The prevalence of fungal infections is growing at an alarming pace and the pathogenesis is still not clearly understood. Recurrence of these fungal diseases is often due to their evolutionary avoidance of antifungal resistance. The development of suitable novel antimicrobial agents for fungal diseases continues to be a major problem in the current clinical field. Hence, it is urgently necessary to develop surrogate agents that are more effective than conventional available drugs. Among the remarkable innovations from earlier investigations on natural-drugs, flavonoids are a group of plant-derived substances capable of promoting many valuable effects on humans. The identification of flavonoids with possible antifungal effects at small concentrations or in synergistic combinations could help to overcome this problem. A combination of flavonoids with available drugs is an excellent approach to reduce the side effects and toxicity. This review focuses on various naturally occurring flavonoids and their antifungal activities, modes of action, and synergetic use in combination with conventional drugs.

Bionanotechnology has pivotal role in the development of a novel therapy, applications of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the treatment of cancer. In this study, we found that therapeutics, pharmaceutics and diagnostic effectiveness of photosynthesized Catharanthus roseus (CR) AuNPs induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic signalling pathways via reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced cytotoxicity in cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) by in vitro model. The present examinations were for the most part centred around the gold chloride and photosynthesis AuNPs from the fluid leaf concentrate of CR and their harmful impacts on HeLa cell lines. The synthesized AuNPs were characterized using numerous biophysical analyses such as UV-vis, DLS, EDX, HR-TEM, SAED, FTIR and AFM. The synthesized AuNPs in the particle size range of 25-35 nm was confirmed by HR-TEM. The element gold and the crystalline nature of AuNPs were finalized using EDX, respectively. Anticancer potential of CR-AuNPs was studied using HeLa cells and the cytotoxic mechanism has been evaluated using MTT, mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic pathway through AO/EtBr staining assay, pro-apoptotic (Bax), anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2 and Bid) protein expression western blotting analysis and caspases activity using ELISA analysis. In in vitro study, the IC50 of HeLa cells was found to be 5 mg/ml confirmed using MTT assay. The present data revealed that drug delivery vehicles developed on CR-AuNPs nanocomplexes might include extensive purpose in human cancer diagnosis and treatment.

View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 8 View citing articles Silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) nanoparticles synthesized from Azadirachta indica lalex and its antibiofilm activity against fluconazole resistant Candida tropicalis

No abstract

Background and Objectives: Bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common ailment affecting all age groups in males and females. The commercial antibiotics usage augments antibiotics resistance and creates higher recurrence rates of such communal infections. Hence, this study is aimed at investigating the antibacterial and antioxidant potentials of 15 common spices against 11 UTI-causing bacterial pathogens. Materials and Methods: The antioxidant potential of the methanolic extracts was analyzed as contents of total phenols and flavonoids; radical scavenging, total reducing power, the ferric reducing power assay. Urinary pathogens were subjected to spice extracts to investigate antibacterial assays. Results: Preliminary phytochemical study of spices was performed to find those containing alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and steroids that can be recognized for their noteworthy bactericidal effects. The outcome of the antioxidative potential from the four methods demonstrated the sequence of potent antioxidant activity: Acorus calamus > Alpinia galanga > Armoracia rusticana > Capparis spinosa > Aframomum melegueta. The total polyphenols and flavonoids in the studied species positively correlated with their antioxidant properties. The four most effective spices (A. calamus, A. galanga, A. rusticana, and C. spinosa) had a zone of inhibition of at least 22 mm. A. calamus, A. melegueta, and C. spinosa had the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value against Enterobacter aerogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis. All 15 spices had the lowest minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) value against most of the pathogenic bacteria. Conclusion: The four highly potent and unique spices noted for the in vitro control of UTI-causing pathogens could be pursued further in the development of complementary and alternative medicine against UTI-causing pathogens.