METHODS: Gill, muscle and liver tissues of M. albus (n = 50) sampled during the ploughing, seedling, growing and harvesting phases of rice growing were collected. The concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and cadmium (Cd) in these tissues were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. MT from each sample was isolated and purified, and subsequently quantitated using UV spectrophotometry. Associations between metal and MT concentrations, season and tissue type were evaluated using Pearson correlation and ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey HSD analysis.
RESULTS: Zn was present in higher quantities in gill and liver tissues, while Cu levels were elevated solely in liver. Patterns of non-essential metal accumulation were varied: Cd was detected in low concentrations in all tissues, while Pb and Ni were abundant in gill tissues across all seasons. MT concentration in liver tissue was consistently higher than that found in muscle or gill tissue, except during the growing phase. Moreover, significant correlations (P
METHODS: Asiaticoside-rich fraction was prepared from C. asiatica aerial part and then incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene glycol (PVA/PEG) hydrogel. The hydrogel was subjected to wound healing investigation using the in vivo incision model.
RESULTS: The results obtained demonstrated that: i) the hydrogel formulation did not cause any signs of irritation on the rabbits' skin and; ii) enhanced wound healing 15% faster than the commercial cream and > 40% faster than the untreated wounds. The skin healing process was seen in all wounds marked by formation of a thick epithelial layer, keratin, and moderate formation of granulation tissues, fibroblasts and collagen with no fibrinoid necrosis detected.
CONCLUSION: The asiaticoside-rich hydrogel developed using the freeze-thaw method was effective in accelerating wound healing in rabbits.
METHOD: Bacterial cell viability was performed by using microplate AlamarBlue assay. Atomic force microscopy was used to determine morphological changes in the surface of bacterial cells. Cytotoxicity and phytotoxicity were determined by brine shrimp lethality and Lemna minor bioassay. Caco-2 (colorectal adenocarcinoma) cell line was used for the evaluation of the anticancer effects.
RESULT: Among the fractions tested, ethyl acetate (EA) fraction was found to be active with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 750 μg/mL against E. faecalis, but other fractions were found to be insensitive to bacterial growth. Microscopically, the EA fraction-treated bacteria showed highly damaged cells with their cytoplasmic content scattered all over. The LC50 value of the EA fraction against brine shrimp was more than 1000 μg/mL showing the nontoxic nature of this fraction. Chloroform (CH), EA, and methanol (MOH) fractions of C. excavata were highly herbicidal at the concentration of 1000 μg/mL. EA inhibited Caco-2 cell line with an IC50 of 20 μg/mL.
CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to reveal anti-E. faecalis property of EA fraction of C. excavata leaves, natural herbicidal, and anticancer agents thus highlight the potential compound present in its leaf which needs to be isolated and tested against multidrug-resistant E. faecalis.
OBJECTIVE: This study elucidates the hepatoprotective activity of chloroform extract of B. purpurea leaves (CEBP) in paracetamol (PCM)-induced liver injury (PILI) rats.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6) were pre-treated once daily (p.o.) with CEBP (50-500 mg/kg) for seven consecutive days before being administered (p.o.) a hepatotoxic agent, 3 g/kg PCM. Liver enzyme levels were determined from the collected blood, while the collected liver was used to determine the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes and for histopathological examination. CEBP was also subjected to radical scavenging assays and phytochemical analysis.
RESULTS: CEBP significantly (p
PURPOSE: The present investigation was undertaken to characterize the interaction between 6-shogaol and the main in vivo transporter, human serum albumin (HSA).
METHODS: Various binding characteristics of 6-shogaol-HSA interaction were studied using fluorescence spectroscopy. Thermal stability of 6-shogaol-HSA system was determined by circular dichroism (CD) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques. Identification of the 6-shogaol binding site on HSA was made by competitive drug displacement and molecular docking experiments.
RESULTS: Fluorescence quench titration results revealed the association constant, Ka of 6-shogaol-HSA interaction as 6.29 ± 0.33 × 10(4) M(-1) at 25 ºC. Values of the enthalpy change (-11.76 kJ mol(-1)) and the entropy change (52.52 J mol(-1) K(-1)), obtained for the binding reaction suggested involvement of hydrophobic and van der Waals forces along with hydrogen bonds in the complex formation. Higher thermal stability of HSA was noticed in the presence of 6-shogaol, as revealed by DSC and thermal denaturation profiles. Competitive ligand displacement experiments along with molecular docking results suggested the binding preference of 6-shogaol for Sudlow's site I of HSA.
CONCLUSION: All these results suggest that 6-shogaol binds to Sudlow's site I of HSA through moderate binding affinity and involves hydrophobic and van der Waals forces along with hydrogen bonds.