Swertiamarin-mediated immune modulation/adaptation confers protection against Plasmodium berghei.

Aims: Development of resistance by the malaria parasite, a systemic inflammatory and infectious pathogen, has raised the need for novel efficacious antimalarials. Plant-derived natural compounds are known to modulate the immune response and eradicate the infectious pathogens. Therefore we carried out experiments with swertiamarin to dissect its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory potential. Materials & methods: We carried out studies in Swiss albino mice that received infectious challenge with Plasmodium berghei and swertiamarin treatment in a prophylactic manner. Results & conclusion: Oral administration of swertiamarin prior to infectious challenge with P. berghei in experimental mice showed delayed parasite development as compared with untreated control. IFN-γ and IL-10 appeared to be adapted/modulated by regular swertiamarin treatment. Further, withdrawal of swertiamarin pressure did not affect parasite replication. However, the short half-life of swertiamarin limited its long-lasting therapeutic effect, requiring higher and frequent dosing schedules.

The Molecular Targets of Swertiamarin and its Derivatives Confer Anti- Diabetic and Anti-Hyperlipidemic Effects.

The herbal plant extract of Enicostemma littorale is widely used to medicate and treat type II Diabetes. This extract in medicine has shown its value in reducing blood glucose & lipid levels, and improving the kidney functioning, lipid profile, controlling blood pressure and heart rate. The well characterized chemical components such as iridoid and secoiridoid glycosides are present in aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the plant. Swertiamarin, a secoiridoid glycoside, is identified as the lead compound that confers anti-hyperglycemic & anti-hyperlipidemic effects. The swertiamarin binds with one or more molecular targets to alter their expression and/or activity. The in silico, in vivo and in vitro studies have been carried out to uncover the underlying molecular mechanism of action of swertiamarin and its derivatives for showing the better anti-diabetic & anti-hyperlipidemic activities. In brief, the present review focuses on unraveling the information about molecular targets of swertiamarin. Our review will open new avenues to develop therapeutic approaches and drugs to treat diabetes and other inflammatory diseases.

A generic RNA pulsed DC based approach for developing therapeutic intervention against nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma of head-and-neck cancers pathology showed unique symptoms and clinical characteristics. The complexity of pathology poses challenges for developing therapeutic interventional approaches against nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The conventional treatment regimens offer limited local control and survival, which, leads to adverse delayed complications. Our study present a generic monocyte derived dendritic cell (MoDC) vaccine strategy for NPC in which RNA is used as a source of tumor-associated antigens (TAAgs). The RNA extracted from well-characterized highly immunogenic NPC cells (C666-1) was transfected into MoDCs. The formulated and characterized cationic liposomes were used to achieving efficient RNA transfection of immature DCs. Further, DCs were forcibly matured with a cytokine cocktail to achieve greater expression of MHC and co-stimulatory molecules. Moreover, our results did not see any effect of RNA or lipids on MoDCs phenotype or cytokine expression. RNA loaded DCs derived from HLA-A2-positive donors were shown to activate effector memory cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for TAAg ligand expressed by C666-1 cells. Our results show the comparison of cytotoxic response mounted against RNA-loaded DCs with those directly stimulated by C666-1 tumor cells. Our findings suggest that DCs expressing tumor cell RNA primed naïve T cells show T cells priming with lesser cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion when exposed with with C666-1 tumor cells. These results surface the potential of DCs to deliver RNA in NPCs, sufficient presentation of RNA to provoke perdurable immune responses against nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Our results implies that DC based vaccine approach may be useful to develop therapeutic interventional approach in the form of vaccine to address NPCs.