Sperm membrane modulation by Sapindus mukorossi during sperm maturation

Aim: To observe the alterations in the biochemical and biophysical changes in the sperm membrane during sperm maturation in male rats treated with the water extract of the fruit pericarp of S. mukorossi. Methods: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged the aqueous extract of the fruit pericarp of S. mukorossi at a dose of 50 mg/kg/d for 45 days. On day 46, the sperm parameters were observed in different sections of the epididymis and the sperm superoxide dismutase and the lipid peroxidation was determined and compared with the controls. The testis and epididymis were routinely prepared for histological examination under the light microscope. Results: No significant differences in the sperm number and morphology were observed between the control and treated groups. However, a significant inhibition (P<0.05-0.01) of sperm motility in the caput, corpus and cauda regions of the epididymis was seen in the treated group. No significant histopathological changes were found in the testis and epididymis. The important finding was that in the treated animals, the spermatozoa showed an abnormal distribution of the superoxide dismutase activity, being minimum in the caput and maximum in the corpus, which was just opposite to that of the controls. Conclusion: The study provides a unique observation where the plant extract alters the sperm membrane physiology without change the testicular and epididymal morphology.

Combinatorial Effects of SDF-1 and CCL3L1 Gene Variants and Susceptibility to HIV-1/AIDS in Indian Population

HIV-1 infection requires the expression of CD4＋ molecules in colligation with C-C chemokine receptor type 5 （CCR5） and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 （CXCR4） as the major coreceptors. The role of SNP in 3＇ untranslated region ofSDF-1 （SDF1-3 ＇A） and low copy number （CN） of the CCL3L1 gene is reported to confer increased resistance to HIV-1 infection. The aim of the present study was to analyze the combinatorial effect of both the variations in protection towards HIV-1 infection in Indian population. The combinatorial effect of genetic variation in terms of SNP in SDF-1 gene and CCL3L1 CN was investigated in 105 healthy individuals and 78 HIV-I patients. Genotyping of SDF-1 was performed by RFLP-PCR and CCL3L1 by real-time PCR using TaqMan chemistry. The genotype frequency distribution of SDF-1 was found to be （SDF-1/SDF-I： 65.4%, SDF-1/SDF1-3＇A： 29.5% and SDFI-3＇A/SDF1-3＇A- 5.1%） in HIV patients as compared to （SDF-1/SDF-I： 64.8%, SDF-1/SDF1-3＇A： 30.5% and SDF1-3 ＇A/SDF1-3 ＇A： 4.7%） in healthy individuals, whereas a range of 1 to 6 copies per diploid genome was observed for CCL3L1 gene.

Evaluation of antiplasmodial properties in 15 selected traditional medicinal plants from India

Objective:The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antiplasmodial properties against malaria parasite in 15 plants mentioned in Indian traditional medicine texts.Methods:In vitro antiplasmodial activity of methanolic extracts obtained from Indian traditional medicinal plants was evaluated on Plasmodium falciparum of FCK2 and INDO strains using schizont maturation inhibition assay and parasite lactate dehydrogenase inhibition assay.Results:Methanolic extracts of Adhatoda zeylanica,Embelia ribes,Piper nigrum and Plumbago zeylanica exhibited more than 50%inhibition in both the stains in schizont maturation inhibition assay.Methanolic extracts of seven medicinal plants exhibited antiplasmodial activity at half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50)<100 mg/m L,and methanolic extracts of five medicinal plants exhibited antiplasmodial activity at IC50<50 mg/m L in P.falciparum lactate dehydrogenase(PfLDH)inhibition assay.A.zeylanica,E.ribes and P.nigrum exhibited promising antiplasmodial activity in PfLDH inhibition assay.A.zeylanica and E.ribes exhibited improved activity against resistant in comparison to sensitive strain.Conclusion:A.zeylanica and E.ribes were the most promising extracts from this study and deserve further investigation of their antiplasmodial properties.

Pharmacogenetics and cancer management

The science of one’s genetic background and its impact on disease susceptibility and drug response has come of age and firmly established its proper place in the clinic.Its impact is felt more in the treatment of cancer than any other disease area several reasons:critical time,narrow therapeutic index and overlapping toxicity window.We realize that the true potential of pharmacogenetics will be realized when we have been able to integrate other variants like insertion-deletion,copy number variation,etc.,in addition to single nucleotide polymorphism for their collective influence on drug response and toxicity.Technology has rapidly evolved and has become affordable to be used in the clinic once it gets standardized and validated not only in one population but in several major world population-particularly those which are under-represented in human variant database.