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I N T R O D U C T IO N
and
can
be
treated
with
surgery,
radiation,
are known to be the source of useful drugs in modern medicine and have been
accepted currently as one of the main source of cancer chemoprevention,
drug discovery and development (Gonzales and Valerio, 2006; Kathiriya
et al., 2010) due to their diverse pharmacological properties including cytotoxic
and cancer chemopreventive effects (Dahiru et al., 2005). Plant derived agents
are being used for the treatment of cancer. Several anticancer agents including
taxol,
vinblastine,
vincristine,
the
camptothecin
derivatives,
topotecan,
Indian spices (Unnikrishnan and Kuttan, 1990) and plants (Babu et al., 1995)
are quoted to be useful in different types of cancer.
In the human body the free radicals are continuously produced due to
the oxygen utilization by the cells of the body (Vilasrao et al., 2010). This
generates a series of reactive oxygen species (ROS) like super oxide anion
(O2-) and hydroxyl (HO) radicals and non free radical species such as H2O2,
singlet oxygen (O2) and nitric oxide (NO). Reactive oxygen species
and reactive nitrogen species are associated with many pathological
conditions such as atherosclerosis, ischemia, and reperfusion injury of many
tissues, central nervous system injury, gastritis and cancer (Costa et al., 2009;
Manokaran et al., 2005). Recently there has been an upsurge of interest
in
the
therapeutic
potentials
of
medicinal
plants
as
antioxidants
in
reducing such free radical induced tissue injury (Pourmorad et al., 2006).
Phytocompounds like flavonoids and phenolic acids, commonly found in
Compatibility of Pongamia pinnata biofuel / diesel blends with few industrial metals
plants (Pawlowska et al., 2008) have been reported to have multiple biological
and pharmacological
(Cesquini et al., 2003; Conforti et al., 2008; Rajkumar et al., 2011) antimicrobial,
antiviral (Dash and Murthy, 2011) and antiinflammatory activities (Middleton,
2000; Kumar et al., 2011).
Antioxidants cause protective effect by neutralizing free radicals, which
are toxic byproducts of natural cell metabolism. The human body has several
mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress by producing antioxidants, which
are either naturally produced in situ, or externally supplied through foods and/or
supplements. These antioxidants act as free radical scavengers by preventing
and repairing damages caused by ROS, and therefore can enhance the
immune defense and lower the risk of cancer and degenerative diseases
(Pham-Huy et al., 2008).
Antioxidants are any substance that delay or inhibit oxidative damage to
a target molecule. At a time one antioxidant molecule can react with single free
radicals and are capable to neutralize free radicals by donating one of their own
electrons, ending the carbon-stealing reaction. Antioxidants prevent cell and
tissue damage as they act as scavenger. Cell produce defense against
excessive free radicals by their preventive mechanisms, repair mechanisms,
physical defenses and antioxidant defenses. The body has developed several
endogenous antioxidant catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx),
glutathione reductase (GR) and non-enzymatic defense system included
vitamin E, vitamin C and reduced glutathione (GSH). Oxidative stress is a
harmful condition that occurs when there is an excess of ROS and/or a
decrease in antioxidant levels, this may cause tissue damage by physical,
chemical, psychological factors that lead to tissue injury in human and causes
different diseases (Tian et al., 2007; Saikat et al., 2010).
The Ehrlich Lymphpma Ascite (ELA) tumor was initially described as a
spontaneous murine mammary adenocarcinoma. It is a rapidly growing
carcinoma with very aggressive behavior and is able to grow in almost all
Compatibility of Pongamia pinnata biofuel / diesel blends with few industrial metals
and hence improve immunity, but the side effects and prohibitive cost of
these allopathic drugs makes it necessary to search for an alternative
(Meera et al., 2008).
There are many plants, which are having immunostimulatory activity
whereas other has immunosuppressant activity. Apart from being specifically
stimulatory or suppressive action, certain agents have been shown to possess
activity to normalize or modulate pathophysiological processes and are hence
called immunomodulatory agents (Bafna and Mishra, 2005). The plant products
have long been used as immunomodulators by the traditional healers. Scientific
literature is continuously reporting plant drugs having immunostimulatory
activity. Immunomodulation using plant extracts such as Eclipta alba, Centella
asiatica, T. Chebula, T. bellerica and E. officinalis can provide an alternative
to conventional chemotherapy for a variety of diseases, especially when the
host defense mechanism has to be activated under the condition of impaired
immune response (Tan and Vanitha, 2004; Srikumar et al., 2006).
The
active
principle
of
plants
acting
as
antioxidants
and
and activity of the small molecule. Hence docking plays an important role in the
rational design of drugs (Kitchen et al., 2004). Docking analysis by Grid Based
Ligand Docking with Energetics (GLIDE) is used to predict the binding
properties of disease related target proteins. The software searches for
favourable interactions between one or more typically small ligand molecules
and a larger receptor molecule usually a protein (Gane and Dean, 2000).
The plants selected for the present research work were Cynodon
dactylon (Cd) and Terminalia catappa (Tc). Cd (Family-Poaceae), commonly
known as doob (Hindi), aroogumpillo (Tamil), is called creeper in India. The
Cd has been shown to possess variety of medicinal properties. The aqueous
fluid extract of Cd leaf was used to study the antidiabetic, antioxidant and
hypolipidemic efficacy in diabetic rats (Karthik and Ravikumar, 2011; Rai et al.,
2010). Antiulcer activity (Patil et al., 2005), hepatoprotective activity (Surendra
et al., 2008) and cardioprotective effect (Garjani et al., 2009) of alcoholic extract
of Cd have been reported. Immunomodulatory and antioxidant activity of the Cd
protein fractions were evaluated in Swiss albino mice (Santhi and Annapoorani,
2010; Santhi et al., 2010).
Terminalia catappa (Tc) is (family - combretaceae) also known as badam
widely grown in tropical regions of the world as an ornamental tree. The
aqueous and cold extracts of leaves of the Tc have been reported to be
antioxidant, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic (Nagappa et al., 2003 ; Ahmed
et al., 2005). More and more pharmacological studies have reported that the
extract of Tc leaves and fruits have antibacterial, anticancer, antioxidant,
anti-HIV reverse transcriptase, antiinflammatory, antidiabetic effects and
hepatoprotective activities (Mohale et al., 2009). Tc leaf protein has antioxidant
activity against ELA implanted Swiss albino mice (Santhi and Annapoorani,
2009).
In particular Cynodon dactylon and Terminalia catappa received a lot of
attention in the research worldwide because of their potent antioxidant activity.
Compatibility of Pongamia pinnata biofuel / diesel blends with few industrial metals
antitumorigenic
and
immunomodulatory
efficacy
of