Antioxidant and antimitotic activities of sulfated polysaccharide from marine brown algae Padina tetrastromatica

Antioxidants play a central role in the prevention of carcinogenesis. The most natural compounds exhibit their protective effects by eliciting antioxidant potential. Sulfated polysaccharide was isolated from the brown algae Padina tetrastromatica, then purified and evaluated for its composition and in vitro antioxidant and antimitotic activities. Both ethanolic sulfated polysaccharide (ESPS) and ethanolic sulfated polysaccharide-column purified (ESPS-CP) exhibited considerable amount of carbohydrates (11.2% and 17.6%), sulfate (11.4% and 7.4%), fucose (5.5% and 15.7%), uronic acid (4.7% and 11.8%), xylose (0.5% and 0.03%) and sulfated polysaccharide (2.4% and 12.7%) content. The FTIR analysis and phytochemical screening also confirmed the presence of sulfated polysaccharides. In the in vitro antioxidant activity determination using DPPH (1-1-diphenyl 2-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, superoxide anion scavenging activity, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity and reducing power, ESPS showed more activity than ESPS-CP. In the case of nitric oxide radical scavenging, ESPS-CP was found to be more effective. At a concentration of 2mg/ml, both samples were potent antioxidants with significant IC50 values. The antimitotic studies such as mitotic index in onion root tips and sprouting assay in green gram seeds also proved that both the extracts are able to prevent mitosis. The extrapolation of these results can find opportunities in therapeutic regiments of cancer

Bifunctional eff ect of fucoidan from Padina tetrastromatica against human pathogenic microbes and free radicals

The antibacterial and antioxidant effect of fucoidan fractions isolated from brown algae Padina tetrastromatica was evaluated. Even though the polysaccharide was found to be a fucan, the composition of this polysaccharide is different from those reported, and the antibacterial and antioxidant effect has not been reported so far. Three fractions (F1, F2, and F3) were isolated by anion-exchange column chromatography. Chemical analysis suggested that the polysaccharide fractions contained a significant amount of sulfate and fucose, galactose xylose, andmannose as the major neutral sugars. Antibacterial activity was checked by disk diffusion method. Antioxidant activity was investigated by various in vitro systems, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging,lipid peroxide inhibition, superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, chelating ability and reducingpower. Antibacterial and antioxidant assays suggested that the polysaccharide fraction F3 possessed goodantibacterial activity and had stronger antioxidant properties than F1 and F2. Available data obtained by in vitromodels suggested that the correlation between the sulfate content and pharmacological effect was positive.Fucoidan from P. tetrastromatica have the potential to be developed as anantibacterial and antioxidant agent, butfurther in vivo research for their mode of action are still needed to shed light on the effects. Overall, the presentexperiments showed fucoidan from marine brown algae as a potential therapeutic agent

Purification and characterization of an extracellular lipase from a newly <span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-IN">isolated thermophilic <i>Bacillus pumilus</i></span>

1213-1217An extracellular lipase was isolated and purified from a bacterium and is the first report on the isolation and purification of lipase from the species B.pumilus. Effect of temperature, pH and composition of culture medium were     optimized for maximum lipase production. The enzyme was purified and the purity was found to be 98%. The Km value of the enzyme was 1.75 x10-2 mg. and it was found to be a monomer by SDS PAGE. This lipase was found to be alkaline and thermostable and was not a metalloprotein as evidenced from EDTA treatment. Immobilized whole cells were found to be more stable than the pure enzyme.</span

Antioxidant activity of <i>Aulosira fertilisima</i> on CCl₄ induced hepatotoxicity in rats

52-59Free radicals cause cell injury, when they are generated in excess or when the antioxidant defense is impaired. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is used as a model for liver injury. In this study antioxidant activity of ethanol extract of A. fertilisima (EEA) was investigated using CCl4 intoxicated rat liver as the experimental model. Oral administration of EEA at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight, for 14 consecutive days, the rate of the production of antioxidant enzymes like super oxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transferase in rats compared to the CCl4 treated group without any supporting treatment. Liver damage is detected by the measurement of the activities of serum enzymes like aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase which were released in to the blood from damaged cells. The normalization of these enzymes levels was observed in rats treated with EEA (100 mg/kg body weight) by reducing the leakage of the above enzymes in to the blood. The findings provide a rationale for further studies on isolation of active principles and its pharmacological evaluation. Protection offered by silymarin (standard reference drug) seemed relatively greater

Molecular cloning and expression of TB antigen protein in microalga <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</i>

350-355Microalgae based therapeutics has had great success over the last few years. Although biotechnological processes based on transgenic microalgae are still in its infancy, researchers and companies are considering their high potential as bioreactors for drug development. In the present study, an efficient and reproducible protocol for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation and regeneration of microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with esxH gene of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv under the control of CaMV 35S<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> promoter has been developed. C. reinhardtii strain CC-125 was transformed with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">A. tumefaciens strain LBA 4404, harbouring the binary vector pCAMBIA 1304 containing the sequence coding for hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) as the selectable marker gene, β-glucuronidase (GUS) as the reporter gene and the sequence encoding 10 kDa T-cell antigen (esxH) of M. tuberculosis. The transformation event was confirmed by PCR amplification with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">hpt, GUS and esxH gene-specific primers. Expression of esxH gene in transgenic Chlamydomonas was confirmed through RT-PCR. In future, this microalgal expression system can be used to meet the ever growing need for therapeutic proteins by the pharmaceutical industries

Antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of <i style="">Aphanizomenon flos-aquae</i> Linn against paracetamol intoxication in rats

1123-1130Paracetamol caused liver damage as evident by significant increase in the activities of aspartate and alanine transferases. There were general statistically significant losses in the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transferase and an increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the liver of paracetamol treated group compared with the control group. However, treatment with ethanol extract of A. flos-aquae (EEAFA) was able to counteract these effects. Protection offered by silymarin (standard reference drug) seemed relatively greater. The results suggest that EEAFA can act as hepatoprotective agent against paracetamol induced toxicity as an antioxidant

L-asparaginase activity in bacteria from estuarine sediments and mollusc

36-39L-asparaginase activity of bacteria, isolated from estuarine sediments and mollusc Villorita cyprinoids, was studied in 642 strains. Based on the activity, these strains were divided into 5 groups. The maximum activity was shown by Aeromonas followed by Pseudomonas, Vibrio and Alkaligens. Specific activity was higher in bacteria isolated from mollusc than from sediments, whereas L-asparaginase positive strains were higher in sediments than in mollusc. The microbial population increased with increase of organic carbon content and decreased with increase of phosphate and nitrate. Percentage of L-asparaginase positive strains decreased with increase of organic carbon

Antioxidant and antihepatotoxic effect of Spirulina laxissima against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity in rats

The vast biodiversity of nature provides bioactive compounds that may be useful in the fight against chronic diseases. This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of the ethanol extract of Spirulina laxissima West (Pseudanabaenaceae) (EESL) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicities in rats. Male albino rats of Sprague-Dawley strain were treated orally with the ethanol extract of S. laxissima (50, 100 mg kg(-1) body wt.) 1 h before each CCl4 administration. The ethanol extract of S. laxissima showed the maximum antioxidant property in vitro. There were statistically significant losses in the activities of antioxidant enzymes and an increase in TBARS and liver function marker enzymes in the serum of the CCl4-treated group compared with the control group. However, all the tested groups were able to counteract these effects. The antioxidant activity of the extracts might be attributable to its proton-donating ability, as evidenced by DPPH. In the present study, the decline in the level of antioxidant observed in CCl4-treated rats is a clear manifestation of excessive formation of radicals and activation of the lipid peroxidation system resulting in tissue damage. The significant increases in the concentration of antioxidant enzymes in tissues of animals treated with CCl4 + EESL indicate the antioxidant effect of EESL. This study suggests that EESL can protect the liver against CCl4-induced oxidative damage in rats, and the hepatoprotective effect might be correlated with its antioxidant and radical-scavenging effects