5^th World Congress on Natural Products, Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicines November 05-06, 2018 Singapore City, singapore

Biography:

Shinjiro Kabayashi completed his PhD from Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toyama, Japan and postdoctoral studies from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, U.S.A.. He was Visiting Professor of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, U.S.A. and has been Professor and Chairman of Hokuriku University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Kanazawa, Japan, by 2017. He has conducted pharmacological research of Kampo medicines for almost 25 years and published more than 40 papers in several international journals and has been serving as a referee of almost 30 international journals.

Abstract:

The Kampo medicine bofutsushosan (BTS) has been used as an anti-obesity treatment in overweight patients. The anti-obesity actions of extracts of BTS and its related combinations were compared in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. Male ICR mice were fed a 60% kcal HFD for 5 weeks starting at 4 weeks of age and then fed the same diet with these crude drugs. BTS extract (2.0 g/kg) consisted 18 crude drugs significantly decreased weights of body and white adipose tissue of the obese mice. Extracts (2.0 g/kg) of BTS without Glycyrrhiza (Gly), BTS without Rhubarb (R), BTS without Gardenia Fruit (GF), BTS without Ephedra Herb (EH), BTS without Mirabilite attenuated the actions of BTS extract on body weight on 4-28 days after administration. These extracts also attenuated the action of BTS extract on weights of white adipose tissue on 28 days after administration. Extracts (2.0 g/kg) of BTS without Gly + 0.89% glycyrrhizic acid, BTS without R + 0.046% sennoside AB Ca, BTS without GF + 0.78% geniposide, BTS without EH + 0.16% ephedrine hydrochloride significantly enhanced actions of BTS without the corresponding constituent on the body weight on 4-28 days after administration, respectively. In addition, BTS without R + 0.046% sennoside AB Ca, BTS without GF + 0.78% geniposide, BTS without EH + 0.16% ephedrine hydrochloride significantly enhanced the actions of BTS without the corresponding constituent on the weight of white adipose tissue on 28 days after administration, respectively. These results demonstrate that sennoside AB Ca in R, glycyrrhizic acid in Gly, geniposide in GF and ephedrine in EH have roles for the combined actions of BTS on the weights of body and white adipose tissues in the HFD-induced obesity.

Biography:

Abstract:

Traditional herbal medicine is one of most popular complementary and alternative medicines and has been widely used for disease treatment in the world. But Traditional herbal medicine now faces many difficulties, such as quality control of herbs, and increased demand for evidential basis for clinical application. Moreover, there is little known about the effective components and mechanism of herbs. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is generally uses single herbs, formulations or herbal-pairs, in contrast to Western medicine, which often uses pure chemicals. In TCM theory, a classical Chinese herbal formulation can be divided into four parts, sovereign herbs, minister herbs, assistant herbs, and courier herbs. Sovereign herbs are those that exert the major and leading effect in an herbal formulation. Minister herbs are used as adjunct herbs to compliment the minister’s main therapeutic action and increase efficacy. Assistant herbs are used to eliminate toxicity and enhance the effects of the main indication herbs. Courier herbs can help improve the combination effects amongst all the herbs in the formulation. Based on this theory, formulations or decoctions are considered to have more effective clinical benefits in the treatment of disease than a single herb or pure component due to the association or inhibition interaction between herbs in helping to eliminate toxicity and enhance the effects of sovereign herbs. Therefore, this article is to discuss the pharmacokinetic interaction between herbal medicines. Due to herbal preparation is a complex formulation which contains several herbs and ingredients. It is possible that the different characteristics of physical-chemical properties for individual ingredients may affect each other. The results demonstrated that based on the equivalence dose of a single compound, a single herb and a multiple herbal preparation may produce different oral bioavailability. The conclusion reveals that herbal ingredient-ingredient or herb-herb interaction may affect the drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion.

Biography:

S Mohana Lakshmi, working as Professor in Sree Vidyanikethan College of Pharmacy, Tirupati, A.P. She has completed her M. Pharmacy and Ph. D Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. She has received “Career Award for Young Teachers” from AICTE, New Delhi. She successfully completed project worth of 24, 00, 000/ - funded by AICTE. She has visited countries like Turkey, Bangladesh, Singapore and Bangkok to present her research findings. She has published 30 research papers in national and international journals and Award of one Patent in Pipeline. He has supervised 3 research scholars and is supervising 3 scholars. She authored a book entitled “Unit operations in pharmaceutical Engineering” and “Pharma for B. Tech”. Contributed a chapter “Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy research” in “Environmental biotechnology and Plant metabolomics”. She has authored a chapter entitled “lipid based nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and therapy in Organic materials as smart nanocarriers for drug delivery (Elsevier).

Abstract:

The present study was aimed to investigate the possible ameliorative potential and molecular modulation of various fractions of Girardinia heterophylla (Gh) roots at the doses level of (200 mg/kg b.w.p.o) on lipid profile and oxidative stress in high Fat Diet and Streptozotocin Induced diabetes in rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into six groups, consisting of six animals’ each.The effect of  fractions of Gh on blood glucose, serum lipid profile like total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and, serum markers  such as ALP, AST, ALT and estimation of antioxidant parameters like Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) were measured in all experimental groups. Body weight and liver glycogen levels were also additionally evaluated. Supplementation of fractions of Girardinia heterophylla by gavage elicited significant antihyperglycemic and hypolipidemic effects (p<0.05). The fractions were also found to be significantly effective (p<0.05) on recovery of altered biochemical parameters like ALP, AST, ALT and decreased body weight in treated animals. Moreover this supplementation significantly improved the antioxidant status (p<0.05)  and increases the glycogen level in liver (9.65± 0.17) as compared to diabetic control (5.42±0.17).Moreover, Histopathological studies of pancreas and liver in diabetic and treated groups  substantiate the cyto protective action of Girardinia heterophylla. In conclusion, ethanol fractions of Girardinia heterophylla offers promising antidiabetic and anti hyperlipedemic and antioxidant potential that may be mainly attributed to its potent antioxidant properties.

Biography:

C K Ashok Kumar is currently working as a Professor& Principal in Sree Vidyanikethan College of Pharmacy, Tirupati. He is serving as an editorial member and reviewer of several international and National reputed journals. He has professional experience of 20 years in the teaching field. His research interest in the field of herbal formulation, biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics, nanotechnology and alzheimer’s disease. He has guided more than 150 M.Pharm students and 20 PhD students. Current ongoing project in the field of “Development of finger millet based functional foods for prevention of Osteoporosis among Women” funded by Department of science and technology, Government of India (52 lakh).

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem:

Osteoporosis is a Universal Medical problem, more predominant in menopause women and it is generally accepted that the main causes are estrogen deficiency aging and of certain nutritional elements. This disease is characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue. This leads to increased bone fragility and risk of fractures. Though several pharmaceutical formulations have come out, not much success has been achieved because women after menopause stage encounter problems of low absorption of calcium which leads to osteoporosis and this problem will lead to replacement of bone structure such as knee cap. Based on the above data in this study followed a new working hypothesis to absorb more calcium from prepared functional food which was prepared by calcium rich finger millet with bioactive peptides.  

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation:

Finger millet based functional food was prepared by adding trypsin hydrolyzed whey protein concentrate and soya protein along with required amount of caseinophospho peptides were mixed with germinated finger millet powder followed by vacuum drying. For analysis, 450 women of villages in and around Chandragiri mandal, Andhra Pradesh, India with a mean age of 35.5 ± 70.5 were selected and screened for osteoporosis/ osteopenia with Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA bone densitometry). In the final analytical sample, 350 osteoporotic women were selected in this study based on their DEXA T score values (T<-2.5). To the selected osteoporotic women the prepared calcium rich functional food was given daily up to 6 months along with their normal diet. The improvement of BMD (T score) was assessed again using DEXA bone densitometry.

 Findings

In total 350 subjects, 280 subjects shown a significant change (p ≤0.05) in their bone mineral density T score values (Mean T score values -1±-1.6) compared to their old T score values (-5.5±2.5) after taking of this prepared functional food and also noticed an improvement in their health condition. 

Conclusion & Significance:

The data obtained from this study support that intake of a finger millet based nutraceutical functional food with a bioactive peptides of casein, whey proteins and soya proteins enhances the calcium absorption in osteoporotic women and it could be useful for prevailing osteoporosis in women.

Biography:

Raphael F. Queiroz received the bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy 10 years ago from Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He completed the PhD in Biochemistry in 2012 at the Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Since then, he is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Biochemistry at the Medical School of the Universidade do Sudoeste da Bahia and post-doctoral at Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Sydney. Currently, his research interests are focused on redox processes related to infection and inflammation, and pharmacology of natural products.

Abstract:

Statement of Problem: The genus Erythroxylum P. Browne is the major representative of the Erythroxylaceae family, comprising around 240 species widespread in neotropical regions. Erythroxylum species are characterized mainly by presence of tropane alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenoids which confer to these species several pharmacological activities. Considering the occurrence of E. macrocalyx Mart. in Brazilian Northeast and the lack of knowledge concerning its chemical constituents and respective biological properties, the aim of this work was to perform a phytochemical investigation of the branches from E. macrocalyx beyond to evaluate their antiproliferative and antibacterial activities. Methodology: The structures were established by analyses of 1D- and 2D-NMR and MS data, as well as, by comparison with literature data for known compounds. The structure of the compound 2 was also confirmed by X-ray crystallography.
The isolated compounds were tested for their in vitro antibacterial and antiproliferative activities. The antiproliferative activity of the substances 2-9 was evaluated against tumor (HepG2, HL-60, MCF-7 and HCT116) and non-tumor (MRC-5 and human lymphoblast) cell lines.  Findings: The compound (5) 6β-benzoyloxy-3α-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzoyloxy)tropane was the most active showing IC₅₀ value of 3.66 μg/mL against HepG2 cell line but no cytotoxic effect on human lymphoblast (IC₅₀ >25 μg/mL). Conclusion & Significance: A new tropane alkaloid, 7β-acetoxy-6β-benzoyloxytropan-3α-ol (1), was isolated, together with eight known substances [four tropane alkaloids (2-5), one flavonol glycoside (6) and three triterpenes (7-9)] of the branches from E. macrocalyx. In addition, the tropane compound [5] was a promising antiproliferative prototype for further mechanistic studies.

Biography:

Dr. Jiwon Choi received the PhD degree in biochemistry and bioinformatics with Prof. Sukjoon Yoon at the Sookmyung Women’s university, in Seoul, Korea (2010). For her PhD thesis, she performed research work on advanced computer-aided drug discovery for metabolic diseases. She had postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular Design (2010-2011) in the areas of biochemical and molecular techniques and computational biology. Dr. Jiwon Choi then moved on and joined the Bioinformatics and Molecular Design Research Center (BMDRC) in 2011, leading structure-based drug design and VS-pharmacophore projects including the discovery and optimization of small-molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions for several targets. Currently, she is the Leader of Drug Discovery of the BMDRC.

Abstract:

Protein–protein interactions (PPIs), which are essential for cellular processes, have been recognized as attractive therapeutic targets. Therefore, the construction of a PPI-focused chemical library is an inevitable necessity for future drug discovery. Natural products have been used as traditional medicines to treat human diseases for millennia; in addition, their molecular scaffolds have been used in diverse approved drugs and drug candidates. The recent discovery of the ability of natural products to inhibit PPIs led us to use natural products as a chemical library for PPI-targeted drug discovery. In this study, we collected natural products (NPDB) from non-commercial and in-house databases to analyze their similarities to small-molecule PPI inhibitors (iPPIs) and FDA-approved drugs by using eight molecular descriptors. Then, we evaluated the distribution of NPDB and iPPIs in the chemical space, represented by the molecular fingerprint and molecular scaffolds, to identify the promising scaffolds, which could interfere with PPIs. To investigate the ability of natural products to inhibit PPI targets, molecular docking was used. Then, we predicted a set of high-potency natural products by using the iPPI-likeness score based on a docking score-weighted model. These selected natural products showed high binding affinities to the PPI target, namely XIAP, which were validated in an in vitro experiment. In addition, the natural products with novel scaffolds might provide a promising starting point for further medicinal chemistry developments. Overall, our study shows the potency of natural products in targeting PPIs, which might help in the design of a PPI-focused chemical library for future drug discovery.

Biography:

Ms. Anu Joshi Shrestha currently working as value chain and enterprise development specialist in International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) an intergovernmental organization working for 8 countries in Hindu Kush Himalayan region based in Kathmandu. She bring experience of more than 20 years  working with development agencies and bi-lateral/multilateral organizations focusing on high value product value chains, emphasizing the equitable promotion of pro-poor value chains, market development, rural enterprise development and strengthening rural-urban linkages. She was also a faculty member in Kathmandu College of Management, Kathmandu University. She has an MBA from the University of Wales, UK, specializing in marketing and human resources development.

Abstract:

Doing business in mountains has to face mountain specific challenges such as accessibility marginality, fragility and diversity. However mountain have high value niche natural products which opens opportunities for mountain people. But due to its remoteness, limited infrastructure, sparse diverse population, heavy transaction cost makes it impossible for private sectors to look for business in such remotest part in the mountains. There is always the miss match between demand and supply as even though there is a demand for various mountain natural products, the logistical and transactional cost makes the business seem unviable for the private sectors trying to engage in the mountains. Therefore in most cases communities are always in the bottom of the pyramid selling the raw materials receiving minimal value share in the chain. This article tries to bring solution to the demand and supply gap of the mountain through social business enterprise implementing an innovative concept of community business enterprise model to successfully bring out high value products to the niche markets which otherwise is not catered by profit driven conventional manufacturing companies. A social business enterprise is upcoming concept where the private sector which has social orientation along with profit  focus on three bottom line profit, people and planet. Its innovative business model revolves around establishment of community owned rural business enterprises which utilizes local natural resources and value creation using indigenous skills of local population supported by simple technologies.

Biography:

Samavia Mubeen is doing her PhD from Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou China. She is working on Taxus plant which is popular due to its chemotherapeutic agent taxol. She has published 4 papers in reputed international journals.

Abstract:

Paclitaxel (Taxol) is a most promising chemotherapeutic agent was initially isolated from the inner bark of Taxus brevifolia (Pacific yew). This microtubule stabilizing compound approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against ovarian, breast and lungs cancers. The increase of demand for the drug put the problem of the supply shortage, due to the accumulation of taxol at very low concentration, slow growth of tree and high cost of extraction. For these reasons, alternative sources for taxol production are being sought including the screening of plants other than taxus, chemical synthesis, semi-synthesis by conversion of baccatin III (BAC III) or 10-deacethylbaccatin III (10-DAB III) and microbial fermentation. High cost of production, lengthy steps, low production and difficulty in the extraction process are the main problems encountered for commercial production of taxol from these sources. The most attractive approach for sustainable production of taxol and related taxanes at commercial level is provided by plant cell culture technology. Different strategies such as cell line selection, growth condition optimization, addition of precursors and growth regulators, elicitation, immobilization, biotransformation, two-phase culture system, in situ product removal, and industrial scale-up have been extensively investigated to improve taxol production. This review will shed light on recent advances in taxus cell culture technology, focusing on optimizing strategies to improve taxol and related taxoid production in cell culture system. We will also summarize the progress towards the problem associated with the production of taxol by cell culture technology at the commercial level and will also highlight the recent success.

Biography:

Lourdhuswamy Marianayagam Durairaj Lenora is a research scholar focusing her research on bioprospecting of renewable forest resources in Western Ghats region of India. Her research interest is laid on development of biopesticides for the management of insect pests of agriculture and forestry importance; biobooster for raising quality planting materials and increment of forest productivity; natural pigments for use in food, cosmetics and textile industries. Her experience on efficient utilisation of aquatic weed for phytomedicine and pharmaceuticals showed her excellence in the field of bioprospecting and phytomedicine. She has involved in the development of various products based on forest resources followed by commercialisation.

Abstract:

Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms commonly known as Water hyacinth belonging to the family Pontideraceae is a free floating warm water aquatic plant native of Brazil. It is an invasive aquatic weed causing serious threats to water ecosystems throughout the world and one of the world’s most obnoxious water weeds when not controlled. Kurichi kulam in Coimbatore is one of the major water bodies that enhances the ground water level around this area. It is often polluted due to invasion of this weed. The Coimbatore city municipal corporation made efforts to remove them periodically with considerable budget expenditure and hence its commercial aspects may be explored. E. crassipes is endowed with many potent phytochemicals like flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, quionones and many others. A large number of biologically active compounds have been extracted from this weed. E. crassipes is also considered as a promising alternate renewable source of shikimic acid, which is a critical ingredient used in the formulation of drug oseltamivir commercially known as Tamiflu®, an efficient inhibitor of the human influenza virus H1N1 of swine origin, H5N1 virus causing avian flu. Tamiflu is the only orally administered approved drug for treatment of influenza. Shikimic acid (SA) is mainly sourced from fruits of Chinese star anise (Illicium verum), native to China the lone supplier, but the source is not enough to meet the worldwide demand of shikimic acid, therefore, an alternate source is warranted in order to meet the worldwide demand of shikimic acid and an efficient new technologies needs to be developed for the enhancement of SA production from available sources. Interestingly, shikimic acid is detected in the leaves of E. crassipes which can be harvested in plenty and economically attractive, unlike the star anise that requires six years to harvest the fruits. Therefore, an attempt has been made for the search of shikimic acid from invasive alien weed, E. crassipes as an alternate renewable source of shikimic acid. It is estimated as 3.25% of shikimic acid in leaves of E. crassipes when compared to the Chinese star anise pods (1.77%) which is also higher than many of the reported plant species. Further this content can be enhanced by treating water hyacinth with glyphosate which is a cheap and easily available herbicide. Glyphosate acts as a competitive inhibitor of PEP and binds more tightly to the EPSP synthase-S3P complex where the enzyme is essentially inactivated. Deregulating the shikimate pathway results in the accumulation of very high levels of shikimate and hence application of glyphosate, considerably enhanced the shikimic acid production within a week. HPLC analysis of the extract evidenced that the leaves of E. crassipes contain higher shikimic acid concentrations (3.25%). It is proved from our study that GC-MS-MS analysis revealed the presence of secondary metabolites such as Goniothalamicin, Arborescidine 1, 8 Dipropoxyanthraquinone, Ambrosial Muricin, Camarolide, which account for their promising antioxidant and anticancer activities. The radical scavenging activity of the leaf extract of E. crassipes was found to be 24%. Anticancer activity was studied against human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) and it showed mild anticancer activity on human cervical 200 μg/Ml. IC50 value was found to be 32.33 μg/mLby MTT assay against HeLa cell lines. cancer cell lines, HeLa with 17% growth inhibition at Therefore it is evident from the present study that commercial utilisation of E. crassipes could be an alternative for the management of the weed to overcome environmental and economic problems posed by it and can potentially be used to meet the emerging needs of both the domestic and the international market.

Biography:

Syed Imran Hasan has his expertise in isolation and characterization of natural products from the plants of therapeutic importance. He also works in the area of synthetic chemistry and synthesize various analogues of alkaloids under solvent free conditions. He is currently working as Assistant Professor in Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Before that, he was working in University of Hail, Saudi Arabia for about seven years. He got his Ph D in 2006 from HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi Pakistan. 

Abstract:

Natural products have always been the source of treatment against many different illnesses and deseaeses. Many pharmacologically active compounds were either directly isolated from the plants or are structurally modified natural products. In virtue of the importance of medicinal plants we carried out investigations on three different medicinal plants Psidium guajava, Pergularia tomentosa and Ziziphus spina Christina.

Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae) has been folkloricaly used against various human diseases. Traditionally leaves are used in digestive disorderness, and considered to be spasmolytic, bark of the plant is used as an astringent, flowers are used to treat bronchitis whereas, fruits are laxative and good against bleeding gum. In view of the medicinal properties of Psidium guajava, leaves of Psidium guajava was collected from Karachi, Pakistan and phytochemical investigation were carried out on alcoholic extract. These studies results in isolation of several new and known triterpenoids. Structure of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic techniques. Pharmacological studies showed that the triterpenoid Asiatic acid has dose dependent (10–500 mg/ml) spasmolytic activity. The ethanolic extract showed significant spasmolytic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Pergularia tomentosa L. (Apocynaceae) is a perennial twining herb with much milky latex which grows in semi-arid zones of the Sahel and Arabian Peninsula where preparations from its root and shoot are used to treat skin diseases and other ailments. It is often classified as a toxic plant that causes spasm and gastroenteritis. P. tomentosa showed antitumor, molluscicidal, and hypoglycemic properties. Different cardenolides, taraxasterol-type triterpenes, and alkaloids have been isolated from the root and leaf which are responsible for the cytotoxic, antitumor, and antimicrobial properties. The studies on the ethyl acetate extract of this plant yielded ursane and lupane type of triterpenoids. The extract also inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli at 250 mg/mL.

Ziziphus (Rhamaceae) is another genus which is traditionally used against various human ailments. The root barks of Ziziphus nummularia have sedative-hypnotic, antipyretic and analgesic properties. In Saudi Arabian folk medicine, the leaves of Ziziphus spina christi (jujube) are used to heal wounds, treat skin diseases, some inflammatory conditions, sores, against ringworm, fever, gonorrhea, sex diseases and ulcers. The bark and fresh fruits decoctions are used as a body wash, to promote the healing of fresh wounds and also used to cure dysentery, bronchitis, cough and tuberculosis. The bark of the Ziziphus spina christi was collected from Al-Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, and its ethyl acetate extract showed prominent antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity.

Biography:

Dr. Gajanand Engla is presently working at School of Pharmacy, Devi Ahilya University Indore, INDIA in the capacity of Assistant Professor; he did his masters in Pharmaceutical biotechnology and has expertise in the field of plant biotechnology specially plant tissue culture techniques and  genetic modifications base bioproduction of secondary metabolites/plant actives. Dr. Engla did his doctoral in the NDDS and the key research area is polymer based drug delivery systems. He has authored three books and about 25 Research papers; presented about 20 papers in seminar/conferences and delivered 05invited talks key note speaker in workshops/symposia/guest lectures.

Abstract:

Callus culture of Mucuna pruriens  (Fabiaceae) were initiated on explants (epicotyls, hypocotyls and cotyledons) obtained from aseptically germinated seedlings on MS media supplemented with NAA (1.0ppm)+BAP (1.0ppm), NAA (0.5ppm)+BAP (0.5ppm), BAP (0.5ppm), BAP (1.0ppm), 2,4-D (1.0ppm)+BAP(0.5ppm) and 2,4-D (2.0ppm)+BAP(1.0ppm). The comparative callus induction efficiency of various explants and hormone combination and concentration used was evaluated, callus cells grew anexically in the presence of various plant growth regulators in Murashige and Skoog’s medium containing 3% w/v of sucrose. The best result was found with epicotyl explants on MS supplemented with. NAA (1.0ppm)+BAP (1.0ppm). The highest callusing was observed with epicotyl explants. Cotyledon explants also showed satisfactory results, while hypocotyl explants has failed to induce callusing on any of explants.  The Suspension culture were initiated from epicotyl and cotyledon calli (of NAA/BAP each 1.0ppm & NAA/BAP each 0.5ppm) were initiated and maintained successfully. The callus and cell suspension so obtained, synthesizes various normal constituents of plant out of which, L-DOPA was isolated, identified and estimated. The epicotyl explants showed highest callus induction efficiency i.e. 90%, and cotyledon shows 85%, viability (89% in callus and 74% cell suspension), growth index (3.37) and productivity of L-DOPA (6.62% by Cell DW in callus and 6.58% by cell DW in cell suspension) and it was found higher than the intact Mucuna pruriens seeds (3.61% by cell DW).

Biography:

Abstract:

Biography:

Medical Biotechnology undergraduate with a grounded background in biological sciences of various sub-disciplines, rooted in a strong passion in understanding complex life processes and its utilisation for human benefit. Holds a substantial scope of scientific research experiences and is continuously building up efficiency through experience both in the field and within laboratory settings.
 

Abstract:

Background: Neuroinflammation is a primary risk factor of neurodegenerative diseases (ND), with microglia cells under pathological conditions directly contributing to neuroinflammation. Induced autophagy has been known to therapeutically reduce neuroinflammation without exacerbating the pathological condition of the disease. Existing treatments for inducing autophagy in neuronal setting are few but effective, with some noted to have reached clinical trials phase II, and much scientific support for new compounds to modulate autophagy in a neuronal setting. Hence, this study focuses on the autophagic inducing potential of orientin on lipopolysaccharides-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. Methodology: BV2 microglia cells pre-treated with orientin at maximum non-toxic dose or MNTD (15 µM) and ½ MNTD (7.5 µM), for a 3-hour period, followed by induction of neuroinflammation via 0.1 μg/mL of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Autophagolysosome production was qualitatively determined with Acridine Orange (AO) staining and expression of autophagy pathway proteins were analysed via Western Blot analysis. Results: The induction of intracellular autophagolysosomes, under MNTD and ½ MNTD treatment of orientin qualitatively determined by AO staining confirmed the near completion of autophagy, with particular noteworthy observation of low complete neuronal death. Western Blot results showed upregulation of autophagy proteins Beclin-1, ATG5 and LC3-II, highlighting upregulation of key autophagy pathways in autophagy vacuole formation. Conclusion: Orientin possesses significant likelihood of contributing to field of autophagy inducing therapeutic agents for targeting neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. Its autophagy inducing properties most likely stem from its ability to directly affect the mTOR signaling pathways by downregulating PI3K-I/Akt and MAPK/Erk 1/2 signaling pathway, encouraging future studies are required to refine this hypothesis.

Biography:

Dr Sehrish Zaffar (MBBS, M. Phil) has an outstanding professional record. Best graduate of her MBBS class with 12 gold medals and 2 silver medals. Completed her M. Phil degree with 81% marks. She is currently working as Assistant Professor of Pharmacology in CMH Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan.

She has immense passion and potential towards pharmacological teaching and research. She has 2 years’ experience in teaching and research. During this time, she has published two articles and completed research work of the above mentioned abstract. She is also currently working on two other research papers.

In near future, she is interested in applying for PhD in Pharmacology and has prepared the research proposal for that. Therefore, excellence in career with utmost hard work and continuous efforts is her topmost priority.

Abstract:

Statement of Problem: Oral antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs are commonly prescribed to patients with cardiovascular diseases. Despite being life-saving, these drugs have one major adverse effect that they can cause spontaneous hemorrhage, which can be fatal. Development of a hemostatic agent can help in quick and effective management of drug-induced hemorrhages.

Objective: This study was devised to observe the effect of leaf extract of Justicia adhatoda on coagulation profile in mice and to evaluate its effect on in-vitro platelet aggregation.

Methods: The study was divided into three parts. First part was designed to evaluate the effect of different doses of leaf extract of J. adhatoda on bleeding time in mice. Dose that produced maximum decrease in bleeding time was chosen for further in-vivo coagulation studies. Second part of the study was to observe the effect of J. adhatoda leaf extract on coagulation parameters. Three drugs were used to induce coagulopathy viz., warfarin, aspirin and dabigatran. Bleeding time, platelet count, PT, INR and APTT were estimated. Third part of this study was devised to observe the effect of J. adhatoda leaf extract on in vitro platelet aggregation. Percent aggregation was recorded by light transmission aggregometer for three minutes.

Results: Leaf extract of J. adhatoda decreased bleeding time in mice. There was no effect on the coagulation parameters. Platelet count increased significantly only in the aspirin treated group that received the extract. Platelet aggregation increased in a dose dependent manner.

Conclusion: J. adhatoda leaf extract is effective in controlling excessive bleeding due to aspirin induced platelet dysfunction, but has no role in reversing the anticoagulant effect of warfarin and dabigatran.