REVIEW ON ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES OF NUTRACEUTICAL PLANT: CAPPARIS SPINOSA L. (CAPER)

Objective: Capparis spinosa L. (Caper) is a perennial spiny bush that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and big white to pinkish-white flowers. It is nativeto the Mediterranean region and growing wild on walls or in rocky coastal areas throughout India. Even though it has been used in traditional Indiansystem of medicines for various human diseases, the summation of its medicinal properties is lacking. Hence, the present review focused to providecollective information regarding the medicinal value of C. spinosa.Methods: Literatures were collected from online resources like Scopus, Sciencedirect etc., related to the pharmacological activities of Capparis spinosaand the available information were summarized and given in the review.Results: C. spinosa has anthelminthic, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, cardiovascular,chondroprotective, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, antiallergic and antihistaminic, immunomodulatory, anticarcinogenic, and antihepatotoxic activity.The phytochemicals identified in this plant were lipids, alkaloids, glucocapperin, and polyphenols.Conclusion: This review attempts to encompass the available literature on C. spinosa with respect to its pharmacognostic characters, chemicalconstituents, nutritional characters, various pharmacological activities, traditional uses, and modern use.Keywords: Capparis spinosa L., Caper, Medicinal properties, Nutritional value, Phytochemicals

DOCKING STUDIES ON ANTIDIABETIC MOLECULAR TARGETS OF PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OF SYZYGIUM CUMINI (L.) SKEELS

ABSTRACTObjectives: Different parts of jamun tree (Syzygium cumini L. skeels) which belongs to the family - Myrtaceae are well-known for their antidiabeticactivity. Traditional practitioners in India are using the leaf, bark, and fruits of this medicinal plant over many centuries to manage the diabeticpatients. Although several research works have been conducted to prove the efficacy of this plant extracts and also to explore the active principles ofthis plant drug, there is no information regarding the interaction of phytoconstituents of jamun tree with diabetic targets at the molecular level. Hence,this study focused to apply a computational approach to reveal the interaction of molecules of jamun tree with antidiabetic targets.Methods: Lamarckian genetic algorithm methodology was used for docking of 22 phytoconstituents with α-amylase, a key enzyme that involved incarbohydrate metabolism using Autodock software.Results: Analysis of binding energy of ligands with target receptors was remarkably lower especially for friedelin (−9.54 kcal/mol), epifriedelanol(−8.98 kcal/mol), betulinic acid (−8.60 kcal/mol), beta-sitosterol (−8.56 kcal/mol), petunidin-3-gentiobioside (−7.52 kcal/mol), kaempferol (−7.08kcal/mol), petunidin (−6.21 kcal/mol), quercetin (−6.03 kcal/mol), myricetin (−5.80 kcal/mol), and bergenin (−5.27 kcal/mol) when compared tothe synthetic drug acarbose (−2.43 kcal/mol).Conclusion: Potential molecules identified from this study could be considered as a lead to design/synthesize anti-diabetic drug molecules inpharmaceutical industry.Keywords: Jamun tree, Syzygium cumini, Phytochemicals, Diabetes, α-amylase, Molecular docking

COMPARATIVE ANTI-OXIDANT AND ANTHELMINTIC ACTVITY OF DALBERGIA SISSOO ROXB EX DC AND DALBERGIA LATIFOLIA ROXB EX DC

Objective: Anti-oxidant and anthelmintic activity of the ethanolic extracts of the leaves of the Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. ex DC and Dalbergia latifolia Roxb. ex DC were measured by means of the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay and Indian earth worms respectively. Methods: A synthetic antioxidant, Butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA) was used as a standard in antioxidant assay whereas Albendazole was used as standard in anthelmintic activity. Results: The results revealed that the ethanolic extracts of both the leaves of the Dalbergia sissoo and Dalbergia latifolia. showed maximum antioxidant activity at 300 µg/ml and highest anthelmintic activity at 200 mg/ml. Conclusion: The present study indicates the potential usefulness of Dalbergia sissoo and Dalbergia latifolia leaves as an anti-oxidant and anthelmintic

MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLE-BASED APPROACHES IN CANCER THERAPY–A CRITICAL REVIEW

Cancer is definitely one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Failure in the efficacy of the standard treatments (chemo-, radiotherapy and surgery), and the severe side effects, resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapeutics have necessitated alternative therapeutic strategies. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been assessed as potential cancer therapy materials. Their intrinsic magnetic properties provide a cancer detection, monitoring, and therapy platform based on multimodal theranostics. MNPs can be functionalized by binding them to a wide variety of substances, including chemotherapeutic drugs, radionuclides, nucleic acids, and antibodies. They can be used for drug delivery, magnetic or photothermal induced local hyperthermia and photodynamic therapy aimed at killing cancer cells at the tumor site. MNPs may also be useful to challenge drug resistance. The combination of different options of these treatment modalities offers a synergistic effect and significantly reduces the side effects. The functionalized MNPs may be used to remove the unwanted cells from blood, including leukemia cells and circulating tumor cells that key factors in the metastatic process. Despite numerous successful studies, there are still some unpredictable obstacles relevant to the use of MNPs in cancer therapy. This review mainly focuses on the application of MNPs in cancer treatment, covering future perspectives and challenges aspects

PHARMACOGNOSTIC EVALUATION OF ABIES WEBBIANA LEAF: A SIDDHA HERBAL INGREDIENT

ABSTRACTObjectives: To evaluate the therapeutic potential of Abies webbiana (Wall ex D. Don) Lindl, plants leaves belongs to Pinaceae family are grown inNorthern India, Afghanistan, China (Tibet), Nepal, and Pakistan. It is a large tree grows up to 50 m height. Leaves of this plant are useful in Siddha andAyurveda Systems of Medicine. It acts as an expectorant, carminative, stomachic, and tonic. It is the main ingredient in the Siddha formulations suchas Thalisathi choornam and Thalisadi vadagam, which are used for respiratory problems such as cold, cough, wheezing, tuberculosis, indigestion, lossof appetite, and vatha diseases.Methods: In this study, we have investigated the phytochemical profile, pharmacognostic characters, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) compounds of methanolic extract of A. webbiana leaves.Results: Phytochemical screening showed the presence of steroids, terpenes, sugars, phenols, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and quinones. The leafmaterial revealed loss on drying (6.90%), total ash (5.23%), acid-insoluble ash (0.57%), water-soluble extractive (23.79%), alcohol-soluble extractive(18.37%), and pH was 5.25. 29 compounds were detected in GC-MS analysis and benzenepropanol, 4-hydroxy-à-methyl, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, and5-(hydroxymethyl) are the predominant components.Conclusions: This study provides the pharmacognostic standards of A. webbiana leaf for their authentication and utilization in herbal medicine.Keywords: Abies webbiana, Pharmacognosy, Phytochemicals, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Herbal medicine

Fodder plants and foraging behaviour of Asian elephants in Srivilliputhur Elephant Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India

The Srivilliputhur Elephant Reserve is one of India's 32 elephant reserves. It is home to wild elephants as well as other wildlife. This study aims to document the fodder plants and foraging behaviour of elephants in the Srivilliputhur Elephant Reserve. Elephants in the Srivilliputhur Elephant Reserve consumed 61 plant species from 25 different families. In the current study, the majority of the fodder plants of Asian Elephants belonged to the families of Fabaceae, Poaceae, and Malvaceae. Elephants were found to feed more frequently on trees (66%), followed by shrubs (16%), herbs (9%), and climbers (6%). It was observed that the elephants ate both the browsing tree and grazing grass species during the wet season, but browsing tree species dominated during the dry season

A STUDY ON ANTIMICROBIAL SENSITIVITY AND COST ANALYSIS OF ANTIBIOTICS IN PEDIATRIC UNIT AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL.

 Objectives: (1) To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in pediatrics, (2) to identify the pattern of empirical antibiotic usage, (3) to determine the cost analysis of generic antibiotic usage pattern, (4) to assess the different dosage forms of antibiotics.Methods: A retrospective observational study was carried out. The study population included the medical records of children aged day 1–15 years with bacterial infection who got admitted in the pediatric department of the hospital. The average cost for each generic dosage form of antibiotic was calculated.Result: Among the 176 cases taken for the study, sepsis (35.8%) was found to be the most common disease. Bacterial infection showed gender predominance in males (62.5%) and occurrence of sepsis was highly found in age groups of 0–1 years (55.68%). Among the 14 causative organisms, methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci (61.93%) was predominant in Gram-positive and Escherichia coli (38.06%) for Gram-negative. Highly prescribed drug for empirical therapy was considered to be amikacin (39.20%). Widely prescribed antibiotics were amikacin (21%), ceftriaxone (15.1%), ampicillin (12.34%) and meropenem (9.57%), among which meropenem was found to be of high cost.Conclusion: It should be taken care that the drug should be given not only based on the sensitivity pattern but can also consider the economic affordability of the patient, with reference to existing brands from the formulary. This would help in reducing the burden of health-care cost for the patients

A PROSPECTIVE STUDY FOR THE EVALUATION OF NERVE CONDUCTION ABNORMALITIES IN NEWLY DIAGNOSED TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

Objectives: Peripheral neuropathy is the one of the frequently encountered complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although, the prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy is associated with the diabetes duration, in some cases, the state of neuropathy is evident at the time of diagnosis. In this backdrop, the present study was carried out to evaluate the nerve conduction abnormalities in newly diagnosed T2DM. Methods: This was a prospective study carried out on 30 newly diagnosed T2DM within a time range of 1 month. The patient symptoms such as weakness, burning and tingling senzation, hyperesthesia, and foot ulcer and gait abnormalities were recorded. Nerve conduction analysis of upper limb and lower limb of non-dominant hand side was done using neuro pack S1 machine. Results: Thirty newly diagnosed T2DM patients were enrolled in the present study. The mean age of the patients was found to be 58.12±15.28 years. Distal motor latencies were elevated in T2DM patients as compared to the controls (p<0.05). Further, there was significant prolongation of F-wave latencies in the upper and Lower limbs of the patients as compared to the controls (p<0.05). In addition, there was a significant decrease in sensory conduction velocities in T2DM patients as that of the controls (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study concludes that newly diagnosed T2DM is susceptible to DPN with high incidence rates. Hence, it is essential to perform the nerve conduction studies in newly diagnosed T2DM patients for the early detection and better management and also to prevent the complications

SMART TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS: IOT-CONNECTED WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS FOR TRAFFIC CONGESTION MANAGEMENT

Smart Transportation Systems (STS) are crucial to alleviating urban traffic congestion. This paper examines how gridlock managers might use IoT-related remote sensor networks to improve transportation productivity and flexibility. The study's initial inquiry examines traffic congestion's negative consequences on cities, including increased travel time, fuel consumption, and pollution. It emphasizes the need for creative solutions to reduce traffic and improve urban life. The solution's IoT-enabled wireless sensor networks simplify real-time data collection and analysis. A dense sensor network at important traffic sites can collect significant data on traffic flow, vehicle density, and road conditions. This data enables smart traffic management methods and better transportation systems. Sensor hubs, information transmission standards, and information analysis methodologies are examined in the exploratory article. It discusses network-sending challenges such as power productivity, flexibility, and information security and proposes solutions. The essay also considers synergies with autonomous cars, smart traffic signal systems, and IoT-connected wireless sensor networks in transportation infrastructure. These pairings boost gridlock executives' viability and STS's future. An IoT-associated remote sensor network was dispatched to a metropolitan region in the exploration piece to test the proposed configuration. The research examines the data, how traffic management tactics were applied, and how traffic flow, trip time, and environmental sustainability improved. This research shows that IoT-connected wireless sensor networks may transform smart transportation system traffic congestion management. Advanced analytics and real-time data may help cities reduce congestion, increase mobility, and develop sustainable cities