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Ginger is traditionally known for its therapeutic and pharmaceutical properties. It has been used widely to treat various health problems such as high blood pressure, coughs, colds, swelling, nausea, rheumatic disorders, vomiting, bronchitis, indigestion, gastric ulcers, and behavioral problems. Shogaol and Gingerol are anti-inflammatory, anti-fever, anti-pain, and anti-cough compounds that may help treat a cold. This review provides an up-to-date understanding of the impact of ginger and its active compounds on human health. Various ginger compounds such as gingerol, shogaols, zingiberene, zingerone, paradols and zingerone are receiving attention for their clinical applications and pharmaceutical properties. Studies indicate that ginger is anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antimicrobial, antiemetic, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective. During the inflammatory response, ginger inhibits (NF-κB) and immune system activation in addition to many other cellular processes. Ginger has shown benefits in preclinical and clinical studies for neurology, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These findings indicate the necessity for further in vivo and clinical studies.

Objective Nutritional therapy, integrative and functional medicine, and psychiatry are areas of medicine where there has been limited research on the cause of disease and nutritional therapy. Modern medicine treats the medical cause, not the symptoms. All medicines are toxic in some way. Now, healthcare professionals are recommending food as medicine. Methods For this review, an extensive search was performed in electronic databases and in scientific publications. Boolean search methods were used in search engines such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Mendley, and other scientific databases. Search engines use terms such as food, metabolic disorder, cardio-vascular disorder, food and/or functional food, etc. We reviewed the latest findings on food and metabolic disorders, especially those related to cardiovascular disease. Results Scientific research suggests that fruit and vegetables in a regular diet will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and heart failure. Nature provides a large number of dietary options in the appropriate combination that can improve our health and cure metabolic disorders. It has been shown that a vegetarian diet and a Mediterranean diet have significant impact on the gut microbiome and cardiovascular disease risk. Conclusions A healthy lifestyle with a proper diet is essential in addition to traditional drug treatment for improving the lipid profile of cardiac patients. To develop effective targeted therapies, we need to further study molecular and cellular mechanisms of CVD. Genetic, inflammatory, nutritional, and immune factors can be studied to determine the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic syndrome.

This study explores the potential role of cinnamaldehyde from cinnamon to elicit immunity against the pathogens of COVID-19. In the culture of traditional and herbal treatments, it was more valuable than gold. It has been observed that coronavirus infects cells of an organism including innate and adaptive immune cells. Cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, and other secondary metabolism of cinnamon extract, have a potential role to interact with spike protein of coronavirus. Available literature supports the suitability of cinnamon for acute respiratory infectious disease syndromes. It might be a promising source for the immune system to control viral infections like COVID-19. Preclinical and clinical trials are necessary for the safety and efficacy of the drug.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the major global health threats and delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis continues to fuel the global epidemic. The conventional diagnostic approaches have shortcomings that might hinder the process of diagnosis of the disease and ultimately affect the prognosis.Area covered: We emphasize on the process of the synthesis of liposomes, its physicochemical properties affecting the formulation and their utilization in the field of molecular diagnostics for TB. The review also sheds a light on other nanoparticle-based molecular diagnostic approaches for TB. Despite the advent of science, we are yet to have a diagnostic tool that is simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific, and most importantly, one that enables us to demarcate patients with active tuberculosis from those with quiescent lesions, prior vaccination, or other diseases.Expert opinion: The utility of liposomes for diagnostic purposes has been attempted so as to overcome the challenges posed by conventional diagnostic tools for TB. Through this review, we present insights into liposome formulation and selection processes, various studies that report the use of liposome-based diagnostic tools for TB, as well as the limitations associated with the same that can be improvised to make the technology more efficient.

Background: Jatropha curcas is one of the most suitable plants which seeds are nonedible in nature but rich in oil. Around 350 oil bearing crops are found suitable as potential alternative fuels for diesel engine. Non-edible crop Jatropha curcas has been identified by many experts for biodiesel production in many countries like India. Objective: The objective of this study is to find out the composition of Jatropha curcas oil and its relation with engine parameters. This research covers selected aspects of physical and chemical relation of fatty acid composition of Jatropha curcas oil and its fuel properties. Methods: A gas-chromatograph with high resolution mass spectrometer was used to determine the free fatty acid composition of the Jatropha curcas oil sample. The column length, diameter and thickness were 30m, 0.25mm and 0.25μm respectively. Helium gas was used as carrier gas, column flow of 1.80 mL/min for the GC. Results: The major fatty acids found in Jatropha curcas crude oil were the oleic (3.81%), linoleic (50%), palmitic fatty (35.66%) acid. Some physical and chemical characteristics have been evaluated and found suitable for the application in engine. Oxidation stability oxidizability and cetane number has been calculated as 4.949, 1.076 and found 55.856. Conclusion: The physical and chemical properties of Jatropha crude oil are similar to the biodiesel except the viscosity; therefore, further processing is required. The fuel properties of Jatropha Curcas oil based biodiesel were found to be within the limits of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications for biodiesel and diesel fuel.

Tapping non-conventional renewable energy resources for generation of electricity is the need of the hour, particularly in the developing countries. Renewable energy from photovoltaic, wind turbines and small hydroelectricity plants is eco-friendly and highly desirable for all countries. But, for the developing countries, such as, Sub-Sahara Africa where hardly 14.2% of rural electrification is available, these resources may prove a lifeline. Biofuels may be used as another safe resource for an off-grid electricity generation that covers about 60% of the requirement in Brazil. It may be a choice area for this purpose on small scales akin to the mini-grid system, particularly in the remote rural belts. It has been observed that Jatropha-derived fatty acid (de-esterified oil) is quite suitable for off-grid rural electrification in India. Bio-methanation of press cake (from Jatropha and other oilseeds) is another suitable material for harnessing off-grid electricity at a reduced level of environmental pollution. Several studies, Government reports, NGO projects and field studies show that the objective of rural electrification stands a bright prospect. It was found that there is a major gap in the available literature on the rural electrification through Jatropha cultivation. There is a lack of knowledge of how to make the best possible use of Jatropha for energy generation in India. This endeavor evaluates an Indian perspective of how biofuel-based off-grid electrification may brighten energy scenario, primarily in the rural habitats that comprise over 75% here. It has been also found that the costing of biodiesel is much cheaper than the petroleum-based diesel in near future.

A wide array of therapeutic strategies has been implemented against cancers, yet their clinical benefit is limited. The lack of clinical efficacy of the conventional treatment options might be due to the inept immune competency of the patients. Dendritic cells (DCs) have a vital role in initiating and directing immune responses and have been frequently used as delivery vehicles in clinical research. The recent clinical data suggest the potential use of DCs pulsed with nucleic acid, especially with RNA holds a great potential as an immunotherapeutic measure with compare to other cancer therapeutics. This review mainly deals with the DCs and their role in transfection with RNA in cancer immunotherapy.

The advent of various health care policies and digital revolution has fuelled interest in the direction of food supplements, and as preventive or curative drug containing live non-pathogenic bacteria, probiotics. The widespread usage of probiotics by consumers and in clinical practice has emphatically made to understand the benefits associated with these products. The probiotic products are now being marketed worldwide by several multinational companies. Present review attempts to overview the health benefits of probiotics in impeding various lifestyle or metabolic associated disorders, clinical significance, their efficacy and influence on immune system.

The current study was undertaken to study the effect of Spirulina platensis (Spirulina) extract on enhanced oxidative stress during high glucose induced cell death in H9c2 cells. H9c2 cultured under high glucose (33 mM) conditions resulted in a noteworthy increase in oxidative stress (free radical species) accompanied by loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c, increase in caspase activity and pro-apoptotic protein (Bax). Spirulina extract (1 μg/mL), considerably inhibited increased ROS and RNS levels, reduction in cytochrome c release, raise in mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased the over expression of proapoptotic protein Bax and suppressed the Bax/Bcl2 ratio with induced apoptosis without affecting cell viability. Overall results suggest that Spirulina extract plays preventing role against enhanced oxidative stress during high glucose induced apoptosis in cardiomyoblasts as well as related dysfunction in H9c2 cells. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10616-017-0121-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are considered as natural bio-thickeners abundantly used in dairy and fermented food industries for quality improvement. In fermentation based dairy industries, researchers are seeking their attention on substitution of artificial food stabilizers with naturals by exploring EPS, especially for improving the rheology of fermented food products. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) being a starter player for fermented food products are believed to be as one of the best natural producers of EPS. These EPS are basically sugar residues, secreted by microbes in their surrounding environment but their in-vitro production is not economical due to the media and processing costs involved. The process of production is also complex due to the involvement of various enzymes and regulatory proteins. With modernization in dairy sector, our understanding towards EPS needs improvement. The review focuses on a brief explanation on the behavior and functionality of EPS from lactic acid bacteria.

Hepatotoxicity associated with isoniazid and rifampicin is one of the major impediments in antituberculosis therapy. The present study explored the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacies of Spirulina maxima in isoniazid and rifampicin induced hepatic damage in a rat model. Hepatic damage induced in Wistar rats by isoniazid and rifampicin resulted in significant alterations in biomarkers of liver function, namely, bilirubin, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, and oxidative stress markers such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Co-administration of Spirulina maxima along with antituberculosis drugs protected liver from hepatotoxicity due to isoniazid and rifampicin. Administration of Spirulina maxima consecutively for 2 weeks to hepatodamaged animals resulted in restoration of hepatic function as evident from normalization of serum markers of liver function. Thus, the present study revealed remarkable prophylactic and therapeutic potential of Spirulina maxima. Co-administration of Spirulina maxima and antituberculosis drugs is advantageous as it provides extra nutritional benefit.

The study validated the antidyslipidemic, antioxidant, and antihyperglycemic effects of Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract in human subjects with dyslipidemia along with subjects of normal health. A total of 200 mL of freshly prepared Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract was administered daily on empty stomach for 90 days. Significant reductions ( P < .01) were found in triglycerides and total cholesterol levels in blood. Cardiac risk ratio, atherogenic coefficient, and atherogenicity index of plasma were also improved. Appreciable reductions in body mass index ( P < .01) and blood pressure (systolic P < .01, diastolic P < .05) along with a significant reduction ( P < .05) in fasting blood glucose levels were also observed in these subjects. Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract exhibited significant antioxidant activity in dyslipidemic subjects as evident from elevations in SOD ( P < .05) and GSH levels ( P < .01) with marked improvement in catalase ( P < .01) and TBARS levels ( P < .05). Phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds. Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract serves as dietary adjunct in treatment of human dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease.

The use of probiotic bacterial cultures stimulates the growth of preferred microorganisms, crowds out potentially harmful bacteria, and reinforces the body's natural defence mechanisms. Streptococcus thermophilus has been exploited industrially for making cheese as well as yogurt. One of the most important properties of this bacterium which is being used is production of lactase, an enzyme that converts lactose (milk sugar) into a simple sugar, which helps people who are lactose intolerant to digest milk. So consumption of this microbe has facilitated to alleviate symptoms of lactose intolerance and other gastrointestinal problems. Due to this unique feature of the microbe, it has been added to several health supplements along with other bacteria with similar properties. Over and above, it also produces a variety of antagonistic factors that include metabolic end products, antibiotic-like substances and bactericidal proteins, termed bacteriocins which assist to prevent several types of infections from various pathogenic microbes. In addition, the bacterium is endowed with enormous important beneficial properties. The following review will discuss with some beneficial aspects of S. thermophilus.

The spread of cancer in high intensity is a major cause of concern globally. It is developing in an alarming rate irrespective of age, sex, racial/ethnic group, geographic location and tissue invaded. It is marked by uncontrolled division of cells with the ability to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into the adjacent tissue through invasion, or by the migration into the distant sites by metastasis. According to the latest cancer statistics, there were 14.1 million new cancer related deaths which is expected to rise by 70% over the next two decades with nearly 22 million cases. The rate of cancer related incidence is almost 25% higher in men than in women

Medicinal plants are the local heritage with global importance playing a vital role in world health care system of developing countries. Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae), a giant milk weed, is known for its pharmacological importance for centuries. The coarse shrub is a very promising source of anticancerous, ascaricidal, schizonticidal, anti-microbial, anthelmintic, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrhoeal, larvicidal with many other beneficial properties. Plant is described as a golden gift for human kind containing calotropin, calotropagenin, calotoxin, calactin, uscharin, amyrin, amyrin esters, uscharidin, coroglaucigenin, frugoside, corotoxigenin, calotropagenin and voruscharine used in many therapeutic applications. Different compounds like norditerpenic esters, organic carbonates, the cysteine protease procerain, alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols and numerous cardenolides made this plant of scientific attraction for centuries. Plant is not only a great source of natural hydrocarbons but also contains several metabolites used as folk medicine for the treatment of leprosy, elephantiasis, fever, menorrhagia, malaria and snake bite. The review discusses the potential of Calotropis procera in health care management.

β-Lactoglobulin (β-LG) genetic polymorphisms are important and well known due to their effects on quantitative traits and technological properties of milk. At the DNA level, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) allows for the detection of unknown polymorphisms at β-LG loci. Here we describe the usefulness of the PCR-SSCP technique for β-LG typing. In the present study, we amplified and sequenced the part of promoter region and all the seven exons containing the entire coding and untranslated region for the β-lactoglobulin gene in best dairy goat breeds of India namely: Jamunapari and Jakhrana. Nine polymorphisms were detected, one in the l promoter region, four in the introns and four in the exons of the β-lactoglobulin gene. All polymorphisms were single nucleotide substitutions. The polymorphisms in the coding region did not produce any amino acid change.Key words: β-Lactoglobulin gene, dairy goats, polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP).

A protocol was developed for multiple shoot induction in a climber with highly medicinal and nutritional values i.e. Momordica balsamina (Cucurbitaceae). Effects of various factors on micropropagation were also studied. Addition of BAP at 1.0 mg/l in MS medium stimulated proliferation of shoots with 6–8 coefficients from the axillary buds. Low concentration of activated charcoal (0.2 %) promoted shoot elongation and reduced callus formation. The combination of 1.0 mg/l BAP and 1.0 mg/l KN promoted shoot elongation and proliferation. NAA proved to be more effective in inducing higher number of roots per shoot than IBA. The plantlets raised in vitro were acclimatized in green house and successfully transplanted to natural condition with 85 % survival. The present investigation showed that direct regeneration of M. balsamina offer a good opportunity to use micropropagation technique as a complementary tool for breeding and other applications.

Oral cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths in South-Asian countries. There are very limited treatment options available for oral cancer. Research endeavors focused on discovery and development of novel therapies for oral cancer, is necessary to control the ever rising oral cancer related mortalities. We mined the large pool of compounds from the publicly available compound databases, to identify potential therapeutic compounds for oral cancer. Over 84 million compounds were screened for the possible anti-cancer activity by custom build SVM classifier. The molecular targets of the predicted anti-cancer compounds were mined from reliable sources like experimental bioassays studies associated with the compound, and from protein-compound interaction databases. Therapeutic compounds from DrugBank, and a list of natural anti-cancer compounds derived from literature mining of published studies, were used for building partial least squares regression model. The regression model thus built, was used for the estimation of oral cancer specific weights based on the molecular targets. These weights were used to compute scores for screening the predicted anti-cancer compounds for their potential to treat oral cancer. The list of potential compounds was annotated with corresponding physicochemical properties, cancer specific bioactivity evidences, and literature evidences. In all, 288 compounds with the potential to treat oral cancer were identified in the current study. The majority of the compounds in this list are natural products, which are well-tolerated and have minimal side-effects compared to the synthetic counterparts. Some of the potential therapeutic compounds identified in the current study are resveratrol, nimbolide, lovastatin, bortezomib, vorinostat, berberine, pterostilbene, deguelin, andrographolide, and colchicine.

A recombinant DNA strategy was applied to analyze and screen the shotgun expression library from a clinically confirmed local virulent isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with sera from tuberculosis patients, which led to expression and purification of highly immunoreactive and specific mycobacterial antigens expressed during the course of active disease which could be of diagnostic significance. An enzyme-linked immunoassay for diagnosis of tuberculosis was devised by using a shotgun immunoexpression library in the λgt11 vector. DNA from a virulent M. tuberculosis patient isolate (TBW-33) confirmed with the BACTEC 460 system was sheared and expressed to generate shotgun polypeptides. β-Galactosidase fusion proteins capable of demarcating active tuberculosis infections from Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccinated healthy subjects or people harboring environmental mycobacteria were selected by comparative immunoreactivity studies. Promising mycobacterial DNA cassettes were subcloned and expressed into the glutathione S -transferase (GST) fusion vector pGEX-5X-1 with a strong tac promoter and were expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. These fusion proteins were severed at a built-in factor Xa recognition site to separate the GST tags and were utilized in an indirect enzyme-linked immunoassay for serodiagnosis of patients with active tuberculosis. The system offered a clear demarcation between BCG-vaccinated healthy subjects and patients with active tuberculosis and proved to be effective in detecting pulmonary as well as extrapulmonary tuberculosis, with an overall sensitivity of 84.33% and an overall specificity of 93.62%.

In India, oral cancer has consistently ranked among top three causes of cancer-related deaths, and it has emerged as a top cause for the cancer-related deaths among men. Lack of effective therapeutic options is one of the main challenges in clinical management of oral cancer patients. We interrogated large pool of samples from oral cancer gene expression studies to identify potential therapeutic targets that are involved in multiple cancer hallmark events. Therapeutic strategies directed towards such targets can be expected to effectively control cancer cells. Datasets from different gene expression studies were integrated by removing batch-effects and was used for downstream analyses, including differential expression analysis. Dependency network analysis was done to identify genes that undergo marked topological changes in oral cancer samples when compared with control samples. Causal reasoning analysis was carried out to identify significant hypotheses, which can explain gene expression profiles observed in oral cancer samples. Text-mining based approach was used to detect cancer hallmarks associated with genes significantly expressed in oral cancer. In all, 2365 genes were detected to be differentially expressed genes, which includes some of the highly differentially expressed genes like matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1/3/10/13), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligands (IL8, CXCL-10/-11), PTHLH, SERPINE1, NELL2, S100A7A, MAL, CRNN, TGM3, CLCA4, keratins (KRT-3/4/13/76/78), SERPINB11 and serine peptidase inhibitors (SPINK-5/7). XIST, TCEAL2, NRAS and FGFR2 are some of the important genes detected by dependency and causal network analysis. Literature mining analysis annotated 1014 genes, out of which 841 genes were statistically significantly annotated. The integration of output of various analyses, resulted in the list of potential therapeutic targets for oral cancer, which included targets such as ADM, TP53, EGFR, LYN, CTLA4, SKIL, CTGF and CD70.

The aim of study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) ATPIII Criteria, International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization (WHO) definitions were used in quantifying the metabolic syndrome and also the concordance between these three criteria’s used for identifying metabolic syndrome. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 700 type 2 diabetic subjects from the urban areas of Gwalior Chambal region (Central India). Subjects in the age group of 28- 87 yrs were included in the study. Type I diabetics, pregnant ladies and those with chronic viral and bacterial infections and serious metabolic disorders were excluded from the study. Fasting blood glucose, Blood lipids (T-cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol) were assessed and anthropometry blood pressure were measured from all the subjects. Results: The Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was found to be 45.8%, 57.7% and 28% following NCEP-ATPIII Criteria, IDF and WHO definitions, respectively. Using all the three definitions the prevalence was higher in women in all age groups. ATP III and IDF criteria showed good agreement (k 0.68) compared to ATP III with WHO (k 0.54) and IDF with WHO (k 0.34) criteria. Highest prevalence was observed following IDF definition. Conclusions: A good agreement was observed between ATPIII and IDF criteria. Maximum prevalence of Metabolic syndrome was recorded when IDF criteria was followed. NCEP-ATPIII criteria for the diagnosis of MetS and this criterion reflected equal importance to the every variable and showed a good agreement between the different criteria used.

The landmark decision to rejection of patent to anti-cancer drug 'Glivec' by Indian Supreme Court has catalysed range of debates around importance of innovation in research and development. The patent plea by Novartis for beta crystalline for of imanitib (i.e. glivec) was considered as an attempt to extend period of market exclusivity by filing patent for minor modification of molecule for which US patent was already been granted on 1996. Novartis has firmly stated court's ruling as a setback to patent protection for its years of research invested in development of more stable and bioavailable form of imanitib, and offended by this decision they have issued host of statements about not investing in drug discovery RD however after reviewing history of imanitib and its subsequent refinement into glivec, one cannot avoid thinking about it as a typical case of patent evergreening (1-3). The cause of disagreement in this patent war is section 3(d) of Indian Patent Act, which limits scope of incremental innovation by recognizing only those incremental inventive steps, which are associated with significant increase in efficacy of drug; this section was added with an intention to curb evergreening. The importance of controlling patent evergreening cannot be denied, especially for developing and underdeveloped nations, which cannot afford to buy patented drugs at premium price to meet their health care requirements and are heavily dependent on generic version of the drug, as is evident from the impact of availability of low cost generic version of anti-retroviral drugs. At the same time, we cannot deny importance of incremental innovation in making effective and safer drug.

century, there were other diseases like cholera, plague etc., which took lives of millions of people around the world, because of absence of proper medical facility [1]. Life expectancy in those times was much less than that of today’s because of absence of proper medical facility, and other factors like war. Simplicity in life style, food habits, was also responsible for keeping a check on cancer related incidences. In the last couple of centuries, we have witnessed tremendous progress in medical science and healthcare, because of which average life expectancy has increased. Owing to increased life expectancy, there are more chances for age related malignancies like cancer to appear in the life time of an individual. The so called ‘modern life’ is often accompanied by various vices like processed food, sedentary life style, smoking, drinking etc. which are known to trigger cancer initiation [2]. Cancer has become one of the biggest killers of our time, which ranks second only to deaths caused by cardiovascular disease. The huge mortality and economic burden associated with cancer, has brought it into prominence for policy makers, pharmaceutical companies, researchers with the common objective to control mortality and improve survival of the affected persons. The economic burden due to cancer incidences is increasing every day, according to an estimate the amount of money spent on cancer treatment has doubled in past two decades. The mental agony it puts on cancer patients, and their near and dear ones cannot be enumerated by any statistics [3]. The multifactorial role of cancer is established beyond any doubt, which necessitates devising treatment and detection strategies which address these factors. Cancer research is moving towards establishing strength of causality for various factors, which contribute in various phases of cancer (initiation, progression, tumorigenesis). The cancer research started with a reductionist approach, wherein scientific experiments were designed to understand the role of individual factor (gene/protein) in causing cancer. The knowledge gained through such reductionist approach has helped to get the basic understanding of biological complexity of cancer. Since the nature of cancer is multifactorial, it is logical to search for medicinal compound, which have the capability of modulating multiple factors at a same time. It also explains why combination therapy works in case of cancer treatment. The combination therapy is designed to address these multiple factors and bring about synergistic effect [4-6]. Timely detection of cancer in its nascent stages can be regarded as one of most effective method, to control mortalities due to cancer. The majority of the cancers are detected on the basis of appearance of some overt symptoms. The detection of cancer at more advanced stages makes management of cancer more complex, with a little hope of recovery with existing treatment options. Incorrect identification of cancer subtype is also one of the reasons why cancer patient doesn’t respond to drugs designed for specific class of cancer. With the current advances in technologies like next generation sequencing, now it is possible to accurately characterise, cancer related features like stage, subtype, resistance to certain drugs etc. It is more than obvious that cancer is predominately man-made malignancy, which means our concerted and sincere efforts can bear fruit by eradication of causal factors like tobacco, alcohol, harmful chemicals, and other carcinogens. Adapting health life-style and diet can also help tremendously in preventing us from cancer. We are living in fast changing world with path-breaking technological advancements as a norm of the day. With these advancements, it should not be the over-optimistic expectation to believe that cancer would be treated as routine diseases like flu, infection etc. I firmly believe that this would be possible by effective diagnosis and treatment strategy tailored to address phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity associated with cancer. The availability of therapeutic targets is most important pre-condition for rational drug discovery and equally the effective treatment options are highly desirable for management of oral cancer. Gene expression profiling through microarrays is regarded as promising tool to understand transcriptional changes linked with cancer formation [7].

Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepiadaceae) also known as ‘gurmar’ or ‘sugar destroyer’ is a woody, climbing traditional medicinal herb which has many therapeutic applications in Ayurvedic system of medicine. It is used for lowering serum cholesterol, triglycerides and blood glucose level (hypoglycemic or antihyperglycemic), hypolipidaemic, weight loss, stomach ailments, constipation, water retention and liver diseases, either high or low blood pressure, tachycardia or arrhythmias, and used as aperitive, purgative, in eye troubles, antiinflammatory, smooth muscle relaxant, prevention of dental caries, cataract and as anticancer-cytotoxic agent. Its flowers, leaves, and fruits contains alkaloids, flavones, saponins, sapogenins, anthraquinones, hentri-acontane, pentatriacontane, α and β-chlorophylls, phytin, resins, d-quercitol, tartaric acid, formic acid, butyric acid, lupeol, β-amyrin related glycosides and stigmasterol having main principle bioactive compunds viz. gymnemic acids, gymnemasides, gymnemagenin, gurmarin, gymnemosides, gymnemanol, gymnemasins, gypenoside, and conduritol which act as therapeutic agent and play vital role in many therapeutic applications. Gymnemic acids are thought to be responsible for its antidiabetic activity and it is the major component of an extract shown to stimulate insulin release from the pancreas. Another anti-sweet agent gumarin is utilized as a pharmacological tool in the study of sweet-taste transduction. The commercial exploitation of this plant and their secondary metabolites are some of the major prospective of this rare medicinal herb. The focus of the present review is to achieve the potential of therapeutic value of this herb and mechanism and action of their secondary metabolites.

Whenever we focus our attention towards malignancies caused by cancer, usually our mind gets preoccupied with many conflicting thoughts. When we look at cancer statistics, our heart starts sinking more and more as we drill down to details about incidence rate, mortality rate, trends etc. In spite of tremendous technological advancements over several decades, cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of death. When we see so many people dying from cancer, sometimes we wonder if this is a nature’s answer to keep population under control. But when we bring together data from different sources like epidemiological studies, cancer molecular biology, molecular epidemiological studies; we are more than convinced that cancer is a man-made malignancy akin global warming. In fact when we review source of drugs available for cancer treatment, it’s inevitable to miss fact that majority of anticancer drugs are sourced either directly from natural bioactive compounds or after structural optimization of natural compound. We can say that nature holds bounty of medicinal compounds, and onus is on us to discover and explore their possible medicinal applications. Usage of compounds from natural sources especially plant based can be dated back to possibly even before dawn of civilization. Most of the chemotherapeutic drugs are also derived from natural bioactive compounds. Research effort during past several decades has been dedicated on screening of bioactives from natural sources, with more focus on easily available resources like terrestrial fauna and flora. However, big pharmaceutical companies have diverted their focus from natural compound based discovery most probably to avoid possible patent conflicts. ‘

Ellagic acid is an antioxidant and an anti-proliferative compound present in fruits, nuts and vegetables. In spite of evidences for anticancer activity in various cancer cell-lines, human cancer cells, the mechanistic role of ellagic acid is not conclusive enough to be recommended for a clinical use. The present review provides information about the chemopreventive role of ellagic acid in oral cancer and proposes molecular basis for ellagic acid’s inhibitory activity against oral cancer. We show that ellagic acid modulates growth of tumor cells through regulation of multiple cell signaling pathways including cell proliferation pathway (cyclin dependent kinase 2, cyclin A2, cyclin B1, cyclin D1, c-myc, PKCα), cell survival/apoptosis pathway (Bcl-XL, Bax, Caspase 9/3, Akt), tumor suppressor pathway (p53, p21), inflaming Metastasis pathways (IL-1 beta, TNF-α, matrix metalloproteinases 9/3, COX-2), angiogenesis pathways (VEGF), cell immortalization (TERT), NF-κβ.

Nostoc sp. strain Mac is capable of microaerobic, but not aerobic, nitrogen fixation (Fox-). Nostoc Mac grows as long, relatively straight, filaments that are well dispersed in the culture medium. However, spontaneously-arising revertant strains selected for aerobic nitrogen fixation (Fox+) all grow as coiled filaments that associate in macroscopic clumps or balls of varying dimensions. DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism, using nitrogenase (nif) structural genes as probes, established identity between revertants and the parental culture. Mapping of the fragments and lack of hybridization to specific probes indicated the absence of a DNA sequence interrupting the nifD gene in one Fox+ revertant. Such a nifD element is assumed to be present in essentially all heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria. Only one clone out of 223 Fox- and Fox+ Nostoc Mac clones surveyed lacked the nifD element, indicating that loss of the element is a rare event. The nifD element is present in the same location in the genome of Nostoc Mac as it is in all other heterocystforming cyanobacteria analysed. No phenotypic differences could be detected between two Fox+ clones containing or lacking the nifD element, including repression and derepression of nitrogen fixation in response to the presence or absence of combined nitrogen. We suspect that retention of the nifD element in vegetative cells of heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria is a consequence of selective pressure, although such selective conditions in laboratory cultures have not been identified.

Abiotic stress can lead to changes in development, productivity, and severe stress and may even threaten survival of plants. Several environmental stresses cause drastic changes in the growth, physiology, and metabolism of plants leading to the increased accumulation of secondary metabolites. As medicinal plants are important sources of drugs, steps are taken to understand the effect of stress on the physiology, biochemistry, genomic, proteomic, and metabolic levels. The molecular responses of plants to abiotic stress are often considered as a complex process. They are mainly based on the modulation of transcriptional activity of stress-related genes. Many genes have been induced under stress conditions. The products of stress-inducible genes protecting against these stresses includes the enzymes responsible for the synthesis of various osmoprotectants. Genetic engineering of tolerance to abiotic stresses help in molecular understanding of pathways induced in response to one or more of the abiotic stresses. Systems biology and virtual experiments allow visualizing and understanding how plants work to overcome abiotic stress. This review discusses the omic approach to understand the plant response to abiotic stress with special emphasis on medicinal plant.

The production of biodiesel by transesterification employing acid or base catalyst has been industrially accepted for its high conversion and reaction rates. Downstream processing costs and environmental problems associated with biodiesel production and byproducts recovery have led to the search for alternative production methods. Recently, enzymatic transesterification involving lipases has attracted attention for biodiesel production as it produces high purity product and enables easy separation from the byproduct, glycerol. The use of immobilized lipases and immobilized whole cells may lower the overall cost, while presenting less downstream processing problems, to biodiesel production. The present review gives an overview on biodiesel production technology and analyzes the factors/methods of enzymatic approach reported in the literature and also suggests suitable method on the basis of evidence for industrial production of biodiesel.

Microbial preparation of herbicide is defined as bioherbicide that can control the weed. In this approach, indigenous plant pathogens isolated from weeds are cultured to produce the large numbers of infective propagules which are applied at a rate that will cause high levels of infection leading to suppression of the target weed. During the present investigation, cell free culture filtrate (CFCF) of Alternaria alternata was evaluated for its phytotoxicity against a noxious weed Lantana camara. The results of cut shoot, seed- ling and detached leaf bioassays revealed the presence of a toxic metabolite in the CFCF and a significant reduction in chlorophyll and protein content were also noticed. Phytotoxic moiety was further purified and characterized by using solvent partition, thin layer chromatography (TLC), FTIR and 1 H NMR analysis. The acetone extract induced maximum phytotoxic damage at a concentration of 100 µg/ml and TLC purified fraction also exhibited herbicidal potential. The toxic compound was identified as tenuazonic acid upon comparison with FTIR and 1 H NMR spectra. This is the first evidence that confirmed the herbicidal potential of a biorational, tenu- azonic acid was produced by submerged fermentation of A. alternata.

As molecular techniques for identifying and detecting microorganisms in the clinical microbiology laboratory have become routine, questions about the cost of these techniques and their contribution to patient care need to be addressed. Molecular diagnosis is most appropriate for infectious agents that are difficult to detect, identify, or test for susceptibility in a timely fashion with conventional methods. During the last 10 years, the detection of infectious disease agents has begun to include the use of nucleic acid-based technologies. Diagnosis of infection caused by parasitic organisms is the last field of clinical microbiology to incorporate these techniques and molecular techniques (e.g., PCR and hybridization assays) have recently been developed for the detection, species differentiation, and phylogenetic analysis.

The present study compared the relative tolerance to honey and glucose of subjects with impaired glucose tolerance or mild diabetes. Thirty individuals 35-60 years old with a proven parental (mother or father) history of type II diabetes mellitus were subjected simultaneously to an oral glucose tolerance test (GTT) and a honey tolerance test (HTT). Glucose tolerance was found to be impaired in 24 subjects, while six of the subjects were diagnosed as mildly diabetic. All subjects with impaired glucose tolerance exhibited significantly lower plasma glucose concentrations after consumption of honey at all time points of the HTT in comparison to the GTT. The plasma glucose levels in response to honey peaked at 30-60 minutes and showed a rapid decline as compared to that to glucose. Significantly, the high degree of tolerance to honey was recorded in subjects with diabetes as well, indicating a lower glycemic index of honey. Thus, it is evident from the present investigation that honey may prove to be a valuable sugar substitute for subjects with impaired glucose tolerance or mild diabetes.

Lymphatic filarial subjects with disease manifestations exhibit significantly elevated levels of immune complexes (ICs) in their circulation. The objective of the study was to explore the possible excretion of filaria‐specific soluble ICs in urine of subjects with lymphatic filariasis. Paired urine (overnight) and serum samples were analyzed for complement activating filarial antigen containing immune complexes by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Antigen‐specific ICs were detected in urine samples of 34% of subjects with filarial disease manifestations while the frequency of occurrence was low in microfilaremic subjects. The titer of urine ICs is significantly high in subjects with chronic filariasis as compared to microfilaria (mf) carriers. The occurrence of filaria‐specific ICs in urine and their passage through the filtering structures of the kidney is suggestive of the focal or diffuse damage in those subjects. Detection of ICs in urine may provide a noninvasive means of assessing the extent of renal damage in patients with lymphatic filariasis. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:46–48, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Rapid diagnosis and treatment are important for preventing transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the diagnosis of tuberculosis continues to pose serious problems, mainly because of difficulties in differentiating between patients with active tuberculosis and those with healed lesions, normal mycobacterium boris BCG (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) vaccinated individuals, and unvaccinated Manteux positives. Physicians still rely on conventional methods such as Ziehl‐Neelsen (ZN) staining, fluorochrome staining, sputum culture, gastric lavage, and other non‐traditional methods. Although the tuberculin test has aided in the diagnosis of tuberculosis for more than 85 years, its interpretation is difficult because sensitization with nontuberculous mycobacteria leads to false‐positive tests. There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to develop clinically useful serodiagnostic kits for tuberculosis. A number of proteinaceous and nonprotein antigens (such as acyltrehaloses and phenolglycolipids) have been explored from time to time for the development of such assays but they have not proved to be clinically useful. It has been difficult to develop an ELISA utilizing a suitable antigen because M. tuberculosis shares a large number of antigenic proteins with other microorganisms that may or may not be pathogenic. With the advent of molecular biology techniques, there have been significant advances in nucleic acid‐based amplification and hybridization, which are helping to rectify existing flaws in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. The detection of mycobacterial DNA in clinical samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a promising approach for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculous infection. However, the PCR results must be corrected for the presence of inhibitors as well as for DNA contamination. In the modern era of genetics, marked by proteomics and genomics, the day is not far off when DNA chip‐based hybridization assays will instantly reveal mycobacterial infections. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 17: 155–163, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Background: In the present study, “Diabegon” a poly-herbal preparation, with hypoglycemic activity, was evaluated for its preventive effect inmetabolic syndrome subjects with type 2 diabetes and also to reveal its side effects, on liver and kidney.Materials and Methods: Type 2 diabetic subjects with metabolic syndrome (N=58) were categorized on the basis of age and fasting blood glucose.The grouping was as follows: Group I (35-50 yrs), Group II (51-65 yrs), Group III >65 yrs, Group IV FBS145. Each group wasadministered 4 gm of diabegon daily. Blood glucose levels, lipid profile, liver and kidney function of the subjects were regularly monitored within 3months of interval to 18 months.Results: The reduction in fasting blood glucose level ranged from 12.3% (P

Arsenic-induced abnormalities in glucose metabolism: Biochemical basis and potential therapeutic and nutritional interventions

A new fungus isolate was discovered in an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore from a desert soil in India. It could easily be cultivated on various synthetic media, and formed pear-shaped chlamydos...