PHYTOCHEMICALS AND PHARMACEUTICAL POTENTIAL OF DELONIX REGIA (BOJER EX HOOK) RAF A REVIEW

Traditionally Delonix regia (Boj.) Raf. has been used in various ailments such as chronic fever, antimicrobial, constipation, inflammation, arthritis, hemoplagia, piles, boils, pyorrhea, scorpion bite, bronchitis, asthma and dysmenorrhoea. However, there is little experimental evidence for its traditional use. In this review an attempt has been made to gather and compile the scattered traditional information along with the experimental evidence on the beneficial properties of Delonix regia (Boj.) Raf. The plant shows diverse therapeutic prospective such as antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antiemetic, larvicidal, hepatoprotective, anti-diarrhoeal, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, anthelmintic, antiarthritic, wound healing and anticarcinogenic potential. It possess copious phytochemicals, viz. saponins, alkaloids, carotene, hydrocarbons, phytotoxins, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, carotenoids, galactomannon, lupeol, β-sitosterol, terpenoids, glycosides and carbohydrates, in leaves, flowers, bark and roots. Though Delonix regia (Boj.) Raf. has been widely used in traditional medicines in various ailments, yet studies need to be conducted to explore the potential phyto-constituents of this plant for the prevention of various other diseases and to further unravel, characterize, patent and commercialize the protective components from different parts of this plant for the benefit of humans.Â

Synthesis, Spectral Characterization, and Antiproliferative Studies of Mixed Ligand Titanium Complexes of Adamantylamine

Titanium complexes have been synthesized by the reaction between titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), respective bidentate ligand [4,4′ -dimethoxy-2,2′ -bipyridine (bpome), 6,6′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine (dpme), 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (dach), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), and benzoylacetone (bzac)], and adamantylamine (ada) in 1 : 2 : 2 molar ratios, respectively. The structure of synthesized complexes was confirmed using elemental analysis, FTIR, UV-visible, 1H NMR, and mass spectrometry techniques. The nanocrystalline nature of complexes was confirmed by powder XRD study. The complexes were evaluated for cytotoxic potential in HeLa (cervical), C6 (glioma), and CHO (Chinese hamster ovarian) cell lines. The complex E was found to be more effective cytotoxic agent against HeLa cell line with an IC50 value of 4.06 µM. Furthermore, the effect of synthesized complexes was studied on different stages of the cell cycle in CHO cells. All complexes exhibited the dose dependent increase in cytotoxicity. The results have shown an increase in sub-G0 population with increase in concentration which is an indicative measure of apoptosis

Investigation of Ethyl Acetate Extract/Fractions of Acacia nilotica willd. Ex Del as Potent Antioxidant

This study was planned to evaluate the antioxidant activity of ethyl acetate extract/fractions of Acacia nilotica Willd. Ex. Del extracted with different solvents of increasing and decreasing order of solvent polarity. The antioxidative activities, including the 1’-1’ diphenylpicryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging effects, hydroxyl radical scavenging potential, chelating ability, reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition in rat tissue homogenate were studied in vitro. It was found that the antioxidative effect provided by extract/fractions was strongly concentration dependent and increased on fractionating the extract into water and ethyl acetate fractions. In general, the antioxidative activity increased with increasing extract/fractions concentration to a certain extent, and then leveled off with further increase in antioxidant activity. From a comparison of the antioxidant potential and IC 50 values for different antioxidative reactions, it seemed that extract/fractions were more effective in scavenging DPPH and hydroxyl radicals than reducing, chelating heavy metals and lipid peroxidation inhibitory potential

Free Radical Scavenging Activity and HPLC Analysis of Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D. Don Leaf Extract

Background: Several diseases are caused in the body due to oxidative stress of free radicals. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the antioxidant activity of Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D. Don (Araucariaceae) leaf extract. The dried leaves of Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D. Don (Araucariaceae) were extracted with 80% methanol. The antioxidant activity of the extract was predicted through in vitro model systems such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), reducing power and nitric oxide scavenging assays. The total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin content of the extract were also estimated in order to draw the correlation with their bioactivities. The extract was also investigated for several polyphenolic compounds using High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: The antioxidant activity of extract was found to be excellent in all the three assays. A positive correlation between the antioxidant activity and phenolic content was observed. HPLC analysis identified the presence of Gallic acid, Catechin, Chlorogenic acid, Epicatechin, Caffeic acid, Umbelliferone, Ellagic acid, Quercetin and Kaempferol in the methanol leaf extract of Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D. Don. Conclusions: The results of the present study point towards the fact that Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D. Don leaves possess good antioxidant potential. The strong antioxidant activity can be correlated with the polyphenolic compounds present in the leaves

Association of polymorphisms of IGF1 promoter with growth and fertility performance in PB1 parent line of broiler chicken variety

Blood samples from 180 birds pertaining to a single generation of PB1 parent line were collected for present study. The birds were raised under standard management and different growth variables were recorded up to 20 weeks of age. Age at first egg and egg production till 40 weeks of age was recorded in females. PCR-RFLP analysis was used to screen individuals with polymorphisms in IGF1 promoter region and three genotypes AA, AC and CC were identified at frequencies of 0.79, 0.18 and 0.03, respectively. CC homozygotes were lower with respect to their performance in growth and fertility traits. Sequencing results of both alleles revealed T244G transversion mutation in the C allele. Gene regulation analysis confirmed that such transversion resulted in non-binding of Oct-1 transcription factor at 241 to 250 bp in C allele, causing down regulation of the gene. The mutations in the promoter sequence affected the transcriptional gene regulation affecting growth and fertility performance

Mechanistic Insights of Drug Resistance in <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> with Special Reference to Newer Antibiotics

Staphylococcus aureus is the most ubiquitous microorganism in both environment as well as animals and exists as commensal and pathogenic bacterium. In past few years it has been emerged as a superbug causing serious burden on healthcare system. This bacterium has been found to be the most resistant one toward most of the antibiotics due to its rapid structural and genetic modifications. This chapter will shed light on various types of molecular mechanisms responsible for resistance of Staphylococcus aureus showcasing how it has been emerged as a superbug. Moreover, the recent approaches which include exploring of different drug targets keeping in view the structural and functional behavior of the Staphylococcus aureus has also been discussed

Development and optimization of nanoparticles loaded with erucin, a dietary isothiocyanate isolated from Eruca sativa: Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities in ehrlich-ascites carcinoma cell line

The study on Erucin (ER) has gained interest of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries because of its anti-cancer properties. Erucin is an isothiocyanate obtained from the seeds of Eruca sativa which possess certain drawbacks such as poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability. Therefore, the present study aimed at developing ER-cubosomes (CUB) by solvent evaporation technique followed by applying Central Composite Design to optimize ER loaded cubosomes. For this purpose, independent variables selected were Monoolein (MO) as lipid and Pluronic-84 (P-84) as a stabilizer whereas dependent variables were particle size, percentage of ER loading and percentage of its entrapment efficiency. The cubosomal nanocarriers exhibited particle size in the range of 26 nm, entrapment efficiency of 99.12 ± 0.04% and drug loading of 3.96 ± 0.0001%. Furthermore, to investigate the antioxidant potential, we checked the effect of ER and ER-CUB by DNA nicking assay, DDPH assay and Phosphomolybdate assay, and results showed significant improvement in antioxidant potential for ER-CUB than ER. Similarly, ER-CUB showed enhanced anticancer activity with a marked reduction in IC50 value than ER in MTT assay. These results suggested that ER-CUB produced notable escalation in antioxidant potential and enhanced anticancer activity than ER