Abstract:Azoreductases are a family of diverse enzymes found in many pathogenic bacteria as well as distant homologues being present in eukarya. In addition to having azoreductase activity these enzymes are also suggested to have NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase activity which leads to a proposed role in plant pathogenesis. Azoreductases have also been suggested to play role in the mammalian pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In view of the importance of P. aeruginosa as a pathogen, we therefore characterised recombinant enzymes following expression of a group of putative azoreductase genes from P. aeruginosa expressed in Escherichia coli. The enzymes include members of the "Arsenic resistance protein H" (ArsH), "tryptophan repressor binding protein A" (WrbA), "modulator of drug activity B" (MdaB) and YieF families. The ArsH, MdaB and YieF family members all show azoreductase and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase activities. In contrast, WrbA is the first enzyme to show NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase activity but does not reduce any of the 11 azo compounds tested under a wide range of conditions. These studies will allow further investigation of the possible role of these enzymes in the pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa.

Furosemide (FSM) is commonly used in the treatment of edema associated with congestive cardiac failure, cirrhosis of the liver, renal disease, including the nephrotic syndrome and hypertension. However, in ascites, it is clinically limited due to its frequent dosing and short biological half-life and its prolonged-release preparations are not available. Therefore, the main objective behind the present research work is to develop chitosan coated and conjugated poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanocarriers, to sustain the delivery of FSM with improved systemic circulation. Emulsion-solvent evaporation technique was used for the preparation of nanoparticles. In-vivo pharmacokinetic study showed 2.6, 3.10, and 4.30 folds enhancement in relative availability of FSM for FSM-PLGA, FSM-chitosan-coated-PLGA and FSM-chitosan-conjugated- PLGA nanoparticles, respectively than FSM. The present research work concluded that FSM loaded chitosan conjugated PLGA nanoparticles could enhance the systemic circulation of FSM with improved pharmacokinetics parameters.

Maternal estimates of mental age provide an accurate measure of developmental functioning in young children and may be used as a screening technique to identify a subset of children who need more detailed evaluation.

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