The Relationship of Visiting Insect Diversity and Density of Valeriana jatamansi with Increasing Altitude in Western Himalaya

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences - In light of the recent evidences that pollinators have a significant implication for maintenance of...     

Total Phenolics,Tannins and Antioxidant Activity in Twenty Different Apple Cultivars Growing in West Himalaya,India

The present study evaluated phenolics and antioxidant activities in fully ripened fruits of 20 different apple cultivars e.g., Royal Delicious, Fanny, Gale Gala, Esopus Spitzenburg, King David, Winter Banana, Buckinghum, Super Chief, Breven, Red Fuji, Organ Spur, Tompking County, Red Gold, Golden Spur, Vance Delicious, Red Delicious, Macintosh, Rymer, Bhura Delicious, and Richa Red growing at different locations/elevations of Uttarakhand, West Himalaya, India. Total phenolics and tannins varied significantly among cultivars and the maximum content was recorded in Bhura Delicious (phenolics—3.77 mg GAE/g fw; tannins—16.47 mg TAE/g fw) as compared to others. Antioxidant activity using different in vitro assays showed highest activity in Bhura Delicious and lowest in Esopus Spitzenburg. A significant (p < 0.001) positive relationship was found between total phenolics and ABTS (r = 0.816), FRAP (r = 0.797) and DPPH (r = 0.862) assays. Phenolics and antioxidant activity exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher content in the peel as compared to whole fruit and flesh portion. Based on the results, it is concluded that Bhura Delicious is one of the promising sources of phenolics and antioxidant activity and, therefore, recommended for large scale plantation to harness its potential.

     

Efficacy of part-time occlusion in amblyopia in Indian children

Purpose:To study the effectiveness of part-time occlusion (PTO) in different types of amblyopia in Indian population.Methods:Prospective case series of consecutive cases of amblyopia from a tertiary care center were subjected to PTO of the better eye and monitored periodically for 6 months. Those who failed to improve by 6 months were shifted to full-time occlusion of the better eye and followed for a further 3 months.Results:175 eyes of 175 patients with amblyopia underwent PTO for 6 months. The mean age of the patients was 10.47 ± 4.69 years (range: 3–26 years). Major subgroups included 94 eyes with strabismic amblyopia and 70 with anisometropic amblyopia. Overall, 168 (96%) children benefited from PTO (improvement being defined as a gain of at least one line of Snellen''s visual acuity). The improvement rates for strabismic amblyopes (97.9%) was significantly more than anisometropia (94.3%); P = 0.027. Of the seven patients not responding to PTO, six did not benefit even after full-time patching.Conclusion:PTO is a viable and effective modality of management of amblyopia in Indian patients. Strabismic amblyopia was the commonest and responded best to the occlusion therapy in our cohort.     

Diabetes and plant‐derived natural products: From ethnopharmacological approaches to their potential for modern drug discovery and development

Diabetes is a disease of serious concern faced by the health care industry today. Primary diabetes mellitus and its complications are still costly to manage with modern drugs. Extensive research on the screening of anti‐diabetic agents in past decades established natural products as one of the major potential sources of drug discovery. However, only a few drugs of plant origin have been scientifically validated. Therefore, the development of new anti‐diabetic drugs is of great demand. Hence, natural products could be explored as potential anti‐diabetic drugs. Natural plants derived extracts and molecules like berberine, ginsenosides, curcumin, stevioside, gingerols, capsaicin, catechins, simple phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, resveratrol, genistein and hesperidin obtained from different species are used for curing diabetes and found to possess different action mechanisms. In this review, the importance of medicinal plants and their active constituents for anti‐diabetic agents are described. The present study also emphasized the importance of diabetes control, reduction in its complications and use of the anti‐diabetic agents. The detailed action mechanism of these extracts/compounds for their activities are also described. However, the anti‐diabetic drugs from plant origin require scientific validation through animal and clinical studies to exploit in terms of modern commercial medicines.     

Formulation,development, and performance evaluation of metoclopramide HCl oro-dispersible sustained release tablet

The present study was undertaken to develop and evaluate an oro-dispersible, sustained release tablet of metoclopramide HCl. The technology was comprised of developing sustained release microparticles, and compression of resultant microspheres into a fast dispersible tablet by direct compression. The microspheres of metoclopramide HCl were prepared by an emulsification-solvent evaporation method using ethylcellulose as the matrix polymer. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for morphology, particle size, entrapment efficiency, and in vitro drug release characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated spherical particles with a mean diameter of 81.27 ± 5.87 μm and the drug encapsulation efficiency was found to be 70.15 ± 3.06%. The process and formulation variables such as rotation speed, polymer concentration, and drug concentration influenced the drug encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release. Optimized microspheres were compressed into tablets which were comprised of metoclopramide HCl microspheres, 53% (w/v) of D-mannitol granules, 7% (w/w) of Polyplasdone XL 10, and 0.5% (w/w) of calcium stearate. The tablets demonstrated a hardness of 59 ± 3 N, friability of 0.21% and disintegration time of 27 ± 3 sec. The formulations were subjected to stability studies as per ICH guidelines and were found to be stable after a 6 month study. In vivo experiments conducted in rats demonstrated that a constant level of metoclopramide HCl in plasma could be maintained for up to 20 h at a suitable concentration for antiemetic activity. An appropriate combination of excipients made it possible to obtain orally disintegrating sustained release tablets of metoclopramide HCl using simple and conventional techniques.     

Production and Partial Characterization of Extracellular Protease from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus</Emphasis> sp. GJP2 Isolated from a Hot Spring

In the present investigation extracellular protease production is reported from a moderately thermotolerant bacterial strain GJP2, isolated from a hot spring. The enzyme production conditions were optimized by determining maltose as the best carbon source and a combination of yeast extract and peptone as the most suitable nitrogen sources at pH 8.5 and temperature of 50 °C. A total of 31.7 fold enzyme purification was achieved by precipitating the culture supernatant with 70 % (NH₄)₂SO₄ followed by Sephadex G-100 and ion exchange chromatography. Electrophoresis analysis of the purified enzyme revealed its molecular weight approximately as 64 kDa. The purified enzyme showed maximum activity at pH and temperature of 8.5 and 50 °C, respectively. Based on the partial 16S rRNA sequencing and biochemical properties the bacterium was identified as a Bacillus sp.     

Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Deoxyribonucleic Acid Damage Preventive Activity of Selected <Emphasis Type="Italic">Valeriana</Emphasis> Species from West Himalaya

The polyphenols, antioxidant activity and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage preventive efficiency of 3 species Valeriana jatamansi, V. hardwickii and V. himalayana were investigated. V. himalayana exhibited significantly higher total phenolics and V. jatamansi showed significantly higher flavonoids and total tannins. Valerenic acid was significantly higher in V. himalayana (1.6 %) in root portion as compared to that of V. jatamansi (0.75 %). Significantly higher antioxidant activity of 2,2′-azinobis benzyl ethyl thiazole 6-sulphonic acid was observed as 4.65 mM AAE/100g in aerial portion and 5.73 mM AAE/100g in root portion; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrzyl was 8.87 mM AAE/100g in aerial portion and 17.53 mM AAE/100g in root portion; and ferric reducing antioxidant power was 4.48 mM AAE/100g in aerial portion and 7.28 mM AAE/100g in root portion was higher in V. himalayana as compared to that of V. jatamansi and V. hardwickii. DNA damage preventive efficiency revealed variation in these species. V. himalayana exhibited better ability to prevent Fenton reagent induced DNA damage (97.97 %) as compared to the other two species at 100 μg/μl of aqueous extract. Based on the results it is recommended that as V. himalayana exhibited higher phytochemicals, antioxidant property and DNA damage preventive efficiency, therefore, more systematic investigation and conservation of this species is suggested to meet the increasing industrial demand. As the species is threatened in its natural habitat the other two species i.e., V. hardwickii and V. jatamansi can be promoted as an alternative source for phenolics and antioxidants.     

Valeriana jatamansi: An herbaceous plant with multiple medicinal uses

Valeriana jatamansi Jones (Family: Caprifoliaceae), a high value medicinal plant, was distributed in many countries of Asia. The species possesses important valepotriates and is a good source of flavones or flavone glycosides, lignans, sesquiterpenoids or sesquiterpenoid glycoside, bakkenolide type sesquiterpenoids, phenolic compounds, terpinoids, etc. The use of the species in traditional and modern medicines is well known. For instance, V. jatamansi is very important for its insect repelling and antihelmethic properties. Similarly, sedative, neurotoxic, cytotoxic, antidepressant, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of the species in various ailments in the indigenous system of medicine, particularly in Asia, are reported. This review focuses on the detailed phytochemical composition, medicinal uses, and pharmacological properties of V. jatamansi along with analysis of botanical errors in published literature and reproducibility of the biomedical researches on this multipurpose herbaceous species.     

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cataract surgical volume: A North Indian experience

Purpose:To analyze the impact of the pandemic on trends in cataract surgical volume in 2020 in a high-volume tertiary care academic center in North India.Methods:The monthly cataract surgical volume for a large, high-volume, tertiary care academic center in North India was obtained from January 2018 through December 2020. Based on historical trends, we used time-series forecasting, probability sensitivity analysis, and linear regression models to estimate what the expected monthly cataract volume should have been from March 2020 onward.Results:In 2020, we expected to perform 7500 cases (assuming historical trends) but performed only 2500 cases (33% of the expected volume). The remaining 5000 cases (67% cases) constituted the “fixed” backlog. Assuming the ramp-up in cataract surgical volume starts in January 2021, results of the Monte Carlo simulation revealed that for our system, it would take on average 5 months (May 2021) under the optimistic scenario and 10 months (October 2021) under the ambivalent scenario to reach pre-pandemic expected surgical volume. There would be a collective backlog of 5500 cases under the optimistic scenario (8.8 months’ worth of cases) and a collective backlog of 6900 cases under the ambivalent scenario (11 months’ worth of cases).Conclusion:An intuitive approach and out-of-the-box solutions are required by the government and private institutes’ collaborative efforts to help mitigate the disruptions caused by the pandemic and lessen the backlog without causing provider burnout.