Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. as a Natural Intervention for Diabesity: A Review.

BACKGROUND: Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. (family: Rutaceae), commonly known as curry leaf or sweet neem, is a tropical plant native to India and Southeast Asia. It is highly valued in Ayurveda for its medicinal properties. Almost every part (fresh leaves, fruits, bark, and roots) of this plant is used to treat various ailments. Its fresh leaves are considered to have numerous medicinal properties for various diseases, including piles, inflammation, itching, fresh cuts, dysentery, and edema. A combination of curry leaf and buttermilk is used to treat diseases, such as amoebiasis, diabetes, and hepatitis. Its leaves are also believed to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. The bark has been traditionally used for treating snakebites. Its roots are utilized in Ayurveda for the treatment of body aches. Being a storehouse of carbazole alkaloids, M. koenigii has been reported to show anti-obesity and anti-diabetic activity in in vitro and in vivo studies. The review aimed to appraise the role of M. koenigii leaf in the prevention of diabesity. METHODS: We performed a literature search with the keywords "diabesity", "obesity", "diabetes", "adipose tissue", and "carbazole alkaloids" on Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases. Several in vitro and in vivo studies conducted on cell lines and animals for anti-diabetic/anti-hyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic activities have been included and appraised in the article, providing supporting evidence for the ethnomedicinal claims. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: This review has been an attempt to summarize comprehensively the overall research done on M. koenigii with regard to obesity and diabetes. The studies on anti-diabetic/anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic activities of the plant have ranged from studies on crude extracts to isolated compounds. However, some of the studies require further in-depth analysis and validation of obtained results.

MsrA Efflux Pump Inhibitory Activity of Piper cubeba L.f. and its Phytoconstituents against Staphylococcus aureus RN4220.

MsrA, an efflux pump belonging to ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family that conferred resistance to macrolides, was detected in Staphylococcus aureus strains. Herein, we report the isolation of phytoconstituents from Piper cubeba fruit methanol extract and investigated their efflux pump inhibitory potential against S. aureus MsrA pump. Four isolated compounds, viz. pellitorine, sesamin, piperic acid and tetrahydropiperine studied in combination with erythromycin in S. aureus RN4220, exhibited 2-8-fold reduction in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of erythromycin. Pellitorine and sesamin decreased MIC of erythromycin by 8-fold. The real-time fluorometry-based efflux and accumulation studies of ethidium bromide (EtBr) on S. aureus RN4220 in the presence of these compounds showed reduced efflux and enhanced uptake, thus indicating inhibition of the efflux pump. Pellitorine showed significant post-antibiotic effect of erythromycin. The results revealed that the primary mechanism of action of these compounds involves steady ATP production impairment.

Recent developments in antitubercular drugs.

This review article describes the current TB drugs, their merits and demerits as well as the new promising anti-TB agents such as diarylquinolines, oxazolidinones and nitroimdiazoles. It also includes the future development of new antitubercular agents according to the potential drug targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and structure-activity relationship studies on important anti-TB drugs.