Abdul Rauf Siddiqi

Recent Developments in Sweat Analysis and Its Applications

Currently, the clinical use of sweat as biofluid is limited. The collection of sweat and its analysis for determining ethanol, drugs, ions, and metals have been encompassed in this review article to assess the merits of sweat compared to other biofluids, for example, blood or urine. Moreover, sweat comprises various biomarkers of different diseases including cystic fibrosis and diabetes. Additionally, the normalization of sampled volume of sweat is also necessary for getting efficient and useful results.

Effects of Curcuma longa extracts on mortality and fecundity of Bactrocera zonata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The peach fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata, is a significant pest of fruit and vegetable crops in South East Asia and Pacific region. Ccontrol strategies of fruit flies, relying chiefly on insecticides, have serious environmental consequences, disturbing the agro-ecosystem as well as eliminating natural enemies. This study was oriented at exploring the potential of turmeric, Curcuma longa, extracts to control the peach fruit fly. Freshly emerged female adults of Bactrocera zonata were continuously fed for 16 days on diet containing 1000, 500 and 250 ppm of acetone extract of Curcuma longa separately in laboratory cages. The extract caused 85.00, 66.67 and 56.67 percent mortality at 1000, 500 and 250 ppm respectively. The surviving females were mated and allowed to reproduce on clean guava fruits in separate cages. The inhibition in pupal progeny was 67.90, 60.74 and 51.96 percent in the flies fed on 1000, 500 and 250 ppm, the inhibition observed in adult progeny was 84.68, 79.03 and 67.74 percent, respectively.

Flow Injection Photosensitized Chemiluminescence of Luminol with Cu(II)-Rose Bengal: Mechanistic Approach and Vitamin A and C Determination.

Rose Bengal photosensitized flow injection chemiluminescence method is reported using luminol-Cu(II) for the determination of vitamins A and C in pharmaceutical formulations. The reaction is based on the enhancement effect of analyte in the production of anion radicals of Rose Bengal (RB•−) which rapidly interact with dissolved oxygen and generate superoxide anions radicals (O2 •−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (•OH) were produced via dismutation of H2O2 by catalyst (Cu2+). The generated superoxide anions radicals and hydroxyl radicals thus oxidize luminol in alkaline medium to generate strong chemiluminescence. The limit of detection (3s of the blank, n = 6) of vitamins A and C and RB was found to be 0.008, 0.005, and 0.05 μg mL−1, respectively. The sample throughput of 70 h−1 for vitamins A and C and 30 h−1 for RB was found. Calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.05–15, 0.01–20, and 0.1–50 μg mL−1 for vitamins A and C and RB, respectively, with relative standard deviations (RSDs; n = 3) in the range 1.6–3.6%. The method was successfully applied to pharmaceutical formulations and the results obtained were in good agreement with the labeled values.

Structural and functional studies of BapC protein of Bordetella pertussis.

Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, attaches to mucosal surface in upper respiratory tract, where it produces a variety of surface associated and secreted autotransporter molecules among others. In this study we have cloned newly identified member of autotransporter family BapC (B. pertussis autotransporter protein C); expressed it in Escherichia coli and characterized it for its different properties. We have also raised antisera to BapC protein; the antisera were used in immunofluorescence assay to determine the surface association of the protein. Results suggest that BapC in B. pertussis Taberman parent is surface exposed when compared with the respective BapC mutant. The neutralizing effect of anti-BapC serum was also evaluated in the presence of active complement proteins and results suggest that antiserum can potentiate the killing of B. pertussis cells in the presence of added source of complement. Structure of the protein was also studied, both α and β domains of the protein were modeled, β domain exhibits typical transmembrane β-barrel porin topology whereas α domain behaves as a characteristic bacterial autotransporter passenger domain.

EFFICIENCY OF A HIERARCHICAL DOCKING PROTOCOL FOR COMPUTATIONAL LIGAND SCREENING AGAINST HOMOLOGY MODELS

We assessed the efficiency of a hierarchical docking protocol against homology models in virtual ligand screening (VLS) studies. A low resolution model of factor X (FX) was built on a template of Trypsin molecule (PDB ID:1EB2). Afterward VLS was performed involving a hierarchical protocol, rigid body followed by flexible docking, both against model as well as an X-ray structure of FX (PDB ID:1FJS) using a smart library of 50,000 chemical compounds seeded with 9 known inhibitors of FX. The percentage enrichments of screened chemical compounds obtained both from the crystal structure and homology model of FX were compared to analyze the efficiency of the protocol. In the first 5% of the finally ranked database of the screened compounds, both against model and the X-ray structure, 67% of the inhibitors were retrieved.

POTENTIAL OF TURMERIC EXTRACT AND ITS FRACTIONS TO CONTROL PEACH FRUIT FLY (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE)

Potential of turmeric extract and its chemical fractions were evaluated to control the infestation of Bactrocera zonata peach fruit fly in a mortality-based bioassay. The turmeric extract (TE) was taken on Soxhelts extraction apparatus and chemically fractioned by thin layer followed by column chromatography into 6 fractions (F1 ...F6). Fifty pairs of the flies were fed in cages with 250 and 500 ppm TE and its fractions separately for 20 days along with flies fed on untreated diet to serve as control. The toxicity of TE and each of its fractions was evaluated by calculating percent mortality of fly population after every 5th day in 4 consecutive intervals. Mortality of fly population was observed to be positively correlated with increasing concentrations of TE and its fractions in diet. The mortality of flies fed at 250 and 500 ppm TE was significantly higher at 44.17 and 66.33% compared to 28.88% in control. Percent mortality was much higher in case of flies fed with fractions F1, F3 and F6 i.e. 72.22, 50.00 and 48.76 respectively. Maximum rise of mortality was observed at the end of 3rd interval; in case of flies fed at 500 ppm TE, 52.45 percent mortality was observed at the end of 3rd interval; highest mortality was caused by fraction F1, 51.39% in case of flies fed at 250 ppm and 70.37% in case of those fed at 500 ppm.