Antifungal Activity of Leaves of Mangroves Plant Acanthus licifolius Against Aspergillus fumigatus.

The antifungal activity of chloroform extract of leaves of Acanthus ilicifolius was evaluated in Aspergillus fumigatus infected mice. Swiss albino mice (60) were divided into five groups. All the groups were immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide and cortisone acetate couple of days prior to intranasal inoculation with Aspergillus fumigatus conidia (10(6)) in all the groups, except the first. Treatment was initiated at 24 h of fungal inoculation and continued up to day 14, and included amphotericin B (1 mg/kg orally) for group III and extract of Acanthus ilicifolius at 250 mg and 500 mg/kg for group IV and V, respectively. Groups I and II received sterile water orally for the same period. From each group, three mice were sacrificed after 1 h and the remaining mice on the 14(th) day of inoculation. One hour post-inoculation lung colony forming unit count confirmed the delivery of conidia into the lungs. Colony forming unit count, intensity of gross necropsy changes and histopathological changes were highest in group II. It improved in group III and also in groups IV and V in dose-dependent manner. Lesions were absent in the noninfected group. Lesions included maximum granulomatous inflammation of lung, multifocal diffused necrotic granulomas on kidney and moderate microgranulomas on liver. From this study, it was concluded that chloroform extract of Acanthus ilicifolius contains active principles that are absorbed after oral administration to produce systemic effects when given at 500 mg/kg dose.

In-vitro red blood cell partitioning of doxycycline.

OBJECTIVE: In-vitro red blood cell (RBC) partitioning of doxycycline was studied to determine whether doxycycline penetrates RBC and its concentration was assayed keeping in view its high lipophilicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Standardization of doxycycline was performed in whole blood and plasma of cattle by microbiological assay using Bacillus subtillis ATCC 6633 as indicator organizm. Actual concentration of the drug was obtained by comparing zone inhibition with standard graph and the extent of partitioning was mathematically calculated. RESULTS: The R(2) value of standard graph for doxycycline was 0.9934 and 0.9727 for plasma and whole blood, respectively. Overall, RBC partitioning of doxycycline was found to be 18.40 +/- 1.70%. CONCLUSIONS: Overall RBC partitioning of doxycycline indicated low penetration into RBC. Plasma is the fluid suggested for pharmacokinetic evaluation of doxycycline.

Comparative evaluation of acute toxicity of ivermectin by two methods after single subcutaneous administration in rats.

Ivermectin was evaluated for its acute toxicity after single subcutaneous (s/c) administration by 'Acute Toxic Class' method as per OECD 423 and by conventional acute toxicity test using probit analysis in rats. 'Acute toxic class' method yielded LD(50) in category 2 i.e. between 5 and 50mg/kg which was comparable with conventional method where it was found to be 51.5mg/kg. Post mortem lesions were observed in the form of congestion of liver, which showed centrilobar necrosis and hemorrhages on histopathological analysis in both the methods. This study suggests, 'Acute Toxic Class' method may be used instead of conventional method to study acute toxicity of injectable preparations. Similarly the LD(50) of around 50mg/kg indicated a wide margin of safety (250x) considering therapeutic dose of ivermectin as 200microg/kg.