Shlini P

Kidney is one of the vital organs in the human body. The function of the kidney involves purification of the blood, reabsorption of water, excretion of waste, secretion of hormones like adrenaline. When the kidney becomes non-functional, it leads to a condition called chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the kidney fails to purify the blood. When this happens, the patients are expected to switch over to artificial methods of purifying the blood such as dialysis. Patients suffering from CKD have high levels of phosphate (hyperphosphatemia) and leads to calcification of blood vessels. In order to reduce phosphate levels the patients are recommended drugs which act as phosphate binders like sevelamer hydrochloride and sevelamer carbonate. In the present investigation the banding patterns of serum proteins and the serum along with plant samples and the drug were analysed through Native –PAGE. The serum protein interaction studies showed a positive result for sevelamer hydrochloride where as the sevelamer carbonate displayed less interaction. The swelling property of the drug was studied using phase contrast microscopy. It was observed that the drug swells up when treated with water and also the content of the drug slowly dissolves with time. Keywords: CKD, hyperphosphatemia, calcification, phosphate binders.

Carica papaya, a member of the family Caricaceae, is commonly known for its food and nutritional value throughout the world. During last few decades considerable progress has been achieved regarding the biological activity and medicinal application of papaya and now it is considered as valuable neutraceutical fruit plant. The present study was designed to determine the antimutagenic and anticytotoxic activities of different fractions (Aqueous, Chloroform, Ethanol and Ethyl acetate extracts) of Carica papaya leaves. Antimutagenic activity was determined by the Allium cepa root chromosomal assay using Cyclophosphamide monohydrate as the mutagenic agent and anticytotoxic activity of the extracts was evaluated by determination of mitotic index. All the four fractions displayed significant antimutagenic and anticytotoxic activities against cyclophosphamide-induced chromosomal aberrations and alltogether, the results of our study lend pharmacological credence to the anti-cancerous and ethnomedical use of this plant in traditional system of medicine and these results could be used to develop antimutagenic compounds for cancer therapy.