Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a devastating disease characterized by continual addition of leukocytes and T cells within the articular cavity causing inflammation and cartilage destruction. Withania somnifera is one of the most precious medicinal herbs, reported to have antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. </P><P> Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous extract of Withania somnifera roots (WSAq) in Collagen Induced Arthritic (CIA) rats. </P><P> Methods: To achieve this, we assessed the level of inflammatory cytokines such as Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-&#945;, IL-1&#946;, IL-6 and IL-10 in CIA rats. Further, transcription factor, oxidative stress parameters and CD+8 expressions were also analyzed in CIA rats. </P><P> Results: Arthritic rats showed a greater increase in the levels of pro inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-&#945;, IL-1&#946;, IL-6, transcription factor NF-&#954;B and a decrease in IL-10 concentration than controls rats. Oral administration of WSAq at a dose of 300mg/kg.wt. (WSAq300) appreciably attenuated the production of these pro inflammatory cytokines. This anti-inflammatory activity of WSAq300 might be partly mediated through an increase in the secretion of IL-10 and inhibition of NF-&#954;B activity. Further, arthritic rats also show increased oxidative stress as compared to control rats. This increased oxidative stress in the arthritic rats appears to be the outcome of both an activated pro-oxidant and a poor antioxidant defense system. Treatment with WSAq300 strongly ameliorates all these ROS parameters significantly to near normal. Additional, metalloproteinase MMP-8 levels were also measured and found to be increased in CIA rats, which after treatment with WSAq300 came down to near normal. </P><P> Conclusion: From the above results, it can be concluded that the use of WSAq300 may be a valuable supplement which can improve human arthritis.

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) play crucial regulatory roles in multiple biological processes. Recently they have garnered the attention for their strong influence on the secondary metabolite production in plants. Their role in the regulation of artemisinin (ART) biosynthesis is, however, not fully elucidated. ART is a potent anti-malarial compound recommended by WHO for the treatment of drug-resistant malaria. It is produced by Artemisia annua (A. annua). The lower in planta content of ART necessitates a deep understanding of regulatory mechanisms involved in the biosynthesis of this metabolite. In this study, using modern high throughput small RNA-sequencing by Illumina Nextseq 500 platform for identification and stem-loop RT PCR for validation, miRNAs were identified in the leaf sample of A. annua plant. Here, we report a total of 121 miRNAs from A. annua that target several important genes and transcription factors involved in the biosynthesis of ART. This study revealed the presence of some important conserved miRNA families, miR396, miR319, miR399, miR858, miR5083 and miR6111 not identified so far in A. annua. The expression patterns and correlation between miRNAs and their corresponding targets at different developmental stages of the plant using real-time PCR indicate that they may influence ART accumulation. These findings thus, open new possibilities for the rational engineering of the secondary metabolite pathways in general and ART biosynthesis in particular. Abbreviations ART Artemisinin A. annua Artemisia annua miRNA MicroRNA TF Transcription factor Artemisia annua (A. annua), an important medicinal herb is the only natural source of artemisinin (ART). ART, a sesquiterpene lactone is the most reliable and widely used drug to quell Malaria, which is one of the most devastating diseases and a leading cause of deaths worldwide. According to WHO, there were a staggering 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths reported in 2018 alone, despite the disease being preventable as well as curable 1. WHO has recommended the use of ART only in combination of other drugs, to slow down the development of resistance in Plasmodium sps. against it and to maintain its efficacy. The combination treatment is widely known as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). In wild type A. annua, ART is present in the aerial parts, in extremely low quantities (0.02-1.07%) 2. Numerous efforts were made to generate ART synthetically or semi-synthetically, but does not meet industrial practices due to high production cost. The insufficient supply of ART produced by plants or synthetic methods, resulted in the lack of ACTs available to the patients and causes approximately half a million mortalities every year 3. Despite various efforts to produce semi-synthetic ART at low cost, the natural source of ART remains the main provider. Thus, researchers are investigating effective strategies to enhance in planta content of ART. The Ian Grahm lab and Bill and Malinda gates foundation invested huge fund in production of high ART yielding hybrids an...

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The seed kernels of Sesamum indicum L. (family: Pedaliaceae) were extracted with ethanol and yield of components determined by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). The free radical scavenging activities of ethanolic extract against1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) were determined by UV spectrophotometer at 517 nm. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of numerous bioactive compounds including steroids, phenolic, terpenoids, fatty acids and different types of ester compounds. The ethanolic extract was purified and analyzed by GC MS.The prevailing compounds found in ethanolic extract were Carvacrol (0.04%),Sesamol (0.11%), 4-Allyl-2-methoxy-phenol(0.04%),Palmitic acid (1.08%), cis-9-Hexadecenal (85.40%), Lineoleoyl chloride (0.52%), Palmitic acid β-monoglyceride (0.40%), Dihydro-aplotaxene (0.61%), Oleoyl chloride (1.11%), (+)-Sesamin (4.73%), 1,3-Benzodioxole, 5-[4-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yloxy)tetrahydro-1 H,3 H-furo [3,4-c]furan-1-yl], [1 S-(1,3,4,6α.), (2.01%)], 6-Nitrocholest-5-en-3-yl acetate (0.22%), Ergost-5-en-3β-ol (2.35%) and 24-Propylidenecholesterol (0.16%). The presence ofsaturated and unsaturated fatty acids in ethanolicextract justifies the use of this plant to treat many ailments in folk and traditional medicine. Ethanolic extract have shown significant antioxidant activity(IC120.38±2.8 µg/ml). The presence of phenolic (Sesamol), lignin (Sesamin) compounds and unsaturated fatty acids are reported as possible contributor for antioxidantactivity of seed extract.

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