Antioxidant, antibacterial and antiproliferative activities of pumpkin (cucurbit) peel and puree extracts - an in vitro study

Natural resources right from the beginning of the human civilization has paved the way to human being to combat different challenges. The big challenge was to safe the human being from diseases and shortage of food. Plants helped the man in both areas very efficiently. No doubt when plants are used as food actually we are also taking lot of compounds of medicinal values in an excellent combination which naturally reduce the risk of diseases. Extraction and purification of several medicinally important compounds also gave the way to develop pharmaceutical industry in addition to its own therapeutic effects against different lethal diseases. Pumpkin is one of the several medicinal important vegetables used in different way on the behalf of its admirable power to combat different diseases. Antioxidant and biological studies showed very important results. A good coherence was found among extraction yield [10.52 to 18.45%], total phenolics [1.13 to 6.78 mg GAE/l00g], total flavonoids [0.23 to 0.72mg CE/l00g] and antioxidant potential [-70%]. Antibacterial assays of peel and puree extracts advocated good potential to stop the growth and division of pathogenic bacteria. Further biological activity study was carried out using MDBK cancer cell line. The growth inhibitory effect on cancer cell line using MTT assay showed methanol extracts of peel and puree both remained efficient to inhibit growth [-35%] and cell division of cancer cells. Our results showed that extracts of pumpkin puree and its waste, peel, may be utilize to prepare functional food against pathogenic born diseases and most active compounds may also be extracted, concentrated and converted into tablets or suspension form for therapeutic purposes

Novel indium-111 labeled gastrin peptide analogues [MG-CL1-4]: synthesis and quality control

Radiolabeled neuropeptides are widely investigated to diagnose and therapy of tumors. These peptides get internalization after binding with particular receptors at the surface of cells and finally move to lysosome. Internalization into tumor cells helps in mapping the infected site. Minigastrin peptide analogues [MG-CL1-4] were synthesised and labeled with 111-In radioisotope under different sets of conditions for imaging CCk-2 receptor bearing tumors. Different parameters such as temperature [80-100[degree]C], pH [4-12], incubation time [5-30 minutes] and dilution effect were investigated to get the maximum labeling yield and stability. The results indicated that MG-CL1-4 is successfully labeled with indium-111 at pH 4.5 with heating at 98[degree]C for 15 minute. At these conditions i.e. heating, pH and incubation minimum oxidized and maximum labeling yield, more than 94 %, was obtained. The labeling stability was studied by incubating the radiolabeled complex for predefined time points in PBSA and blood serum. Results show that more than 90% radiolabeled MG-CL1-4 remained intact