Kaniz Fatima Urmi

In vitro studies on antibacterial, antifungal,and cytotoxic properties of Leucas aspera

The leaves of the plant Leucas aspera belonging to the family Lamiaceae was studied to determine the in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic properties. All extracts showed remarkable antibacterial activity against all of the studied organisms except Escherichia coli. Methanol extract showed stronger activity compared to ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts. It showed highest activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa with zone of inhibition of 15 mm. The standard chloramphenicol did not show any activity against Shigella sonnei. But all the extracts showed moderate activity against this pathogen with zone of inhibition ranging from 10 to 13 mm. None of the extracts has shown any significant antifungal activity against the fungi. Incase of brine shrimp lethality bioassay, methanol extract showed the strongest cytotoxic effect with LC50 value of 4.28 μg/ml which is followed by ethyl acetate extract with LC50 value of 5.36 μg/ml. Thus it can be inferred that this plant may be a potential source of novel bioactive compounds.

Comparative Anti-microbial activity and brine shrimp lethality bioassay of different parts of the plant Moringa oleifera lam

Lam. Disc diffusion method and brine shrimp lethality bioassay were used for antimicrobial activity and cytotoxic activity respectively. Chloroform fractions of leaf and fruit part have shown moderate antimicrobial activity with zone of inhibition (ZOI) ranging from 9-28 mm against all the experimental microbes. Ethyl acetate fraction of bark and fruit found to have highest antimicrobial activity with zone of inhibition (ZOI) 36 mm against

Toxicological studies of Astavarga Kvatha Curna, an Ayurvedic formulation, on liver function parameters of rat plasma

Astavarga Kvatha Curna (AST) approved by the National Unani and Ayurvedic Formulary Committee of Bangladesh is widely used in the treatment of vata roga (neurological disorder) by the rural and ethnic people of this country. In the present study, the effect of this formulation on liver function parameters of rat plasma was examined after chronic administration. The animal used was albino rat (Rattus novergicus: Sprague-Dawley strains) and the drug was administered per oral route at a dose of 40 ml/kg body weight, once daily, up to 41 days for all the experiments. Forty rats, equally of both sexes, were randomly grouped into four where one male and one female group were used as control and other groups were used as test. In both male and female rats, there was a statistically significant increase in the total protein (male, p=0.044*, female, p=0.043)*. In case of albumin, the increase in the male rats were statistically significant (p=0.003)** but it was statistically highly significant (p=0.001)*** in the female rats. In case of sGOT, sGPT and ALP, there was a statistically highly significant (p=0.001)*** increase in both male and female rats. The level of bilirubin was decreased in both male and female rats and it was statistically highly significant (p=0.001)***.