Isolation and Characterization of Antibacterial Compounds from <i>Aspergillus fumigatus:</i> An Endophytic Fungus from a Mangrove Plant of the Sundarbans.

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO world heritage site, is one of the largest mangrove forests in one stretch. Mangrove plants from this forest are little studied for their endophytic fungi. In this study, we isolated fourteen endophytic fungi from the plants Ceriops decandra and Avicennia officinalis collected from the Sundarbans. Five of them were identified as Aspergillus sp. and one as Penicillium sp. by macroscopic and microscopic observation. Antibacterial activity of the crude extracts obtained from these endophytes was determined against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using resazurin-based microtiter assay. The isolated endophytes showed varying degrees of antibacterial activity with MICs ranging between 5 and 0.078 mg/mL. Molecular identification of the most active endophyte revealed its identity as Aspergillus fumigatus obtained from the leaves of C. decandra. Acute toxicity study of the ethyl acetate extract of A. fumigatus in mice revealed no mortality even at the highest dose of 2000 mg/kg bodyweight, though some opposing results are found in the subacute toxicity study. The extract was subjected to silica gel and Sephadex column chromatography resulting in the isolation of three pure compounds. LC-MS analysis of these pure compounds revealed their identity as fumigaclavine C, azaspirofuran B, and fraxetin. This is the first report of fraxetin from A. fumigatus. All three identified compounds were previously reported for their antibacterial activity against different strains of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, the observed antibacterial activity of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract of A. fumigatus could be due to the presence of these compounds. These results support the notion of investigating fungal endophytes from the Sundarbans for new antimicrobial compounds

A systematic review on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) oil and further confirmation of anti-inflammatory activity by chemical profiling and molecular docking

Traditionally sesame oil has been used as a popular food and medicine. The review aims to summarize the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of sesame oil (SO) and its identified compounds as well as further fatty acid profiling and molecular docking study to correlate the interaction of its identified constituents with COX-2. For this, a literature study was made using Google Scholar, Pubmed and SciFinder databases. Literature study demonstrated that SO has potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in various test systems, including humans, animals and cultured cells through various pathways such as inhibition of COX, non-enzymatic defense mechanism, inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines, NF-kB or MAPK signaling and prostaglandin synthesis pathway. Fatty acidanalysis of SO using gas chromatography identified known 9 fatty acids.In-silico study revealed thatsesamin, sesaminol, sesamolin, stigmasterol, Δ5-avenasterol, and Δ7-avenasterol(-9.6 to -10.7 kcal/mol) were the most efficient ligand for interaction and binding with COX-2. The known fatty acid were also showed binding efficiency with COX-2 to some extent (-6.0 to -8.4 kcal/mol).In summary, it is evident that sesame oil may be one of promising traditional medicine that we could use in the prevention and management of diseases associated with oxidative stress and inflammation

A systematic review on anti-diabetic and cardioprotective effects of gallic acid: A widespread dietary phytoconstituent

Gallic acid (GA) is a bioactive phytoconstituent that has been reported to prevent a number of diseases. However, there is no systematic review to-date on its anti-diabetic and cardioprotective potential including molecular mechanisms for such activities. This review aims to summarize the anti-diabetic and cardioprotective effects of GA and further propose a molecular mechanism of its anti-diabetic effects. Accumulation of associated literature was conducted through the use of databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct and Scopus databases. Articles published until December 2018 were extracted and all the retracted articles were sorted based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and relevant articles were further consulted for necessary information. We have found substantial investigations in animals and cultured cells that supports anti-diabetic and cardioprotective effects of GA with several underlying mechanisms including antioxidant enzyme systems and non-enzymatic defense mechanisms. The reported antioxidant activity of GA as well as the modulation of some key proteins linked to diabetes could be a part of the mechanisms by which GA showed anti-diabetic effect. In summary, it is evident that GA is one of the promising dietary phytochemicals that could be beneficial for the treatment and management of diabetes and associated myocardial damage