Synergistic evaluation of Moringa oleifera extract and ß-lactam antibiotic to restore the susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

INTRODUCTION: The antibiotic resistance has become a major threat to global health. The combinatorial use of two or more compounds to develop a new formulation may overcome the emerging cases of drug resistance. Moringa oleifera has been utilized as a strong nutritional, immunomodulator and therapeutic agent for decades. In this study, different parts of Moringa oleifera were screened for bioactive compounds that can act as a resistance modifying agent for multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs). METHODOLOGY: Initially, the combined effect of stem bark extracts and ampicillin was calculated by checkerboard assay. Active compounds of effective extract were assessed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Fractional Inhibitory Concentration Index (FICI) were calculated to evaluate the synergistic behavior of stem bark extract with ampicillin. To study the blocking of resistance pathways of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) western blot was performed. RESULTS: The results revealed that stem bark has significant anti-MRSA activity. The methanolic extract of stem bark in combination with ampicillin showed the highest synergistic effect (FICI value ≤ 0.237) against MRSA. Killing kinetics and membrane potential of ampicillin alone and in combination revealed an increase in the inhibitory potential of ampicillin against MRSA. Decolourization in iodometric assay confirmed the inhibition of ß-lactamase, western blot results confirmed the blocking of penicillin-binding protein (PBP2a) expression with the restoration of MRSA sensitivity against ß-lactams. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that methanolic extract of Moringa oleifera stem bark has bioactive compounds and can be used as an adjuvant with antibiotics to modify the resistance of MDROs.

Biotechnological approaches to the production of plant-derived promising anticancer agents: An update and overview.

The plant kingdom is a rich source of bioactive compounds, many of which have been used since pre-history for their therapeutic properties to treat a range of illnesses. These metabolites have recently attracted attention to their antineoplastic activities to treat various cancers relying on different mechanisms. Some of these molecules are glycosides, which have proven useful as anti-cancer agents, namely podophyllotoxin (PPT) anaryltetralin lignan or alkaloids. There are three primary forms of alkaloids, such as indole alkaloids (vincristine and vinblastine from Catharanthus roseus), quinoline alkaloid (camptothecin from Camptotheca acuminata), and diterpenoid alkaloid (taxol and it's analogous from Taxus and Corylus species). This review considers various plant biotechnology approaches used to enhance the production of these anticancer molecules in different species. In this regard, many in vitro culture techniques such as stimulation of suspension culture and hairy roots are being used to investigate the effects of plant growth regulators and elicitors on various explants.

In vivo antiviral potential of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract against Newcastle disease virus.

Newcastle disease is highly infectious viral disease causing huge economic losses worldwide. These losses can be prevented by control of viral diseases. Medicinal plants have been traditionally used for treatment of different diseases since long. In this study the effect of extracts from Glycyrrhiza glabra leaves are investigated against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) by an in-vivo assay. Seven groups of nine-day-old embryonated chicken eggs were inoculated with various treatments of different plant extracts. All the groups except uninoculated negative control group were inoculated with velogenic NDV strain; five groups received different concentrations of the three extracts. Daily observe the rate of embryo survival. Allantoic fluid from treated eggs was collected for hem agglutination test. Results showed that embryo survival rate was higher 300µg/mL treated group as all the extracts showed antiviral activity. Similarly, the plant extracts effectively control virus as no viruses were identified in the allantoic fluids of all groups treated with low doses of plant. The current results have clearly verified that all the extracts especially that of methanol 300µg/mL from leaves of Glycyrrhiza glabra have strong antiviral activity against NDV in vivo.