The crude extracts of tubers of Aconitum spicatum (Bruhl) Stapf were investigated for in vitro antileishmanial activity against Leishmania major. The dichloromethane extract at pH 2.5 showed antileishmanial activity with IC₅₀ value of 27.10 ± 0.0 μg/mL. Chromatographic purification of the dichloromethane extract led to isolation of three C-19 norditerpenoid alkaloids indaconitine (1), chasmaconitine (2) and ludaconitine (3). Compounds 3 and 2 showed antileishmanial activity with IC₅₀ = 36.10 ± 3.4 and 56.30 ± 2.1 μg/mL, respectively. Compound 1 was less effective (IC₅₀ > 100 μg/mL). The cytotoxicity of compounds 1, 2 and 3 studied against MCF7, HeLa and PC3 cancer cell lines and 3T3 normal fibroblast cell line did not show cytotoxicity at 30 μM. Graphical abstract

Hospital wastewater is contaminated with antibiotics excreted by inward patients and laboratory leftovers. This study aims to evaluate the occurrence of commonly prescribed antibiotics in two hospitals (Hospital 1 and Hospital 2) wastewater stream and Guheshwori municipal wastewater treatment plant by employing high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Identification of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics was done through questionnaire survey. For analysis, composite sampling was done following 3 days/24 hours mixing. HPLC (Agilent 1260 infinity II) system was used with DAD detector and binary pump. By matching the retention time with standards, samples (antibiotics) were identified, and the concentration of each identified antibiotic was determined by peak area calculation. Results indicate that amoxicillin, cefixime, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, ceftriaxone, metronidazole and cloxacillin are the most commonly used antibiotics in Hospital 1 and Hospital 2. Study of physico-chemical parameters of the wastewater reveals the slightly alkaline pH, high electrical conductivity, high total dissolved solid and also high BOD & COD values. Interestingly, ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin are detected in the inlet and outlet samples of hospital wastewater, and their concentration was reduced in outlet samples. From this study, antibiotics, albeit in low concentration, are detected in hospital wastewater and thus antibiotic specific water treatment system is recommended.

Aconitum spicatum is one of the deadly poisonous and highly valued medicinal plant. It is a national prioritized herb among 30 national priority herbs listed by the government of Nepal for their development, research and cultivation. The acute toxicity of the extract of this plant appeared to be directly related to the alkaloid content. The amount of total alkaloid of A. spicatum collected from Manaslu conservation area was calculated to be 1.7% by spectrophotometric method based on Dragendorff’s reagent. In-vitro evaluation of the crude extract of plant rhizomes using agar well diffusion assay against eight bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Schigella flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumonia, displayed potential antibacterial activity. The diethyl ether fraction was the most effective against all pathogenic microbes with minimum bacterial concentration value 3.125-6.25 mg/ml. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 67-71 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7443

Cladia aggregate (SW) Nyl is a lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae producing characteristic secondary metabolites of interest. There are only limited chemical studies relating to the genus Cladia. A chemical study of the lichen C. aggregata was conducted and their chemical constituents were elucidated by ultra-performance liquid chromatography−electrospray ionization/triple-quadrupole tandem-mass spectrometry analysis. It is the first time report of structure analysis of its metabolite by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. The molecular masses for 20 compounds were detected from different fractions. Seven compounds were elucidated with mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry fragmentation pattern analysis. Barbatic acid (12) was identified as the major compound being common to all fractions. The identified compounds belong to depsides (2, 11, 12 and 20), dibenzofurans (13, 18) and sugar derivatives (1) which are usually distributed in lichens.

Atranorin 1, Usnic acid 2, and D-Arabinitol 3 were isolated from Usnea aciculifera by extensive column chromatography. The structures were elucidated based on the comprehensive spectral analysis including FT IR, GC MS, ESI MS, ¹³C NMR, and ¹H NMR. The compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against LN-229 glioblastoma cancer cell line by performing Sulforhodamine B assay (SRB). Usnic acid 2 showed strong cytotoxic activity against LN-229 glioblastoma cancer cell with an IC₅₀ value of 3.09 μg/mL.