IN VITRO ANTI-OBESITY EFFECT OF MACROLICHENS HETERODERMIA LEUCOMELOS AND RAMALINA CELASTRI BY PANCREATIC LIPASE INHIBITORY ASSAY

Objective: Obesity is a chronic disorder caused by an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure in which excessive fat will be deposited in adipose tissue and poses a risk to the health and well-being of humans. Agents which inhibit pancreatic lipase play an important role in the treatment of obesity. The aim of this study was to assess the potential effect of macro lichens Heterodermia leucomelos (L.) Poelt a foliose lichen and Ramalina celastri (Sprengel) Krog and Swinscow a fruticose lichen in the treatment of obesity.Methods: In vitro anti-obesity inhibitory effect of macro lichens were evaluated by using chicken pancreatic lipase activity. Lipase was extracted from the chicken pancreas. Different concentrations from 5-25 mg/ml of methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of lichens Heterodermia leucomelos and Ramalina celastri was incubated with pancreas lipase.Results: With the increase in the concentration of extracts the higher inhibition of the enzyme was observed. Solvent methanol showed good activity compared to ethyl acetate. Percentage of inhibition ranged from 19.7-69.8 and 20.0-86.6 % in the methanol extract of Heterodermia leucomelos and Ramalina celastri respectively. Comparatively lichen Ramalina celastri in methanol extract showed maximum inhibition of 86.6 %, whereas ethyl acetate showed an inhibition of 63.0% at 25 mg/ml against enzyme lipase.Conclusion: In the present study, the inhibitory activity of lichen indicates its protective role in treating obesity. Molecular sequencing of this lichen helps in future to determine the various metabolic pathways that are responsible for the production of novel compounds

Efficacy of three arbuscular mycorrhizal

Effect of inoculation of three AM fungi on growth performance of Centella asiatica plant was evaluated. Three AM fungi namely, Glomus fasiculatum, Acaulospora foveata and Gigaspora margarita were used in the present study. The plantlets of Centella asiatica were grown in poly house condition with three replicates for each treatment and harvested at 80 days of growth. The result showed that, the number of leaves in Gi. margarita inoculated pots were increased when compared to other two AM fungi inoculated pots and control. The highest root length was observed in control and Gi. Margarita and highest shoot length was observed in G. fasciculatum compared to other treatments and control. Whereas, the highest fresh shoot weight was recorded in plants treated with A. foveata when compared within the treatments and control. Total dry weight biomass, mycorrhizal dependency and mycorrhizal inoculation effect was high in Gi. margarita inoculated plants compared to other two treatments and control. The results of present study indicated that both Gi. margarita and A. foveata may be considered as good growth promoter for better biomass yield in C. asiatica which is used as brain tonic, in the treatment of chronic diseases and mental disorders in the Ayurvedic system of medicin

Physiological and chemical analysis for identification of some lichen extracts

Identification of lichen species is an interesting area that use morphological and chemical analysis. In the presented study, eight lichen species were collected and identified based on different procedures. Anatomically, they were examined for their growth type and thallus color, presence or absence of vegetative parts (Rhizines and cilia), and sexual reproductive parts (Their types of Apothecia and Perithecia, if any). Spot tests, TLC with different visualization method and micro-crystallography were chemical analysis applied to lichen fragment and their extract to help the identification of species. Finally, all studied species were identified as; Heterodermia leucomelos (L.) Poelt., Cladonia subradiata (Vainio) Sandst., Parmotrema tinctorum (Delise ex Nyl.) Hale, Leptogium sp. (Ach.) Gray., Parmotrema crinitum Choisy., Herpothallon sp. Tobler, Parmotrema reticulatum (Taylor) M. Choisy and Ramalina celastri (Sprengel) Krog & Swinscow. This is a rare organized report on identification of lichens based on both morphological and chemical investigations

Molecular docking and dynamics simulation study of quinones and pyrones from <i>Alternaria solani</i> and <i>Alternaria alternata</i> with HSP90: an important therapeutic target of cancer

Although cancer continues to be one of the world’s major causes of death, current cancer drugs have many serious side effects. There remains a need for new anticancer agents to overcome these shortcomings. Alternaria is one of the most widespread fungal genera, many species of which produce several classes of metabolites with potential polypharmacological activities. A few quinones and pyrones from Alternaria spp. have proven to exert cytotoxic effects against certain cancer cell lines, but their molecular mode of action is not known. The current study aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms that underlie the anticancer activity of a few selected quinones and pyrones from Alternaria solani and Alternaria alternata by molecular docking and dynamic simulation approaches. The selected metabolites were screened for their binding affinity to Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), which is a known anticancer drug target. Molecular docking studies have revealed that Macrosporin, Altersolanol B, Fonsecin, and Neoaltenuene have good binding affinities with the target protein and the stabilities of the formed complexes were evaluated through molecular dynamics simulations. By analyzing the Root Mean Square Distance (RMSD), Root Mean Square Fluctuation (RMSF), and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) plots obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, this study shows that the complexes of all 4 lead molecules with target protein are stable over a 100 ns period. Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA) calculations were used to compute the binding free energies. The lead molecules were studied using in-silico analysis to determine their drug-likeness based on their Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion and Toxicity (ADMET) and physicochemical properties. The results demonstrate that Macrosporin, Fonsecin, and Neoaltenuene could become promising anticancer molecules that target HSP90. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma</p