Publications by authors named "Shivankar Agrawal"

The pressing demand for novel compounds to address contemporary health challenges has prompted researchers to venture into uncharted territory, including extreme ecosystems, in search of new natural pharmaceuticals. Fungi capable of tolerating extreme conditions, known as extremophilic fungi, have garnered attention for their ability to produce unique secondary metabolites crucial for defense and communication, some of which exhibit promising clinical significance. Among these, halophilic fungi thriving in high-salinity environments have particularly piqued interest for their production of bioactive molecules.

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The Badami Caves are a significant example of ancient Indian rock-cut architecture, dating back to the 6th century. These caves are situated in the Malaprabha River valley and are part of the candidate UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Evolution of Temple Architecture-Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal", which is considered to be the cradle of temple architecture in India. Our study aimed to investigate the diversity, distribution, and biodeterioration phenomena of the fungal communities present on the cave surfaces.

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Nearly 57 million people depend on Yamuna's water for their daily needs and agriculture. This is the first study of assessment of the Yamuna River for five major pollutants - Nitrate, Sulfate, Phosphate, Silicon, and Chloride, and the role of inhabitant algal species for phycoremediation. Water samples were collected from 11 different locations across three different seasons and it was found that the concentration of these pollutants varies in different locations and seasons.

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Diabetes is a growing health concern worldwide because it affects people of all age groups and increases the risk of other diseases such as renal impairment and neural and cardiovascular disorders. Oral hypoglycemic drugs mainly control diabetes; however, their associated side effects limit their use in patients with other complications. PTP1B is a viable drug target to explore new antidiabetic drugs.

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Anogeissus acuminata is used to treat wounds, diarrhoea, dysentery, and skin ailments. However, its hepatoprotective effect against ethanol-induced liver damage is yet to be reported. The phenolic-enriched ethyl acetate fraction of Anogeissus acuminata (AAE) was evaluated for hepatoprotective activity against ethanol-induced liver toxicity in rats.

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Increasing prevalence of drug resistance has led researchers to focus on discovering new antibacterial agents derived from the marine biome. Although ample studies have investigated marine fungi for their bioactive metabolites with hopeful prospects in drug discovery. The present study was aimed to isolate/ identify potential antimethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus compounds producing marine fungal strain from the Indian marine environment.

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The demand for novel and improved medicine from biological sources to cater to the biopharmaceutical sector has increased significantly in recent years. Among the vast and miscellaneous microbial diversity, fungi provide a prolific source of structurally unique and biologically active secondary metabolites. Natural products obtained from fungi have reformed the era of biomedicine, providing effective drugs that have diverse healing potential.

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Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) remains one of the major concerns of healthcare associated and community-onset infections worldwide. The number of cases of treatment failure for infections associated with resistant bacteria is on the rise, due to the decreasing efficacy of current antibiotics.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Fungi, known for producing a wide range of secondary metabolites due to their adaptability to harsh environments, could be a source of new antiviral compounds with enhanced efficacy.
  • * A review of over 300 antiviral compounds derived from marine and endophytic fungi (found between 2009 and 2019) highlights their potential as future antiviral drugs effective against different viral families.
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Marine fungi are a rich source of biologically active molecules, but a poorly explored bioresource for cosmeceutical products. This study evaluates the phytochemistry, antioxidant, and antityrosinase effects of the organic extracts of marine fungi isolated from various marine environments in India. Out of 35 screened fungal strains, methanol extracts of strains P2, Talaromyces stipitatus, and D4, Aspergillus terreus exhibited antityrosinase activity of 45% and 43%, respectively, at the lowest concentration of 0.

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Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common systemic diseases in the world, and it occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or does not make enough insulin. As described by the World Health Organization, diabetes mellitus of all types has exponentially grown in the past decades across the globe and it is estimated to be 629 million by 2045. Despite this alarming prevalence of diabetes mellitus, there is still the lack of harmless preventive medicines.

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Over the past 50 years, fungal natural products have revolutionized medicine, yielding drugs which have enormous therapeutic potential. The aim of this study was to investigate the probable effect of marine fungal natural products on various skin pathogens. Initially, seventy natural extracts obtained from 35 different marine fungal strains were analysed by the agar well diffusion and broth micro dilution assay for their antibacterial action against six human skin pathogens.

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Marine environments are largely unexplored and can be a source of new molecules for the treatment of many diseases such as malaria, cancer, tuberculosis, HIV etc. The Marine environment is one of the untapped bioresource of getting pharmacologically active nonribosomal peptides (NRPs). Bioprospecting of marine microbes have achieved many remarkable milestones in pharmaceutics.

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Cutibacterium acnes (or Propionibacterium acnes) is the main target for the prevention and medical treatment of acne vulgaris. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anti-C. acnes and anti-S.

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Marine biodiversity is recognized by a wide and unique array of fascinating structures. The complex associations of marine microorganisms, especially with sponges, bryozoans, and tunicates, make it extremely difficult to define the biosynthetic source of marine natural products or to deduce their ecological significance. Marine sponges and tunicates are important source of novel compounds for drug discovery and development.

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