A systematic review on antimicrobial activities of green synthesised Selaginella silver nanoparticles.

BACKGROUND: Metallic nanoparticles from different natural sources exhibit superior therapeutic options as compared to the conventional methods. Selaginella species have attracted special attention of researchers worldwide due to the presence of bioactive molecules such as flavonoids, biflavonoids, triterpenes, steroids, saponins, tannins and other secondary metabolites that exhibit antimicrobial, antiplasmodial, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities. Environment friendly green synthesised silver nanoparticles from Selaginella species provide viable, safe and efficient treatment against different fungal pathogens. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to summarise the literature pertaining to superior antifungal ability of green synthesised silver nanoparticles using plant extracts of Selaginella spp. in comparison to both aqueous and ethanolic raw plant extracts by electronically collecting articles from databases. METHODS: The recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis were taken into consideration while preparing this review. The titles and abstracts of the collected data were stored in Endnote20 based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search strategy included literature from established sources like PubMed, Google Scholar and Retrieval System Online using subject descriptors. RESULTS: The search yielded 60 articles with unique hits. After removal of duplications, 46 articles were identified, 40 were assessed and only seven articles were chosen and included in this review based on our eligibility criteria. CONCLUSION: The physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical investigations of Selaginella suggest higher drug potency of nanoparticles synthesised from plant extract against different diseases as compared to aqueous and ethanolic plant extracts. The study holds great promise as the synthesis of nanoparticles involves low energy consumption, minimal technology and least toxic effects.

Perception of care givers regarding danger signs of illness and practices followed in young infants (0-2 months) as per IMNCI at selected areas of Amritsar, Punjab: A qualitative study.

Background: In India, neonatal mortality contributes to over 64% of infant deaths, mostly occurring during the first week of life. Mortality rate in second month of life is also higher than at later ages. Delay in identification of warning signs of neonatal illness naturally postpones the initiation of treatment and referral to hospital. Materials and Methods: The study aimed to explore the perception of care givers regarding danger signs of illness and practices followed in young infants. Care givers who cared for the sick young infants during last six months were recruited using a convenient sampling technique and qualitative research approach. Five semi-structured interviews and one FGD were conducted using an interview and FGD guide. Data was analyzed manually by reading and rereading the transcribed verbatim leading to the emergence of themes, subthemes, and codes. Results: Data explored that excessive crying was perceived as a danger sign by entire mothers, and many of them were unable to recognize important warning signs. The delay in decision making for medical care-seeking also shows dwindling awareness. Additionally, mothers were adapting few unhygienic practices as home remedies leading to worsening the symptoms and making a call for additional infections which needs to be addressed by the health authorities at community level. Conclusion: Pronounced efforts are expected to raise mindfulness of mothers toward the significance of early identification of neonatal danger signs to stave off the high magnitude of neonatal mortality. Inclusion of excessive crying as neonatal danger sign is recommended as well.

Mechanistic investigation of formation of highly-dispersed silver nanoparticles using sea buckthorn extract.

Nowadays, the greener pathways for the synthesis of nanostructures are being explored. The extracts of different parts of plantsvizleaves, stems, and roots have been investigated. However, these extracts have been prepared by simply boiling or microwaving, or sonicating the parts of plants with water. Therefore, to have deeper insight and to investigate the full potential of plant extracts, serial extraction of leaves of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) which is a medicinally important plant was attempted using the soxhlet apparatus. The as-obtained polyphenolic-rich extract was employed for the preparation of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). Under optimized reaction conditionsviz60 °C temperature and 500µl of extract solution (5 mg ml-1) highly disperse spherical nanoparticles of the average size of 15.8 ± 4.8 nm were obtained. Further, the optical band gap of Ag-NPs prepared using optimized reaction conditions was found to be 2.6 eV using the Tauc equation. Additionally, to understand the reduction by the extract, kinetic studies were also carried out which suggest the predominant occurrence of pseudo-first-order reaction. Furthermore, the mechanism of formation of Ag-NPs using major components of extractvizgallic acid and catechin which were identified by HPLC were also investigated using DFT. The mechanistic investigation was performed for both the keto-enol and radical-mediated preparation of Ag-NPs. Such theoretical investigations will help in the efficient designing of greener and novel routes for the synthesis of Ag-NPs. Additionally, the prepared silver was also employed for the colorimetric detection of H2O2.

Yogic Neti-Kriya Using Povidone Iodine: Can it have a Preventive Role Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection Gateway?

During this COVID-19 pandemic, except steroid, none of the therapeutic measures have showed any evidence of efficacy. Traditionally jala-neti using lukewarm salted water remains a yogic way of maintaining upper airway hygiene. Saline irrigation decreases the concentration of inflammatory mediators (e.g. histamine, leukotriene etc.) in nasal secretions, reduces the severity and frequency of sinusitis, reduce need of antibiotic therapy and restores competency of nasal mucosa. Jala-neti is an integral part of six cleansing techniques of yogic kriyas practised in India since thousands of years. Jala-neti can clean the upper airways, prevents colonization of infectious agents, removes foreign bodies, prevents stasis of mucous and subsequently enhances the drainage of paranasal sinuses and maintain health. Regular practice of Jala neti improves nasal symptoms and overall health status of patients with sinusitis. Jala-neti sample can even be used for COVID-19 diagnosis. Povidone iodine (PVP-I) has been utilized as a time tested antimicrobial agent with broad spectrum coverage against wide range of bacteria and viruses. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 action of PVP-I was seen at a concentration as low as 0.45%. PVP-I is generally well tolerated upto 5%, however nasal ciliotoxicity is reported at this concentration, however, this toxicity is not reported with lower concentrations(1.25% and 0.5%). So, theoretically, by using neti-kriya with povidone iodine (0.5-1%) as irrigation solution can combine and enhance the protection against COVID-19 and this can be an important armor in the fight against COVID-19. However, this hypothesis needs to be validated in real life clinical trial scenario before implementing.

Current status of in silico, preclinical and clinical study registries across the globe: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Registration of study protocols brings about transparency and traceability and the amount of publication bias can be estimated. In this study, we have collected and presented data regarding clinical study registries, preclinical, in vitro and in silico study registries across the globe. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched via Google Search Engine with appropriate keywords e.g. name of country (n = 198), name of continent (n = 7), registry, study registry, animal, in silico, virtual, simulation, preclinical, animal, clinical trial. The overall pooled prevalence of clinical study registries and WHO primary registries in per continent was calculated using Medcalc software. RESULTS: The overall pooled prevalence of clinical study registries were 13% in each continent. The prevalence of WHO primary study registries were 8.9% of the countries per continent. Overall, there are 17 primary registries associated with WHO ICTRP as primary registries, 2 partner registries and 6 registries are affiliated to ICMJE. However, the amount of preclinical animal study registry was quite less (n = 4). Regarding in vitro studies, only country specific in vitro fertilization registries were available, however, in other research domains, registries were absent. Only one simulation study registry was available. CONCLUSION: At priori study registration is essential to deal with selective reporting. Comparison between study protocol and final report allows us to know the protocol deviations and allows us to evaluate risk of bias and internal validity of the research findings. Although trialists are responsible for the completeness of records, yet the registries must have some measures for their periodic update and quality control of the data.

Promising traditional Indian medicinal plants for the management of novel Coronavirus disease: A systematic review.

Traditional Indian medical practices (Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and homeopathy) are a vast reservoir of knowledge about medicinal plants. The promising pharmacological properties of these plants have paved the way for developing therapy against novel Coronavirus (CoV) infection. The current review will summarize published works of literature on the effects of traditional Indian medicinal plants against acute respiratory infection (COVID-19, SARS, Influenza, and Respiratory syncytial virus infection) and registered clinical trials of traditional Indian herbal medicines in COVID-19. The current study aims to comprehensively evaluate the data of traditional Indian medicinal plants to warrant their use in COVID-19 management. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched along with different clinical trial databases. A total of 22 relevant traditional Indian medicinal plants (35 relevant studies) were included in the current study having potential antiviral properties against virus-induced respiratory illness along with promising immunomodulatory and thrombolytic properties. Further, 36 randomized and nonrandomized registered clinical trials were also included that were aimed at evaluating the efficacy of herbal plants or their formulations in COVID-19 management. The antiviral, immunomodulatory, and thrombolytic activities of the traditional Indian medicinal plants laid down a strong rationale for their use in developing therapies against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study identified some important potential traditional Indian medicinal herbs such as Ocimum tenuiflorum, Tinospora cordifolia, Achyranthes bidentata, Cinnamomum cassia, Cydonia oblonga, Embelin ribes, Justicia adhatoda, Momordica charantia, Withania somnifera, Zingiber officinale, Camphor, and Kabusura kudineer, which could be used in therapeutic strategies against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Efficacy of green tea, its polyphenols and nanoformulation in experimental colitis and the role of non-canonical and canonical nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kB) pathway: a preclinical in-vivo and in-silico exploratory study.

NF-kB plays a major role in the aetiopathogenesis of inflammatory-colitis. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of green tea and its polyphenols and their nanoformulation in Tri-Nitro Benzene Sulfonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis in in-vivo system (Rat) and the involvement of non-canonical and canonical NF-kB pathway in green tea mediated protection (in-silico platform). We used the Wister rat model of TNBS-induced colitis. Rats were grouped into eleven groups (six animals each) and administered vehicle (ethanol), TNBS, Epicatechin (EC), Epigallocatechin (EGC), Epicatechin-gallate (ECG), Epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG), sulfasalazine, green tea, EGCG + sulfasalazine, nano-EGCG and nano-EGCG + sulfasalazine for 14 days after induction of colitis. Colonic tissue was evaluated for the level of malondialdehyde, myeloperoxidase activity, catalase, reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1ß, NF-κB and morphological and histopathological evidence of damage. In the in-silico part, molecular docking and dynamic simulation study of EGCG was done against different targets in NF-kB for detailed evaluation of the role of non-canonical and canonical NF-KB pathway. In our study, EGCG reduced colonic inflammation, markers of oxidative stress, TNF-α, NF-κB, IL-1ß and IL-6. Nano-EGCG + sulfasalazine was more efficacious when compared to EGCG + sulfasalazine. In molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation studies, EGCG showed a good binding profile to the inhibitor binding sites of IKK-beta, IKK-alpha and NIK. Thus, it can be concluded that EGCG showed protective action in experimental colitis acting through both non-canonical and canonical NF-kB pathway. Nano-EGCG + sulfasalazine combination showed better protection than nano-EGCG alone. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Virtual screening and molecular dynamics study of approved drugs as inhibitors of spike protein S1 domain and ACE2 interaction in SARS-CoV-2.

BACKGROUND: The receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike protein S1 domain SARS-CoV-2 plays a key role in the interaction with ACE2, which leads to subsequent S2 domain mediated membrane fusion and incorporation of viral RNA into host cells. In this study we tend to repurpose already approved drugs as inhibitors of the interaction between S1-RBD and the ACE2 receptor. METHODS: 2456 approved drugs were screened against the RBD of S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2 (target PDB ID: 6M17). As the interacting surface between S1-RBD and ACE2 comprises of bigger region, the interacting surface was divided into 3 sites on the basis of interactions (site 1, 2 and 3) and a total of 5 grids were generated (site 1, site 2, site 3, site 1+site 2 and site 2+site 3). A virtual screening was performed using GLIDE implementing HTVS, SP and XP screening. The top hits (on the basis of docking score) were further screened for MM-GBSA. All the top hits were further evaluated in molecular dynamics studies. Performance of the virtual screening protocol was evaluated using enrichment studies. RESULT: and discussion: We performed 5 virtual screening against 5 grids generated. A total of 42 compounds were identified after virtual screening. These drugs were further assessed for their interaction dynamics in molecular dynamics simulation. On the basis of molecular dynamics studies, we come up with 10 molecules with favourable interaction profile, which also interacted with physiologically important residues (residues taking part in the interaction between S1-RBD and ACE2. These are antidiabetic (acarbose), vitamins (riboflavin and levomefolic acid), anti-platelet agents (cangrelor), aminoglycoside antibiotics (Kanamycin, amikacin) bronchodilator (fenoterol), immunomodulator (lamivudine), and anti-neoplastic agents (mitoxantrone and vidarabine). However, while considering the relative side chain fluctuations when compared to the S1-RBD: ACE2 complex riboflavin, fenoterol, cangrelor and vidarabine emerged out as molecules with prolonged relative stability. CONCLUSION: We identified 4 already approved drugs (riboflavin, fenoterol, cangrelor and vidarabine) as possible agents for repurposing as inhibitors of S1:ACE2 interaction. In-vitro validation of these findings are necessary for identification of a safe and effective inhibitor of S1: ACE2 mediated entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the host cell.

Investigation of antiplasmodial efficacy of lupeol and ursolic acid isolated from Ficus benjamina leaves extract.

This study emphasizes on the investigation of antiplasmodial activity of triterpenoids isolated from Ficus benjamina leaves. An unsaponified fraction of petroleum ether extract of plant leaves was subjected to silica gel column chromatography which led to the isolation of two known triterpenoids; namely ursolic acid and lupeol. These compounds were evaluated for antiplasmodial activity by schizont maturation inhibition assay using 3D7 Plasmodium strains. Both, ursolic acid and lupeol were found to exhibit significant antiplasmodial effect with an IC50 value of 18 µg/ml and 3.8 µg/ml, respectively. This study further confirms the traditional role of Ficus benjamina plant in the treatment of malaria which may be attributed to ursolic acid and lupeol.

Development and validation of RP-HPLC method for the determination of stigmasterol in the botanical extract of Ficus deltoidea.

A simple, rapid, accurate and precise RP-HPLC method was developed for the determination of stigmasterol in botanical extract of Ficus deltoidea. Separation was achieved with acetonitrile and acetic acid in water (75:25% v/v) in isocratic mode at 210 nm. Single sharp peak of standard stigmasterol was detected at retention time 3.17 min which overlay with the peak of plant extract at 3.14 min. The calibration curve was found to be linear in a concentration range of 2-10 µg/ml with correlation coefficient of 0.998. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 1.50 µg/ml and 4.55 µg/ml respectively. Accuracy and precision was determined with overall recovery of 99.6-100.1% for stigmasterol and RSD values in both intra-day and inter-day repeatability assay lesser than 0.340%, respectively. The robustness study also indicated that there is no influence of minor changes in detecting wavelength and flow rate of mobile phase on the response.

Experience of mindfulness in people with bipolar disorder: a qualitative study.

The aim of the study was to explore experiences of practising mindfulness and how this related to living with, and managing, bipolar disorder. Qualitative methodology was used to explore the experiences of 12 people with bipolar disorder who had been practising mindfulness for at least 18 weeks. Semi-structured interviews exploring how mindfulness practice related to living with bipolar disorder were recorded verbatim, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Seven themes emerged: Focusing on what is present; clearer awareness of mood state/change; acceptance; mindfulness practice in different mood states; reducing/stabilizing negative affect; relating differently to negative thoughts; reducing impact of mood state. All participants reported subjective benefits and challenges of mindfulness practice, and gave insights into processes of change.