Jammu CSIR lab finds cannabis compound that has antibiotic effects (GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
- Cannabis has the potential to make a dent in India’s fight against the escalating threat of antibiotic resistance.
- Scientists at CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, have found that phytocannabinoids, a class of compounds found in the cannabis plant, possess some hitherto unexplored antibiotic properties.
Why AMR matters?
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major health concern worldwide. It refers to when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines used to treat them.
- Bacteria have developed certain sophisticated ‘shields’ over many decades to resist the effects of antibiotic medications.
- These include the formation of biofilms, thin sheets of bacterial colonies that are more resistant to antibiotics than when separated and cellular mechanisms called efflux pumps that flush drugs out from cells.
- The resulting AMR increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
What is India’s AMR burden?
- According to one estimate, India reported 2.97 lakh deaths in 2019 that could be attributed to AMR and 10.42 lakh others that could be associated with AMR.
- Reports have also flagged the overuse of antibiotics in India, their misuse in animal husbandry, and poor waste disposal for engendering AMR and potentially rendering India the “AMR capital of the world”.
- For these reasons, medical researchers are keen to tamp down AMR and find new drugs that fight AMR pathogens.
Alternative for MRSA:
- In the new study, IIIM researchers tested the antibacterial properties of tetrahydrocannabidiol (THCBD), a semisynthetic phytocannabinoid, against Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria responsible for the second most number of deaths due to AMR worldwide.
- Antibiotics are chemical compounds isolated from one microorganism and used to kill another. They have saved millions of lives since their discovery but are falling short against AMR bacteria.
- S. aureus includes a strain known as MRSA, for methicillin-resistant S. aureus, resistant to the last line of antibiotics called methicillin. The study revealed THCBD obtained from cannabis could fight MRSA.
How is THCBD made?
- Cannabinoids are a class of compounds found in the cannabis plant. The prefix ‘phyto’ in phytocannabinoid means it comes from a plant. Cannabinoids bind to receptors in the bodies of animals to produce a variety of neurological effects.
- The researchers extracted cannabidiol from a cannabis plant and made it react with hydrogen, using palladium as a catalyst.
- This process yielded a mixture of molecules with the same composition and order of atoms but different structures. One of them was THCBD.
What were THCBD’s effects?
- The researchers tested THCBD against bacterial cultures in the lab. The minimum quantity found to be efficacious against a strain of Gram-positive S. aureus used commonly in AMR research was found to be 0.25 g/ml, which the researchers called “potent”.
- They found THCBD “demonstrated strong effectiveness” against efflux pump overexpression and MRSA strains.
- They also wrote THCBD “significantly reduced” the number of viable microbial cells of S. aureus skin infections in mice.
- Finally, they found that the compound either complemented or was indifferent to the effects of other common antibiotics like mupirocin, penicillin G, and ciprofloxacin, meaning they could be used together.
What is the solubility challenge?
- Solubility is an important consideration for a drug. For example, many antibiotics are administered orally. Before their active ingredients can be absorbed at a specific site in the body, the drug will need to dissolve in an aqueous solution. If it doesn’t dissolve properly, the body won’t be able to absorb it as intended.
- Among other things, solubility is influenced by the properties of the solvent. For example, a molecule can be too hydrophilic (water-loving) or lipophilic (fat-loving).
- In a biological system, the cytoplasm – which fills the inside of a cell – is a gelatinous liquid and the cell’s wall is primarily composed of lipids.
- A drug molecule in this milieu should be neither too hydrophilic nor too lipophilic but in between. THCBD “leans slightly towards lipophilicity”, according to Dr Singh. Achieving this “drug-like” balance is crucial for it to be appropriately soluble.
Way Forward:
- The researchers’ work on cannabis in future will “yield significant contributions to the healthcare system.
Why was FCRA registration for several NGOs cancelled?
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs); Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled recently.
Who monitors the process?
- The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) monitors the implementation of the FCRA. The registration of thousands of NGOs was due for renewal in 2020-2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the amendments to the FCRA Act in 2020, many NGOs could not complete the process.
- The MHA had given a relief up to September 30, 2021 to NGOs whose registration was expiring between September 29, 2020 and September 30, 2021 to apply for a renewal. The MHA has extended the deadline multiple times; the latest date being March 31, 2024.
About FCRA:
- Through the FCRA, the ministry regulates foreign donations to ensure that such funds do not adversely affect the country’s internal security. It is compulsory to register under the Act, first enacted in 1976, if an association, group or NGO intends to receive foreign donations.
- The 1976 Act was repealed and replaced with a new legislation in 2010. It was further amended in 2020. The registration is valid for five years, after which the NGO has to apply for a renewal.
- It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register under the FCRA, initially valid for five years that can be renewed if it complies with all norms. Registered groups can receive foreign contribution for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural programmes.
Why were CPR and WVI’s registrations cancelled?
- The MHA alleged that CPR diverted foreign donations to fund “protests and legal battles against developmental projects” and misused funds to “affect India’s economic interests.” It alleged that the CPR engaged in production of current affairs programmes which violated FCRA norms.
- CPR had furnished a report on air pollution, “Overview on the Commission for Air Quality Management Act 2021, policy challenges for the new government etc.”
- The MHA said publishing of current affairs programme using foreign funds is prohibited under Section 3 of the FCRA.
- CPR said that the ministry’s decision is incomprehensible and disproportionate, and some of the reasons given challenge the very basis of the functioning of a research institution.
- The registration of WVI was cancelled for alleged FCRA violations from 2012-13 to 2020-21. WVI is the recipient of the highest amount of foreign donations among all NGOs registered under the Act in 1986.
