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The current study aimed to screen the preliminary phytochemicals in the leaf extract of the medicinal plant Simarouba glauca and to analyze its potential antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer properties. The phytochemical profile of the methanol extract was analyzed, and bioactive compounds were identified using chromatography, FTIR and GCMS. Antimicrobial activity and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) were determined against 14 bacterial and 6 fungal strains. Moreover, the synergistic effect of a plant extract with commercially available antibiotics was also evaluated using the checkerboard method. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts showed exclusive activity against S. aureus and profound activity against E. coli and S. marcescens. Upon comparing breakpoints, methanolic extract demonstrated higher antimicrobial activity with a MIC value of 3.2 mg/mL against the test pathogens. Furthermore, the extracts demonstrated potential antioxidant activity; methanol extract had higher antioxidant potential compared to the ethanol extract. The major proactive bioactive compound with maximum antioxidant capacity was observed to be terpenoids. The methanol extract of S. glauca showed significant cytotoxicity against the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line with an IC50 value of 16.12 µg/mL. The overall results of our work provide significant evidence for the usage of methanolic extract of S. glauca as an efficient ethnomedicinal agent and a potential candidate for relieving many human ailments.

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BACKGROUNDEndometrial biopsy is considered the standard for detecting endometrial pathology, but since it is an invasive and blind procedure transvaginal ultrasound has been recommended as a less invasive substitute for detecting endometrial disease. METHODSThis cross-sectional study was done in 100 patients to evaluate the efficacy of transvaginal ultrasound as a non-invasive investigative procedure for excluding endometrial pathology in patients with postmenopausal bleeding. All these patients underwent transvaginal sonography and dilatation and curettage. RESULTSIn diagnosing endometrial pathology transvaginal sonography showed a sensitivity of 71.79%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100% and negative predictive value of 50%. A cut-off of 4mm endometrial thickness was taken for defining normality. No cases of endometrial malignancy were missed when 4mm was taken as the cut-off. The sensitivity of transvaginal sonography in detecting premalignant lesions was 75.76%, specificity was 82.35%, positive predictive value was 89.29% and negative predictive value was 63.64%. CONCLUSIONThe study concludes that transvaginal sonographic measurement of endometrial thickness can be used to exclude endometrial pathology in postmenopausal bleeding.