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In the present report, nutritional requirement for the culture of two lichen species Ramalina nervulosa and Ramalina pacifica were studied in order to enhance their growth rate and antioxidant metabolite production. Extract of R. nervulosa cultured in Bold's basal medium (BBM) showed higher antioxidant activity than R. pacifica cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. The lichen species were sub-cultured in standardized nutrient media. R. nervulosa in BBM (1% glucose, 50 ppb asparagines, pH 6.5) yielded 2.76 g biomass with 26.18 mg sekikaic acid, 24.32 mg usnic acid/g dry biomass in a period of 60 days. R. pacifica in MS media (3% sucrose, 100 ppb thiamine, pH 5.9) yielded 3.54 g biomass and 58.92 mg salazinic acid, 40.16 mg usnic acid in the same time period. The standardized culture conditions implemented on bioreactor, R. nervulosa yielded 17.7 g biomass with the production of sekikaic acid 122.8 mg, usnic acid 75.4 mg in 4.5 days. R. pacifica produced 10.3 g biomass along with salazinic acid 200 mg and usnic acid 136.8 mg in the same duration. Lichen secondary metabolites produced in bioreactor showed moderate antioxidant activity; sekikaic acid 42% to 56.4%; salazinic acid 33.6% to 41.9% and usnic acid 19.9% to 29.5%.

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Objective: The present study evaluates the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic potency of taurine (2-amino ethane sulfonic acid) when administered orally to hypercholesterolemia induced atherosclerotic rats.Methods: The experimental atherosclerosis was induced by feeding rats with an atherogenic diet comprising of the normal rat chow supplemented with 4 % cholesterol, 1 % cholic acid and 0.5 % thiouracil (CCT diet) for 20 d. Treatment with atorvastatin (10 mg/kg body weight) and taurine (2 % in drinking water) was given to atherosclerotic rats to study antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-S-transferase), lipid peroxidation in liver, glutathione reductase and protein carbonyl content, extent of DNA damage using the alkaline comet assay, assaying pro-inflammatory cytokines and quantifying atherosclerotic lesions.Results: Oral supplementation of 2 % taurine to hypercholesterolemic rats modulated antioxidant status and significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) content (P<0.05). The extent of DNA damage was also significantly reduced as observed by a reduction in the comet tail index (P<0.05). Taurine exhibited anti-inflammatory activity by significantly inhibiting TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor) and IL-1α (inter leukine) and also inhibited atherosclerotic lesions by clearing lipid deposits on the intimal surface of the rat aorta.Conclusion: Oral administration of taurine to rats showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity by modulating oxidants in favor of reducing oxidative stress and also showed anti-atherosclerotic activity in hypercholesterolemia-induced atherosclerosis.

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