Raju Dash

Piper Betle, Pterospermum acerifolium, Saraca indica, Argyreia speciosa, and Rhaphidophora glauca are medicinal plants commonly used as traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. To examine, whether organic extracts of these plants possess thrombolytic properties with minimal or no toxicity is our main aim of the study. In vitro thrombolytic model was used to check the clot lysis effects using streptokinase (SK) as a positive control and water as a negative control. Cytotoxicity was screened by brine shrimp lethality bioassay using vincristine sulfate (VS) as positive control. Among herbal drugs, different organic extracts of P. betle, P. acerifolium, S. indica, A. speciosa, and R. glauca showed significant (P < 0.05 and P < 0.0001) clot lysis activity viz., 31.58% ±0.76%, 40.50% ±0.94%, 49.70% ±1.69%, 35.81% ±0.86%, and 43.80% ±0.91%, respectively, compared to reference drug SK (79.32% ±1.629%). In brine shrimp cytotoxic assay, mortality achieved by the extracts showed lethal concentration 50 (LC50) values 274.64 ± 3.46, 215.60 ± 4.59, 478.40 ± 6.98, 233.37 ± 2.56, and 209.32 ± 1.98 μg/ml, respectively, with reference to VS (LC50, 0.05 ± 0.34). In this study, S. indica, R. glauca, and P. acerifolium possessed effective thrombolytic activity. Further studies can be undertaken to identify certain structure of the ingredients in the extracts and to elucidate the precise mechanism of action. Five Bangladesh medicinal plants, named Piper betle, Pterospermum acerifolium, Saraca indica, Argyreia speciosa, and Rhaphidophora glauca were subjected to comparative antithrombotic and toxicity based analysis. In comparative study, Saraca indica showed highest clot lysis (49.70 ± 1.69%) activity among the other plant with lowest toxicity (LC50: 478.40 ± 6.98) Abbreviations Used: h: Hour; min: Minutes; sec: Second; kg: Kilogram; g: Gram; μg: Microgram; L: Liter; mL: Millilitre; μL: Micro liter; μg/mL: Microgram per Milliliter; mg/kg: Milligram per kilogram; %: Percent; °C: Degree Celsius; et al.: et alliori (and others); w/w: Weight by Weight; v/v: Volume by Volume; SEM: Standard Error Mean; LC50: lethal concentration at 50.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) catalyzed synthesis of prostaglandin E2 and it associates with tumor growth, infiltration, and metastasis in preclinical experiments. Known inhibitors against COX-2 exhibit toxicity. Therefore, it is of interest to screen natural compounds like flavanoids against COX-2. Molecular docking using 12 known flavanoids against COX-2 by FlexX and of ArgusLab were performed. All compounds showed a favourable binding energy of >-10 KJ/mol in FlexX and > -8 kcal/mol in ArgusLab. However, this data requires in vitro and in vivo verification for further consideration.

Developing a new agent in the anti-inflammatory and analgesic field, plants secondary metabolites can be a good
source for the Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) drug development. For this purpose we
subjected the active compounds of Mimosa pudica Linn. to reveal its potentiality by molecular docking analysis
to find out its potent compound against COX which was done by GOLD docking analysis. Docking studies by
GOLD showed that vitexin of Mimosa pudica had the highest fitness score against the COX-1 which is 60.43 and
63.49 for COX-2 enzyme. Vitexin of Mimosa pudica detected with significant fitness score and hydrogen
bonding against COX-1 and COX-2 which may be a potent analgesic compound.

Bacopa monnieri Linn. (Plantaginaceae), a well-known medicinal plant, is widely used in traditional medicine system. It has long been used in gastrointestinal discomfort, skin diseases, epilepsy and analgesia. This research investigated the in vitro antimicrobial activity of Bacopa monnieri leaf extract against Staphylococcus aureus and the interaction of possible compounds involved in this antimicrobial action. Non-edible plant parts were extracted with ethanol and evaporated in vacuo to obtain the crude extract. A zone of inhibition studies and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of plant extracts were evaluated against clinical isolates by the microbroth dilution method. Docking study was performed to analyze and identify the interactions of possible antimicrobial compounds of Bacopa monnieri in the active site of penicillin binding protein and DNA gyrase through GOLD 4.12 software. A zone of inhibition studies showed significant (p < 0.05) inhibition capacity of differ...

Secondary metabolites from plants are a good source for the NSAID drug development. We studied the analgesic activity of ethanolic extract of Erythrina variegata L. (Fabaceae) followed by molecular docking analysis. The analgesic activity of Erythrina variegata L. is evaluated by various methods viz., acetic acid-induced writhing test, hot plate and tail immersion test. Subsequently, molecular docking analysis has been performed to identify compounds having activity against COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes by using GOLD docking fitness. The result of preliminary phytochemical screening revealed that the extract contains alkaloids and flavonoids. In analgesic activity tests, the extract at the doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) produced a increase in pain threshold in a dose dependent manner. In acetic acid induced writhing test, the inhibitory effect was similar to the reference drug diclofenac sodium. The extract showed 18.89% writhing inhibitory effect at the dose 200 mg/kg b.w., whereas diclofenac sodium showed 79.42% inhibition of writhing at a dose of 10 mg/kg b.w. The results of tail immersion and hot plate test also showed potential analgesic activity of the extract which is also comparable to the standard drug morphine (5 mg/kg b.w.). Docking studies shows that phaseollin of Erythrina variegata L. has the best fitness score against the COX-1 which is 56.64 and 59.63 for COX-2 enzyme. Phaseollin of Erythrina variegata L. detected with significant fitness score and hydrogen bonding against COX-1 and COX-2 is reported for further validation.

Thalassemia is the name of a group of genetic, inherited disorders of the blood. More speciϐically, it is a disorder of the
hemoglobin molecule inside the red blood cells. According to World health Organization (WHO), there are about 3%
beta-thalassemia carrier and about 4% Hb E/beta-thalassemia carrier in Bangladesh. Our objective is to identify
the prevalence of beta-thalassemia in our adolescent populations and to review risk factors that would most easily
identify a subset of adolescent patients at greatest risk for the development of beta-thalassemia. We also made a
study of clinical proϐile of 53 thalassemic patients, observingthe relationship between the patients with their verity
ages and sex. The cases are taken on the basis of their age (2-30 years), beta-thalassemia major, clinical jaundice with
history of chronic blood transfusion. The cases excluded those who had jaundice due to viral hepatitis or hepatitis
due to heavy metal poisoning (Arsenic) and those with spleenectomy. Liver function test has been evaluated in
53  patients.  That  were  recorded  with  some  relevant  demographical  data  such  as  age,  sex,  blood  group  where
median age was of 16 years and mean (±SD) age 15.4151 ± 7.90918. Among them were 21 (39.6%) female and
32 (60.4%) male. With an average 15.1% (8 in no.) beta-thalassemia, 7.5% (4 in no.) beta-thalassemia major and
77.4% (41 in no.) E-beta-thalassemia cases have been found in the study. Mean (±SD) TSB in total 53 subjects
with age group 2-10 years and 21-30 years is signiϐicant. The study revealed that in thalassemic patients when
the age is more, the disease progresses with their complication. Hepatic complication is mainly due to being
hepatocellular in nature than that of obstructive one.