Wajaht A. Shah

Chemical composition, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the essential oil of Artemisia indica Willd.

Essential oil from the aerial parts of Artemisia indica was analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. A total of 43 compounds representing 96.8% of the oil were identified and the major components were found to be artemisia ketone (42.1%), germacrene B (8.6%), borneol (6.1%) and cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (4.8%). Antimicrobial activity of the oil was evaluated against seven clinically significant bacterial and two fungal strains. The essential oil and its major constituents exhibited moderate to potent, broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activities targeting both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation against four human cancer cell lines THP-1 (leukemia), A-549 (lung), HEP-2 (liver) and Caco-2 (colon) showed that the essential oil exhibited concentration dependant growth inhibition in the 10-100 μg/ml dilution range, with IC(50) values of 10 μg/ml (THP-1), 25 μg/ml (A-549), 15.5 μg/ml (HEP-2) and 19.5 μg/ml (Caco-2). It was interesting to note that the essential oil also exhibited potent antioxidant activity.

Chromatographic analysis, anti-proliferative and radical scavenging activity of Pinus wallichina essential oil growing in high altitude areas of Kashmir, India.

PURPOSE To evaluate the in vitro anti-proliferative and radical scavenging properties of the essential oil and its fractions and to determine the chemo-type of P. wallichiana essential oil. METHOD Pinus wallichiana oil was extracted by hydro-distillation and fractionated by silica gel column chromatography method. The oil and its fractions were analyzed by Gas chromatography, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and (13)C NMR. Different concentrations of oil 12.5, 25, 50 and 100μg/ml and single concentration 50μg/ml of its fractions B(1), B(2), A(2), G(2), Uk(13) and I(2) were evaluated for its anti-proliferative activity by in vitro {3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide} assay against human monocyte, lung carcinoma, liver adenocarcinoma, prostate and ovarian carcinoma, while as the radical scavenging activity was evaluated by different in vitro DPPH assays. RESULTS The analyses indicated the presence of 17 constituents with β-pinene (46.8%) and α-pinene (25.2%) as major constituents. The oil and its fractions showed significant anti-proliferative activity. The radical scavenging activity also showed good results. CONCLUSION The oil could be used as a drug to control the diseases like cancer, cirrhosis and arteriosclerosis, caused by reactive oxygen species.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the leaf essential oil of Skimmia laureola growing wild in Jammu and Kashmir, India

The analysis of Skimmia laureola hydrodistillate by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry revealed the presence of 20 constituents, representing 94.6% of the total oil. The major constituents of oil were linalyl acetate (33.0%), linalool (25.0%), limonene (8.1%), α-terpineol (5.9%) and geranyl acetate (5.9%). The monoterpene (93.4%) rich essential oil was evaluated for its antibacterial and antifungal activities against seven microorganisms by agar diffusion and microdilution methods. The oil showed appreciable antimicrobial effects against all Gram-positive bacteria tested, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis with MIC values 32 and 64 µg mL−1, respectively. The oil also exhibited strong fungicidal activity against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium chrysogenum with MIC value in the range 32–16 µg mL−1. The oil could be used in the formulation of antimicrobial agents.

Promise of Retinoic Acid-Triazolyl Derivatives in Promoting Differentiation of Neuroblastoma Cells.

Retinoic acid induces differentiation in various types of cells including skeletal myoblasts and neuroblasts and maintains differentiation of epithelial cells. The present study demonstrates synthesis and screening of a library of retinoic acid-triazolyl derivatives for their differentiation potential on neuroblastoma cells. Click chemistry approach using copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition was adopted for the preparation of these derivatives. The neurite outgrowth promoting potential of retinoic acid-triazolyl derivatives was studied on neuroblastoma cells. Morphological examination revealed that compounds 8a, 8e, 8f, and 8k, among the various derivatives screened, exhibited promising neurite-outgrowth inducing activity at a concentration of 10 μM compared to undifferentiated and retinoic acid treated cells. Further on, to confirm this differentiation potential of these compounds, neuroblastoma cells were probed for expression of neuronal markers such as NF-H and NeuN. The results revealed a marked increase in the NF-H and NeuN protein expression when treated with 8a, 8e, 8f, and 8k compared to undifferentiated and retinoic acid treated cells. Thus, these compounds could act as potential leads in inducing neuronal differentiation for future studies.

Comparison of Terpene Composition of Skimmia laureola Using Hydrodistillation and HS-SPME Techniques

Abstract Head space-Solid phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) technique has been used to examine terpene composition of Skimmia laureola. The chemical composition of SPME extract obtained from leaves of S. laureola was compared with composition of essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the same plant. Both qualitative and quantitative differences have been found in the terpene composition estimated by analyzing essential oil and HS-SPME extract of S. laureola. Gas chromatography (GC) and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the essential oil revealed sixteen constituents, representing 99.2 % of the oil, while as HS-SPME analysis of same plant material revealed twenty six constituents, representing 98.3 % of the extract. The principal components of the essential oil were linalyl acetate (51.6 %), linalool (16.8 %), β-phellandrene (11.7 %) and α-terpineol (4.7 %), while as in the HS-SPME extract; the major constituents were linalyl acetate (49.2 %), linalool (7.5 %), α-pinene (7.3 %) and geyrene (4.9 %). The percentage yield of oil was 0.4 % ( v/w) according to their fresh weight.

Anthelmintic, antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of Caltha palustris var. alba Kashmir, India.

The methanolic extract obtained from the root portion of Caltha palustris var. alba was evaluated for its anthelmintic efficacy against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep under both in vitro and in vivo conditions using worm motility inhibition (WMI) assay and fecal egg count reduction (FECR) assay, respectively. The extract was subjected to antimicrobial activity using agar-well diffusion method against different bacterial strains. In addition the extract was evaluated for cytotoxic and antioxidant activity against cultured THP-1(Leukemia), A-549 (Lung), HCT-15 (Colon), Cervix (HeLa) and PC-3(Prostrate) cell lines by SRB and DPPH radical scavenging assays. The extract used resulted in mean %WMI of 94.44%, as observed when the worms were put in lukewarm buffer for 30 min after exposure to different treatments. The mean mortality index of the sample was 0.95. The lethal concentration (LC50) was 0.11 mg·mL(-1). Cell lines were exposed to concentration of 100 μg·mL(-1) of extract for 48 h, which reduced the viability of these cell lines. The same plant extract also showed 55.58% DPPH radical scavenging activity.

Chemical composition and pharmacological potential of aromatic water from Salix caprea inflorescence

ObjectiveTo evaluate the chemical composition and pharmacological potential of hydro distillate from Salix caprea inflorescence.MethodsFresh flowers were subjected to conventional hydrodistillation. Antioxidant activity was assessed as free radical scavenging capacity (RSC) towards 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) radicals. Anti inflammatory activity was examined by human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization method. Qualitative and Quantitative analysis of hexane extract of aromatic water was performed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS).ResultsA total of 19 constituents representing (99.2%) of the aromatic water were identified; Hexahydrofarnesylacetone (38.3%), 2-butyl-octanol (24.0%), 2.hexyl-1-octanol (8.6%) were the main components. Results suggest that the hydro distillate possess significant antioxidant and anti-inflammtory properties.ConclusionsThe aromatic waters composition and its pharmacological evaluations has been reported in our results for this unique and endemic species.