Screening plants extracts for Antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani

The adverse effect of pesticides used for controlling pests and the diseases caused by them is extensively rising. To overcome this harmful environmental impact, alternative methods are being studied and developed. Out of many possible methods, one effective method is to use plant extracts which embodies natural substances having antifungal properties. In an attempt towards enhancement of sustainable antifungal approach, four different concentrations of four plant extracts Citrus limon, Azadirachta indica, Ocimum gratissimum and Acalypha indica, were tested for their antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani, which is a serious threat for plants, and is responsible for considerable crop and yield losses. The aim of this study is to minimize yield losses and to regain the attention of formers towards exploiting natural resources for diseases control. From the results, it can be concluded that different concentrations of plant extracts have caused substantial inhibition in the mycelial growth of R. solani. The leaf extract of Ocimum gratissimum was highly effective in inhibiting mycelial growth, at the concentration of 500mg/ml of extract followed by Citrus limon, Azadirachta indica, and Acalypha indica. These plants might have potential for the development of natural fungicide for the management of diseases caused by fungal pathogens. Also, fungicides developed from these botanical extracts can prove to be highly effective for the management of plant diseases and would be simply obtainable, nonpolluting, biodegradable and economical.

A Comparative Study of Anti-inflammatory Activity of Tecoma stans, Acalypha indica and Abutilon indicum Plant Leaf Extract

Introduction: Inflammation is said to be the response of the body to an injury. It is a body defence reaction to reduce or eliminate the spread of injurious agents. It is essential that steps should be taken to introduce new medicinal plants and to develop cheaper, effective and safe analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs. The main aim of this study is to assess the potential anti-inflammatory activity of Tecoma stans, Acalypha indica and Abutilon indicum plant is being studied. Materials and Methods: Protease inhibition assay was done by Bovine serum albumin was added to plant samples with increase in concentrations as per the standard methods. In this study, Aspirin was used as a standard anti-inflammatory drug.The data were analyzed statistically by a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s multiple range test to see the statistical significance among the groups. The results with p<0.05 level were considered to be statistically significant. Results: In this study, it was observed that the plant leaf extract of Tecoma stans, Acalypha indica and Abutilon indicus contain anti-inflammatory activity. The protein denaturation inhibitory activity of leaf extract of Tecoma stans, Acalypha indica and Abutilon indicum, plant extract was represented graphically. Tecoma stans, was observed to contain the anti inflammatory activity. Conclusion: This study revealed that Tecoma stans, Acalypha indica and Abutilon indicum are important medicinal plants with diverse pharmacological spectrum and contain anti-inflammatory properties. Hence, this research has been taken to collect and compile the pharmacological uses of these plant extracts which will be useful to the society to venture into a field of alternative systems of medicine.

MOLECULAR DOCKING AND MOLECULAR DYNAMICS STUDIES OF ACALYPHA INDICA L. PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS WITH CASPASE-3

Objective: This study investigated the structure-based molecular interactions between phytochemical constituents of Acalypha indica L. and caspase-3. Methods: Thirty-three phytochemical constituents of A. indica were screened against caspase-3. The X-ray crystal structure of human caspase-3 was retrieved from https://www.rcsb.org/structure/. The molecular interactions of the phytochemicals were studied using the AutoDock 4.2 software and followed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the Amber18 software. Results: From this study, 25 screened phytochemicals were found to have a better binding mode than the native ligand. Moreover, the binding stability of the top four hits evaluated by MD indicated that the hydrogen bonds in MD were quite different from the molecular docking results due to the massive receptor and ligand movement in the MD simulations. However, with the exception of stigmasterol, all ligands were able to stabilize the protein. Conclusion: This study suggested that γ-sitosterol acetate, β-sitosterol acetate, and γ-sitosterol might be able to induce caspase-3, thereby activating apoptosis. These high-affinity compounds can bind to caspase-3 more efficiently and were able to stabilize the protein. Therefore, they have the potential to be used as lead compounds in the treatment of cancer.

Bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities of Acalypha indica L. plant leave extracts on bacteria shigella disenteriae type 1 in vitro

This study aimed to analyze the bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity of Acalypha indica L. extract against Shigella dysenteriae type 1 bacteria in vitro. This research is a laboratory experimental study consisting of six concentration treatments, namely: (K = 0/ml, P1 = 100/ml, P2 = 200/ml, P3 = 400/ml, P4 = 800/ml, P5 = 1600 mg/ml ), and five replications each. The results showed that the herbal extract of Acalypha indica L. was bacteriostatic (inhibiting) at a concentration of 400 mg/mm, and bactericidal (killing) the bacteria Shigella dysenteriae type 1, which was tested in vitro at a concentration of at least 800 mg/ml. It is necessary to study the effect of Acalypha indica L. herbal extract from Timor in the serum of Rattus norwegicus against bacteria that cause bloody diarrhea (EHEC O157:H7, and Shigella dysenteriae type 1), MRSA bacteria, and other pathogenic bacteria.

Comparison Study Between Encapsulation of Acalypha indica Linn Extracts with Chitosan-PCL and Chitosan-OA

Drug delivery is one of the major applications in the biodegradable polymer science. Chitosan is a non-toxic and naturally biodegradable polymer. It is soluble in acidic aqueous media and insoluble in higher pH media. Chitosan has been modified to improve its properties such as stability and the modified derivatives have been widely used in many applications especially for drug delivery. There are several kinds of chitosan modification. This study investigated the modification of chitosan with polyester-types of polymer and the fatty acidbased polymer. The aim of this study is to compare the formation encapsulation of chitosan-oleic acid conjugate (Ch-OA) and chitosan- polycaprolactone(PCL) copolymer for the encapsulation of Acalypha indica active compounds for drug delivery by using emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. The crude extracts have been extracted and the phytochemicals inside the crude extracts are less stable in nature. These active compounds need to be encapsulated to stabilize them and delivered well into the body system. As for conclusion, chitosan:PCL is able to form better encapsulation using this method.

Analisis Sidik Jari Kromatografi Lapis Tipis Tanaman Anting-Anting (Acalypha indica L.)

Anting-anting plant (Acalypha indica L.) is a plant that the community has used as raw material for herbal medicine. Anting-anting plants contain chemical compounds, so it is difficult to ensure these plants' safety and quality control. The research objective was to validate the method by knowing the stability, specificity, precision, and rigidity of the chromatographic profile of alkaloid compounds in the TLC analysis of the anting-anting extract. Extraction was carried out using ethyl acetate solvent for 20 minutes with a frequency of 42 kHz. The eluent used is cyclohexane: toluene: diethylamine (75:15:10) with Dragendorff reagent. The method of validation was acceptable according to the criteria except for the stability test of the analyte during chromatography. The instability of the analyte is indicated that not all spots form a straight diagonal line. The specificity of the method was carried out by comparing the fingerprint patterns of the leaves of the anting-anting with ekor kucing (Acalypha hibsida Farm.) and teh-tehan plants (Acalypha siamensis). The fingerprint profile showed a yellow stain (Rf = 0.39) on the leaves of the anting-anting, which did not appear in the fingerprint profiles of the two comparison samples. Keywords: anting-anting, fingerprint analysis, thin layer chromatography, method validation Anting-anting (Acalypha indica L.) merupakan tanaman yang telah dimanfaatkan masyarakat sebagai bahan baku obat herbal. Anting-anting mengandung banyak senyawa kimia sehingga sulit menjamin keamanan dan pengendalian mutu dari tanaman tersebut. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk validasi metode dengan mengetahui kestabilan, spesifitas, presisi, dan ketegaran profil kromatografi senyawa alkaloid pada analisis KLT ekstrak anting-anting. Ekstraksi dilakukan menggunakan pelarut etil asetat selama 20 menit dengan frekuensi 42 kHz. Eluen yang digunakan adalah sikloheksana : toluena : dietilamin (75:15:10) dengan reagen Dragendorff. Validasi metode dapat diterima sesuai kriteria kecuali uji stabilitas analit selama kromatografi. Ketidakstabilan analit ditunjukkan dengan seluruh noda yang dihasilkan tidak membentuk garis diagonal yang lurus. Spesifitas pada metode dilakukan dengan membandingkan pola sidik jari daun anting-anting dengan daun ekor kucing (Acalypha hibsida Farm) dan daun teh-tehan (Acalypha siamensis). Profil sidik jari menunjukkan bahwa terdapat noda berwarna kuning kehijauan (Rf = 0,39) pada daun anting-anting yang tidak muncul pada profil sidik jari kedua sampel pembanding tersebut. Kata kunci: anting-anting, analisis sidik jari, kromatografi lapis tipis, validasi metode

Phytochemical Profile, Free Radical Scavenging and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Acalypha Indica Root Extract: Evidence from In Vitro and In Vivo Studies

In our in vitro and in vivo studies, we used Acalypha indica root methanolic extract (AIRME), and investigated their free radical scavenging/antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Primarily, phytochemical analysis showed rich content of phenols (70.92 mg of gallic acid/g) and flavonoids (16.01 mg of rutin/g) in AIRME. We then performed HR-LC-MS and GC-MS analyses, and identified 101 and 14 phytochemical compounds, respectively. Among them, ramipril glucuronide (1.563%), antimycin A (1.324%), swietenine (1.134%), quinone (1.152%), oxprenolol (1.118%), choline (0.847%), bumetanide (0.847%) and fenofibrate (0.711%) are the predominant phytomolecules. Evidence from in vitro studies revealed that AIRME scavenges DPPH and hydroxyl radicals in a concentration dependent manner (10–50 μg/mL). Similarly, hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation were also remarkably inhibited by AIRME as concentration increases (20–100 μg/mL). In vitro antioxidant activity of AIRME was comparable to ascorbic acid treatment. For in vivo studies, carrageenan (1%, sub-plantar) was injected to rats to induce localized inflammation. Acute inflammation was represented by paw-edema, and significantly elevated (p < 0.05) WBC, platelets and C-reactive protein (CRP). However, AIRME pretreatment (150/300 mg/kg bodyweight) significantly (p < 0.05) decreased edema volume. This was accompanied by a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of WBC, platelets and CRP with both doses of AIRME. The decreased activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase in paw tissue were restored (p < 0.05 / p < 0.01) with AIRME in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, AIRME attenuated carrageenan-induced neutrophil infiltrations and vascular dilation in paw tissue. For the first time, our findings demonstrated the potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of AIRME, which could be considered to develop novel anti-inflammatory drugs.