Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of chronic liver diseases which can lead to permanent liver damage, hepatocellular carcinoma and death. The presently available treatment with interferon plus ribavirin, has limited benefits due to adverse side effects such as anemia, depression, fatigue, and "flu-like" symptoms. Herbal plants have been used for centuries against different diseases including viral diseases and have become a major source of new compounds to treat bacterial and viral diseases.
1 February 2018 in Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences
Owing to white meat production Labeo rohita have vast economic importance, but its population has been reduced drastically in River Chenab due to pollution. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry showed a merciless toxicity level of Cd, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr, Sn and Hg. Comet assay results indicated significant (p < .05) DNA fragmentation in Labeo rohita as 42.21 ± 2.06%, 31.26 ± 2.41% and 21.84 ± 2.21% DNA in comet tail, tail moment as 17.71 ± 1.79, 10.30 ± 1.78 and 7.81 ± 1.56, olive moment as 13.58 ± 1.306, 8.10 ± 1.04 and 5.88 ± 0.06, respectively, from three different polluted sites on the river. Micronucleus assay showed similar findings of single micronucleus induction (MN) as 50.00 ± 6.30‰, double MN 14.40 ± 2.56‰, while nuclear abnormalities (NA) were found as 150.00 ± 2.92‰. These higher frequencies of MN induction and NA were found to be the cause of reduction of 96% of the population of this fish species in an experimental area of the River Chenab. This fish species has been found near extinction through the length of the river Chenab and few specimens in rainy seasons if restored by flood, may die in sugarcane mill season. Due to sweeping extinction Labeo rohita showed the highest sensitivity for pollution and could be used as bioindicator and DNA fragmentation in this column feeder fish species as a biomarker of the pollution load in freshwater bodies.
Syzygium cumini (S. cumini) is an evergreen tropical plant that is well recognized for its therapeutic potential of common diseases. In this study, the therapeutic potential and biomedical application of S. cumini are assessed in vitro and in vivo to find its effectiveness for different complications. The methanolic crude extract of S. cumini leaves were screened for total phenolic and flavonoid content. In vitro, the DPPH scavenging assay, XTT assay, prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin time were used to assess antioxidant, cytoprotective and thrombolytic activity of the S. cumini extract, respectively. The anti-inflammatory potential and the analgesic activity of the S. cumini extract were analyzed in rabbits by the Carrageenan induced paw edema method and the writhing method, respectively. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of considerable amounts of total phenolic (369.75 ± 17.9 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid (75.8 ± 5.3 mgRE/g) content in the S. cumini extract. The DPPH assay demonstrated a higher antioxidant potential (IC-50 value of 133 μg/ml), which was comparable to the IC-50 of ascorbic acid (122.4 μg/ml). Moreover, the S. cumini extract showed a dose dependent cytoprotective effect against H2O2 treated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). S. cumini also possesses significant anticoagulant activity with a prothrombin time of 28.3 ± 1.8 seconds vs 15.8 ± 0.2 seconds of control, p<0.05. The leaf extract also demonstrated an analgesic effect in rabbits as indicated by the decrease in writhing (12.2 ± 1.7 control vs. 3.7 ± 0.6 treated) and anti-inflammatory activity in rabbits paw with a protection against inflammation of 64.1 ± 2.4%. Our findings suggest that the methanolic extract of S. cumini leaves has antioxidant, cytoprotective, anticoagulant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, and therefore, can be applied for treating cardiovascular diseases and cancers.