Abstract:In plant, glyoxalases [glyoxalase I (Gly-I, EC: 4.4.1.5) and glyoxalase II (Gly-II, EC: 3.1.2.6)] and glutathione Stransferase (GST, EC: 2.5.1.18) are major detoxification enzymes. On the other hand, spermidine (Spd) is important polyamine (PA) with significant role which interacts with stress protection mechanisms functioning in common against different types of stress. In this study, exogenous Spd was applied on onion seedlings to investigate its protective role through regulation of glyoxalase and GST activities. Continuous increase was observed in the content of methylglyoxal (MG) in onion leaves under salinity, and at 7 day of stress, MG contents increased by 260% over control. Application of Spd reduced the MG contents in saline treated seedlings through increasing glyoxalase mediated detoxification by 21 and 48% at 1 and 3 day of stress, respectively. Salinity increased Gly-I and Gly-II activities which was further increased by Spd upto 3 day of stress. On the other hand, salinity increased GST activity by 14, 55, 93 and 109% over control at 1, 3, 5 and 7 day, respectively. Application of Spd increased the activity in stressed seedlings at 3 day of stress while 21% higher activity was found. However, after 3 days, both glyoxalases and GST activities in Spd treated seedlings decreased and became almost similar to those in drought stressed seedlings without Spd. Considering the results, application of Spd in onion seedlings improved tolerance for short period of salinity.

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Acanthus ilicifolius Linn. (Acanthaceae) is a popular mangrove ethnomedicinal plant that cures several ailments, including asthma, diabetes, cancer, and many others. Our experiment was aimed at evaluating the anti-atherogenic effect of A. ilicifolius (leaf and stem) on a high-fat diet-induced atherogenic rat model. Atherosclerosis was developed in 12 weeks. Treatment with the standard drug (3 mg/kg b.w./day, p.o. of Simvastatin), separate doses of methanolic and ethanolic extracts of A. ilicifolius leaf (250 and 500 mg/kg b.w./day, p.o.), and stem (200 and 400 mg/kg b.w./day, p.o.) was subsequently conducted for additional 15 days. The anti-atherogenic effect was evaluated by estimating the change in body weight, systolic blood pressure, and lipid profile. Histopathology of aorta, liver, and kidney of atherogenic models was done for further evaluation. The antioxidant effect of different extracts was performed via DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay using ascorbic acid as standard. The anticoagulant effect was determined after 15 days of treatment with the same doses of the plant extracts and the standard Warfarin (2 mg/kg b.w./day, p.o.). When compared with atherogenic control, treatment with A. ilicifolius significantly reduced ( p  < 0.01) body weight, systolic blood pressure, and serum lipid levels while it elevated HDL (high-density lipoprotein) level in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, bleeding and clotting time was significantly decreased ( p  < 0.01) under the treatment of plant extracts. The histopathological data showed considerable improvement in tissue morphology after treatment. Our study evidenced that the alcoholic extracts of A. ilicifolius leaf and stem have anti-atherogenic properties and may be recommended as a potential herbal remedy for preventing cardiovascular diseases.

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Background The majority of epidemic Vibrio cholerae strains have become resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents for many reasons, including mutations, horizontal gene transfers, etc. Therefore, secondary means of treatment are needed to overcome this impediment in combating cholera. Desmodium triflorum (L.) and Terminalia citrina (Roxb.) are extensively used in traditional medicine. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the antibacterial activity of methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Desmodium triflorum (L.) whole plant and Terminalia citrina (Roxb.) fruits against V. cholerae isolates. Methods Initially, different extracts of both plant materials were subjected to qualitative phytochemical screening. Anti-V. cholerae activities were assessed by performing MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) test using disc diffusion method with different concentrations (1.25, 2.50, 8.00, 10.00, 12.50, 15.00 mg/ml) where standard discs of gentamycin and meropenem (10 μg/disc) were used. Further, Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was done to evaluate the extracts’ cytotoxic activities using different concentrations (800, 400, 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 μg/ml) against vincristine sulphate. Results The preliminary screening confirms the presence of convenient phytochemical constituents like flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, etc., and are liable for the emergence of the antibacterial activities in different strains. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of both methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Terminalia citrina (fruits) and Desmodium triflorum (L.) (whole plant) were found to be 2.50 mg/ml and 5 mg/ml, respectively. Moreover, 100% mortality was observed only in ethanolic extract of Terminalia citrina fruits at the highest concentration (800 μg/ml). In comparison, the rest of the test extracts showed less than 90% mortality at the highest concentration (800 μg/ml). Conclusions Both plants possess significant phytoconstituents and showed appreciable anti-V. cholerae activities with mild toxicity. Hence, Desmodium triflorum (L.) whole plant and Terminalia citrina (Roxb.) fruits may be recommended as potential phytotherapy against cholera disease.