Accidental poisoning in children is a preventable condition. It is a problem mainly in children aged 1 to 4 years. This is a descriptive study of accidental poisoning in children below 12 years old admitted to Hospital Seremban from October 15, 1994 to October 14, 1995. A major cause of household accidental poisoning was kerosene ingestion (25%) followed by ingestion of medications (22%), liniment methyl salicylate (12 %), mothballs (12%) and hypochlorinate solution (9%). There was a higher incidence of poisoning in males (50.8%), among Indians (41.2%) and in children from lower social classes (67%). A greater proportion of the accident occurred when the child was taken care by the parents (53 %) and in the house (80%). Most of the poison was ingested from its original package (81%). The immediate action taken was sending the child to the hospital (75%) without carrying out other actions such as washing the child’s mouth. The delay of sending the child to hospital was due to husband not at home (57%). Most of the cases (72.1 %) were discharged well within 1-2 days following admission.
This manuscript describes the first detailed chemical investigation of endemic species Iris adriatica, including isolation and structure elucidation. Chemical analyses of the rhizome CH2Cl2/MeOH (2:1) extract revealed fourteen secondary metabolites, mainly isoflavonoids. Among isoflavonoids, two groups have been found: nigricin-type and tectorigenin-type. Dominant group of the isolated compounds has been nigricin-type isoflavones: nigricin, nigricin-4'-(1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside) and nigricin-4'-(1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl (1-6)-β-D-glucopyranoside) with 2.5, 10 and 1% of the total extract, respectively. Irisxanthone - xanthone C-glucoside, β-sitosterol, benzophenone and one of its derivatives have also been found. Nigricin-type isoflavonoids and irisxanthone can be considered as possible chemotaxonomic markers for I. adriatica. 5,3',5'-Trimethoxy-6,7-methylenedioxyisoflavone-4'-(1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside) and benzophenone have been isolated from Iris species for the first time.
This study was designed to examine the essential oils compositions of Litsea glauca Siebold and Litsea fulva Fern.-Vill. growing in Malaysia. The essential oils were achieved by hydrodistillation and fully characterized by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The study identified 17 and 19 components from the leaf oils from L. glauca (80.7%) and L. fulva (81.5%), respectively. The major components of L. glauca oil were β-selinene (30.8%), β-calacorene (11.3%), tridecanal (7.6%), isophytol (4.8%) and β-eudesmol (4.5%); whereas in L. fulva oil gave β-caryophyllene (27.8%), caryophyllene oxide (12.8%), α-cadinol (6.3%), (E)-nerolidol (5.7%), β-selinene (5.5%) and tridecanal (5.0%). Anticholinesterase activity was evaluated using Ellman method. The essential oils showed moderate inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase assays. Our findings demonstrate that the essential oil could be very useful for the characterization, pharmaceutical, and therapeutic applications of the essential oil from the genus Litsea.
This study was designed to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oil of Syzygium variolosum (King) Chantar. & J.Parn. and their cytotoxicity, acetylcholinesterase, antityrosinase, and anti-inflammatory activities. In total, 32 chemical components were identified in the essential oil, which made up 98.9%. The essential oil is mainly composed of β-elemene (20.2%), bicyclogermacrene (13.5%), viridiflorol (11.1%), globulol (8.6%), and selin-11-en-4α-ol (5.3%). Acetylcholinesterase, antityrosinase, and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated with the Ellman method, mushroom tyrosinase, and lipoxygenase enzymes, respectively, while cytotoxicity was assessed using an MTT assay. The results showed that essential oil gave significant percentage inhibition (I%: acetylcholinesterase 35.2%, antityrosinase 42.5%, lipoxygenase 48.6%). Furthermore, the essential oil exhibited cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines, HepG2, MCF7, and A549, with IC50 values ranging from 90.2 to 95.2 μg/mL. The current study highlights the potential of the use of essential oils as an alternative to the development of pharmaceutical antichemopreventives or cosmetics.
Phytochemical investigation of the leaves of Knema intermedia has led to the isolation of a new furofuran lignan, intermedianin 1 together with five known lignans, α-cubebin 2, β-cubebin 3, bicubebin A 4, bicubebin B 5, and bicubebin C 6. The characterisation and structural elucidation of the isolated compounds were established by extensive spectroscopic data analysis and comparison with literature data. The antifungal activity was tested using the broth microdilution assay, whereas the microbial biofilms were determined using a semi-quantitative static biofilm. Compound 1 exhibited activity against C. albicans, C. lusitanae, and C. auris, (each with MIC/MFC value 250 µg/mL) and increased the biofilm of C. auris (64.07 ± 3.83%) and Candida lusitanae (62.90 ± 3.41%) when treated with 500 µg/mL.
The chemical composition of the essential oil of Lindera subumbelliflora (Lauraceae) was investigated for the first time. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and fully characterised by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antifungal activity of L. subumbelliflora essential oil was tested against Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans using the broth microdilution assay, whereas the microbial biofilms were determined using a semi-quantitative static biofilm. A total of 28 components (99.6%) were successfully identified, which were characterised by β-eudesmol (14.6%), cis-α-bergamotene (11.0%), α-copaene (8.5%), dodecen-1-ol (8.5%), and (E)-nerolidol (8.3%). The essential oil exhibited activity against Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans with MIC values of 250 and 500 µg/mL, respectively. The essential oil increased the biofilm of Candida albicans by 38.25%, however, decreased the biofilm of Streptococcus mutans by 47.89% when treated with 500 µg/mL. Thus, the essential oil has a promising application in dentistry via inhibition of the growth of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans. However, the antibiofilm activity of the essential oil is only applicable for cariogenic Streptococcus mutans.
The chemical composition, antifungal, antibiofilm, and molecular docking studies of the essential oil obtained from Lindera caesia were investigated. A total of thirty-nine components (96.7%) were identified using gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major components included terpinen-4-ol (26.3%), neo-intermedeol (23.2%), eudesma-4,11-dien-3-one (10.4%), and o-cymene (5.3%). The antifungal activity was tested against Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans using the broth microdilution assay, whereas the microbial biofilms were determined using a semi-quantitative static biofilm. The essential oil exhibited activity against C. albicans (MIC 125 µg/mL) and S. mutans (MIC 250 µg/mL), and increased the biofilm of C. albicans by 31.25% when treated with 500 µg/mL. The molecular docking study shows neo-intermedeol, eudesma-4,11-dien-3-one, α-selinene, and β-selinene as the good candidate to target Erg11 with a binding energy of -7.3 kcal/mol. These findings demonstrated that the essential oil may have potential in dental application for caries prevention.
Piperaceae family includes numerous species used for food, spices, and medicinal purposes. In this study, the chemical composition and bioactivities (antioxidant, anticholinesterase, and anti-inflammatory activities) of the essential oil from Piper rostratum Roxb. were investigated. The essential oil was extracted via hydrodistillation and thoroughly analysed using gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 20 chemical components were identified, accounting for 94.2% of the total oil. The major components were γ-muurolene (14.1%), δ-cadinene (13.2%), allylpyrocatechol diacetate (11.5%), chavicol (8.2%), α-humulene (7.8%), and hydroxychavicol (6.9%). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH free radical scavenging assay, the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity was measured using the Ellman method, and the anti-inflammatory activity was assessed through lipoxygenase enzyme inhibition. The essential oil demonstrated moderate activity in DPPH free radical scavenging (IC50 = 98.5 µg/mL), acetylcholinesterase inhibition (IC50 = 89.2 µg/mL), and lipoxygenase inhibition (IC50 = 77.2 µg/mL).
Phytochemical investigation on the bark of E. kingiana plant afforded ten compounds, including six polyketides namely kingianin A 1, kingianin B 2, kingianin E 3, kingianin F 4, kingianin K 5 and kingianin L 6, three endiandric acids; kingianic acid A 7, tsangibeilin B 8 and endiandric acid M 9, and one sesquiterpene; daibuoxide 10. All compounds were separated as racemic mixture by recycling high-performance liquid chromatography (RHPLC), except for daibuoxide. Their structures were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic and comparative literature data analysis. This is the first report on the presence of the sesquiterpene; daibuoxide in Endiandra genus. In vitro enzymatic bio-evaluation of the isolated compounds against α-amylase and α-glucosidase showed that 4 demonstrated the best α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 181.54 ± 6.27 µg/mL and 237.87 ± 0.07 µg/mL, respectively. In addition, molecular docking analysis confirmed the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities demonstrated by 4.