In Vitro Anticancer Activity of Methanolic Extract of Justicia adhatoda Leaves with Special Emphasis on Human Breast Cancer Cell Line

Preparation, characterization, and evaluation of ketoconazole-loaded pineapple cellulose green nanofiber gel

The present study involves the isolation of cellulose nanofibers from pineapple crown waste by a combined alkali-acid treatment method. The extracted pineapple nanofibers were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. The extracted pineapple nanofibers were then incorporated in Carbopol 934P containing ketoconazole to prepare a ketoconazole-loaded pineapple nanofibrous gel. The prepared gel formulation was evaluated for viscosity, spreadability, extrudibility, pH, drug content, and texture profile analysis. The anticipated gel formulation was further evaluated by in vitro drug release (98.57 ± 0.58 %), ex vivo drug permeation, cytotoxicity, and histopathological studies. The permeation of the drug through skin determined by the ex-vivo diffusion study was found to be 38.27 % with a flux rate of 4.06 ± 0.26 μg/cm2/h. Further, the cytotoxicity study of pineapple nanofiber and ketoconazole-loaded nanofiber gel displayed no cytotoxic on healthy vero cells in the concentration range from 10 to 80 μg/ml. The histopathological analysis exhibited no signs of distress and inflammation. In conclusion, ketoconazole-loaded pineapple nanofiber gel could be considered as a promising delivery system for topical applications.

3,5-Disubstituted-thiazolidine-2,4-dione hybrids as antidiabetic agents: Design, synthesis, in-vitro and In vivo evaluation

Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing metabolic disorders, nearly doubling the number of patients each year. There are different treatment approaches available for the management of diabetes, which lacks due to their side effects. The inhibition of enzymes involved in the metabolism of complex polysaccharides to monosaccharides has proven beneficial in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Two enzymes, α-amylase and α-glucosidase, have emerged as potential drug targets and are widely explored for drug development against type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this context, thiazolidine-2,4-diones (TZDs) have emerged as potential drug candidates for developing newer molecules against α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Nineteen TZD-hybrids were synthesized and evaluated in vitro α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The compounds 7i, 7k, and 7p have emerged as the best dual inhibitors with IC50 of 10.33 ± 0.11-20.94 ± 0.76 μM and 10.19 ± 0.25-24.07 ± 1.56 μM against α-glucosidase and α-amylase, respectively. The derivatives had good anti-oxidant activity, displaying IC50 = 14.95 ± 0.65-23.27 ± 0.99 μM. The compounds 7k and 7p showed the best inhibition of reactive oxygen species in the PNAC-1 cells. The molecules exhibit good binding within the active site of α-amylase (PDB id: 1B2Y) and α-glucosidase (PDB id: 3W37), displaying binding energies of -7.5 to -10.7 kcal/mol and -7.4 to -10.3 kcal/mol, respectively. Further, the compounds were nontoxic (LD50 = 500-1311 mg/kg) and possessed good GI absorption. The compounds 7i, 7k, and 7p were evaluated in vivo antidiabetic activity in an STZ-induced diabetic model in Wistar rats. The compound 7p emerged as the best compound in the in vivo studies; however, the activity was lesser than that of the standard drug pioglitazone.

Hecogenin a Plant Derived Small Molecule as an Antagonist to BACE-1: A Potential Target for Neurodegenerative Disorders

The field of drug discovery has recognized the significance of computer-aided drug design. Recent advancements in structure identification and characterization, bio-computational science and molecular biology have significantly contributed to the development of novel treatments for various diseases. Alzheimer's disease is prevalent in over 50 million affected people, with the pathological condition of amyloidal plaque formation by the beta-amyloidal peptide that results in lesions of the patient's brain, thus making the target prediction and treatment a hurdle. In this study, we evaluated the potential of 54 bioactive compounds from Justicia adhatoda L. and Sida cordifolia L. identified through LC-MS/MS against the β-site amyloid precursor cleaving enzyme (beta-secretase) that results in the formation of amyloidal plaques. To study the drug-likeness of the phytocompounds, Lipinski's rule of five for ADME profiling and toxicity prediction was performed. Molecular docking was performed using auto-dock tool of PyRx software; molecular dynamic simulations were performed using the Schrodinger suite. Molecular docking against BACE-1 protein revealed that hecogenin, identified from S. cordifolia has a broad spectrum of pharmacological applications and a binding affinity score of -11.3 kcal/Mol. The Hecogenin-BACE-1 protein complex was found to be stable after 30 ns of MD simulation, resulting in its substantial stability. Further studies focusing on the in vivo neuroprotective activity of hecogenin against the disease will pave the way for efficient drug discovery from natural sources in a precise manner.