The Aftermath of Corona Pandemic on the Psychosocial Life of Coimbatore South Population: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Coronavirus disease is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Since the new coronaviruscan spread unnoticed so easily, many governments have felt the best way to ensure people having minimal contact with eachother is to order total lockdowns. This study is performed a month after lockdown to evaluate the impact of corona pandemicon the psychosocial life of Coimbatore south population.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional randomized study was conducted at Coimbatore South, Tamil Nadu, India, betweenApril 26, 2020, and April 30, 2020. The sample size was 600. Pre-tested structured and self-structured e-questionnaire wassent to the study population and the answers were viewed using separate email id.Results: Of the 600 people, 59.5% were males and 40.5% were females. The majority (82.5%) of people felt that they weresafe during the pandemic majority of people (61%) felt that the modern lifestyle was the cause for the pandemic and 66.9% ofthe people increased the usage of traditional and natural remedies during the lockdown.Conclusion: We infer that the majority of the people (55%) enjoyed the break from their routine with an eye on their educationand career.

Potential antioxidative protein-pigment complex Spirulina platensis mediated food grade phycocyanin C -Extraction, purification, antioxidative activity and biocompatibility

Phycocyanin (PC), a photosynthetic pigment produced by cyanobacteria has been gained attention due to its distinct properties such as antioxidant and anti-proliferative. Acute and sub acute toxicity studies were carried out to determine the biocompatibility of the extracted phycocyanin on Wistar rat model. PC was extracted from Spirulina platensis biomass by cold maceration followed by successive purification by ammonium sulphate precipitation and gel filtration chromatography. Biocompatibility of the purified phycocyanin was carried out by acute toxicity studies using Wistar rat model. Acute toxicity has been determined by the effect of single oral dose of PC with two different concentrations (250 and 500 mg/Kg) on the body weight, general behaviour, and mortality. In sub-acute treatment. The effect of phycocyanin on the various parameters at the respective concentration as single oral dose daily during 28 days was studied. Cold maceration followed by maceration brought about food grade phycocyanin C (C-PC) which final yield and purity were increased in the successive purification steps. Antioxidative study using DPPH assay reveals the effective free scavenging activity of the phycocynin as concentration-dependent manner. Biocompatibility studies against Wister rat model did not exhibit any harmful effect. Any sign of toxic effect on biochemical, hematological and histopathological parameters was not observed in all the tested animals of treatment groups during the study period which reveals a high level of biocompatibility. The present study suggests the possible utilization of phycocyanin C as an effective pharmaceutical agent.

In silico and in vitro analysis of quorum quenching active phytochemicals from the ethanolic extract of medicinal plants against quorum sensing mediated virulence factors of Acinetobacter baumannii

Inhibition of quorum sensing called quorum quenching (QQ) is now extensively utilized in the prevention of bacterial infections. In the present study, in silico and in vitro analysis of quorum quenching (QQ) or anti-Quorum sensing (QS) activity of ethanolic extract of medicinal plants against QS mediated virulence factors of human pathogenic bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii has been investigated. The effect of plant extracts on QS by acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) has been carried out by quantification of secreted AHL by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Measurement of QQ activity was determined by maximum inhibition of virulence factors and AHL production which was recorded in E. globules and A. indica extracts. In silico analysis was studied with possible bioactive compounds in the ethanolic extract of respective plant material that were characterized by gas chromatography equipped with mass spectroscopy (GCMS) against the enzyme responsible for the production of signaling molecule which mediates QS AHL synthase. Distinct reduction of all the QS-mediated virulence factors was recorded in the E. globules and A. indica. Among the different bioactive compounds, the ethanolic leaf extract of E. globules of GCMS analyzed compound, Hexadeconoic acid, 1-(hydroxymethyl), 1, 2-ethannediyl ester interacted with 1KZF protein (AHL synthase) and showed binding energy of −11.2 kcal/mol to MET 42 and TYR 54. Phytochemicals mediated inhibition of AHL synthase activity which was responsible for AHL production would suggest the possible utilization of plant extracts as an antibacterial agent to fight against disease-causing pathogenic bacteria.

Preparation of nano albumin-flutamide (Nab-flu) conjugate and evaluation of its in vitro drug control release, anticancer activity and genotoxicity

Cancer is one of the most common noncommnicable diseases of mankind which causes considerable deaths worldwide. Though there have been consistant efforts on prevention and control, cancer still ranks second in global mortality, causing one out of every six deaths. Nanotechnology has radically changed the way cancer is diagnosed, imaged and treated. Researchers have designed novel nanodevices capable of detecting cancer at its earliest stages, pinpointing its location within the body and delivering drugs specifically to malignant cells. Albumin, with active tumor targeting capacity, is a versatile drug carrier in anticancer drug delivery system. In this study, preparation of BSA nanoparticles has been optimized with various parameters such as pH, ethanol to BSA ratio and crosslinking time in order to improve drug delivery. The optimal pH was found to be 8.0, the ethanol to albumin ratio was found to be 4:1 and cross linking time of 8 h which gives the higher yield of BSA nanoparticles. Nanodrug conjugate was prepared using the optimized conditions and the nanospheres formed were characterized using SEM which showed a particle size of nanosphere in the range of 160-230 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed the possible functional groups of nano drug conjugate. The drug loading efficiency and entrapment efficiency were found to be 81 and 83%, respectively. The in vitro drug release profile was studied by continuous dialysis method. Cumulative release reached almost 81% after 24 h and showed an almost released ability of the nanoparticle formulation. Sustained and controlled release profile of flutamide facilitates application of nanoparticles for delivery of anticancer drugs. The Nab-Flu, Nab was found to have very low toxicity on Vero cell line and a higher toxicity in hep2 cell lines. Further, genotoxicity study revealed the Nab and Nab-Flu showed a zero genotoxicity.