[ effect of ethanolic extract of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on oxidative stress markers in the hippocampus of experimental models of MS

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ethanolic extract of saffron on oxidative stress markers in the hippocampus of experimental models of MS

Materials and Methods: Induction of Multiple Sclerosis [MS] was carried out by direct single injection of 0.01% ethidium bromide [EB] into the Cornu ammonis [CA1] of hippocampal formation. One week after MS induction, animals received intrahippocampal [5 microg/rat and 10 micro g/rat] injection of the saffron. At the end, the bilateral hippo campi were dissected to measure oxidative stress parameters. one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey test were used for Statistical analyses activity

Results: Hippocampal injection of EB had no effect on catalase [CAT] activity, but it induced significant increment of antioxidant enzymes GPx and SOD [P<0.05]. Short-term local injection of saffron extract significantly reduced the activity of GPx and SOD enzymes [P<0.05]. But the activity of CAT was significantly increased following microinjection of saffron extract [P<0.05]

Conclusion: The results of the present study show that the local injection of EB may cause increased production of free radicals. Antioxidant capacity and activity are increased. Saffron extract as a potent antioxidant modulates oxidative stress markers, probably through scavenging of ROS and clearing of cells milieu from free radicals

Synthesis and biological investigation of some novel sulfonamide and amide derivatives containing coumarin moieties

New sulfonamide and amide derivatives containing coumarin moieties; oxo-2H-chromen-sulfamoylphenylacetamides and oxo-2H-chromen-arylacetamides were synthesized starting from diverse 2-chloroacetamide derivatives and a wide range of coumarins. The structures of the obtained compounds were elucidated by IR and NMR spectra and also analytical elemental analysis. In the next step, the above mentioned compounds were screened for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Their antimicrobial activity was assigned using the conventional agar dilution method and the antioxidant activity was assessed using two methods, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] radical scavenging method and ferric reducing antioxidant power [FRAP] assay. Although the compounds showed no remarkable antimicrobial activities, most of them exhibited good antioxidant activities. Compounds 5b showed the most potent DPPH activity, whereas 8c was the most efficient compound in FRAP assay

Antimicrobial activity of bacillus sp. strain fas isolated from soil

During screening for antibiotic producing microorganisms from environmental soil samples, the supernatant of a bacterial isolate was found to have antibacterial and antifungal activity on the standard indicator species. The standard cylinder-plate method was used to determine the inhibitory effect of the crude supernatant of each isolate on 6 bacterial and 3 fungal standard strains by measuring the diameter of inhibition zone. The highest inhibition zone on Aspergillus niger belonged to culture broth of isolate FASi by 25 mm, and this isolate was the most efficient microorganism to inhibit standard bacterial and fungal species. Based on morphological and biochemical properties as well as 16S rDNA gene analysis, the selected isolate [isolate FASi] belonged to Bacillus gems. Investigation on the ability of different culture media for antibiotic production led to select Luria-Bertani media for further studies. Treatment of the culture broth of the isolate FAS[1] using typical protease did't decease the antimicrobial activity of the supernatant. After extracting of culture broth of the selected isolate by ethyl acetate as an organic solvent, the inhibitory effect was mainly increased. More investigation was done by bioautography method where the ethyl acetate fraction of the broth culture was separated on TLC by chloroformimethanol, 60:40 as mobile phase and R[f] were calculated for inhibition spots

Bioassay screening of the essential oil and various extracts from 4 spices medicinal plants

Four commonly used spices plants in Iran were evaluated for cytotoxicity effect using Brine Shrimp Lethality [BSL] assay. Essential oils and various extracts of Heracleum persicum, Nigella arvensis, Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Zingiber officinale were assessed by two methods of disk and solution of BSL. Data were processed in probit-analysis program to estimate LC50 values. All of the tested fractions have exhibited more cytotoxicity in the solution method. Essential oils of H. persicum and C. zeylanicum have shown the most cytotoxicity with LC50 values 0.007 and 0.03 microg/ml respectively. None of aqueous extracts showed significant cytotoxicity. The analysis of the essential oil of H. persicum showed the hexyl butyrate and octyl acetate as the main compounds. These results suggest some limitation for using of these spices in diet. Furthermore, these plants could be considered as a source of cytotoxic compounds which might be studied in more details