1A receptor subtype specific antagonist showed significant improvement in BPH symptoms and the drug was well tolerated

Use and satisfaction of complementary and alternative medicine among diabetic patients in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disorder which requires long-term treatment. Non- adherence to treatment is a major factor responsible for morbidities and mortalities associated with diabetes. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has been one of the reasons for discontinuation of treatment. This study was conducted to assess the extent to which CAM and non-CAM users adhere to medical treatment.Methods: 200 patients attending the diabetic clinic over a period of 2 months participated in the study. After obtaining written informed consent, they were administered a CAM use and satisfaction questionnaire (TSQM) based on effectiveness, no side-effects, convenience and global satisfaction.Results: Out of 200 participants, 29% (58) used CAM. Naturopathy was the most commonly followed type of CAM (60 %; 35). Residing in the rural areas (OR-3.7), Socio- economic status above poverty line (OR- 9), diabetics with co- morbidities (OR- 6) and microvascular complications (OR-6) and using insulin (OR-3) was found to be the predictors of CAM use. However, the incidence of hypoglycemic episodes was 52 times higher among CAM users. (91%; 52) of the CAM users did not reveal the use to their physicians, out of which (70%; 40) did not disclose due to the fear of discouragement by the doctor. CAM was found to be better in all aspects of patient satisfaction like effectiveness, no- side-effects and global satisfaction than conventional medicine while conventional medicine users scored it to be more convenient to use than CAM.Conclusions: Doctors should enquire diabetics regarding CAM use since the voluntary disclosure is very less. Keeping lines of communication open for any discussions regarding pros and cons of CAM. Increasing patient awareness about potential drug interactions, when CAM is practised along with conventional medicine