Cancer is a major public health concern in both developed and developing countries. Several plant-derived anti-cancer agents including taxol, vinblastine, vincristine, the campothecin derivatives, topotecan, irinotecan and etoposide are in clinical use all over the world. Other promising anti-cancer agents include flavopiridol, roscovitine, combretastatin A-4, betulinic acid and silvestrol. From this list one can well imagine the predominance of polyphenols, flavonoids and their synthetic analogs in the treatment of ovarian, breast, cervical, pancreatic and prostate cancer. Flavonoids present in human diet comprise many polyphenolic secondary metabolites with broad-spectrum pharmacological activities including their potential role as anti-cancer agents. A positive correlation between flavonoids-rich diet (from vegetables and fruits) and lower risk of colon, prostate and breast cancers lead to a question that whether flavonoids mediate the protective effects as chemopreventive agents or can interact with different genes and proteins to play role in chemotherapy. The current review emphasizes onto the therapeutic potential of flavonoids and their synthetic analogs as anti-cancer agents by providing new insights into the factors, regulation and molecular mechanisms along with their significant protein interactions.

The growing demand for reducing chemical inputs in agriculture and increased resistance to insecticides have provided great impetus to the development of alternative forms of insect-pest control. Myco-biocontrol offers an attractive alternative to the use of chemical pesticides. Myco-biocontrol agents are naturally occurring organisms which are perceived as less damaging to the environment. Their mode of action appears little complex which makes it highly unlikely that resistance could be developed to a biopesticide. Past research has shown some promise of the use of fungi as a selective pesticide. The current paper updates us about the recent progress in the field of myco-biocontrol of insect pests and their possible mechanism of action to further enhance our understanding about the biological control of insect pests.

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Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi or Reishi) is known as a bitter mushroom with remarkable health benefits. The active constituents found in mushrooms include polysaccharides, dietary fibers, oligosaccharides, triterpenoids, peptides and proteins, alcohols and phenols, mineral elements (such as zinc, copper, iodine, selenium, and iron), vitamins, and amino acids. The bioactive components found in the G. lucidum mushroom have numerous health properties to treat diseased conditions such as hepatopathy, chronic hepatitis, nephritis, hypertension, hyperlipemia, arthritis, neurasthenia, insomnia, bronchitis, asthma, gastric ulcers, atherosclerosis, leukopenia, diabetes, anorexia, and cancer. In spite of the voluminous literature available, G. lucidum is used mostly as an immune enhancer and a health supplement, not therapeutically. This review discusses the therapeutic potential of G. luidum to attract the scientific community to consider its therapeutic application where it can be worth pursuing.

Mukherjee kumar Tapan.Phytochemical screening, isolation, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of methanol, ethanol chloroform and water crude extracts of Myristica fragrans and Tinospora cordifolia were studied in this work. The aim of this work is to ascertain the level of antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties of different solvent extracts of M. fragrans and T. cordifolia as well as isolated phytochemicals. The preliminary screening of various extracts was carried out using E. coli, C. sakazakii and P. aeruginosa by agar well diffusion method. The DPPH method used to determine the antioxidant potential of plant extracts and isolated phytochemicals. Myristicin and eugenol present in methanolic extracts exhibit direct relation with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity while palmatine and berberine could be responsible for T. cordifolia activities. The result showed that M. fragrans and T. cordifolia extracts have pharmocological active compounds with great antioxidant and antimicrobial effects. The results obtained from this study justify the use of this plant in traditional folk medicine and provide leads which could be further exploited for development of new and potent antimicrobials.Copy Right, IJAR, 2016,. All rights reserved.