C. ternatea is a wellknown medicinal plant in ayurveda, its common names including blue pea, Cordofan pea, butterfly pea, and Asian pigeonwings, belongs to the family fabaceae. It was originated from tropical Asia and later was distributed widely in South and Central America, East and West Indies, China, India where it has become naturalized. The flowers of C. ternatea have been investigated for its cytotoxicity on cancer-origin cell lines such as hormone-dependent breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), Osteosarcoma cell line (MG-63) and in normal VERO cell line. The anti-proliferation activities of the extracts were demonstrated by employing colorimetric MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay through time periods of 24, 48 and 72 hours. Results of this study showed that the flowers of C. ternatea had significant effects (p<0.05) against MG-63 with an IC50 value of 62.5 μg/ml and with MCF-7 as 31.2 μg/ml.
Objectives: This study was carried out to determine the antioxidant, anthelmintic activities of leaf, fruit and bark extracts of Samadera indica.
Methods: The aqueous and methanolic extracts of fruit, leaf and bark obtained through soxhlet method. The antioxidant activity of the extracts were measured in vitro by 2,2’-diphebyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The anthelmintic activities of methanolic and aqueous extracts of fruit, leaf and bark were evaluated on Indian earth worms (Pheretima posthuma).
Results: Both the aqueous and methanolic solvent systems yielded considerable quantity of extracts. The methanolic extract of leaf and fruit exhibited a remarkable antioxidant activity Methanolic extract of leaf and fruit exhibited a remarkable antioxidant activity viz., 22.1, 36.4, 47.4 and 76.8% scavenging activity in 20, 60, 100 and 500 µg/ml concentrations as compared to the standard ascorbic acid. Aqueous extracts of the leaf and fruit showed comparatively lesser free radical scavenging activity as compared to the methanolic extracts. The methanolic extract of leaf exhibited a good anthelmintic activity as compared to the aqueous and methanolic extracts of bark and fruit with respect to time taken for paralysis viz., 19 min where as, for mortality it was 24 min at 50 mg/ml concentration.
Conclusions: The leaf, fruit and bark extracts of Samadera indica exhibited good medicinal properties in the present study. So the plant extracts could be considered a novel therapeutic agent in different field of medicine.
Breast cancer represents the most common malignancy and leading cause of death among women worldwide and particularly in Algeria. Some breast cancer subtypes are of poor prognosis causing drug resistance that has become the major cause of treatment failure. The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis has important clinical implications for cancer therapeutics because of the proposed role of CSCs in chemoresistance. Putative breast cancer stem cells might express surface markers such as aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) and Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) proteins. The aim of this study was to explore the expression of these proteins in breast cancers from an Algerian population and their associations with the clinicopathological characteristics and breast cancer subtypes.
Methods: Clinical information was obtained by reviewing preoperative and postoperative medical records for 4 years, then 46 paraffin-embedded breast carcinoma samples were analyzed by immunohistochemical methods. Finally, statistical analyses were to evaluate associations between CD44 and ALDH1 expressions and various clinicopathological parameters including breast cancer subgroups
Results: In total, 9 tumors (21%) expressed ALDH1, whereas 11 (28%) expressed CD44 protein. Expression of ALDH1 was associated with high young age (P =0.05), Progesterone receptor positivity (P = 0.014) and triple negative breast cancer (P=0.045). On the other hand, CD44 expression was associated with SBR grade II (P = 0.057), HER2 subtype (P = 0.001) and the triple negaive subtype (P = 0.049).
Conclusion: CD44+ and ALDH1+ phenotypes seem to identify CSC with distinct levels of differentiation. It seems that the biomarkers that identify breast CSC within the breast cancer subtypes need to be better explored, because it is pivotal to translate the CSC concept to clinical practice. In the future, the recognition of reliable markers to distinguish the CSC pool in each molecular subtype will be decisive for the development of specific target therapies.
Terminaliacatappa L. commonly called Indian almond is a large spreading tree native to the coastal region of India. It is commonly called ukwu frutu in the southeast part of Nigeria and has been reported to possess a lot of pharmacological activities. This study was designed to investigate the in-vitro antioxidant and in-vivo diuretic activity of ethanol extract of Terminaliacatappa L. in wistar albino rats. Ethanol extraction of the leaves by maceration yielded 9.8%w/w. Eighteen (18) Wistar albino rats were randomly selected and divided into nine (9) groups of two (2) rats each. Group one served as normal control (Received normal saline only). Four groups of two rats each (Group VI,VII,VIII,IX) were treated with the plant extract (500 mg/kg, 250 mg/kg, 125 mg/kg and 62.5 mg/kg) respectively, while the four remaining groups (group II,III,IV,V) served as positive control receiving furosemide, acetazolamide, hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone respectively. The diuretic activity was carried out with slight modifications to methods described by Lipchitz. Anti-oxidant studies were conducted in-vitro using spectrophotometric investigation of DPPH radical scavenging, anti-lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide inhibition activity. Results of the diuretic study shows a significant (p<0.05) increase in urine volume and electrolytes (Na+, K+, Cl- and HCO3-). Urine volume increased from 1.8 ± 0.14 in normal control to 6.35 ± 0.35 for 500mg/kg extract, 8.8 ± 0.4 in furosemide, 5.20 ± 0.14 in acetazolamide, 5.7 ± 0.14 in hydrochlorothiazide, and 3.40 ± 0.28 in spironolactone treated groups. Sodium ion concentration increased from 96.00 ± 1.84 in normal control to 154.90 ± 1.84 for 500mg/kg extract, 180.30 ± 3.25 for furosemide, 146.85 ± 2.90 for acetazolamide, 146.85 ± 2.90 for hydrochlorothiazide, and 134.55 ± 1.91 for spironolactone treated groups. Also potassium ion increased from 9.2 ± 0.42 in normal control to 20.95 ± 2.05 for 500 mg/kg extract, 25.35 ± 2.19, 17.95 ± 2.05, 19.40 ± 0.99, 20.95 ± 2.05, in furosemide, acetazolamide, hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone treated groups respectively. Furthermore, chloride ion increased from 86.80 ± 2.26 in normal control to 144.60 ± 3.11 in 500 mg/kg extract, 169.95 ± 2.76, 139.50 ± 2.40, 141.60 ± 3.11, 124.20 ± 1.84 in furosemide, acetazolamide, hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone treated groups. A significant (p<0.05) difference in bicarbonate ion exists between the test groups and controls with the highest concentration produced by acetazolamide and 500mg/kg extract. The diuretic activity increased with an increase in dose when compare between the treated groups. Results of anti-oxidant study for DPPH radical scavenging activity, Anti-Lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide inhibition activity at 100 mg/ml was 51.80 ± 2.86, 43.23 ± 5.24, 50.03 ± 1.18 respectively when compared to the standard at 100 mg/kg 97.43 ± 0.32, 98.13 ± 0.14, 98.80 ± 0.32, respectively. The percentage inhibition increased with increasing concentration of extract. From the result, it can be inferred that the leaves of Terminaliacatappa possess anti-oxidant activity and also diuretic activity in fashion similar to hydrochlorothiazide based on the amount of urine, sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate ion voided. These pharmacological activities of Terminaliacatappa can be of importance in development of novel therapeutics for the management of cardiovascular and renal disorders.
Ameliorating effect of Rosmarinus officinalis leaf extract on oxidative stress induced in Wistar albino rats by ceftriaxone using standard methods was investigated. Sixty male Wistar albino rats divided into six groups of ten rats each for normal control, experimental control and test groups (I, II, III, and IV) were used for this study. Oxidative stress was induced in the experimental control rats and test rats with the help of ceftriaxone injection. Treatment of the induced stress in rats started with oral administration of different concentrations of extract prepared from R. officinalis which lasted for twenty-eight days. Observed levels of malondialdehyde in test groups and experimental control against normal control rats revealed that oxidative stress was actually induced in rats given ceftriaxone. Levels of plasma vitamins E and C in test rats increased significantly (p<0.05) against those of the experimental control; and significantly (p<0.05) reduced against those of normal control rats. The observed effect on the studied oxidative stress indices in test rats against those of experimental control and normal control could be attributed to the ameliorating effect of R. officinalis leaf extract given orally to test rats. This study has revealed the ameliorating effect of R. officinalis leaf extract on oxidative stress induced in male Wistar albino rats by ceftriaxone.
