PROXIMATE, MACRO ELEMENTAL AND GC-MS ANALYSIS OF SORBARIA TOMENTOSA

Sorbaria tomentosa (LindI.) of family Rosaceae, is a wild, medicinal, ornamental, large, woody plant locally known as “Karhee or Berre”, native to Pakistan. Proximate composition gives important information to assess the suitability of medicinal flora or their extracts taken orally by the trivial communities. In the current study, different proximate parameters like carbohydrate, ash, protein, moisture content and fat, along with carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur were analyzed in whole plant of S. tomentosa. The results revealed the occurrence of considerable proportion of carbohydrates (52%) and protein (23.80%). Moisture, fat and ash contents were found in small content 6.25, 2.02 and 0.20%, respectively. Elemental analysis displayed the greater content of carbon (44.92%) followed by content of hydrogen (6.16%), nitrogen (5.17%) and sulphur (0.43%). GC-MS analysis of n-hexane fraction of S. tomentosa led to identification of five compounds viz., 3, 13-Dimethylpentadecanoic acid (1), 2, 4-Dimethyltetradecanoic acid (2), 2, 4-Heptadecadienoic acid; Etester (3), 2-Butylcyclopropanedodecanoic acid (4) and Heptadecanoic acid; Et ester (5). Toxicity tests, further isolation and identification of active constituents of test weed could confirm the discovery of novel plant drugs and safety in administration.

Elastase/Collagenase Inhibition Compositions of Citrus unshiu and Its Association with Phenolic Content and Anti-Oxidant Activity

Citrus fruits are rich sources of different phytochemicals for human health due to their high anti-oxidant capacity. However, the anti-aging effect of citrus fruits has not been well understood. In this study, methanol extracts taken at various developmental stages from tissues of Citrus unshiu was used to investigate its anti-aging effect by an elastase/collagenase inhibition assay, and a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was carried out to identify the potential anti-aging compositions. The elastase/collagenase inhibitory activity was greatest in the flesh of immature green fruit (i.e., early July flesh (EJF)), and four candidate compounds were selected by GC-MS and evaluated by a collagenase inhibition assay. Three of the four candidate compounds (heptadecanoic acid, D-allose, and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF)) showed anti-aging activity, and the activity was highest in heptadecanoic acid, followed by D-allose and HMF. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and anti-oxidant activity (DPPH and ferric reducing anti-oxidant power (FRAP) assay) were also investigated. Interestingly, the patterns of the total phenolic/flavonoid content and the anti-oxidant activity were different from that of the elastase/collagenase inhibitory activity. Flowers had the most anti-oxidant activity followed by immature fruit, and the fruit peels had more anti-oxidant activity than its flesh at all stages of development. This study demonstrated that the flesh of immature fruit and flowers of C. unshiu could be sources of anti-aging and anti-oxidant agents for human health, respectively.

Guava Seeds Derived Phytochemicals against Dysentery

Phytochemicals are the secondary metabolites that are known as nonnutritive but extremely beneficial for the defensive system for the organism. These phytochemicals can be obtained from all the plants and they play a major role in curing differnt diseases. The extract of the guava seed contains various phytochemicals that can cure the disease like dysentery, caused by the protozoa parasite, namely Entamoeba histolytica. “Biovia Discovery Studio” was used for the molecular docking process. “High positive values of -CDOCKER energy and -CDOCKER interaction energy” suggested that Heptadecanoic acid can effectively deactivate the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme further inhibiting the biological process of the causative organism.

Pemanfaatan tanaman Tagetes erecta Linn. dalam kesehatan

Untuk mengembangkan obat baru, dewasa ini para peneliti berusaha untuk meneliti kandungan bahan alam, diantaranya kandungan zat dalam T. erecta Linn. Ekstrak etanol daun T.erecta Linn. diperoleh 17 senyawa dengan kandungan terbesar adalah senyawa neophytadiene diikuti 9,12,15-oktadecadienoic acid-methyl ester, hexadecanoic acid-methyl ester, palmitic acid, 9,12-oktadecadienoic acid, linolenic acid­-metil ester dan heptadecanoic acid. Tanaman T.erecta Linn. atau yang biasa dikenal dengan sebutan bunga tahi kotok memiliki kandungan kimia yang sangat bermanfaat untuk kesehatan. Bagian dari tanaman T.erecta Linn. yang telah diekstrak dengan berbagai macam pelarut juga telah terbukti memiliki sifat antioksidan, efek antibakteri dan mampu menyembuhkan luka. Ekstrak dari bagian tanaman T.erecta Linn. juga telah berhasil diformulasikan menjadi berbagai bentuk sedian farmasi seperti gel, krim, lotion antinyamuk dan juga pewarna rambut. Sedian farmasi dengan zat aktif ekstrak T.erecta Linn. tersebut terbukti memiliki efek yang baik dan tidak merugikan subyek uji.

Serial measures of circulating biomarkers of dairy fat and total and cause-specific mortality in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study

ABSTRACT Background Controversy has emerged about the benefits compared with harms of dairy fat, including concerns over long-term effects. Previous observational studies have assessed self-reported estimates of consumption or a single biomarker measure at baseline, which may lead to suboptimal estimation of true risk. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate prospective associations of serial measures of plasma phospholipid fatty acids pentadecanoic (15:0), heptadecanoic (17:0), and trans-palmitoleic (trans-16:1n–7) acids with total mortality, cause-specific mortality, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among older adults. Design Among 2907 US adults aged ≥65 y and free of CVD at baseline, circulating fatty acid concentrations were measured serially at baseline, 6 y, and 13 y. Deaths and CVD events were assessed and adjudicated centrally. Prospective associations were assessed by multivariate-adjusted Cox models incorporating time-dependent exposures and covariates. Results During 22 y of follow-up, 2428 deaths occurred, including 833 from CVD, 1595 from non-CVD causes, and 1301 incident CVD events. In multivariable models, circulating pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic, and trans-palmitoleic acids were not significantly associated with total mortality, with extreme-quintile HRs of 1.05 for pentadecanoic (95% CI: 0.91, 1.22), 1.07 for heptadecanoic (95% CI: 0.93, 1.23), and 1.05 for trans-palmitoleic (95% CI: 0.91, 1.20) acids. Circulating heptadecanoic acid was associated with lower CVD mortality (extreme-quintile HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.98), especially stroke mortality, with a 42% lower risk when comparing extreme quintiles of heptadecanoic acid concentrations (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.97). In contrast, heptadecanoic acid was associated with a higher risk of non-CVD mortality (HR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.52), which was not clearly related to any single subtype of non-CVD death. No significant associations of pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic, or trans-palmitoleic acids were seen for total incident CVD, coronary heart disease, or stroke. Conclusions Long-term exposure to circulating phospholipid pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic, or trans-palmitoleic acids was not significantly associated with total mortality or incident CVD among older adults. High circulating heptadecanoic acid was inversely associated with CVD and stroke mortality and potentially associated with higher risk of non-CVD death.

Cytotoxic Activity of Pentacyclic Triterpene-3-Heptadecanoate Ester against Hela Cell Line and Its Docking Study

Pentacyclic triterpene-3-heptadecanoate (12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-heptadecanoate)ester refers to the compound as a result of reaction between pentacyclic triterpene-3-ol(12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-ol) and heptadecanoic acid. This research was aimed to conductcytotoxicity test of pentacyclic triterpene-3-heptadecanoate; 12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-oland 12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-acetate esters against Hela cell line. The activity assay wascarried out using MTT method. The results indicated that IC50 value of 12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-3-heptadecanoate; 12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-acetate and 12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-ol were 111.0, 151.1 and 944.4 μg/ml, respectively. The compound of 12,13-dihydro-α-amyrin-20,30-en-3-heptadecanoate had the lowest IC50 value, suggesting it has a potency to be synthesized as ananticancer drug.