Study of Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Artocarpus heterophyllus

In today’s world, search for natural medicines is increasing as a result of drug resistance of pathogens and also due to negative consequences of antibiotic. Presence of phytochemicals, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activity of Artocarpus heterophyllus was carried out in this study. Leaf of this plant was subjected to warm extraction with three different solvents namely methanol, aqueous methanol and ethyl acetate. Leaf extract showed the presence of coumarin, alkaloid, terpenoid in methanol solvent; tannin, coumarin, saponin in aqueous methanol extract and coumarin, terpenoids in ethyl acetate solvent. Further, antimicrobial activity was assessed through disc diffusion method with six pathological bacteria and two fungi strains in four different concentrations of plant extract. Largest ZOI of 16mm was obtained against B. subtilis in 200mg/ml concentration for ethyl acetate extract. Antioxidant potential was measured by DPPH (Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assay. DPPH free radical Scavenging Activity was expressed in % inhibition with L Ascorbic acid as standard and leaf extract in methanol showed the best activity

The association between smoking prevalence and eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and Aims: Cigarette smoking is associated with severe mental illness, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and with morbidity and mortality, but the association with anorexia (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) is unclear. This meta-analysis compared the odds of smoking in eating disorders (ED) (ED = AN or BN or BED) versus healthy controls (HC) and calculated the prevalence of smokers in people with ED.  Methods: Three independent authors searched PubMed, MEDLINE and Scopus from database inception until 31 December 2015 for studies reporting data on life-time or current smoking prevalence in BED, BN and AN with or without control group. Meta-analyses were undertaken, calculating odds ratios (ORs) of life-time smoking in BED, BN, AN versus healthy controls (HCs) or prevalence of smoking in BED, BN and AN with 95% confidence intervals (CI).  Results: Thirty-one studies (ED = 8517, controls = 68 335) were meta-analysed. Compared with HCs, there were significantly more smokers among people with BN (life-time OR = 2.165) and BED (life-time OR = 1.792) but not AN (life-time OR = 0.927). BED was associated with smoking the most (life-time prevalence = 47.73%) followed by BN (life-time prevalence = 39.4%) and AN (life-time prevalence = 30.8%). In BN, life-time smoking prevalence was highest in Europe. In AN, higher age moderated both life-time and current smoking prevalence, and body mass index moderated higher life-time smoking prevalence. In BN, female sex moderated higher life-time smoking prevalence.  Conclusions: People with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa are significantly more likely to be life-time smokers than healthy controls, which is not the case for anorexia nervosa

Biochemical, Antimicrobial, and Antioxidant activities of some wild Mushrooms from Nepal

Wild mushrooms represent a crucial dietary staple for many tribal groups throughout the world since they consist of a significant source of bioactive constituents such as phenolic compounds, tocopherol, and act as anti-cancer, anti-allergic, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory compounds, etc. Wild mushrooms including Scleroderma citrinum, Heterobasidion annosum, Coriolus hirsutus, Cavimalum indicum, Russula sanguinea, and Suillus punctatipes were studied to evaluate their phytochemical constituents, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, toxicity and its importance as a source of food along with safety concerns. Initially, the total flavonoid content (TFC), total phenolic content (TPC), and total tannin content (TTC) along with antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity were assessed using ethanolic extracts of fungus. Furthermore, a Brine shrimp bioassay was performed, the correlation of which with antioxidant activity, TPC, TFC, TTC, and lethal concentration (LC50) value was shown by principal component analysis (PCA). Secondary metabolites like glucosides, flavonoids, polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, saponins, and quinones were identified using phytochemical investigations. The TPC ranged from 45.98 to 102.3 mg GAE/g for the extracts, TFC from 100 to 225 mg QE/g, and the TTC was found to vary between 80 to 180 mg GAE/g. The findings of the antioxidant studies demonstrated that S. punctatipes exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 16.95 µg/mL), followed by C. indicum (IC50 = 22.5 µg/mL), and C. hirsutus (IC50 = 35.34 µg/mL). Likewise, S. punctatipes exhibited strong antimicrobial activity as compared to other extracts. The larvicidal efficacy against brine shrimp tests revealed that three mushrooms; C. hirsutus, C. indicum, and S. punctatipes—contain highly toxic substances while the other three are non-toxic and when properly examined can be consumed to some extent

Study of Phytochemical, Anti-Microbial, Anti-Oxidant, Phytotoxic, and Immunomodulatory Activity Properties of Bauhinia variegata

There is growing interest in the use plants for the treatment and prevention of cancer and are currently being evaluated as promising anticancer agents. In this paper, we investigated the anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, phytotoxic and immunomodulatory of plant Bauhinia variegata and also established the presence of important phytoconstituents which might signify its anticancer property. Phytochemical screening, anti-microbial assay, phytotoxicity assay, anti-oxidant assay and immunomodulatory analysis was done according to the protocol established at Department of Biotechnology, Kathmandu University and Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, University of Karachi, Pakistan. In the phytochemical screening, we observed the presence of different phytochemicals like steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids, reducing sugars and glycosides. In case of Antimicrobial assay, the plant was found to be most effective against B.cereus with the highest zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 12mm and against Rhizopus with ZOI of 11mm. During the antioxidant assay in comparison to Ascorbic acid; at highest concentration, the scavenging activity shown by the plant Bauhinia variegata are 43.38% as compared to ascorbic acid 89.25%. In the Immunomodulatory assay at the highest concentration i.e. 250 µg/ml, the plant showed 75.1% effect, which showed that the plant has potential anti-inflammatory potential. In phytotoxicity assay, Bauhinia variegata showed 20% phytotoxicity. Bauhinia variegata has thus been proven to be an important candidate to be used as an antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, phytotoxic and anticancer agent. Separation of pure compounds with bioassay guided extraction, spectrometric analysis and subsequent cytotoxicity assay of the pure bioactive compounds from Bauhinia variegate is highly recommended as crude extract itself showed promising phytotoxicity and other pharmaceutical potential

ATP Synthase: Structure, Function and Inhibition

Oxidative phosphorylation is carried out by five complexes, which are the sites for electron transport and ATP synthesis. Among those, Complex V (also known as the F1F0 ATP Synthase or ATPase) is responsible for the generation of ATP through phosphorylation of ADP by using electrochemical energy generated by proton gradient across the inner membrane of mitochondria. A multi subunit structure that works like a pump functions along the proton gradient across the membranes which not only results in ATP synthesis and breakdown, but also facilitates electron transport. Since ATP is the major energy currency in all living cells, its synthesis and function have widely been studied over the last few decades uncovering several aspects of ATP synthase. This review intends to summarize the structure, function and inhibition of the ATP synthase

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of minocycline in schizophrenia

Our aim was to perform an updated systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of adjunctive minocycline as a treatment of schizophrenia