Jenabhai B. Chauhan

Anticariogenic and phytochemical evaluation of Eucalyptus globules Labill.

In the present study, in vitro anticariogenic potential of ethyl acetate, hexane and methanol and aqueous extracts of plant leaves of Eucalyptus globules Labill. were evaluated by using four cariogenic bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans. Agar well diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were used for this purpose. The ethyl acetate extracted fraction of plant leaves showed good inhibitory effects against all selected bacteria. In Eucalyptus globules, hexane and ethyl acetate extracts found highly effective against, Lactobacillus acidophilus with MIC value of 0.031 and 0.062 mg/mL, respectively. Qualitative phytochemical investigation of above extracts showed the presence of alkaloids, phenolic compounds, steroids, cardiac glycosides and terpenes. Based on the MIC value and bioautography, ethyl acetate of plant leaf was selected for further study. Further investigation on the structure elucidation of the bioactive compound using IR, GC-MS and NMR techniques revealed the presence of alpha-farnesene, a sesquiterpene. Eucalyptus globules plant leaf extracts have great potential as anticariogenic agents that may be useful in the treatment of oral disease.

Anticariogenic activity and phytochemical studies of crude extract from some Indian plant leaves

Aim: The aim was to screen the selected Indian plants for their antibacterial efficacy against four cariogenic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA)(Microbial Type Culture Collection [MTCC]-*447), Lactobacillus casei (LC) (MTCC-1423), Streptococcus mutans (SMU) (MTCC-890) and Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC-96). To identify and characterize active principle present in these plants for the treatment of dental caries. Materials and Methods: The dried plant leaves materials are extracted by cold extraction using hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol, and distilled water. The solvents were evaporated, and the dried masses were suspended in dimethyl sulfoxide and used for anticariogenic activity by agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was evaluated by two-fold serial broth dilution method. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of effective extract was carried out by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and bioautography. Results: Ethyl acetate and hexane extract of Eucalyptus globules was found most effective against L. acidophilus with MIC value 31 μg/ml and 62 μg/ml, respectively. Ethyl acetate extracts of Acacia nilotica and methanolic extract of E. globules also exhibited antibacterial activity against SMU and L. casei with MIC value of 50 μg/ml. Qualitative analysis of E. globules revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, and cardiac glycosides. The active principle responsible for the anticariogenic activity from E. globules were separated by TLC and subjected to bioautography using SMU, LA and LC. Conclusion: Anticariogenic activity and preliminary phytochemical analysis revealed that E. globule have potential to treat dental caries.

Computational Analysis of High-Risk SNPs in Human DBY Gene Responsible for Male Infertility: A Functional and Structural Impact

BackgroundDEAD-box helicase 3, Y-linked (DBY) is a candidate gene of the AZF region which is involved in spermatogenesis process. Mutations in the DBY gene may disrupt the spermatogenesis and lead to infertility in men. Identification of functionally neutral mutation from the disease-causing mutation is the biggest challenge in human genetic variation analysis. Owing to the importance of DBY in male infertility, functional analysis was carried out to reveal the association between genetic mutation and phenotypic variation through various in silico approaches.MethodsThe present study analyzed the functional consequences of the nsSNPs in human DBY gene using SIFT, PolyPhen 2, PROVEAN, SNAP2, PMut, nsSNPAnalyzer, PhD-SNP and SNPs&GO along with stability analysis through I-Mutant2.0, MuPro and iPTREE-STAB. The conservational analysis of amino acid residues, biophysical properties and conserved domains of the DBY protein was analyzed using various computational tools. The 3D structure of the protein was generated using SPARKS-X and validated using RAMPAGE.ResultsOut of 1130 SNPs reported in dbSNP, only one nsSNP (G300D) was found to have a functional effect on stability as well as the function of the DBY protein. The results showed the presence of G300 in the putative structure of DBY domain.ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to detect pathologically significant nsSNPs (G300D) through a computational approach in the DBY which can be useful for development in potent drug discovery studies.