Jitender Monga

Antimelanoma and radioprotective activity of alcoholic aqueous extract of different species of Ocimum in C57BL mice

Context: Various Ocimum species (Labiateae) are commonly used for the treatment of inflammation, stress, diarrhea, and as an antioxidant drug in the Indian ethnic system of medicine. Objective: The present study was carried out to investigate the antimelanoma and radioprotective activity of different species of Ocimum in C57BL and Swiss albino mice. Materials and methods: The antimelanoma activity of 50% alcoholic aqueous leaf extract of five species of Ocimum [Ocimum sanctum (SE), Ocimum gratissimum (GE), Ocimum basilicum (BE), Ocimum canum (CE), and Ocimum kilimandscharicum (KE)] alone or in combination with radiotherapy was determined on the basis of tumor volume, body weight, and survival rate of animals. The radioprotective potential of different species of Ocimum was determined by chromosomal aberration assay. The effect of the alcoholic aqueous extract of different species of Ocimum was also evaluated for the estimation of glutathione level and glutathione S-transferase activity in Swiss albino mice. Results: The 50% alcoholic aqueous extract of different species of Ocimum administered orally (200 mg/kg, p.o.) resulted in significant reduction in tumor volume, increase in average body weight, and survival rate of mice. The various extracts showed modulatory influence against lethal irradiation doses of gamma radiation in terms of radiation-induced chromosomal damage, while at the same time induced an increase in reduced glutathione level and GST activity. Discussion and conclusion: These findings demonstrate that Ocimum species have antimelanoma and radioprotective activity against B16F10 metastatic melanoma cell line-induced metastasis and could be exploited as one of the potential sources for plant-based pharmaceutical products.

Growth Inhibition and Apoptosis Induction by (+)-Cyanidan-3-ol in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of (+)-cyanidan-3-ol (CD-3) in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) and chemopreventive potential against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Balb/c mice. The HepG2 cell line was treated with CD-3 at various concentrations and the proliferation of the HepG2 cells was measure by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), sulforhodamine B (SRB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. Cell apoptosis was detected by Hoechst 33258 (HO), Acridine orange/ethylene dibromide (AO/EB) staining, DNA fragmentation analysis and the apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry. The HCC tumor model was established in mice by injecting N-nitrosodiethylamine/carbon tetrachloride (NDEA/CCl4) and the effect of CD-3 on tumor growth in-vivo was studied. The levels of liver injury markers, tumor markers, and oxidative stress were measured. The expression levels of apoptosis-related genes in in-vitro and in vivo models were determined by RT-PCR and ELISA. The CD-3 induced cell death was considered to be apoptotic by observing the typical apoptotic morphological changes under fluorescent microscopy and DNA fragmentation analysis. Annexin V/PI assay demonstrated that apoptosis increased with increase in the concentration of CD-3. The expression levels of apoptosis-related genes that belong to bcl-2 and caspase family were increased and AP-1 and NF-κB activities were significantly suppressed by CD-3. Immunohistochemistry data revealed less localization of p53, p65 and c-jun in CD-3 treated tumors as compared to localization in NDEA/CCl4 treated tumors. Taken together, our data demonstrated that CD-3 could significantly inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 cells in-vitro and suppress HCC tumor growth in-vivo by apoptosis induction.

Human epithelial carcinoma cytotoxicity and inhibition of DMBA/TPA induced squamous cell carcinoma in Balb/c mice by Acacia catechu heartwood

Objectives  Acacia catechu heartwood contains significant amounts of polyphenolic compounds that exhibit powerful antioxidant activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of A. catechu heartwood extracts in a human epithelial carcinoma cell line (A431) and antitumour activity against DMBA/TPA induced squamous cell carcinoma in Balb/c mice.

Cerebroprotective effect of Ocimum gratissimum against focal ischemia and reperfusion-induced cerebral injury.

Context: Oxidative stress is believed to increase delayed neuronal death in the brain following ischemia. As a consequence, many attempts to reduce the damage resulting from cerebral ischemia under more highly oxidized conditions have focused on treatments aimed at maintaining the redox equilibrium of the local environment. Many antioxidants were shown to be neuroprotective in experimental models of cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the potential protective effects of ethanol extract of Ocimum gratissimum Linn. (Lamiaceae) (EEOg) against focal ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) insult in rat brain. Materials and methods: The animal model of focal I/R was established by occluding the middle cerebral artery (MCA) of male Wistar rats for 2 h, followed by 24 h reperfusion. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances concentration, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity were determined by colorimetric assays. The characterization and quantitative analysis of phenolic content was determined using HPLC. Results: MCA occlusion led to significant rise in cerebral infarct volume and lipid peroxidation, and depletion in SOD and GPx in brain. The neurological deficits were also significantly elevated by MCA occlusion. All the brain oxidative stress, damage and neurological deficits were significantly attenuated by pre-treatment with EEOg (150 or 300 mg/kg, p.o.). Conclusion: The overall finding suggests the neuroprotective potential of O. gratissimum in cerebral ischemia, and is mediated through its antioxidant activity. Therefore, O. gratissimum should be investigated further as a possible strategy against cerebral stroke.

Cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction in human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells by (+)-cyanidan-3-ol.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and possible signalling pathway implicated in (+)-cyanidan-3-ol (CD-3) induced apoptosis in the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7). The effects of CD-3 on cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells were evaluated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), sulforhodamine B (SRB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. Cell apoptosis was detected by Hoechst 33258 (HO) and acridine orange/ethylene dibromide (AO/EB) staining and DNA fragmentation analysis. The expressions of apoptosis-related genes were assessed by RT-PCR and ELISA. Our data revealed that CD-3 induced MCF-7 cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Marked changes in apoptotic morphology was clearly observed after CD-3 treatment. CD-3 induced cell death was considered to be apoptotic by observing the typical apoptotic morphological change under fluorescent microscopy and DNA fragmentation assays. The induction of apoptosis is correlated with the increased mRNA expressions of p53, Bax, and caspase-3, -7, -8 and -9 and decreased mRNA expressions of bcl-2. Subsequently, CD-3 decreased the mRNA expressions of mdm2, p65, c-jun, c-fos in MCF-7 cells. The protein levels of p53, Bax, and caspase-3 were increased, whereas, that of p65, c-jun and Bcl-2 were decreased in MCF-7 cells on CD-3 treatment. These results clearly demonstrated that CD-3 effectively induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

Human Breast Adenocarcinoma Cytotoxicity and Modulation of 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-Induced Mammary Carcinoma in Balb/c Mice by Acacia catechu (L.f.) Wild Heartwood

Objective. The chemopreventive potential of (+)-catechin-rich extract of Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd. heartwood (AQCE) was evaluated against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7) and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)–induced mammary carcinoma in Balb/c mice. Methods. Cell cytotoxicity was investigated using different colorimetric assays. Apoptosis was observed using diphenylamine assay and fluorescent microscopy. AQCE was further evaluated for antitumor activity against DMBA-induced mammary carcinoma. The levels of tumor markers and oxidative stress were measured. Furthermore, level of transcription factors was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. The results showed that administration of AQCE showed a dose-dependent growth inhibition response and DNA fragmentation in MCF-7 cells. Tumor multiplicity was significantly decreased to 42.91% with AQCE when compared with DMBA-treated animals. The levels of tumor markers such as total sialic acid and lipid-associated sialic acid were substantially increased after DMBA treatment. However, AQCE treatment restored tumor markers level. AQCE also significantly reduced elevated levels of nitrite and malondialdehyde in DMBA-treated animals. Additionally, AQCE also increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes, viz., catalase, superoxide dismutase, total thiol, reduced glutathione, protein thiol, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione-S-transferase in the mammary tissue and liver mitochondria of DMBA-administered animals. Significant increase in the protein levels of p53, c-jun, and p65 were observed in DMBA-treated mice, whereas less expression was observed in AQCE-treated animals. Eventually, AQCE also significantly improved body weight and maintained the mammary tissue architecture in normal range. Conclusions. The present data strongly suggest that anticancer potentiality of (+)-catechin-rich AQCE may be attributable to its ability to positively modulate tumor markers as well as the antioxidant system that could decompose the peroxides and, thereby, offer a protection against lipid peroxidation and linked to the expression of transcription factors during DMBA-induced mammary carcinoma.

Convenient synthesis, anticancer evaluation and QSAR studies of some thiazole tethered indenopyrazoles

A convenient one-pot synthesis of twelve new thiazole tethered indeno[1,2-c]pyrazol-4-ones (3a–3l) was carried out by three-component reaction between 1,3-diketones, thiosemicarbazide and α-bromoketones in high yields. Wolff-Kishner reduction of indeno[1,2-c]pyrazol-4-ones (3a–3l) led to the formation of corresponding indeno[1,2-c]pyrazoles (4a–4l) in moderate-to-good yields. The structures of all the synthesized indenopyrazoles were elucidated by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectral techniques. In vitro cytotoxicity of thiazole tethered indenopyrazoles (3a–3l & 4a–4l) was evaluated against different human cancer cell lines, viz. human renal carcinoma (A498), human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29), human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and normal cell line, i.e., normal rat kidney epithelial (NRK). Among all the tested derivatives, 4a, 4d and 4h exhibited better activity against HT29 cancer cell line. The statistically significant QSAR models were developed for all the cancer cell lines using multiple linear regression analysis to understand the observed activity trend on structural basis.Graphical Abstract

In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Small Cationic Abiotic Lipopeptides as Novel Antifungal Agents

We investigated the antifungal potential of short lipopeptides against clinical fungal isolates with an objective to evaluate their clinical feasibility. All tested lipopeptides exhibit good antifungal activity with negligible difference between the MICs against susceptible and drug‐resistant clinical fungal isolates. The MTT assay results revealed the lower cytotoxicity of lipopeptides toward mammalian cells (NRK‐52E). In particular, LP24 displayed highest potency against most of the tested fungal isolates with MICs in the range of 1.5–4.5 μg/mL. Calcein dye leakage experiments with model membrane suggested the membrane‐active mode of action for LP24. Extending our work from model membranes to intact Aspergillus fumigatus in scanning electron micrographs, we could visualize surface perturbation caused by LP24. LP24 (5 mg/kg) significantly reduces the A. fumigatus burden among the various organs of infected animals, and 70% of the infected mice survived when observed for 28 days. This study underscores the potential of small cationic abiotic lipopeptides to develop into the next‐generation antimicrobial therapy.