No abstract

Lichens are composite algae having a symbiotic association with a fungal partner. They produce numerous secondary metabolites, which play an important role in pharmaceutical and in other industrial applications. The Secondary metabolites produced by lichens are found to be 80% more when compared to that produced by other organisms. Not much work has been carried out on lichens due to the difficulty in their cultivation but still it emerges as a potential source in developing therapeutically important drugs which are widely beneficial in all fields of application. The Present study was aimed to isolate, purify and determine the applications of secondary metabolites from Lichen Parmelia perlata. The presence of these compounds were detected and purified by thin layer chromatography and column chromatography using specific solvent systems. The purified fractions were then identified by Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The compounds were then subjected to application oriented studies such as antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity and antidiabetic activity. Not much work have been carried out on the isolation of a specific glycoside and alkaloid compound from Lichen Parmelia perlata, so this study was an attempt to explore the applications of these individual compounds which could prove beneficial to the mankind for different purposes.

No abstract

Objectives: Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is an autogenous biomaterial, considered as the second-generation platelet concentrates rich in blood cells and growth factors entrapped in the fibrin matrix, which makes it as an ideal material with wound healing abilities. Studies have reported high harvest of cells using anticoagulants but the present study employs two different protocols to efficiently separate the platelet-rich layer at low centrifugal forces without the use of anticoagulants. Material and Methods: Blood samples were collected with the consent of 20 volunteer donors. Ten blood samples were tested in each of the protocols studied, that is, protocol 1–200 g for 8 min (higher rpm and time) and protocol 2–60 g for 5 min (lower rpm and time). From the 12 ml of blood samples collected, 2 ml of blood was utilized for whole blood study; the remaining 10 ml was transferred into falcon tubes subjected to different rpm. Results: The present study employs a novel method to investigate segregation of cell types following low-grade centrifugation. One milliliter sequential pipetting technique was used to analyze number of leukocytes and platelets following centrifugation at two different g-forces. The protocols followed in the present study had 2–3-fold increase leukocytes concentration and 10–12-fold increases in platelet concentrations in the layers than the whole blood sample without the use of anticoagulants. Conclusion: The study concludes that protocol 1 was more efficient in harvesting platelets with less concentration of leukocytes, which is considered more suitable for various medical applications.

Endometriosis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder characterized by endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity in females. So far, the invasive laparoscopic method is the only gold standard diagnostic option for endometriosis. The study aims to develop a non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis in patients presenting with one or more symptoms by analyzing the peripheral circulating miRNAs from the serum of the patients. A panel of miRNA 125b-5p, 342-3p, and Let-7b was developed to diagnose endometriosis. We performed the demographic profiling in 56 patients eliciting one or more symptoms of endometriosis without imaging evidence and compared them with 40 patients with the laparoscopically established endometriotic condition. Patients presenting with one or more of the clinical symptoms of endometriosis (n=56) served as the study group, and patients who were proven to be endometriotic by laparoscopy (n=40) served as the training (control) group. The fasting peripheral blood sample was collected, serum was separated, and cryo-preserved. qRT-PCR analysis of the selected miRNAs (miR 125b-5p, miR 342-3p, and Let-7b) was studied in both training (control) and study groups. The results were analyzed using a random forest (RF) approach machine learning algorithm and 10-fold cross-validation. Results indicate significant upregulation of miRNA125b-5p and miRNA 342-3p and downregulation of Let- 7b (p <0.001). Further, the samples derived from the study group with one or more symptoms of endometriosis and the proven endometriotic patients exhibited similar dysregulation of selected miRNAs (miR 125b-5p, miR 342-3p, and Let-7b). Based on our study, we propose the miRNAs panel consisting of miR 125b-5p, miR 342-3p, and Let-7b to be used as an early non-invasive diagnostic marker for endometriosis efficiently without the patients being subjected to invasive laparoscopy, which will reduce the time taken for diagnosis and commence the treatment earlier and prevent morbidity.