MODULATIONOF PUNGENCY AND MAJOR BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN PEPPER DUE TO AGRO-CLIMATIC DISCREPANCY: A CASE STUDY WITH CAPSICUM CHINENSE BHUT JOLOKIA FRUIT

Objectives: The use of pepper fruit is renowned for its capsaicin content that has numerous beneficial effects in food and pharmaceutical industry. However pepper fruits exhibit wide variations in the accumulation of capsaicin depending on agro-climatic conditions. Therefore, we have performed experiments to evaluate the variation of major bioactive compounds including capsaicin of world second hottest chili pepper BhutJolokia fruit across two different agro-climatic conditions.Methods: All the analysis was done according to standard protocols.Results: Biochemical combined with High Performance Thin layer Chromatography (HPTLC) analyses confirmed significant differences in major bioactive compounds including capsaicin due to the variation in agro-climatic conditions as well as elevation. It was observed that total phenolic and flavonoid content of BhutJolokia fruit (BJ-N) cultivated in Nagaland were more than 2-fold higher compared to the fruits (BJ-W) cultivated in West Bengal. The amount of capsaicin was found to be 4.345–folds higher in BJ-N compared to BJ-W. The Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that the chemical composition of the BhutJolokia fruits growing in two different geographical location also exhibit chemodiversity.Conclusion: An overabundance of the agro-climatic conditions likely to differ across the two different elevations. There may be a complex interaction among these different features that play a key role of this significant variation of fruit phenotype as well as major bioactive compounds. The decrease in elevation may be the key reason of the trade-offs of pungency and important secondary metabolites in pepper fruit cultivated in West Bengal.Â

Hepatoprotective Effect Of Allium Sativum And Acarus Calamus Extract In Cisplatin Induced Hepatotoxicity In Experimental Rats

The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not allium sativum and acarus calamus had a protective effect against the hepatotoxic effects of cisplatin when administered to experimental rats. The methods included randomly assigning rats to one of five different groups. Cisplatin was administered at a dosage of 7.5 mg/kg, which resulted in the induction of hepatotoxicity. Serum levels of AST, ALT, total bilirubin, and albumin, as well as hepatic hydroxy proline (HP), reduced glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA), cytokines, and NO were assessed. The findings of this research demonstrated that therapy with allium sativum and acarus calamus led to normal body and liver weights, but treatment with cisplatin led to reduced body weight and increased liver weight in rats. Cisplatin-treated rats exhibited elevated levels of serum AST, ALT, total bilirubin, HP, GSH, MDA, and cytokines. The administration of allium sativum and acarus calamus to rats resulted in a decrease in the oxidative stress, an inhibition of the production of cytokines in a dose-dependent manner, and protection against hepatotoxicity.  Allium sativum and acarus calamus were shown to have a protective effect against the hepatotoxicity caused by cisplatin, as was concluded by the research

CHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF NEEM LEAF GLYCOPROTEIN USED AS IMMUNOPROPHYLACTIC AGENT FOR TUMOR GROWTH RESTRICTION

Objective: Unique immune modulatory function of an aqueous preparation of neem leaf (NLP) in relation to cancer has already been reported. The objective of this present study is to find out the active component present in NLP.Methods: NLP was exposed to a gradient of temperature, pH and enzymes to use for mice immunization before tumor inoculation. Glycoprotein extracted from NLP was purified and analyzed by using Folin's phenol reagent, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, scanning electron microscopy and amino acid analysis. Carbohydrate moiety of this protein was analysed by GLC-MS. Immunogenicity was checked by ELISA and immunoblotting.Results: Exposure of NLP to adverse temperature and pH causes significant reduction in tumor growth restricting function of NLP. Treatment of NLP with proteolytic enzymes results abolition of the tumor growth restriction in mice. Biochemical assays indicated the presence of a glycoprotein in NLP, designated as neem leaf glycoprotein (NLGP) which appeared in non-denatured PAGE as a single band, and as three bands in SDS-PAGE having molecular weights 48 Kda, 24 Kda and 15 Kda. NLGP constitutes the carbohydrate moiety of about 33% consisting of arabinose, galactose and glucose. This glycoprotein consisted of seventeen amino acids of which nine were essential. Immunogenecity of this protein was defined by strong reaction of the ant-NLGP sera with NLGP by ELISA and immunoblot.Conclusion: Overall results demonstrated the immense potential of newly identified NLGP, present in NLP as an immunoprophylactic agent for tumor growth restriction.Â

mechanistic promiscuity in hydrogen atom abstraction reactions

In addition to oxometal [Mn+[double bond, length as m-dash]O] and imidometal [Mn+[double bond, length as m-dash]NR] units, transient metal–iodosylarene [M(n−2)+–O[double bond, length as m-dash]IPh] and metal–iminoiodane [M(n−2)+–N(R)[double bond, length as m-dash]IPh] adducts are often invoked as a possible “second oxidant” responsible for the oxo and imido group transfer reactivity. Although a few metal–iodosylarene adducts have been recently isolated and/or spectroscopically characterized, metal–iminoiodane adducts have remained elusive. Herein, we provide UV-Vis, EPR, NMR, XAS and DFT evidence supporting the formation of a metal–iminoiodane complex 2 and its scandium adduct 2-Sc. 2 and 2-Sc are reactive toward substrates in the hydrogen-atom and nitrene transfer reactions, which confirm their potential as active oxidants in metal-catalyzed oxidative transformations. Oxidation of para-substituted 2,6-di-tert-butylphenols by 2 and 2-Sc can occur by both coupled and uncoupled proton and electron transfer mechanisms; the exact mechanism depends on the nature of the para substituent

Antibacterial activities of gold and silver nanoparticles against Escherichia coli and bacillus Calmette-Guérin

BACKGROUND: Diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) have always had a large impact on human health. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is used as a surrogate for TB during the development of anti-TB drugs. Nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted great interest in drug development. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of NPs as anti-TB compounds by studying the interacting mechanisms between NPs and bacteria. RESULTS: We investigated effects of gold and silver NPs on BCG and Escherichia coli. Experimentally, particle size and shape were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Different concentrations of NPs were applied in bacterial culture. The growth of E. coli was monitored through colony forming units (CFU). The mechanism of interaction between NPs and bacteria was analyzed through bacterial thin sections followed by TEM and scanning electron microscopy. Antibacterial effects on BCG were observed by recording fluorescent protein expression levels. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest NPs have potential applications as anti-TB compounds. The antibacterial effects and mechanism of action for NPs were dependent upon composition and surface modifications