In vitro evaluation of anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic activities of the methanolic extracts of Andrographis nallamalayana Ellis on A375 and B16F10 melanoma cell lines.

Natural plant products have been widely used in controlling cancer with fewer or no side effects and the use of plant extracts as complementary to synthetic medicine is gaining increased popularity. Members of Andrographis plants possess important medicinal properties. In the present study, anti-cancerous properties of Andrographis nallamalayana (AN) were tested on A375 and B16F10 skin melanoma cancer cell lines. The leaf extracts of AN significantly reduced the cell viability and cell survival of skin cancer cell lines, achieved by MTT assay and clonogenic assays, respectively. Further, TUNEL assays revealed that AN extracts induces the apoptosis. Western blot analysis revealed that AN leaf extracts reduced the expression of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein and induced the expression of proapoptotic molecules such as Bcl-2 associated death promoter protein (BAD), Bcl-2 associated X protein (BAX) and cleaved caspase-3. Moreover, the qRT-PCR and western blot analysis demonstrated the reduced expression of G2/M phase proteins cdk1, cyclin B1 and increased expression of p53, cyclin-dependent kinase 1 inhibitor, p21. Further, immunofluorescence analysis revealed that AN reduced the NF-κB nuclear translocation, luciferase reporter assays demonstrated reporter gene activation. qRT-PCR assays showed that AN significantly reduced the expression of NF-κB target genes. The results concluded that the extracts of AN exhibited significant anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic activities on melanoma skin cancer cell lines.

RP-HPLC Estimation of Imipramine Hydrochloride and Diazepam in Tablets.

A simple and rapid reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for simultaneous determination of imipramine hydrochloride and diazepam in pharmaceutical formulations. The elution was done in isocratic mode utilizing a mobile phase consisting of methanol:water:0.1M sodium acetate (30:50:20 v/v/v) on Chromosil C18 column with a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and with detection at 243 nm. The measured retention time was 3.33±0.02 min for imipramine hydrochloride and 4.64±0.02 min for diazepam. Linearity was measured in the range 25-150 µg/ml for imipramine hydrochloride (r(2)=0.999) and in the range 5-30 µg/ml for diazepam (r(2)=0.9994), respectively. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.03 and 0.1 µg/ml for imipramine hydrochloride and 0.02 and 0.07 µg/ml for diazepam. Satisfactory validation was also obtained from recovery (100.95-101.52% for imipramine hydrochloride and 99.47-100.33% for diazepam) studies, intraday and interday precision (<2%) and robustness results. The reported method was the first study of these drugs in combination and could be employed for routine quantitative determination of imipramine hydrochloride and diazepam in tablets.

In vitro antimicrobial activity of certain medicinal plants from eastern Ghats, India, used for skin diseases.

The paper deals with ethnopharmacological and antimicrobial properties of certain medicinal plants used by adivasi tribes of the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India. Ethanolic extracts of 23 crude drug samples used for various skin diseases were assayed for antimicrobial activity against four bacterial and one fungal human pathogens.

Antimicrobial activity of Rhynchosia beddomei.

The petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extracts of Rhynchosia beddomei leaves showed inhibiting activity against some bacterial and fungal species at different concentrations.

Traditional phytotherapy for epilepsy, fits and hysteria by yanadis of cuddapah district, a.p.

The present paper deals with the athnomedicobotany of crude drugs used by a seminomadic ethnic group, the Yanadis, found in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh. This aboriginal group is considered to be the conservators of folklore medicine. Fourteen plant species available in the locality, used by this tribe to cure ailments like epilepsy, hysteria fits and insanity were collected. The valid scientific and vernacular names, plant parts used, therapeutic combinations, mode of administration were enumerated.

Rutaceous plants from tribal medicine of andhra pradesh, India.

This paper describes the ethnobotanical importance of 6 Rutaceous plants common in Andhra Pradesh. For each plant its popular name/local name and manner of use are described. Data are based on personal survey, observation and discussion with chenchu, Yanadi, Erukala and sugali tribes of this area.

Stability index for enzymes deactivating by different mechanisms.

A quantitative procedure for estimating changes in enzyme stability upon chemical modification is presented. Stability index for different deactivation mechanisms is presented and applied to different enzyme deactivations. The stability index provides a convenient method of estimating changes in enzyme stability upon chemical modification.

Protein/enzyme inactivation during different chromatographic methods of separation.

Protein denaturations encountered during the different types of chromatographic separations are presented. The analysis of different protein denaturations presented along with the causes of such denaturations provides a judicious framework to compare protein denaturations encountered by such separation techniques. Especially of interest are those studies which compare the mass recovery of proteins and the retention of activity by different chromatographic techniques. Reversed-phase chromatography is presented even though it is utilized nowadays only for specialized cases such as separation of small peptides. It appears that relatively mild interactions that are encountered generally in hydrocarbon-interaction chromatography are favorable to the preservation of the native (active) protein state. The few available mechanistic studies presented provide judicious physical insights into protein conformational behavior on chromatographic columns.