International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology

3-17

Authors: Mohammad Asif

Reviewing the relationships between polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) with inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis disorders, the PUFAs containing ω-3, ω-6 and ω-9, these ω-3FAs levels were correlated with ω-6: ω-3 ratios including arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Based on previously-reports, the levels of ω-3 FAs considered being as a 'lower risk' category for inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis. Certain PUFAs ratios may aid in inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis-related risk assessment. PUFA are the most effective for the production of oil with high concentration of DHA and EPA content significantly.

29-33

Authors: Lok Raj Joshi, Shiva Prasad Devkota

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a significant public health problem both in human and veterinary medicine. Strains of S. aureus resistant to β-lactam antibiotics are known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Overuse of antibiotics has been ascribed for MRSA emergence. MRSA in cattle was first reported in 1975. Since then, many literatures describing MRSA in cattle have been published. MRSA causes incurable intra-mammary infection and skin diseases in cattle. In severe cases, it causes deep-seated infections like endocarditis and osteomyelitis. MRSA got zoonotic importance when scientists suggested the possibility of cattle serving as reservoirs for human MRSA infection. In this article, we review the current knowledge of MRSA in cattle and its zoonotic implications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v2i1.9861 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 2(1): 29-33

41-44

Authors: Jarina Joshi

Ammonium sulphate, ammonium phosphate, sodium nitrate, urea and glycine were the five different commonly available nitrogen sources used at different concentration ranging from 0.5 to 4% w/v to produce ethanol in batch culture. Potato paste made from red potatoes grown in hilly regions of Nepal was used as carbon source. Prior to fermentation all carbon sources were saccharified enzymatically using α- amylase at pH 5 and temperature 55oC. Maximum yield of ethanol 5.2% was obtained at a temperature of 30oC and pH 5.0 without exogeneous supply of nitrogen. There is slight decrease in concentration when temperature is decreased to 25oC but a drastic decrease in concentration when temperature is increased beyond optimum. All the exogeneously supplied nitrogen sources found to enhance ethanol production and cell viability when yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from brewer’s yeast was used. Ammonium sulphate was found as best nitrogen supplement among them. Maximum ethanol percentage of 8.3 was observed at pH 5.0 and temperature 30oC with Ammonium sulphate concentration of 2%.

50-58

Authors: P. Padmanabhan, S. N. Jangle

Free radicals include both Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Reactive Nitrogen Species (RNS).When free radicals are produced in a regulated manner in a healthy human body it is scavenged efficiently by antioxidant defense system. But excess generation of pro-oxidants by continuous chain reaction in the form of ROS and RNS cause several human diseases. The shift of the balance in the favour of pro-oxidants results in a condition called “oxidative stress”. Alcohol is primarily metabolized in the liver to generate ROS and RNS, leading to diseases such as cirrhosis, fatty liver and chronic hepatitis. Alcohol induced damage is associated with oxidative stress. The excess generation of prooxidants and reduced antioxidant levels provide an effective model of Hepatotoxicity which is noteworthy. Recent trend is to discover polyherbal formulation of medicinal plants which have hepatoprotective function. In the present study 80% alcoholic extract of leaves of Aloe vera, Bacopa monniera, Moringa oleifera and rhizome of Zingiber officinale were utilized to prepare Herbal Preparation or HP-4.Further the hepatoprotective effects of HP-4 was tested in alcohol induced Hepatotoxicity in mice. Silymarin is a well known hepatoprotective drug was used as a standard for comparison. Biochemical and histopathological studies provided ample evidence that HP-4 provided a hepatoprotective role in alcohol induced hepatotoxicity which was comparable to drug Silymarin. The presence of phytochemicals in HP-4 provided a synergistic, supra-additive and co-operative effects in the hepatoprotective function in alcohol induced hepatotoxicity mice model.

64-68

Authors: Suresh Kumar, Suman Chowdhury

The cholinergic hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has provided the rationale for the current pharmacotherapy of this disease. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are currently the only approved therapy for the symptomatic treatment of AD. The current drugs available in the market has shown various side effect which prompted scientist to search for new and potent AChE inhibitors which exerts minimal side effect in AD patient. In present study, an aqueous extract of Cumin cyminum was tested for in vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity based on Ellman’s method. C. cyminum showed maximum inhibition of 76.90±0.003% in an aqueous extract at 50μg/ml final concentration. Further studies were conducted to elucidate the mode of AChE inhibition by kinetic studies. Competitive inhibition was observed at lower concentrations (12.5μg/ml & 25μg/ml) and mixed inhibition was observed at higher concentrations (50μg/ml & 100μg/ml).

75-82

Authors: Pravin Dudhagara, Sunil Bhavasar, Anjana Ghelani, Shreyas Bhatt

Protease is the largest selling enzyme in the world due to its various applications in the making of detergent, food and leather, meat tenderisation and pharmaceutical industries. The aim of the study is to isolate and identify thermophilic Bacillus licheniformis U1 strains for thermostable protease production. The partial purified enzyme was characterized under different conditions using Anson-Hagihara’s method. Casein as a substrate in the concentration of 0.6 % w/v optimum for enzyme activity and tolerant up to 2.0% casein concentration. An optimum enzyme activity was reported at pH 7 and decreased with increasing in pH, while temperature optimum was found at 50 °C. The enzyme was stable at 40 °C to 50 °C for half an hour and nearly 50% residual activity was indicated at 60 °C. NaCl was not required for catalysis. Stability of enzymes in the presence of various organic solvents and different detergents was remarkable. The enzyme was stable up to 3 days into various solvents and slowly denatured with prolonged incubation. The result of the washing performance with detergent was clearly indicated. Moreover the removal of blood stains and dehairing in goat skin suggests the crucial application in the commercial production at large scale.

88-92

Authors: Bimala Subba, Prakash Basnet

To evaluate the antimicrobial activities of extract of eleven plants were examined against four common bacterials. The ethanolic extracts of various plants such as Cissus repens, Hedyotis scandens, Jatropha curcas, Morus alba, Inula cappa, Equisetum ramosissimum, Osyris wightiana, Alternantheria sessilis and Hibiscus lampas investigated individually for antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method. These were investigated against selected species of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris and Klebsiella pneumoniae to find the inhibitory activities of the microbes. The ethanolic extract of C. repens showed considerably high activity against P. vulgaris, E. coli and S. aureus than other extracts.

97-102

Authors: Bhawana Jain, Ajay Kr Singh, Tanushree Dangi, Anil Kr Verma, Mukesh Dwivedi, Madan Mohan, K P Singh, Amita Jain

Introduction: In spite of the discovery of viral culture technology about a century ago, its application in diagnostic labs is being used since 1970s. It served as the "gold standard" for virus detection for long. In recent years, rapid, technically less challenging, sensitive and highly specific viral identification is possible by molecular tools. Hence, the purpose of this study was to analyze the importance of real time PCR over virus culture in diagnosis of Influenza virus infections, the biggest viral challenge of present India, a developing country, so that prompt and correct diagnosis can help physicians as well as the policy makers to control the virus spread. Objective: To study the feasibility of real time PCR vis a vis viral culture technique and evaluate the utility of these methods for laboratory diagnosis of Influenza virus infections. Methodology: The study was conducted in Grade I Virology Diagnostic laboratory, Dept of Microbiology, KGMU, Lucknow. We used both real time RT-PCR and viral culture methods (on MDCK cell lines) for detection of Influenza virus infection and compared the effect of transport time, cost per sample and turnaround time on both the techniques. Results & Conclusion: Real time PCR is more practical, more sensitive, quicker and cost effective. It needs less expertise and availability of reagents is better. Though viral culture proved to be highly specific and useful for wide application but the use should currently be limited to mostly research facilities. Therefore for epidemiological diagnosis purposes real time PCR detection of Influenza virus is advised.

109-111

Authors: Amar Prasad Yadav

In this study, differential pressure transducer (DPT) has been applied as an alternate corrosion monitoring device for monitoring corrosion of iron in atmospheric environment by measuring very small changes in the amount of oxygen. The result of corrosion current obtained from DPT method has been compared with that obtained from AC impedance method. The difference in the value of corrosion current obtained from these two methods was attributed to the error in choosing the value of proportionality constant k of the Stern-Geary equation.