Should teens be allowed to consent for vaccines?

Teens and children will need to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. Most parents are eager to have their teens immunized, whereas some are hesitant. Should teens be allowed to consent to immunization even if their parents’ objects? Vaccines are safe and effective, medically recommended, and good for both the individual and the community. Inspite of these powerful arguments, the law lags behind. Most parents want their teens to be immunized. Most vaccine-hesitant parents ultimately agree to vaccination. Furthermore, teens who get COVID generally have mild cases. For now, the law in most states does not permit teens to consent to the COVID-19 vaccine without parental permission.

Screening Selected Medicinal Plants for Anticancer and Biological Activities

Plant secondary metabolites as biologically active compounds have a great future in controlling various degenerative diseases. The bioactive compounds certainly play a key role in effective medications. Bioactive compounds can be probed in the medicinal plants through in vitro and in vivo assays. In the past few decades, extensive work has been done to discover effective drugs from natural sources with low side effects. Due to medicinal significance in folk lore, eight medicinal plants (Albizia lebbeck, Melia azedarach, Hedera helix, Saxifraga flagellaris, Valeriana jatamansi, Fagonia cretica, Withania coagulans, and Moringa oleifera) were selected from the local flora to determine their anticancer potential and other biological activities. Initially, the plant extracts were obtained in 70% ethanol and were later fractionized into ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and n-hexane. The crude plant extracts were then used in various bioassays to determine their anti-bacterial, antifungal, phyto-toxic, anti-oxidant and anticancer potential. Also, the plant extracts were tested for proximate composition, heavy metals and phyto-chemicals. After, isolation and purification of compound, the compound of interest were utilized against cancer cell line (HT-29 Colon cancer cell lines). To estimate the antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Alternaria alternate, Fusarium oxysporum, and Polysphondylium pallidum, an agar well diffusion method was adopted. The results showed that the crude methanolic extract of all plants were very effective against the selected fungal species. Melia azedarach, plants extract showed highest zone of inhibition 30.0±0.67 mm to 65.0±0.45 mm , followed by Saxifraga flagellaris, 29.0±0.67 mm to 65.0±0.54 mm, Moringa oleifera, 23.0±0.78 mm to 60.0±0.22 mm and Hedera helix, 0±0.55 mm to 57.0±0.88 mm. Antibacterial activity was also determined with the help of agar well diffusion method. The bacterial strains Streptococcus mutans, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive), and Serratia marcescens (Gramnegative), were used. The antibacterial activity revealed that the crude methanolic extract of all plants were effective against the tested bacterial strains. Fagonia cretica plants extract showed highest zone of inhibition ranging from 07.0±0.66 mm to 15.0±0.33 mm (28 to 57.69%), followed by Valeriana jatamansi (25 to 57.14%). To determine the phytotoxic activity of the crude extracts (10, 20, and 40 mg), Lactuca sativa was used as a test plant. The crude extract of all plants at 20 and 40 mg have restricted the radical and plumule growth of L. sativa. The proximate analysis of the selected medicinal plants displayed substantial quantities of basic nutrients, like proteins, carbohydrate, fat, moisture and ash contents. The ethyl acetate extract of the tested medicinal plant species presented highest DPPH scavenging activity. Moreover, significant amounts of alkaloids, saponins, glycosides, flavonoids and phenols have been noticed in the crude extract of these plants. The MTT bioassay against available cancer cell line (Colon cancer cells--- HT-29) showed that Saxifraga flagellaris has restricted the cancer cell growth by 90%, followed by Fagonia cretica (31%), Moringa oleifera (23%), Valeriana jatamansi (21%), Withania coagulans (16%) and Hedera helix (10%). The potent crude extract of Saxifraga flagellaris was then subjected to the compound isolation by chromatographic techniques and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT 90 and DEPT135. The isolated compound was identified as adlumidine with molecular formula C20H17NO6 and molecular weight of 367.357 amu. This compound was reported in Saxifraga flagellaris for the first time. The purified compound, adlumidine reduced the cell viability of HCT 116 and PC3 cells. This compound proved to be toxic against HCT 116 and PC3 cell lines at ≥ 20 µg/ml concentrations. Adlumidine increased early apoptosis to 19.5%, while boosted late apoptosis to 10.4%. Furthermore, adlumidine induced caspase-3- dependent apoptosis in HCT 116 and PC3 cell lines. From the results of present study, it is concluded that Saxifraga flagellaris has potent bioactive compound(s) that can potentially control cancer and other contagious diseases.