Posted by admin on Mar 1, 2016 in |
A freshwater microalga, Nostoc sp. isolated from Tamdil Wetland of Mizoram was tested for its algicidal, antibacterial and antifungal activity. Extracts were prepared with methanol, ethanol:water and dichloromethane:isopropanol and tested for their antimicrobial activity against nine microorganisms comprising of three chlorophycean algae (Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus quadricauda and Selenastrum capricornatum), one cyanobacterium (Anabaena variabilis), three bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus and Escherichia coli) and two fungal strains (Fusarium udum and Fusarium culmorum). Among the three extracts tested the methanol extract was found most effective on algal test organisms. The highest (60%) inhibitory effect was observed against A. variabilis by methanol extract followed by 31% inhibition by dichloromethane:isopropanol. When tested on bacterial strains, the highest inhibition zone (23.67±1.58mm) was observed in B. subtilis by dichloromethane:isopropanol extract followed by ethanol:water extract. In case of fungal activity, the highest inhibition zone (11.00±0.58mm) was observed in F. culmorum by dichloromethane:isopropanol extract and the rest of the extracts showed almost similar effect. MICs of each extract on all the organisms varied. The extracts were...
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Posted by admin on Mar 1, 2016 in |
Antioxidant potentials and radioprotective properties of curcumin were studied. Free radical scavenging activity of curcumin was measured spectrophotometrically using ferric ion reducing power assay, DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) free radical test, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity assay, nitric oxide scavenging assay and superoxide scavenging capacity. The antioxidant properties depended upon concentration of curcumin in the reaction mixture. Curcumin exhibited good protection against low LET radiation-induced DNA damage. Treatment of ethanolic solutions of curcumin before irradiation significantly reduced comet tail DNA and length (P < 0.05.) in bone marrow cells of rat as revealed by alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis. Treatment of curcumin solutions to plasmid (pBR322) DNA prior to exposure of radiation under in vitro condition protect the DNA damage as indicated by significant reduction of the gamma radiation-induced conversion of CCC (covalently closed circular) to OC (open circular) form. The findings indicate that curcumin possesses promising antioxidant and radioprotective properties, and hence, has an important role in radiation...
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Posted by admin on Mar 1, 2016 in |
The parts of the Nicotiana tabacum plant have been known to possess a wide range of biological activities. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial activity, phytochemical screening and the antioxidant activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the stem of Nicotiana tabacum. The antibacterial activity was observed against two gram positive bacteria (Bacillus amyloiquefaciens, Staphylococcus aureus) & two gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in its aqueous, ethanolic, acetone and methanolic extracts by agar well diffusion method where maximum antibacterial activity found to be present in the methanolic and ethanolic extract against Staphylococcus aureus with an inhibition length of 10.667±1.527 mm and 8±1.00 mm, respectively. Phytochemical screening of aqueous, ethanolic & methanolic extract revealed the presence of saponin, flavonoids and alkaloids. Flavonoid content in stem was found to be 838 mg QE/g of extract in the 80% of ethanol extract by aluminium chloride colometric method. Antioxidant activity was observed in order to estimate the superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione content, glutathione s transferase &...
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Posted by admin on Mar 1, 2016 in |
3D-QSAR models of Comparative of Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) and Comparative of Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis (CoMSIA) of 44 potent p56lck inhibitors were performed. The conventional ligand-based 3D-QSAR studies were performed for a series of Benzothiazole derivatives as p56lck inhibitors. The model gave q2 values of 0.710 and 0.642, r2 values of 0.966 and 0.956 for CoMFA and CoMSIA, respectively. The predictive ability of the models was validated using the external test set of 10 compounds that were not included in the training set of 34 molecules. These results provided better understanding of the relationship between the structural features of p56lck inhibitors and its activities, which should be applicable to design and find new potential p56lck...
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Posted by admin on Mar 1, 2016 in |
Ethanolic extract of the roots of Chonemorpha fragrans, a traditionally used antidibetic plant was evaluated for its antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effect using streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced diabetic rat model. Oral glucose tolerance test with 2g/kg of glucose and normoglycemic studies were performed which showed a dose dependant decrease in sugar levels. The acute oral toxicity studies demonstrated the safety of the dose up to 2000mg/kg body weight. The diabetic rats were treated with ethanolic root extracts, at a dose of 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg based on the acute toxicity study. Standard groups were treated with Glibenclamide at a dose of 0.6mg/kg. Treatment was continued for 21 days and the weights of the rats and serum glucose levels were measured on 1st,7th,14th and 21stday. Other biochemical parameters like lipid profile, HbA1c, ALT, AST, serum creatinine, urea and total proteins were evaluated on the last day of the study. The results of the study have shown a significant difference between the initial and final fasting blood glucose levels of C. fragrans and glibenclamide treated...
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