In vitro evaluation of antimicrobial and cytotoxic potential of Epimedium grandiflorum hydroethanolic extract as natural medicine

Medicinal plants are used as fundamental and low-cost source for remedy of numbers of infectious and metabolic diseases in developing and developed countries. Current research work was planned to evaluate the antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic potential of hydroethanolic extract of E. grandiflorum. It was found that selected natural medicinal herb have significant (p<0.05) antibacterial activities tested against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pasteurella multocida, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter species, Pseudomonas Species and Salmonella Species. The results of bacterial biofilm inhibition also explored that selected natural herb has significant (p<0.05) capacity to prevent the microbial biofilm particularly at higher dose. The results of antifungal activities showed that selected medicinal plant has significant (p<0.05) antifungal potential evaluated against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Fusarium solani, Alternata alternaria, and Schizophyllum species. Moreover, the results of mutagenicity test and DNA damage preventive test explored that selective medicinal plant has significant (p<0.05) DNA protective capacity or in other words it is non-mutagenic or cytotoxic in nature. It could be concluded that E. grandiflorum could be a potential candidate as therapeutic agent to manage infectious diseases especial bacterial and fungal infections with non-toxic nature

Study of Gc-ms And Hplc Characterized Metabolic Compounds in Guava (Psidium Guajava L.) Leaves

Psidium guajava leaves are rich source of nutrients, antioxidants, phytoconstituents and biological active compounds. The study was designed to elucidate secondary metabolites like alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins and glycosides in extracts of guava leaves through Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) by qualitative as well as quantitative procedures. These metabolites were further tested for their antimicrobial potential against two-gram positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and two-gram negative (Escherichia coli and Pasteurella multocida) bacteria and three pathogenic fungal strains (Asprrgillus niger, Fusarium solani and Aspergillus flavus). GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of major constituents like Ca- Caryophyllene (22.70%), α cubebene (11.2%) and alpha Humulene (5.91%). The ethyl-acetate, methanol, n-hexane and chloroform extracts were tested for antibacterial and antifungal activities against above mentioned microbes. Among all the tested solvent extracts, Chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts of P. guajava demonstrated more sensitivity towards the growth of B. subtilis and P. multocida with MIC of 230±3.02, 316. ±6.2 and 237±5.09 and 288±1.55 μg/ml, respectively. Methanolic extracts showed higher MIC against S. aureus (233±5.51 μg/ml) and E. coli (192±2.05 μg/ml), respectively. The findings of this current study would provide the way to use guava as a potential therapeutic agent to combat antimicrobial and antifungal resistance

Awareness to Handle Research and Healthcare Waste (RHCW) in teaching and research institutes; a comprehensive review

Environmental pollution has become the major challenge not only for developing countries but also for developed ones Worldwide. The major goal of this comprehensive review is to compile the reference data regarding the different types of waste generated in teaching, research, and healthcare institutes and specific strategy to manage such wastes. In addition to the pharmaceutical, leather, chemicals, food, and paper industries, teaching, research, and healthcare institutions are also significant sources of different types of Non-hazardous as well as hazardous wastes. Therefore, a simple and implementable guideline for cleaning and waste disposal services in such institutions requires strict adherence to applicable policies and procedures. Research and healthcare waste (RHCW) management is a joint effort among Research Laboratory Personnel, Healthcare facilitators, Building Services Personnel, and Local Environmental Health and Safety Personnel. As Pakistan is among the developing countries situated in South Asia, most of the institutes, including teaching, research, and healthcare, try to follow the WHO guidance or manage hazardous and non-hazardous wastes with self-planned strategies. Although most of the local Governing bodies and Institutional bodies are trying to handle the wastes at their levels by following different protocols, introducing a protocol at the National level is the need of the current era to fight against environmental pollutants.

Lignin as Natural Antioxidant Capacity

Cell wall of various plants contains an organic polymer lignin. Lignin makes significant structural constituents that support of vascular plants tissues, some types of algae and makes plants stiff and woody. Chemically lignin composed of cross-linked phenolic polymers and Kraft lignin dissolved in the unsaturated resin system. Lignin is a vastly available and well-studied antioxidant. They work as antioxidant against the biological, chemical and mechanical stress on plants. The substance that removes potentially damaged oxidizing agents in a living organism is regarded as antioxidant. Lignin contains a huge amount of phenolic constructions that enable it to act as an effectual antioxidant. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) observed decreases in some oxidative aging products and maintained the idea that lignin play role as an effective antioxidant. It was discovered that antioxidant action of lignin varies with the molecular characteristics, isolation method and genetic origin. Capacity of lignin to scavenge the radicals that are involved in the oxidation is affected by partial dispersion into polymer matrix. Antioxidant activities of various technical lignins are determined. Chemical changes in lignin could result in products with characteristics that can be used in special industrial divisions

Secondary Metabolites from <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> Species with Anticancer Potential

Chemotherapeutic agents produce from numerous sources such as animals, plants and micro-organisms are derived from the natural products. Although the existing therapeutic pipeline lacks fungal-derived metabolites, but hundreds of secondary metabolites derived from fungi are known to be possible chemotherapies. Over the past three decades, several secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic and polyketides have been developed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae species with exciting activities that considered valued for the growth of new chemotherapeutic agents. Many secondary metabolites are protective compounds which prevent abiotic and biotic stresses, i.e. predation, infection, drought and ultraviolet. Though not taking part in a living cell’s central metabolism, secondary metabolites play an important role in the function of an organism. Nevertheless, due to slow biomass build-up and inadequate synthesis by the natural host the yield of secondary metabolites is low by direct isolation. A detailed comprehension of biosynthetic pathways for development of secondary metabolites are necessary for S. cerevisiae biotransformation. These metabolites have higher inhibitory effect, specificity among cancer and normal cells, and the mechanism of non-apoptotic cell killing. This study shows the significance of bioactive compounds produced by S. cerevisiae species with their possible activity and value in chemotherapeutic drugs pipeline. The isolation and alteration of these natural secondary metabolites would promote the development of chemotherapeutic drugs

Exploring the Level of Managerial, Political, Academic, Economic and Social Women Empowerment in Saudi Arabia

Women empowerment may be utilized for sustainable development by using hidden un-utilized potential of the country. The present research is estimated the perception-based level of managerial, academic, economic, political and social women empowerment from a well-structured questionnaire. The Cronbach Alpha test is corroborated the reliability of each item in the hypothesized women empowerment dimension. We corroborate the satisfactory level of women empowerment in all hypothesized dimensions as per perception of the respondents. The highest average score is found for social women empowerment. It means that social women empowerment played a greatest role among others to empower the Saudi women. The second rank is achieved by academic women empowerment and the third position is for economic empowerment. Thus, economic empowerment and academic empowerment are playing their significant role in empowering the Saudi women. The lowest average mean is found for political empowerment. Hence, political domain need attention to provide women rights in political participation and processes

Occurrence and Characterization of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Processed Raw Foods and Ready-to-Eat Foods in an Urban Setting of a Developing Country

Infections by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are gradually increasing in the community. In this study, we investigated a total of 162 food samples including 112 ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and 40 processed raw meat and fish samples collected from retail vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh and determined the occurrence of toxigenic S. aureus and MRSA. Around 22% of samples were positive for S. aureus, RTE foods being more positive (23%) than the processed raw meat/fish samples (18%). Among 35 S. aureus isolates, 74% were resistant to erythromycin, 49% to ciprofloxacin and around 30% to oxacillin and cefoxitin. Around 37% of isolates were resistant to ≥3 classes of antibiotics and 26% of isolates (n = 9) were identified as MRSA. Majority of the isolates were positive for enterotoxin genes (74%), followed by pvl gene (71%), toxic shock syndrome toxin (tsst) gene (17%) and exfoliative toxin genes (11%). Multi locus sequence typing (MLST) of 9 MRSA isolates identified four different types such as ST80 (n = 3), ST6 (n = 2), ST239 (n = 2) and ST361 (n = 2). spa typing of MRSA isolates revealed seven different types including t1198 (n = 2), t315 (n = 2), t037 (n = 1), t275 (n = 1), t304 (n = 1), t8731 (n = 1) and t10546 (n = 1). To our knowledge, this is the first report entailing baseline data on the occurrence of MRSA in RTE foods in Dhaka highlighting a potential public health risk to street food consumers

Human knockouts and phenotypic analysis in a cohort with a high rate of consanguinity

A major goal of biomedicine is to understand the function of every gene in the human genome. Loss-of-function mutations can disrupt both copies of a given gene in humans and phenotypic analysis of such 'human knockouts' can provide insight into gene function. Consanguineous unions are more likely to result in offspring carrying homozygous loss-of-function mutations. In Pakistan, consanguinity rates are notably high. Here we sequence the protein-coding regions of 10,503 adult participants in the Pakistan Risk of Myocardial Infarction Study (PROMIS), designed to understand the determinants of cardiometabolic diseases in individuals from South Asia. We identified individuals carrying homozygous predicted loss-of-function (pLoF) mutations, and performed phenotypic analysis involving more than 200 biochemical and disease traits. We enumerated 49,138 rare (<1% minor allele frequency) pLoF mutations. These pLoF mutations are estimated to knock out 1,317 genes, each in at least one participant. Homozygosity for pLoF mutations at PLA2G7 was associated with absent enzymatic activity of soluble lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2; at CYP2F1, with higher plasma interleukin-8 concentrations; at TREH, with lower concentrations of apoB-containing lipoprotein subfractions; at either A3GALT2 or NRG4, with markedly reduced plasma insulin C-peptide concentrations; and at SLC9A3R1, with mediators of calcium and phosphate signalling. Heterozygous deficiency of APOC3 has been shown to protect against coronary heart disease; we identified APOC3 homozygous pLoF carriers in our cohort. We recruited these human knockouts and challenged them with an oral fat load. Compared with family members lacking the mutation, individuals with APOC3 knocked out displayed marked blunting of the usual post-prandial rise in plasma triglycerides. Overall, these observations provide a roadmap for a 'human knockout project', a systematic effort to understand the phenotypic consequences of complete disruption of genes in humans.D.S. is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Fogarty International, the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation, and Pfizer. P.N. is supported by the John S. LaDue Memorial Fellowship in Cardiology from Harvard Medical School. H.-H.W. is supported by a grant from the Samsung Medical Center, Korea (SMO116163). S.K. is supported by the Ofer and Shelly Nemirovsky MGH Research Scholar Award and by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01HL107816), the Donovan Family Foundation, and Fondation Leducq. Exome sequencing was supported by a grant from the NHGRI (5U54HG003067-11) to S.G. and E.S.L. D.G.M. is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01GM104371). J.D. holds a British Heart Foundation Chair, European Research Council Senior Investigator Award, and NIHR Senior Investigator Award. The Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, which supported the field work and genotyping of PROMIS, is funded by the UK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, and NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre ... Fieldwork in the PROMIS study has been supported through funds available to investigators at the Center for Non-Communicable Diseases, Pakistan and the University of Cambridge, UK

Dengue viral infection deteriorates vitamin D, K, thrombopoietin, and angiotensinogen levels in humans

Dengue fever is the most significant arthropod-transmitted viral disease in terms of mortality and morbidity, affecting at least 50 million people around the world. It is commonly recognized as “breakbone” fever as it is mostly associated with severe muscle and joint pain. The objective of the study was to evaluate and assess the levels of selected vitamins and hormones in serum of dengue patients from Faisalabad, Pakistan. Estimation of serum levels of vitamins D 3 and K was carried out through spectrophotometer, while concentration of serum hormones, angiotensinogen and thrombopoietin, was determined through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit method. Hematological blood parameters were also investigated. Hematological parameters significantly ( P   0.05). Among the tested hormones, angiotensinogen level was found significantly ( P   0.05) higher compared to control group. In conclusion, the results of the current study demonstrated the significance of tested vitamins and hormones along with blood parameters in monitoring the dengue infected patients