Therapeutic efficacy of artemisinin combination therapies and prevalence of S769N mutation in PfATPase6 gene of Plasmodium falciparum in Kolkata,India

Objective:To study the in vivo efficacy of these two ACTs in the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum {P.falciparum malaria) in Kolkata and to detennine the prevalence of mutant S769N codon of the PfATPase6 gene among field isolates of P.falciparum collected from the study area. Methods:A total of 207 P.falciparum positive cases were enrolled randomly in two study arms and followed up for 42 days as per WHO(2009) protocol.A portion of PfATPase6 gene spanning codon S769N was amplified and sequenced by direct sequencing method.Results:It was observed that the efficacy of bodi the ACT regimens were highly effective in the study area and no mutant S769N was detected from any isolate.Conclusions:The used,combination AS+SP is effective and the other combination AM+I.F might be an alternative,if needed.

Prolonged Production of L-DOPA Using Immobilized Aspergillus Terreus

The objective of this study is to improve the production of L-DOPA from fungal source like Aspergillus terreus that can be further used to large-scale commercial production of this important drug from microbial sources. L-DOPA, a dopamine precursor that can pass the blood-brain barrier, is presently the drug of choice for Parkinson＇s disease. Microbial production and isolation of L-DOPA from natural sources is yet to be achieved an economical process. In this study, the mycelial pellets ofAspergillus terreus 104 were entrapped in 2% calcium alginate and were studied for their capacity for L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine production. Results showed that the immobilized pellets produced L-DOPA to the extent of 0.74 mg·G^-1 biomass while the free pellets produced 0.8 mg·G^-1 biomass. Further, storage of immobilized pellets for 96 h at 4 ℃ resulted in the reduction of the original L-DOPA producing activity of the gel beads only 40% and that of free pellets lost completely. In order to improve the production yield, further experiments were designed. It was found that L-DOPA production could be prolonged with repeated batch wise use of immobilized mycelial pellets in calcium alginate retaining 80% of their L-DOPA producing capacity for a period of 72 h while free pellets lost completely within 24 h. Results of this kind therefore is interesting and promising for commercial scale production of L-DOPA from microbial sources.

Fibrinolytic Activity of Some Nigerian Medicinal Plants

The first line drugs in the management of thromboernbolic diseases in Nigeria include Urokinase and Streptokinase. These drugs come with their attendant shortcomings. The need to source for cheap and accessible alternative therapy forms the basis of this study. The fibrinolytic potentials of 10 Nigerian medicinal plants： Anona senegalensis, Buchholzia coriaceae, Citrullus colocynthis, Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, Curculigo pilosa, Nicotiana tabaccum, Parinari curatellifolia, Pepperomia pellucida, Sida acuta and Xylopia aethiopica extracts were evaluated using water and streptokinase as negative and positive controls respectively. Trace metal （Cu, Fe, Ca and Zn） analysis of the plant extracts was carried out using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Methodology involved in vitro clot lysis method, the crude methanolic extract ofParinari curatellifolia （56.122%）, Cnidoscolus aconitifolius （48.385%）, Anona senegalensis （46.360%）, Xylopia aethiopica （43.205%） and Buchholzia coriaceae （27.062%） were found to have significant （P 〉 0.001） fibrinolytic activity. Maximum effect was exhibited by the positive standard： Streptokinase （60.20 ± 4.30%）, followed by Parinari curatellifolia （56.122 ± 3.86%）, our findings reveal that fibrinolytic activity is independent of elemental Copper or Iron content of the extracts. This study indicated that methanolic extracts of Parinari curatellifolia, Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, Anona senegalensis, Xylopia aethiopica and Buchholzia coriaceae could serve as cheap and accessible alternative.