Aqueous extract of Pedalium murex D. Royen ex L. leafy stem protects against lead induced testicular toxicity in Wistar rats

Objectives Lead exposure seriously impairs male reproductive function. The protective capacity of Pedalium murex leafy stem and fruit aqueous extracts against lead testicular toxicity is evaluated to find herbals drugs able to improve semen quality. Methods Phytochemical screening were performed according to classical methods. Twenty four male rats were divided into four groups of six rats each and received the following treatments via oral route: distilled water; 0.2% lead acetate in drinking water; 0.2% lead acetate in drinking water with 400 mg/kg P. murex aqueous leafy stem extract; 0.2% leaded water with 400 mg/kg P. murex aqueous fruit extract. Treatments were administered for 70 days. Body and reproductive organs weights, sperm parameters and testicular histological sections of each group were examined. Results Flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, alkaloids, and lignans were found in both extracts. Lead intoxication reduced sperm motility and count but increased the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperms. The germinal epithelium of seminiferous tubules histoarchitecture was disorganized by lead. The leafy stem extract was effective in reducing lead induced testicular disruption whereas fruit has not shown any beneficial effect. Conclusions P. murex leafy stem aqueous extract is effective against semen alterations caused by lead.

Organic Amendments Effects on Nutrient Uptake, Secondary Metabolites, and Antioxidant Properties of Melastoma malabathricum L.

Amelioration of soil acidity can boost soil fertility, hence increasing nutrient uptake, secondary metabolite, and its antioxidant potential. In the present study, the effectiveness of food waste compost and palm kernel biochar was assessed as soil amendments for Melastoma malabathricum L. grown in acidic soil conditions. A six-month greenhouse study was conducted using completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatment groups, including control plants (T1), plants amended with palm kernel biochar (T2), and plants amended with food waste compost (T3). Data analysis revealed that Melastoma malabathricum L. amended with T3 recorded the highest total chlorophyll content (433.678 ± 13.224 µg g−1 DW), followed by T2 and T1. The increase in chlorophyll content was contributed by the increase in soil pH. This was shown by the positive significant correlations between soil pH and chlorophyll a (r2 = 0.96; p ≤ 0.01) and chlorophyll b (r2 = 0.778; p ≤ 0.01). In addition, the same treatment exhibited the highest total anthocyanin content (leaves; 36.1 × 10−2 ± 0.034 mg/g DW and root extract; 8.9 × 10−2 ± 0.020 mg/g DW), total phenolic content (stem extract; 4930.956 ± 16.025 mg GAE/g DE), and total flavonoid content (stem extract; 209.984 ± 0.572 mg QE/g DE). Moreover, this study also found that the highest antioxidant potential against 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-Azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radicals was exhibited by samples supplemented with food waste compost (T3), followed by palm kernel biochar (T2). This indicates that the soil amendments have the capacity to enhance the secondary metabolites that protect plants, therefore ameliorating Melastoma malabathricum L.’s response towards acidic stress, and resulting in better antioxidant properties. Furthermore, this study also recorded better nutrient uptake in T3. With the significantly higher levels of macronutrient in the soil, the food waste compost could enhance the nutrient properties, secondary metabolites, and antioxidant capacity of Melastoma malabathricum L. grown in acidic soil conditions.

Phytochemical analysis and thrombolytic profiling of Costus afer stem fractions

Background The most commonly occurring mechanism driving ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, and myocardial infarction is thrombosis. It is normally characterized by platelet activation and aggregation. Thrombolytics have been used in the treatment of several forms of thrombosis, but their adverse effects have limited their usefulness. Thus, there is a need to develop alternatives from medicinal plants known to possess antithrombotic activity such as Costus afer. Results The phytochemical evaluations indicated the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, tannins, terpenoids, and saponins. The antithrombotic profiling showed that streptokinase had the highest percentage clot lysis, followed by ethylacetate fraction of the extract, which was higher than aspirin and other fractions of the extract. Conclusion The present findings show that C. afer stem extract and various fractions possess antithrombotic activities. However, further studies are needed to characterize the antithrombotic bioactive compounds present in the different fractions that are responsible for the activities.

Green Synthesis, Characterization and Antibacterial Activity of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Using Annona muricata Stem Extract

Nanotechnology is a rising field of science and technology that deals with the particles having size in the range of 1 to 100 nm. Copper oxide nanoparticles has many properties like antifungal activity, antibacterial activity, optical properties, conductive properties, etc. Due to its demand of diversified use, copper oxide nanoparticles were fabricated using ecofriendly and non-toxic Annona muricata stem extract. The extract with copper sulphate pentahydrate showed gradual change in the colour of the extract from brown to green which indicates the CuO nanoparticles synthesis. The fabrication is followed by characterization of CuO nanoparticles using UV-vis spectroscope, FTIR, XRD and SEM. The characterization showed roughly spherical shaped nanoparticles in the range of 100nm with high crystalline monoclinic phase. FTIR absorption spectra conclude that the compounds attached with copper oxide nanoparticles could be polyphenols with aromatic ring. The CuO nanoparticles exhibited antibacterial activity; it showed the maximum activity against E.coli (18 mm). Keywords: Annona muricata, copper sulphate pentahydrate, FTIR, nanomaterials, SEM, XRD.

The Anticancer Activity of Phytoconstituents of the Stem of Bouea macrophylla

Gandaria (Bouea macrophylla Griff) is a typical Asian plant that is commonly found in In-donesia with various secondary metabolite compounds such as phenolic, flavonoid and ter-penoid. The purpose of this study was to isolate secondary metabolites from the stem extract of B. macrophylla and determine their activity against cancer cells MCF-7, A549, MDA-MB 231 and HCC-1954. The isolation of the compounds was conducted using various chromatographic techniques, the determination of the chemical structure of the isolates was performed using physicochemical methods including mass spectrometer and nuclear magnetic resonance, the determination of anticancer activity was carried out using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) i.e. MCF-7 and A549 cell lines; and dimetiltiazol-2-il) -2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) for MDA-MB 231 and HCC-1954 cell lines. Four compounds namely stigmasterol (1), fustin (2), garbanzol (3) and methyl galat (4) were successfully isolated from the stem extract of B. macrophylla, which was obtained from Serang Regency, Indonesia. These compounds were then tested their anticancer activity against the cancer cells of Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7), human alveolar epithelial cells (A549), human breast cancer cell line-1954 (HCC-1954) and M.D. Anderson-Metastatic Breast-231 (MDA-MB-231). The results of anticancer test indicated that based on the IC50 values for all compounds tested, the compounds 2 and 4 were more active on HCC-1954 cell with IC50 values of 134.35 ± 44.62 and 153.69 ± 12.54 µg/mL, respectively, while the compound 3 was found to be the most active against MDA-MB-231 cell line with IC50 value of 233.41 ± 91.57 µg/mL

Allelopathy and allelochemical quantitative analysis in Pinto peanut (Arachis pintoi)

Pinto peanut (Arachis pintoi) considered as a perennial legume animal fed plant with good soil fertility improvement was uesed for its allelopathy that had been reported on the germination of Ageratum conyzoides L, Comnyza canadensis L. Cronq., Bidens pilosa L., Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum annum. through the solutions extracted from different parts of pinto peanut on mustard greens (Brassica juncea), barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and junglerice (Echinochloa colonum). Consideration of the growth of hypocotyls and rootlets at 48 hours after incubation with pinto peanut extracts, results showed that 1.0 g/ml of the methanolic pinto peanut stem extract greatly inhibited 100% mustard greens growth, 77.7% and 93.5% the hypocotyls and rootlets growth of barnyardgrass, 57.2% and 92.7% the hypocotyls and rootlets growth of junglerice, respectively. The allelopathic activity after liquid-liquid extraction of the ethyl acetate phase greater than the aqueous phase. Allelopathic extract loading from C18 chromatographic column was purified by HPLC to obtain 6 phenolic compounds with the contents in 1 g fresh pinto peanut weight were 0.214 μg (cinamic acid), 0.8344 μg (caffeic acid), 7.7676 μg (coumaric acid), 2.2354 μg (ferullic acid), 0.045 μg (2-4 dimehydroxy benzoic) and 32.1162 μg (salicylic acid). These results should be accordingly considered in the production of biological herbicides.

Three Antimitotic Compounds Found in Banana Pseudo-Stem By Using Earthworms.

To identify antimitotic compounds from abundant and inexpensive plant resources, banana pseudo-stem was (BPS) chosen. Onion root tip assay and earthworm regeneration assay were carried out to test theantimitotic potential of aqueous extract of BPS.Earthworm (Eudrilus eugeniae) regeneration assay exploits the regeneration ability of amputated earthworms that retain the clitellum region. Aqueous extract of BPS decreased the mitotic index in Allium cepa root tips. Besides, thisaqueous extract of BPS inhibited the regeneration of blastema from amputated earthworms as well. Validation of this extract with MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazolyl-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay using MCF-7 breast cancer cell linefurther supported the presence of antimitotic compounds. Aqueous BPS extract was further fractionated with ethyl acetateand it was found to inhibit the regeneration of new tissues from amputated earthworms. Liquid Chromatography and Mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis was performed with aqueousBPS extract to predict the lead compounds.Prediction analysis with mass values revealed the presence of three different compounds viz. α-tocotrienol, 1,2,4-nonadecanetriol and 3',4',7-trihydroxyisoflavone, which were already reported to inhibit the cell division. All our results strongly supported that banana pseudo-stem extract possesses antimitotic compounds. This is the first report of identification of putative antimitotic compounds from aqueous extract of Musa paradisiaca var. Robusta by using earthworms.

Effects of Allium sativum Stem Extract on Growth and Migration in Melanoma Cells through Inhibition of VEGF, MMP-2, and MMP-9 Genes Expression

The present study investigated the effects of Allium sativum stem extract (ASE) on B16-F0 cell growth and metastasis. Evaluation of the effects of ASE on B16-F0 cells’ viability and migration showed that 0.5 mg/mL ASE inhibited B16-F0 cells’ growth by 30.2% and migration by 38.5%, which indicates that the ASE has anticancer and antimetastatic effects on B16-F0 cells. To study the anticancer and antimetastatic mechanism, mRNA levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2), and matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) expressions were evaluated with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and 0.25 and 0.5 mg/mL ASE was found to exert significant inhibition on mRNA expressions of VEGF, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in B16-F0 cells. Thus, ASE reduce extracellular matrix degradation through inhibitions of expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9, and also showed an angiogenesis inhibitory effect through reduction of VEGF expression. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that among various polyphenols, gallic acid (2.1 mg/g) was a major compound of ASE. Overall, our results demonstrated that ASE inhibited the growth and migration of B16-F0 cells through downregulation of the VEGF, MMP-2, and MMP-9 genes expression, which indicates ASE could be applied for the prevention and treatment of melanoma.