The role of bixin as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and skin protecting natural product extracted from Bixa orellana L

Since long, medicinal plants or herbs are being used in different traditional treatment systems as therapeutic agents to treat a variety of illnesses. Bixa orellana L., an medicinal plant (family: Bixaceae), is an Ayurvedic herb used to treat dyslipidemia, diarrhoea, and hepatitis since ancient times. B. orellana L., seeds contain an orange-red coloured component known as bixin (C25H30O4), which constitutes 80% of the extract.Chemically, bixin is a natural apocarotenoid, biosynthesized through the oxidative degradation of C40 carotenoids. Bixin helps to regulate the Nrf2/MyD88/TLR4 and TGF-1/PPAR-/Smad3 pathways, which further give it antifibrosis, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. This current review article presents a comprehensive review of bixin as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer,and skin protecting natural product. In addition, the biosynthesis and molecular target of bixin, along with bixin extraction techniques, are also presented.

Insecticide susceptibility status and major detoxifying enzymes activity in Anopheles subpictus from Kasur, Pakistan

Anopheles subpictus s.l. Grassi (Diptera: Culicidae) is a malaria vector in South Asia, where insecticides are the mainstay for vector control interventions. Information on any variation in metabolic enzyme levels in mosquitoes is helpful with respect to adapting alternative strategies for vector control. The scarce data on the biochemical basis of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors of Pakistan limit the available information for vector control interventions within the country. The insecticide susceptibility status and its biochemical basis against dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) (4%), deltamethrin (0.05%) and permethrin (0.75%) in An. subpictus s.l. collected from all Tehsils of district Kasur were evaluated. For this purpose, a World Health Organization susceptibility bioassay was performed followed by the detection of altered metabolic enzyme activity using biochemical assays. Similarly, a significant difference in knock-down effect was observed among field collected and susceptible strain against all insecticides 24 h post exposure. The overall mean mortality rates of DDT, deltamethrin and permethrin were 27.86% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 29.65-26.06], 44.89% (95% CI = 46.23-43.54) and 78.82% (95% CI = 80.16-77.47), respectively. The biochemical assays revealed an elevated level of metabolic enzymes in the field population. The results provide evidence of resistance against organochlorine and pyrethroid groups in a field population of An. subpictus s.l. from district Kasur mediated by multiple metabolic mechanisms, including acetylcholinesterases, esterases, cytochrome P450 and glutathione S-transferases.

Recovery of Schistosoma haematobium ovum from Labeo rohita: first report from Pakistan

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a parasitic disease caused by trematodes from the genus Schistosoma that can infect humans and animals. S. mansoni, S. japonicum, and S. mekongi all causes intestinal schistosomiasis except S. haematobium that causes urinary schistosomiasis. It is only specie which effects urinary system, it can affect liver, heart, lungs also but very rarely. Schistosoma haematobium is endemic to over 50 countries in Africa and the Middle East and Western Asia and may be fatal in HIV positive people. A number of reports from the African countries like Nigeria have been reported. A few cases are reported but in Pakistan it has never been reported before in native people. It is first time reported in Pakistan in the intestine of Rahu (Labeo rohita). The purpose of this study is to elaborate the approach of zoonotic agent by various other routes including the commonly available fish.