Sulfation of chitosan from Sepia kobiensis as potential anticoagulant and antibacterial molecule

The present work aimed to synthesis of chitin, chitosan and sulfation of chitosan from cuttlebone of cuttlefish Sepia kobiensis. Principally chitin was extracted through sequential processes of demineralisation and deproteinzation. Then chitosan was synthesized by a deacetylation and finally sulfated at semi-heterogeneous condition using chlorosulfonic acid in N,N-dimethylformamide. The synthesized macromolecules were characterized for its structural, physical and thermal (CHN, DDA, FT-IR, NMR, XRD, Viscometric analysis, SEM and DSC) properties. Apart from anticoagulant potential of the sulfated chitosan was tested using human plasma by means of activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT). Further sulfated chitosan was tested for antibacterial potential by well diffusion method against eleven human pathogenic clinical isolates of both Gram positive and Gram-negative strains and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) was calculated accordingly. The results of this study revealed the effectiveness of the sulfated chitosan at semi-heterogeneous conditions as a potent antibacterial and anticoagulant molecule.

Anti-ovarian cancer potential of phytocompound and extract from South African medicinal plants and their role in the development of chemotherapeutic agents

Ovarian cancer (OC) accounts for the highest tumor-related mortality among the gynecologic malignancies. Most of the OC patients diagnosed with advanced-stage (III and IV) this situation creates panic and provokes an emergency to discover a new therapeutic strategy. Plants that possess medicinal properties are gaining attention as they are enriched with various chemical compounds that are potential to treat various diseases. It is a prolonged process to provide innovative and significant leads against a range of pharmacological targets for a human disease management system. Though challenges and difficulties are faced in the development of a new drug, the emergence of combinatorial chemistry is providing a new ray of hope and also, the executed effort in discovering the drug, and a chemical compound has been remarkably successful. This review discussed the role of medicinal plants that are native of South Africa in treating the Ovarian Cancer and in drug discovery.

Triterpenoid compound betulin attenuates allergic airway inflammation by modulating antioxidants, inflammatory cytokines and tissue transglutaminase in ovalbumin-induced asthma mice model

OBJECTIVES

This study hypothesized that to analyse the anti-inflammatory effect of triterpenoid compound betulin in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic mice.

METHODS

In this study, betulin was intraperitoneally administered in OVA-challenged and sensitized mice. The effect of betulin on inflammatory cells, lung function, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, antioxidants status, oxidative stress markers, serum IgE level and inflammatory cytokines status in BALF was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of tTG, TGF-β1, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in lung tissue was scrutinized by RT-qPCR analysis, and the expression of TREM-1, p-IκB-α and NF-κBp65 proteins in lung tissue was examined by western blot analysis.

KEY FINDINGS

We found that the betulin treatment has effectively attenuated the proliferation of inflammatory cells, reduced the ROS generation, elevated the antioxidant enzymes and attenuated the level of oxidative markers in asthma induced mice. Moreover, reduced the level of serum IgE and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ. Betulin treatment down-regulated the expression of MMP-9, tTG and TGF-β1 genes; moreover, betulin treatment effectively down-regulated the TREM-1, p-IκB-α and NF-κBp65 proteins level in lung.

CONCLUSION

Betulin exhibited effective anti-asthmatic activity by attenuating the accumulation of inflammatory cells, expression of tTG, TGF-β1 and MMP-9 genes in lung tissue.