Rajendra Wudayagiri

Cervical cancer: Biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment.

Cervical cancer is a major gynecological cancer which involves uncontrolled cell division and tissue invasiveness of the female uterine cervix. With the availability of new technologies researchers have increased their efforts to develop novel biomarkers for early diagnosis, and evaluation and monitoring of therapeutic treatments. This approach will help in the development of early diagnosis and in increasing treatment efficacy with decreased recurrence. The present review explains the currently available biomarkers for cervical cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Apart from the currently available biomarkers the review also explains strategies for the development of biomarkers based on cellular and molecular approaches such as DNA, protein and other metabolic markers with suitable clinical examples. The investigations of specific proteins, enzymes and metabolites will establish more useful biomarkers for accurate detection and management of gynecological cancers especially cervical cancer.

Alterations in antioxidant enzyme activities and oxidative damage in alcoholic rat tissues: protective role of Thespesia populnea.

Recent advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced hepato-renal injury and the development of new approaches to its treatment have been reported in various works. This study involves alcohol-induced oxidative stress linked to the metabolism of ethanol involving both mitochondrial and peroxisomal fractions of liver and kidney. Alcohol treatment resulted in the depletion of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST) activities, and reduced glutathione (GSH) content, higher level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and lower levels of protein carbonyls (PC) causing malfunction of hepatic and renal tissues, when compared to control rats. Thespesia populnea (TP) leaf extracts, administered to chronic alcohol ingested rats, were envisaged to possess significant antioxidant defence properties and help in the recovery of tissues from alcohol-induced oxidative damage. The results showed that degenerative changes in hepatic and renal cells of alcoholic groups were minimized by the administration of TP leaf extracts as also revealed by histopathological examination. The current findings indicate that treatment with TP extracts reduces alcohol-induced oxidative stress, thereby protecting the hepatic and renal tissue from alcohol-induced damage.

Antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus against microbial flora of cervicovaginal infections

Objective To assess the probiotic nature of Lactobacillus in preventing cervical pathogens by studying the effectiveness of antimicrobial activity against vaginal pathogens.

Biosurfactant-Mediated Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons—Naphthalene

ABSTRACT The present study is aimed at the naphthalene degradation with and without biosurfactant produced from Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from oil-contaminated soil. The present study was carried out to isolate the bacterial strains for the naphthalene degradation and also for biosurfactant production. The isolated strains were screened for their ability to degrade the naphthalene by the methods of optimum growth rate test and for the production of biosurfactants by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, blood agar medium, and thin-layer chromatography. The present study also focused on the effect of biosurfactant for the degradation of naphthalene by isolate-1. Two bacterial strains were isolated and screened, one for biodegradation and another for biosurfactant production. The second organism was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa by 16S rRNA analysis. The purified biosurfactant reduces the surface tension of water and also forms stable emulsification with hexadecane and kerosene. The end product of naphthalene degradation was estimated as salicylic acid equivalent by spectrophotometric method. The results demonstrated that Pseudomonas aeruginosa has the potential to produce biosurfactant, which enhances the biodegradation of naphthalene. The study reflects the potential use of biosurfactants for an effective bioremediation in the management of contaminated soils.

Synthesis and Antiviral Activity of Novel Phosphorylated Derivatives of Didanosine Against Newcastle Disease Virus in Chicken

A series of novel phosphorylated derivatives of didanosine were designed and docking studies were performed with a fusion protein of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV), to develop antiviral compounds against NDV. Based on the docking scores and binding affinities, three derivatives were selected. These compounds were synthesized and characterized by IR, 1H, 13C, 31P, and CHN analysis and mass spectra. They were assessed for their in vitro antiviral activity in DF‐1 cells; DDI‐10 showed better antiviral activity as evidenced by significant reduction in plaque formation and cytopathic effects. DDI‐10 was further evaluated in NDV‐infected chicken; the survival rates and antioxidant enzyme levels in brain, liver, and lung tissues were estimated. Superoxide dismutase and catalase were significantly raised, and lipid peroxidation and HA titer levels were decreased upon treatment with 1.5 mg/kg body weight of DDI‐10 than with 3 mg/kg body weight of DDI. Further histopathological alterations in NDV‐infected tissues were restored in chicken treated with DDI‐10. Thus, based on the results from in silico, in vitro, and in vivo assays, the novel phosphorylated DDI‐10 might be considered as potent antiviral compound for NDV infection in chicken.

New symmetrical acyclic and alicyclic bisurea derivatives of 4,4'-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate): Synthesis, characterization, bioactivity and antioxidant activity evaluation and molecular docking studies

A family of bisurea derivatives of 4,4′-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) have been synthesized with simple, effective and efficient procedure in high yields. The new compounds showed moderate bioactivity (at 32.0 μg/μL concentration) against selected bacterial pathogens, viz., Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa; and two fungal species, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. Alternatively, their antioxidant activity was also evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging assay which revealed that the compounds, 10d, 10e, 10h and 10m exhibited moderate activity. However, the molecular docking studies of all the title compounds showed surprisingly higher binding energies with DNA gyrase A protein of E. coli when compared to the reference, streptomycin. Among the compounds 10e, 10f, 10g, 10k, 10l and 10m showed very good binding energies which implied that they could be promising next generation antimicrobials.