Molecular docking and dynamics supported investigation of antiviral activity of Lichen metabolites of Roccella montagnei: an in silico and in vitro study.

Lichens are symbiotic organisms that have been traditionally used for treating different kinds of ailments. As there are only a few reports on the antiviral activity of lichens, we thought of evaluating the anti-Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) activity of methanolic extract of Roccella montagnei and their isolated compounds. Fractionation of crude methanolic extract of Roccella montagnei by column chromatography isolated two pure compounds. Antiviral activity was assessed using a CPE inhibition assay at non-cytotoxic concentrations on Vero cells. Molecular docking and dynamics studies were carried out against Herpes simplex type-1 thymidine kinase to understand the binding interactions of the isolated compounds with reference to acyclovir. Isolated compounds were characterized as methyl orsellinate and montagnetol by spectral methods. Methanolic extract of Roccella montagnei exhibited an EC50 value of 56.51 µg/ml, while the compounds methyl orsellinate and montagnetol offered EC50 values of 13.50 µg/ml and 37.52 µg/ml, respectively, against HSV-1 viral infection on Vero cell lines. The selectively index (SI) of montagnetol (10.93) was found to be higher when compared to that of methyl orsellinate (5.55), indicating its better anti-HSV-1 activity. The docking and dynamics studies showed montagnetol was stable throughout the 100 ns, having better interactions and docking scores with HSV-1 thymidine kinase than methyl orsellinate, as well as the standard. To understand the mechanism of montagnetol's anti-HSV-1 activity, more research is required, and this could lead to the discovery of new and effective antiviral agents.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Serial blood volume estimation in rabbits using trivalent chromium - An exploratory study.

Though often used in cardiac intensive monitoring set up, simultaneous evaluation of several variables like CVP, PCWP, SVV and hTEE for fluid volume resuscitation (especially when capillary permeability is major problem than cardiac performance) is a major challenge in many ICU setups. Therefore, repetitive determination of blood volume by trivalent chromium [51Cr (III)] as a direct single variable method may be a near ideal method during fluid volume resuscitation in cases where capillary permeability is a major problem (e.g. Burns). Hence, in the present article the repeatability and reliability of 51Cr (III) method in New Zealand white rabbits was explored. Mean blood volume values of initial measurement were 195.66 ± 47.30 ml or 89.81 ± 17.88 ml/kg body weight. Repeated mean blood volume values, measured after 1 h, was 181.98 ± 53.16 ml or 83.68 ± 22.09 ml/kg body weight. The average difference between the initial and repeated measurements was 10.93 ml (95% CI -3.33, 25.19 ml), which is not statistically significant (P = 0.128). The method using 51Cr (III) for repeat blood volume measurements after sixty minutes in rabbits is a reliable method. •Rapid•Repeatable•Reliable.

Evaluation of the properties of a tissue conditioner containing origanum oil as an antifungal additive.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Adherence and colonization of Candida albicans on tissue conditioners is common and results in irritation of the denture-bearing mucosa. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the antifungal activity and properties of a tissue conditioner by incorporating origanum oil. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Origanum oil at varying concentrations was incorporated into a poly(methyl methacrylate) based tissue conditioner (Visco-gel), and its antifungal activity against Candida albicans was evaluated at 1 day and 1 week by using the agar punch well method. The adherence of Candida albicans, surface roughness, tensile strength, and bond strength of the tissue conditioner with an optimized origanum oil concentration were evaluated. The data were subjected to 2-way ANOVA (α=.05). RESULTS: Sixty vol% origanum oil in tissue conditioner (Visco-gel) showed a mean inhibitory zone of 21.00 ± 1.58 mm at 1 day and 13.44 ± 0.88 mm at 1 week. The control group showed 90 ± 6.80 yeast cells/mm(2) at 1 day and 165 ± 7.63 yeast cells/mm(2) at 1 week, whereas the group with origanum oil showed 16 ± 1.15 yeast cells/mm(2) at 1 day and 32 ± 4.00 yeast cells/mm(2) at 1 week. Surface roughness was less with the incorporation of origanum oil. Tensile strength at 1 day was 0.91 ± 0.52 N for the control group, whereas the group with origanum oil showed 0.16 ± 0.05 N. At 1 day, the bond strength of 3.97 ± 0.75 MPa was observed with control specimens, whereas tissue conditioner with origanum oil showed a bond strength of 3.73 ± 0.65 MPa. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, origanum oil can be used as an additive to tissue conditioner to reduce the adherence of Candida albicans without significantly affecting its bond strength to heat-polymerized acrylic resin.

Autopsy discoveries of death from malaria.

Malaria inflicts a huge health care burden in terms of mortality and morbidity worldwide. There has been evidence in the literature where many unexpected/unexplained deaths turned out to be related to malaria on autopsy. The aim of this study is to review autopsy diagnosed malaria related deaths in the literature with due stress to its biologic and forensic aspects. A meticulous literature search was performed for "sudden malaria death", "malaria death postmortem diagnosis" and "unexplained death malaria" across PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Allied and Complementary Medicine, British Nursing Index, CINAHL, EMBASE, Ovid-MEDLINE and Google Scholar. All the literature was thoroughly reviewed and analyzed with reference to the type of study, location, travel history, age, gender, circumstance of death, method of diagnosis, species involved, chemoprophylaxis usage and take home message from the particular study. Plasmodium falciparum was responsible in most of the cases. The symptoms mimicked influenza in most of the case reports. Travel to endemic areas was common to most of the victims. The travelers were from all over the world including USA, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Asia (China and Japan). Vascular congestion with the presence of malarial pigment laden RBCs in capillaries of various organs was the major histopathology finding. Such lesions were found in the brains of all subjects (100%), liver of 78% of the cases, spleen in 67%, lungs in 56% and myocardium in 43% of the cases. Peripheral smear and rapid diagnostic test was of great aid to the autopsy in many cases. PCR was used for diagnosis as well as exclusion of possibility of co-infection with other species in case of Plasmodium knowlesi related death. The postmortem and histopathology findings in this case were similar to P. falciparum except for the fact that brain sections were negative for intracellular adhesion molecule-1. Chemoprophylaxis was not taken by the victims except for two in whom history of chloroquine based chemoprophylaxis was mentioned. Given the worldwide prevalence of the disease, increasing international travel and rapidly developing drug resistance, malaria will continue to be an important disease and should be considered in all cases of unexpected deaths particularly in malaria endemic regions or in presence of travel history to endemic regions.

Biotechnology in forensic science: the revolution continues.

Molecular biology has become one of the most fascinating fields of biology in recent years. Molecular methods have been applied in various fields of biology including Medical/Health Science. In this paper, light has been shed on the application of different molecular methods (DNA analysis) in the field of Forensic Medicine.