1.Larvicidal activity of few select indigenous plants of North East India against disease vector mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)
Dohutia, C ; Bhattacharyya, D.R ; Sharma, S.K ; Mohapatra, P.K ; Bhattacharjee, K ; Gogoi, K ; Gogoi, P ; Mahanta, J ; Prakash, A.
Tropical Biomedicine 2015;32(1):17-23
Mosquitoes are the vectors of several life threatening diseases like dengue, malaria,
Japanese encephalitis and lymphatic filariasis, which are widely present in the north-eastern
states of India. Investigations on five local plants of north-east India, selected on the basis of
their use by indigenous communities as fish poison, were carried out to study their mosquito
larvicidal potential against Anopheles stephensi (malaria vector), Stegomyia aegypti (dengue
vector) and Culex quinquefasciatus (lymphatic filariasis vector) mosquitoes. Crude Petroleum
ether extracts of the roots of three plants viz. Derris elliptica, Linostoma decandrum and
Croton tiglium were found to have remarkable larvicidal activity; D. elliptica extract was
the most effective and with LC50 value of 0.307 μg/ml its activity was superior to propoxur,
the standard synthetic larvicide. Half-life of larvicidal activity of D. elliptica and L. decandrum
extracts ranged from 2-4 days.
2.The Role of Neutrophil Estrogen Receptor Status on Maspin Synthesis via Nitric Oxide Production in Human Breast Cancer.
Karabi GANGULY BHATTACHARJEE ; Mau BHATTACHARYYA ; Umesh Chandra HALDER ; Pradipta JANA ; Asru K SINHA
Journal of Breast Cancer 2012;15(2):181-188
PURPOSE: Estrogen, through its binding to nuclear estrogen receptor (ER), has been implicated in the development of human breast cancer. The presence or absence of ER in breast lesions has been used to classify breast cancer into ER+ or ER- type. Maspin, an anti-breast cancer protein produced in normal mammary cells, has also been reported to control the condition. Studies have been conducted to determine the role of ER+ and ER- status in neutrophils in the synthesis of maspin in human breast cancer. METHODS: Maspin presence was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, while nitric oxide (NO) level was determined using the methemoglobin method. RESULTS: Scatchard plots of the equilibrium binding of estrogen demonstrated the presence of 4.18x10(7) receptors per normal neutrophil and 2.46x10(7) receptors per ER+ neutrophil with a similar dissociation constant (0.926 nM). The ER- type showed nonspecific estrogen binding only. At 0.6 nM estrogen, NO synthesis was maximally increased to 1.829 and 0.887 microM NO/10(9) cells at 4 hours in normal and ER+ neutrophils respectively, with synthesis of 2.383 and 1.422 nM maspin in normal and ER+ neutrophils respectively. Estrogen failed to produce these effects in ER- neutrophils. CONCLUSION: ER status in neutrophils determined maspin synthesis in breast cancer through the stimulation of NO synthesis. Neutrophils with ER- status which do not produce any maspin when treated with estrogen, might imply a worse prognostic outcome in ER- breast cancer due to the lack of anti-breast cancer protein synthesis.
Breast
;
Breast Neoplasms
;
Dissociative Disorders
;
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
;
Estrogens
;
Humans
;
Methemoglobin
;
Neutrophils
;
Nitric Oxide
;
Receptors, Estrogen
;
Serpins