Biosciences

Strychnos potatorum (Clearing nut), an important medicinal plant used in the traditional and folk medicine for treating several aliments including microbial infections, diarrhoea and diabetes. Some of its pharmacognostic studies such as fluorescent, organoleptic, ash and mineral contents of root, stem bark and seed (both collected and market) , and GC- alkaloid profiles of seed have been investigated. Considerable colour variations in the fluorescent behaviour of raw drugs were observed. The highest yields were obtained for the aqueous extracts followed by ethanol, petroleum ether and chloroform extracts. The colour of the extracts thus obtained have from ivory to dark brown and bitter to pungent bitter in taste. Higher values of the total ash and insoluble acid contents were recorded for the stem bark, followed by root and seed samples. Considerable amounts of iron and copper found in all parts of the plant. However, lead, a toxic element was found in trace amount in the market seed sample. Further, the GC-alkaloid profiles of seed samples have shown significant variation in terms of percent area of peaks. Furthermore, the co-TLC study has revealed the absence of strychnine and brucine from the seed sample.

Direct tabletting technique is the modern and the most efficient process used in tablet manufacturing which has been successfully used for various drugs. But the process strongly depends upon the quality of the crystals used. Spherical agglomeration, a novel crystallization technique that can transform directly the fine crystals produced in the crystallization or in the reaction process in to a spherical shape agglomerates, was developed by Yoshiaki Kawashima and coworkers in 1986. There are currently four methods to accomplish the conversion of drug particles into spherical agglomerates. Spherical agglomeration technique can transform directly the fine crystals, produced in the crystallization process into a spherical shape. Spherical agglomeration is a particle design technique, by which crystallization and agglomeration can be carried out simultaneously in one step. Spherical crystallization is a versatile process that enables to control the type and size of the crystals. Agglomerates exhibit improved secondary characteristics like flowability and compressibility. Drug release from these spherical crystals can be improved or can be controlled. This technique will be an invaluable technology in future, if it is scaled-up to manufacturing level. In this review we will discuss about the advantages, method and parameters which can be improved by spherical crystallization process. In addition current and future prospects of spherical crystallization are also discussed.

This paper is aimed at evaluating the activities of cocoa on male rats. Sixty healthy matured rats weighing 130±20g were divided into four experimental groups of 15 rats each. The rats were treated with cocoa seed powder at 0 (control), 100, 200 and 300mg/kg body weight, respectively for 65 days. Blood samples were collected for hormonal, biochemical and haematological indices while semen was obtained for semen analysis. Results showed that cocoa powder elevated prolactin, testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels; red blood cell, and white blood cell counts significantly reduced follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol; platelets, packed cell volume and haemoglobin concentration (Hb); alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and albumin. There was also a reducing effect of cocoa powder on total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL- cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol, especially at the dose of 300mg/kg as well as sperm count, sperm viability and sperm motility. However, sperm head abnormality increased in a dose-dependent manner. These results imply implicitly that cocoa powder at higher doses might be detrimental to animal health, its beneficial effects notwithstanding.

The mile stone of the scientific technologies and methodologies, shown its well improved evidence based proof and created a striking landmark at global level. The various sectors, including Government and the private sectors involved in introducing new improved technologies cum methodologies day today in competitive manner. Though many sophisticated rapid technologies such as PCR etc., created a land mark in current scientific world, still if seems, the scientists, researchers, those who involved in the initial step of their research rely on the golden traditional techniques and methodologies even today. Innumerous research publications indicating the interests of the scientists and researchers towards the drug discovery especially from the plant sources. The initial step for the drug discovery involves the primary screening of the plant extracts or any other testing agents for their antimicrobial activities pertain to the antibacterial activities. The disc diffusion and the agar well diffusion methods are the traditional choice to perform the antibacterial activity. In this study we have presented an innovative plate technique and certain innovative methods in the screening of antibacterial and synergistic bioactivities of the mangrove plant extracts and antibiotics which is time and energy saving, economic and easy to perform.

The bacterial polyesters may be considered as “Green Plastics”, because of their biodegradable nature. These polyesters can be employed for packaging and coating materials / as biodegradable carriers and applied in biomedical field. PHA producing Bacteria were isolated from the soil samples collected from various locations of Salem district in Tamil Nadu, India. The bacterial consortium was screened and confirmed for indigenous Ralstonia strains producing Polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHA) by colony morphology and biochemical analysis. The PHA production was confirmed by the presence of lipid cellular inclusions using Sudan Black B staining. Three strains (YRF2a, YTF2 and YRF1) among the 38 isolates tested were found to be Ralstonia strains. The positive isolates were then cultured in E2 broth containing 2% glucose (w/v) to study the PHA production. The correlation between PHA production and cell dry weight were studied and found to be statistically significant. Among the three isolates tested the strain YRF1 showed highest PHA production and peaked in degradation also. The high PHA yielding strain (YRF1) was further characterized for PHA production in large quantity with different physical and chemical parameters viz; pH, incubation temperature, carbon sources, concentration of nitrogen, incubation period. The result presumed that at pH 7, at 37°C and 72 hours of incubation period accompanying with glucose as carbon source and reducing nitrogen concentration to 1/6 in growth medium increased the accumulation of PHA by 88%, a highly feasible amount. The extracted PHA was apparently confirmed by FT-IR and NMR analysis.

The research is based on the fact that different courses of Hepatitis B virus infection are predisposed by the variations in the viral genome. The Hepatitis viral genome is unique as it consists of four overlapping genes, and for the purpose of this study, the pre-core gene was selected of the four genes for mutation analysis. Viral DNA was isolated from acute viral Hepatitis B patients and was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and then separated by Agarose gel electrophoresis resulting in isolated bands of 309 bps and the mutation was detected by direct sequencing. Genotyping was carried out with the help of MultAlin software, and the observations resulted in the conclusion of definite mutation in codon 17 of valine to phenylalanine, a stop codon mutation and also in codon 11 of phenylalanine to leucine of less significance (genotypic variation), thus indicating that the gene has undergone mutation at a very early stage in the course of the disease.

Microbial adhesion is a initial and essential step for the attachment of microbes to the host tissues. Adhesion is considered as one of the microbial virulence markers. In view of finding plant based solution to prevent the bacterial adhesion, the present study was undertaken. Invitro experimental study was conducted to screen the antiadherence bioactivity of T. chebula and C. roseus extracts. Both gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains were included in this study. Tube from urine collection bag was used as substratum in the invitro sudy. Innovative Dual Invitro Model System (IDIMS) was used to perform the experiments. Tested specimens were collected and screened under light microscope. Specimens were also subjected to culture and CFUs were counted. The reduced number of bacterial cells in the specimen was recorded from the light microscopic study, and from specimen culture. Decreased number of CFUs were noted. From this we conclude that the T. chebula and C. roseus extracts (singly) as well extract combination possess antiadherence property. Hence we suggest these two plant extracts, singly or their combination can be used as antimicrobial agent to prevent the adhesion of the human pathogenic bacteria to the objects. However further established research in this field is felt essential to bringout new informations and to support our study reports.

Fifty female crayfish (46.20 ± 1.37 g live mass) which caught from Ag?n Region of the Keban Dam Lake (Elaz?g, Turkey) in March of 2011were examined in the laboratory to evaluate their health status. The exoskeleton was observed for Saprolegnia spp. Mycological investigations demonstrated the presence of hyphae in the area of the abdomen. Saprolegnia spp. was isolated from lesions in infected eggs. Mortalities occurred in fiberglass tanks, after 4 weeks respectively, in the female infected crayfish, with approximately a 38 % cumulative mortality rate (in the last week). In both cases the crayfish were weak, anorexic and lethargic. The main cause of mortality was lesions in infected eggs. Other causes associated with mortality likely can be stressing factors (handling, feeding etc.) in the laboratory.

A study was conducted to determine the microbial quality and safety of meat sold in formal and informal markets around Egodini Taxi Rank in Bulawayo. Sausage and chicken samples randomly selected from each outlet were screened for bacterial contamination. E.coli was the predominant bacteria in sausage samples (43% in butchery samples and 85% in vendor samples), whilst S. aureus was abundant in chicken samples (43%). Contamination of meat with Klebsiella spp and Streptococcus spp was minimum. The mean Total bacterial counts (TBCs) for sausage and chicken in vendor samples were 7.66 x 105; 2.41 x 105 cfu/ml respectively whilst the TBCs for butchery samples were 1.14 x 104; 5.45 x 102 cfu/ml respectively. Overally, vendor meat was more contaminated than butchery meat which poses a serious health hazard to the public. The type of meat and outlet had no significant influence on the bacterial load (P=0.298 and P=0.061 at ?=0.05).

To solve the problem of microbial outbreak which is a major challenge to human health in developing countries like Nigeria, herbal drugs are being looked as an imperative source for discovery of new agents for treating various ailments related to microbial infections. In this present study, the seeds of Piper guineensii and Buchhloziacoriacea were evaluated for their phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial properties. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins and reducing sugar in the two plants while others like tannin, flavonoids and steroids were also observed interchangeably. The broad spectrum of the antimicrobial activities of the two seeds proved them to be active against various pathogens tested. The outcome of this workis a good evidence to support ethno-medicinal uses of these plants in the treatment of various diseases.