Evaluation of antibacterial activity of Achyranthes aspera extract against Streptococcus mutans: An in vitro study

Abstract

Dental caries and periodontal diseases have historically been considered the most important global oral health burdens. Many chemicals and synthetic drugs have marked the side effects. Hence, there has been a paradigm shift from the use of modern drugs to the age-old herbs. Achyranthes aspera is one such important plant with various established pharmaceutical properties. The aim of this study was to assess the antibacterial activity of the A. aspera extract against Streptococcus mutans. Aqueous extract of A. aspera was prepared. Different concentrations of the root and stem extracts of A. aspera were transferred to the agar plates, which had been streaked with the bacterium S. mutans. The plates were incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24 h, and the zones of inhibition were measured using cup plate method. A. aspera extract showed statistically significant zones of inhibition. A. aspera showed marked antibacterial activity against S. mutans.

Synthesis of Some New Pyrazolone‐Based Heterocycles Containing Sulphone Moiety Acting as α‐Glucosidase and α‐Amylase Inhibitors

“…The α‐glucosidase and α‐amylase inhibition assays were performed using the modified method of . Pancreatic α‐amylase (porcine based) and intestinal α‐glucosidase (from S. cerevisiae ) were the enzymes used in this study.…”

“…By modifying the processes for the active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as the formulations, medicines could be offered to the poor populace at affordable prices. Pharmaceutical industry grew by leaps and bounds, and India became an exporting country of pharmaceuticals even to the Western countries .…”

“…To my mind, discovering a new drug entity is not as difficult and unachievable a task as it is being projected. Maybe we are being misled by certain forces with ulterior motives and selfish interests so that we do not make serious efforts in this direction .…”

“…Very large databases can be first screened by pharmacophore because the technique is quite fast followed by screening of the positive hits using docking studies. In silico designing of novel compounds can also be performed using de novo designing techniques subject to the condition that the target structure is known .…”

“…In a typical situation when a new chemical entity shows good binding affinity with the target enzyme/receptor, it is assessed for its ADMET parameters followed by whole body autoradiography. Further biological evaluations are performed only when the compound passes these litmus tests .…”