Marine environments are largely unexplored and can be a source of new molecules for the treatment of many diseases such as malaria, cancer, tuberculosis, HIV etc. The Marine environment is one of the untapped bioresource of getting pharmacologically active nonribosomal peptides (NRPs). Bioprospecting of marine microbes have achieved many remarkable milestones in pharmaceutics. Till date, more than 50% of drugs which are in clinical use belong to the nonribosomal peptide or mixed polyketide-nonribosomal peptide families of natural products isolated from marine bacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi. In recent years large numbers of nonribosomal have been discovered from marine microbes using multi-disciplinary approaches. The present review covers the NRPs discovered from marine microbes and their pharmacological potential along with role of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics in discovery and development of nonribosomal peptides drugs.
Marine biodiversity is recognized by a wide and unique array of fascinating structures. The complex associations of marine microorganisms, especially with sponges, bryozoans, and tunicates, make it extremely difficult to define the biosynthetic source of marine natural products or to deduce their ecological significance. Marine sponges and tunicates are important source of novel compounds for drug discovery and development. Majority of these compounds are nitrogen containing and belong to non-ribosomal peptide (NRPs) or mixed polyketide–NRP natural products. Several of these peptides are currently under trial for developing new drugs against various disease areas, including inflammatory, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and infectious disease. This review features pharmacologically active NRPs from marine sponge and tunicates based on their biological activities.
Methanolic extract of Coriandrum sativum (coriander) seeds was analyzed for the presence of various antioxidants; ascorbate, riboflavin, tocopherol, polyphenols and in vitro antioxidant potential. The extract, rich in polyphenolic compounds (18.696 ± 0.12 mg/g dry seeds) was subjected to HPLC analysis for identification and quantification of phenolics. Gallic acid (173.656 µg), caffeic acid (80.185 µg), ellagic acid (162.861 µg), quercetin (608.903 µg) and kaempferol (233.70 µg)/g dry seeds were identified. Antioxidant activity of the extract was determined by various mechanisms including DPPH free radical scavenging, metal induced protein and lipid oxidation inhibition and protection of DNA against H2O2 induced damage. Coriander had excellent free radical scavenging activity with IC50 value 0.4 mg dry seed weight, whereas comparatively higher IC50 was observed with metal ion chelating assays (7.2-8.0 mg dry seed weight). The results suggest that polyphenols including gallic acid, caffeic acid, ellagic acid, quercetin and kaempferol are the principle component responsible for high antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of coriander seeds. This is the first report on detailed analysis of antioxidant composition and antioxidant properties of methanolic extract of coriander seeds.
Localized tinea cruris and tinea corporis can be treated by topical imidazoles (clotrimazole) or newer topical agents like butenafine, a benzylamine derivative with fungicidal activity. The therapeutic efficacy of these two agents was compared in this study. Eighty patients, diagnosed clinically to have tinea cruris or localized tinea corporis and confirmed on KOH examination, were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups in a double-blind manner; butenafine once daily for 2 weeks or clotrimazole twice daily for 4 weeks. Follow-up was done at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks. Clinical assessment score and KOH examination were performed at each visit. Butenafine recipients exhibited higher clinical cure as compared with clotrimazole recipients at the end of 1 week (26.5% vs 2.9%) as well as higher mycological cure (61.7% vs 17.6%). However, this difference was not statistically significant at 4 and 8 weeks of treatment.
The sporostatic effect of five otomycotic pathogens, i.e. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Absidia corymbifera, Penicillium nigricans and Candida albicans to nine different perfumes was determined on the basis of their spore germination. These organisms were isolated from patients suffering from fungal infection of the external auditory canal. Volatile vapours emanating from musk, phulwari, jasmine, nagchampa and bela caused approximately 100% inhibition in spore germination of all the test fungi. Volatiles emanating from chandan, khas and hina showed no inhibition for the test pathogens, displaying their resistant character to these perfumes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.