Ummid Assistant

Mumbai NGO, top experts join hands to train students for civil services exams

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Health

Plants boost healing power of anti-fungals

Tuesday October 09, 2012 06:36:31 AM, IANS

Washington: Certain plant compounds could help prescription drugs fight severe fungal infections in a more effective way, thanks to unexpected findings.

Bruce C. Campbell, formerly of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) under the US Department of Agriculture, and molecular biologist colleague Jong H. Kim, and others found that pairing antifungal medicines with compounds such as thymol, derived from herb thyme, can boost the healing effects of some of these drugs.

Campbell and Kim's work, with species of Aspergillus mould, for example, has attracted the attention of medical and public health researchers.

Found worldwide in air and soil, Aspergillus can infect corn, cotton, pistachios, almonds and other crops, and can produce aflatoxin, a natural carcinogen, the journal Agricultural Research reported.

Aflatoxin-contaminated crops must be identified and removed from the processing stream, at times resulting in large economic losses, according to an ARS statement.

Since 2004, Campbell, Kim and colleagues have carefully built a portfolio of potent, plant-based compounds that kill a target Aspergillus species, A. flavus, or thwart its ability to produce aflatoxin.

Using plant-based compounds to treat fungal infections is not a new idea, nor is that of pairing the compounds with antifungal medicines.

But the research team has explored some apparently unique pairs, and have provided some of the newest, most detailed information about the mechanisms likely responsible for the impact of powerful combinations of drugs and natural plant compounds.






 


 

 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

I

More Headlines

Karnataka stops Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, farmers jubilant

World's 'oldest person' dies at 132

Varsity students prefer lectures to computers, says study

Austrian prepares for 37-km jump to Earth Tuesday

Bring government hospitals under standard treatment plan: Experts

Petrol price cut by 0.56 paise

'Yes minister, we need more toilets'

Support to UPA: Mayawati keeps Congress, SP guessing on rally eve

Two scientists share 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine

Won't meddle in Sri Lanka military training: Apex court

 

Top Stories

Support to UPA: Mayawati keeps Congress, SP guessing on rally eve

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati is keeping both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) guessing whether she will, at the BSP rally here Tuesday, withdraw  »

UPA numbers game in Lok Sabha, minus Mamata

Trinamool pullout increases Congress dependence on SP, BSP

 

  Most Read

Chidambaram signals more reforms

A resolute Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday made it clear that the government, despite domestic political opposition, would usher in more economic and financial reforms to rev up growth and investment. "Without  »

'Yes minister, we need more toilets'

There is a shortage of toilets, especially clean ones, in most parts of the country, say people who cannot understand the brouhaha over a minister's remark that toilets are more important than temples in the country. "A toilet, and a clean one at that, is terribly important, especially when you are on the move and need to go  »

 

  News Pick

Chavez re-elected Venezuelan president

With 90 percent of the votes counted, Chavez, who will serve a third six-year term starting from January 2013, defeated opposition challenger Henrique  »

Supreme Court seeks details of clinical trials in country

The Supreme Court Monday asked the central government to provide details of clinical trials being conducted throughout the country, their side effects and deaths, if any. The apex court bench of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice Anil R. Dave, while asking the central government  »

Bring government hospitals under standard treatment plan: Experts

Health experts and industry Monday welcomed the government's move to put a check on unnecessary medical tests done by hospitals and demanded that government hospitals »

Maharashtra tribals demand ban on alcohol

Tribal women from Maharashtra's Chandrapur have sent 80,000 postcards to Chief Miniter Prithviraj Chavan asking to make the district liquor-free, a social activist said Sunday. "This is a last-ditch effort by the tribal women »

 

Picture of the Day

Rahul Gandhi with business leaders at the University of Kashmir. Rahul visited Kashmir University on October 05, 2012. His interaction with the Kashmir University generated a ray of hope among the youth.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

Career

Education

     

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.