Evaluation of antitumor activities of different epigeic earthworms

Earthworms have a long association with the medicinal property as the biomolecules/compounds produced bythe earthworms are of pharmacological importance with high potential in the eradication of various diseases withvery low cost. Researchers have proved that earthworms are immune to malignant diseases such as differentkinds of cancers. Hence, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the antitumor activities of differentepigeic earthworms, such as Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia fetida, and Perionyx excavatus. The cytotoxicity assaywas tested through 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay on MichiganCancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cells by exposing them at various concentrations (200, 400, 600, 800, and 1,000µg/ml) of different epigeic earthworm powders and standard antitumor chemotherapy drug Cisplatin (15 µg/ml).The percent growth inhibition/percent viability of MCF-7 cells varies with different concentrations of earthwormpowder. The IC50 value was more prominent with E. fetida (113.97 µg/ml), followed by E. eugeniae (825.67 µg/ml) and P. excavatus (1,617.31 µg/ml). Based on the above results, it can be concluded that the tissues of theearthworm, E. fetida, seems to be a very good anticancer agent against MCF-7 cells as compared to other twoearthworm species. Therefore, such studies could be useful in the future for the development of novel therapeuticagents against different types of cancers, further molecular level experimental studies are required to ascertainthe pathways and genes responsible for the anticancer effect, and thereby, we can exploit the beneficial aspectsof various earthworm species in drug delivery research and also in pharmaceutical applications.

Endometrial assessment in cases of primary infertility in women: a prospective study

Background: Worldwide Infertility rate prevails around 8-12% of all couples; approximately 80 million are infertile. In India 10-15% of couples are infertile. Investigating for infertility is to intervene into the modifiable/treatable causes. Therefore, the present study has been undertaken to investigate the morphological patterns of endometrial tissue in women with primary infertility.Methods: The study included 60 cases with complaints of infertility (primary). The premenstrual D and C was done to obtain endometrial biopsy. The present prospective study was a descriptive study and the values are mentioned in percentages.Results: In present study a total of 60 cases were studied. Out of which 36 cases (60%) belonged to the young adult age group. The predominant morphological pattern was that of secretory endometrium seen in 22 cases (36.66%) as opposed to proliferative, endometritic or tubercular pattern. The predominant menstrual pattern recorded was regular; seen in 41 cases (68.33%) as opposed to irregular or mennorhagic patterns.Conclusions: The endometrial biopsy has a great role in screening the cases of infertility as it helps to assess the information about ovulation, ripening of the endometrial tissue and other abnormal endometrial reaction, hormonal imbalance. This is the only method to label the diagnosis of endometrial tuberculosis in an apparently healthy female.