Pharmacological evaluation and phytochemical profiling of butanol extract of L. edodes with in- silico virtual screening

L. edodes (L. edodes) is the most consumed mushroom in the world and has been well known for its therapeutic potential as an edible and medicinal candidate, it contains dietary fibers, vitamins, proteins, minerals, and carbohydrates. In the current study butanolic extract of mushroom was used to form semisolid butanol extract. The current study aimed to explore biometabolites that might have biological activities in n-butanol extract of L. edodes using FT-IR and GC-MS and LC-MS. The synergistic properties of bioactive compounds were futher assessed by performing different biological assays such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic. FTIR spectra showed different functional groups including amide N-H group, Alkane (C-H stretching), and (C = C stretching) groups at different spectrum peaks in the range of 500 cm-1 to 5000 cm-1 respectively. GC-MS profiling of n-butanol extract depicted 34 potent biomolecules among those dimethyl; Morphine, 2TMS derivative; Benzoic acid, methyl ester 1-(2-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)-2-propanol were spotted at highest range. Results indicate that L. edodes n-butanol extract showed a maximum anti-inflammatory potential 91.4% at 300 mg/mL. Antioxidant activity was observed by measuring free radical scavenging activity which is 64.6% at optimized concentration along with good antidiabetic activity. In-silico study executed the biopotential of active ingredient morphine which proved the best docking score (- 7.0 kJ/mol) against aldose reductase. The in-silico drug design analysis was performed on biometabolites detected through GC-MS that might be a potential target for sulfatase-2 to treat ruminated arthritis. Morphine binds more strongly (- 7.9 kJ/mol) than other bioactive constituents indicated. QSAR and ADMET analysis shown that morphine is a good candidates against ruminated arthritis. The current study showed that L. edodes might be used as potent drug molecules to cure multiple ailments. As mushrooms have high bioactivity, they can be used against different diseases and to develop antibacterial drugs based on the current situation in the world in which drug resistance is going to increase due to misuse of antibiotics so new and noval biological active compounds are needed to overcome the situation.

Ethiopian Plasmodium vivax hypnozoites formation dynamics and their susceptibility to reference antimalarial drugs

One of the key obstacles to malaria elimination is largely attributed to Plasmodium vivax's ability to form resilient hypnozoites in the host liver that cause relapsing infections. As a result, interruption of P. vivax transmission is difficult. P. vivax transmission occurs in Duffy-positive individuals and have been mainly thought to be absent in Africa. However, increasing studies using molecular tools detected P. vivax among Duffy-negative individuals in various African countries. Studies on the African P. vivax has been severely limited because most of malaria control program focus mainly on falciparum malaria. In addition, there is a scarcity of laboratory infrastructures to overcome the biological obstacles posed by P. vivax. Herein, we established field transmission of Ethiopian P. vivax for routine sporozoite supply followed by liver stage infection in Mali. Furthermore, we evaluated local P. vivax hypnozoites and schizonts susceptibilities to reference antimalarial drugs. The study enabled the assessment of local African P. vivax hypnozoite production dynamics. Our data displayed the ability of the African P. vivax to produce hypnozoite forms ex-vivo at different rates per field isolate. We report that while tafenoquine (1µM) potently inhibited both hypnozoites and schizont forms; atovaquone (0.25µM) and the phosphatidylinositol-4-OH kinase (PI4K)-specific inhibitor KDU691 (0.5µM) showed no activity against hypnozoites forms. Unlike hypnozoites forms, P. vivax schizont stages were fully susceptible to both atovaquone (0.25µM) and the (PI4K)-specific inhibitor KDU691 (0.5µM). Together, the data revealed the importance of the local platform for further biological investigation and implementation of drug discovery program on the African P. vivax clinical isolates.

Anti-obesity potential of bioactive guided fractions of Annona squamosa linn. leaves extract: a combination of in-vitro, in-vivo and in-silico studies along with profiling of lead compounds by HPTLC MS-MSn method

The antiobesity potential of bioactive fractions derived from Annona squamosa was approached using a combination of in vitro, in silico and in-vivo studies. The study was analyzed to validate and select the potent bioactive fractions of A. squamosa leaves extract through in vitro and in vivo activities targeting obesity. The phytochemical properties of the bioactive fractions were investigated utilizing total flavonoid, total phenolic and total steroidal content. Further, in vitro antioxidant assays such as nitric oxide (NO2), DPPH, ABTS, and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging assays were performed whereas pancreatic lipase, Alpha-amylase and Alpha glucosidase assays were carried out for enzyme inhibition activities. The overall study revealed that fractions F2 and F3 had shown significant in vitro activities targeting obesity. The selected potent fractions (F2 and F3) were orally bio-screened for efficacy in MSG-HFD-induced obese mice at 80 mg/kg/bw. The invivo study confirmed that fractions 2 and 3 with a dose of 80 mg/kg/bw had a significant potency compared to obese control and standard for various parameters. Body weight and lipid metrics were significantly reduced, and histological examinations revealed considerable beneficial alterations in the organs of the animals. Further HPTLC MS-MSn was used to characterize and identify the major compounds in the potent bioactive fractions, which confirmed the presence of seven major compounds: Ascorbic acid, Gallic acid, Quercetin, β-sitosterol, Stigmasterol, Caffeine and Epigallocatechin gallate. An in silico model was then employed to determine the best binding activity of the identified compound towards the specific receptors targeting obesity, confirming the most effective docking score towards stigmasterol and sitosterol. The in vitro and in vivo studies of derived bioactive fractions of A. squamosa leaves extract revealed a possible therapeutic approach towards anti-obesity activity for the first time.

Docking predictions based Plasmodium falciparum phosphoethanolamine methyl transferase inhibitor identification and in-vitro antimalarial activity analysis

The increased multidrug resistance among antimalarial drugs produces the urgency of potent anti malarial to combat resistant malaria and the malaria burden worldwide. The protein which may prevent the growth or transmission of malaria parasite may be the great target for rational drug designing. Plasmodium falciparum phosphoethanolamine methyltransferase (Pfpmt) absent in human catalyzes triple methylation of ethanolamine into phosphocholine for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis from serine decarboxylation phosphoethanolamine methyltransferase pathway for the membrane development at asexual as well as sexual stages of parasite. The Plasmodium requires production of membrane rapidly for growth and multiplication. Hence, the phosphoethanolamine methyltransferase of Plasmodium falciparum was selected as drug target for rational drug designing. Using Discovery studio 3.5 software the library of zinc compounds was screened against target and analyzed. The compounds with better druglike properties and docking affinity and binding interaction for target protein were procured for in vitro analysis against Plasmodium falciparum culture (IC₅₀). Compounds ZINC02103914 and ZINC12882412 were found to have good druglike properties and affinity for Pfpmt also inhibited P. falciparum growth at very low µM IC₅₀ concentration 3.0 µM and 2.1 µM respectively also found nontoxic in vitro against HEK-293 cells. Simulation study of best inhibitor revealed the specificity for the target protein. Hence, the compounds possessed the immense probability of being inhibitors of Pfpmt and may be optimized as antimalarial agent for combinational therapy to overcome the multidrug resistance and may also be used as template for optimization and rational drug designing.

Ziziphus Jujube: a review study of its anticancer effects in various tumor models invitro and invivo

The growing rate of cancer incidences and inefficiency of current therapies have made scientists to find novel agents such as medicinal plants. Ziziphus jujube is one of these plants whose pharmaceutical effects have been studied for a long time. Recent investigations have proved that bioactive compounds of Ziziphus jujube including triterpenic acids, flavonoids, cerebrosides, phenolic acids, α tocopherol, β carotene, and polysaccharides have anti-proliferative effects on several cancerous cell lines and animals. The present study aimed to cover all previous invitro and invivo findings and some of molecular mechanisms of its anticancer property.