Plant products with antifungal activity. From field to biotechnology strategies

In this chapter, informations on the recent advances regarding antifungal activity of natural products obtained from plants collected directly from their natural habitat or from plant cell and organ, cultures have been reported. The biotechnological approaches could increase uniformity and predictability of the extracts and overcome problems associated with geographical, seasonal, and environmental variations. Human fungal pathogens are the cause of severe diseases associated with high morbidity and mortality. The major human fungal pathogens are Candida species, dermatophytes, Aspergillus species, and Cryptococcus neoformans. Side effects and resistance are frequently attributed to the current antifungal agents. Moreover, the treatments often require long-term therapy and are not resolving. Plants represent a source of antifungal agents, but up to date, the number of new phytochemicals reaching the market is very low. This review attempts to summarize the current status of botanical screening efforts, as well as in vitro and in vivo studies on antifungal activity of plant products. Despite the currently non-uniform regulatory framework in all the states, the plant-derived products are increasingly in demand for their effectiveness. The basic conclusion from these studies is that rigorous, well-designed clinical trials are needed to validate the effectiveness and safety of plant extracts for their use as antifungals

Anti-mullerian hormone and cumulative pregnancy outcome in in-vitro fertilization

Purpose: To evaluate the role of Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) in predicting cumulative pregnancy outcome during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. Methods: Serum AMH levels on day 6 of ovarian stimulation were taken from 180 women undergoing IVF with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The main outcome measures were ongoing pregnancy in the fresh cycle, cumulative ongoing pregnancy and ovarian response. Results: There was a trend of higher median AMH levels in subjects achieving ongoing pregnancy in the fresh IVF cycle. The median AMH levels were significantly higher in subjects attaining ongoing pregnancy cumulatively and in subjects showing ovarian hyper-response in the stimulated cycle. Areas under the ROC curves were 0.606 and 0.792 for the prediction of cumulative ongoing pregnancy and ovarian hyper-response respectively. Conclusions: Serum AMH concentration on day 6 of stimulation was significantly higher in subjects who achieved cumulative ongoing pregnancy in IVF compared to those who did not. Serum AMH is a reasonably good predictor of ovarian hyper-response. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.link_to_subscribed_fulltex