Phyto-pharmacological Potential of Aegle marmelos (L.) for Neurological Disorders: Progress and Prospects

BACKGROUND

Aegle marmelos, an Indian plant, has been extensively utilized by the people of the Indian subcontinent over about 5000 years. The leaves, bark, roots, and fruits, including seeds, are widely used to cure a variety of diseases in the Indian traditional system of medicine, Ayurveda, along with numerous folk medicines. By revealing the existence of significant bioactive chemicals, modern research has effectively substantiated the therapeutic effects of bael.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to review the literature regarding A. marmelos geographical distribution, morphology, therapeutic benefits, and phytochemicals found in the bael leaves, fruits, and other parts of the plant that offer a wide range of pharmacological applications in neurological disorders.

METHODOLOGY

A thorough literature search was conducted using five computerized databases, such as PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Elsevier, and Wiley Online Library (WOL), by using standard keywords "A. marmelos," "Geographical distribution," "Morphological description," "Ethnobotanical Uses," "Phytoconstituents" and "Neuroprotective activities" for review papers published between 1975 and 2023. A small number of earlier review articles focused on phyto-pharmacological potential of Aegle marmelos (L.) for neurological disorders.

RESULTS

According to some research, Aegle marmelos extracts potentially have neuroprotective benefits. This is due to its capacity to alter cellular mechanisms that cause neuronal damage.

CONCLUSION

Neurodegenerative illnesses usually induce permanent neuronal network loss overall the brain along with the spinal cord (CNS), resulting in chronic functional impairments. The review summarizes the multiple aspects and processes of A. marmelos extract and its components in several models of neurodegenerative diseases such as anxiety, epilepsy, depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and others. MDA, nitrite, TNF-, and IL-6 levels were dramatically elevated, whereas glutathione levels were significantly lowered in the hippocampus of STZ-treated rats. Furthermore, STZ-treated rats showed a substantial drop in catalase activity and an increase in AChE activity, indicating cholinergic hypofunction and neuronal injury. The neuroprotective ability of A. marmelos against STZ-induced oxidative stress and cognitive loss in rats suggests that it has therapeutic relevance in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Identification of Phyllosoma Larvae of the Lobsters Acantharctus and Biarctus (Crustacea: Scyllaridae) from the SW Indian Ocean

The accurate assignment of cryptic larvae to species-level is a key aspect of marine ecological research and can be achieved through integrated molecular and morphological studies. A combination of two mitochondrial markers (COI and 16S) and a detailed morphological analysis was used to identify phyllosoma larvae of slipper lobster (Scyllaridae) species collected during a survey in the SW Indian Ocean. Two morphotypes were tentatively assigned to Acantharctus ornatus and Biarctus pumilus, both genera for which the larval morphology was unknown. Morphological revision of an adult specimen used to generate the putative A. ornatus sequences in GenBank revealed that it was misidentified and corresponds to B. dubius. The final phyllosoma stage of B. pumilus and subfinal and final stages of A. ornatus were described, clarifying prior misidentifications in the literature. Scyllarid biodiversity in the SW Indian Ocean is underestimated and sampling of deeper water layers is recommended to complete current knowledge of species and larval stages present in the region.

First record of the ectoparasitic nematode Amplimerlinius macrurus (Nematoda: Tylenchida) on the perennial grass Miscanthus × giganteus (Angiosperms: Poaceae) in Ukraine

The growing interest in biomass production of Miscanthus × giganteus (M × g) (Poaceae) on agricultural and marginal lands has prompted researches to identify plant pathogens and diseases affecting this crop which has a great potential for production of biofuels and different bioproducts. A soil survey of nematodes in the M × g rhizosphere and a report on the collection of the plant-parasitic nematode Amplimerlinius macrurus (Belonolaimidae) were accomplished in two locations in Ukraine. It is known that this family of nematodes can reduce the root system and biomass of Poaceae family plants. Both molecular and morphological characters were used to identify the nematodes; measurements and photomicrographs of the species were presented. This is the first documentation and description of A. macrurus in Ukraine to the best of our knowledge. Further investigation is underway to confirm the pathogenicity of this species on perennial grasses plantations.

Large lungworms (Nematoda: Dictyocaulidae) recovered from the European bison may represent a new nematode subspecies

Although the Dictyocaulus lungworm, the agent of dictyocaulosis, is one of parasitological threats to European bison, its systematic position remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the morphological features of the lungworm and the pathological lesions it induces, and to analyse mitochondrial (mt) genetic markers for systematic and molecular epidemiological studies. The morphological findings indicate that Dictyocaulus lungworms of European bison can be distinguished from those of cattle on the basis of differences in buccal capsule wall length, total body length, and spicules length in males, all of which were significantly longer in those of European bison. Nucleotide diversity calculated from pairwise sequence alignments of partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), cytochrome B (cytB) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5) of specimens from cattle and European bison varied from 1.7% for nad5, 2.1% for cytB, to 3.7% for cox1 gene. Thus, among the lungworms of European bison and cattle, nad5 and cytB were the most conserved proteins, whereas cox1 was the most diverse. The mt cytB marker gene may be a suitable candidate for distinguishing between the two genotypes, as nad5 demonstrated the greatest within-genus sequence variation. The lung tissue of infected European bison manifests signs of verminous pneumonia characterized by interstitial pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchiolitis. Therefore, it appears that European bison and cattle are infected with slightly diverged, morphologically-different, genotypes of D. viviparus, indicating they belong to two separate worm populations. We propose, therefore, that the lungworm of European bison should be classified as D. viviparus subsp. bisontis.

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European bison harbour a unique morphotype and genotype of Dictyocaulus viviparus.

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Mt cytB is an efficient genetic marker for studying large lungworms in bovids.

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European bison lungworm can be classified as D. viviparus subsp. bisontis.

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Pathologies induced by a newly described nematode subspecies mirrored those of lungworm in cattle.

Morphological and molecular data for highly pathogenic avian parasite Erschoviorchis anuiensis sp. n. and phylogenetic relationships within the Opisthorchiidae (Trematoda)

Adult worms of Erschoviorchis anuiensis sp. n., parasites of the pancreas and liver of birds, were found by feeding the Muscovy ducks Cairina moschata dom. with freshwater fish (Phoxinus percnurus) from the Amur River basin (Russia). The trematodes obtained differ from the only previously known representative of the genus, E. lintoni by the large size of the ventral sucker, testes and ovary, the shape of the ovary (three-lobed vs irregular oval for E. lintoni), and the degree of vitellarium development (well-developed vitellarium with numerous follicles vs weakly developed vitelline fields for E. lintoni). In addition, genetic data were obtained for E. anuiensis sp. n., including nucleotide sequences of the ITS region and the 28S rRNA gene of nuclear DNA, and the mitochondrial сох1 gene. These data show that the genus Erschoviorchis is a sister group to the representatives of the genera Opisthorchis, Clonorchis, and Metorchis. At the same time, it did not cluster with species of Amphimerus, in which E. lintoni has sometimes been placed. The results of the study indicated that E. anuiensis sp. n., as well as E. lintoni, when it occurs in the pancreas, leads to significant associated pathological changes, manifested in an increase in size, changes of structure and tissue density.

Redescription and molecular characterisation of the fish ectoparasite Anilocra capensis Leach, 1818 (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with description of six new species of Anilocra Leach, 1818 from Africa

Background

Anilocra capensis Leach, 1818 is the only named species of Anilocra Leach, 1818 from South Africa. Anilocra is a large genus (> 40 species) with high levels of diversity reported from the Caribbean and Indo-West Pacific. Considering it is highly unlikely that all records of Anilocra from South Africa can be of a single species, the aim of this study was to better understand the diversity of Anilocra from this region and continent.

Methods

To redescribe A. capensis, the syntypes of A. capensis and specimens recorded as A. capensis from Africa were borrowed from the Natural History Museum, London, UK, and The iZiko South African Museum, Cape Town. Newly collected fresh samples of A. capensis were collected from off Cape Town, South Africa. Morphological redescriptions of the syntypes, and other museum and fresh material were conducted. Fresh samples were used to characterise molecularly A. capensis using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (cox1).

Results

Morphological analyses demonstrated that apart from A. capensis there are six Anilocra species new to science from Africa: Anilocra ianhudsoni n. sp., Anilocra bunkleywilliamsae n. sp., Anilocra paulsikkeli n. sp., Anilocra jovanasi n. sp., Anilocra angeladaviesae n. sp. and Anilocra hadfieldae n. sp. Of the species under study, specimens of A. capensis appear to demonstrate the most individual variation, which occurs in pleonite width, pleotelson form and uropod length. We determined that African species of Anilocra can be primarily differentiated by the proportional shape and size of the full body in dorsal view and pereonites 1, 6 and 7. Other defining morphological traits include proportional shape and size of the pereopods, and the antenna and antennula peduncles. Lastly, the molecular characterisation of A. capensis is provided and the interspecific divergence with Mediterranean species is smaller than that with Caribbean species.

Conclusions

The results of this study provide a detailed redescription of A. capensis and the first molecular barcode for this organism. Six new species of Anilocra from Africa are described, establishing that the diversity of Anilocra in this region is greater than previously known. With this new understanding of species differences, we can accurately conduct detailed molecular and ecological analyses of Anilocra from Africa with certainty of the organism under study.

Organizing phenotypic data-a semantic data model for anatomy

BACKGROUND

Currently, almost all morphological data are published as unstructured free text descriptions. This not only brings about terminological problems regarding semantic transparency, which hampers their re-use by non-experts, but the data cannot be parsed by computers either, which in turn hampers their integration across many fields in the life sciences, including genomics, systems biology, development, medicine, evolution, ecology, and systematics. With an ever-increasing amount of available ontologies and the development of adequate semantic technology, however, a solution to this problem becomes available. Instead of free text descriptions, morphological data can be recorded, stored, and communicated through the Web in the form of highly formalized and structured directed graphs (semantic graphs) that use ontology terms and URIs as terminology.

RESULTS

After introducing an instance-based approach of recording morphological descriptions as semantic graphs (i.e., Semantic Instance Anatomy Knowledge Graphs) and discussing accompanying metadata graphs, I propose a general scheme of how to efficiently organize the resulting graphs in a tuple store framework based on instances of defined named graph ontology classes. The use of such named graph resources allows meaningful fragmentation of the data, which in turn enables subsequent specification of all kinds of data views for managing and accessing morphological data.

CONCLUSIONS

Morphological data that comply with the here proposed semantic data model will not only be computer-parsable but also re-usable by non-experts and could be better integrated with other sources of data in the life sciences. This would allow morphology as a discipline to further participate in eScience and Big Data.

Prevalence, Morphological and Molecular Phylogenetic Analyses of the Rabbit Pinworm, Passalurus ambiguus Rudolphi 1819, in the Domestic Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus

INTRODUCTION

Passalurus ambiguus, a pinworm nematode parasite, infects domestic and wild rabbits, hares, and rodents worldwide.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The current parasitological study was performed during January-December 2016, to investigate helminth parasites infecting the domestic rabbit species Oryctolagus cuniculus at the Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

RESULTS

Of the twenty rabbit specimens examined for gastrointestinal nematodes, 75% were infected with adult oxyurid species, which were morphologically characterized using light and scanning electron microscopy studies. The oxyurid species had a triangular mouth opening surrounded by simple lips with four cephalic papillae and a pair of lateral amphidial pores with three teeth-like structures, an esophagus divided into a cylindrical corpus and globular bulb supported internally with tri-radiate valvular apparatus, and four caudal papillae distributed on the posterior end of males with a single short protruding spicule and ovijector apparatus opening ventrally by the vulva, surrounded by protruded lips in female worms. The species were compared morphometrically with other Passalurus species described previously; light differences were found in different body part sizes. Molecular characterization based on 18 small subunit (SSU) rDNA sequences showed ~ 85% similarity with other Chromadorea species. A preliminary genetic comparison between the 18S rDNA sequences of the isolated parasite and those of other oxyurid species suggested that it belonged to Passalurus ambiguus. The 18S rDNA sequence of the parasite was deposited in GenBank (accession no., MG310151.1).

CONCLUSION

The 18S rDNA gene of P. ambiguus was shown to yield a unique genetic sequence that confirms its taxonomic position within the Oxyuridae family.

Morphological and molecular appraisal of cyclophyllidean cestoda parasite Raillietina saudiae sp. nov. infecting the domestic pigeon Columba livia domestica and its role as a bio-indicator for environmental quality

Pigeons members of the order Columbiformes are a cosmopolitan group of birds with abundant and large populations associated with human activities. Therefore, the current study was conducted to determine the parasitic infections within the domestic pigeon Columba livia domestica. Eighteen pigeons were examined for the presence of gastrointestinal helminths, of which 77.78% were infected with a cyclophyllidean cestoda parasites. The morphology of this parasite based on light and scanning electron microscopic studies, revealed the presence of gravid worms, 2.00-4.52 cm long and 0.23-0.59 mm wide; a scolex had four suckers equipped by 5-6 rows of minute hooks and retractable rostellum with 230-250 hooks; genital pores unilateral; oval testes with 27-37 in number; bilobed ovary; post-ovarian vitelline gland; and 24-28 egg capsules present in uterus with 5-6 spherical eggs in each capsule. Molecular analysis based on sequences of ITS2 and ND1 gene regions was performed to confirm the taxonomy of this parasite based on its morphology. This revealed close identity of up to 92.0% and 72.0% for ITS2 and ND1 gene regions, respectively, with other cestoda species obtained from GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis supported the placement of this cycllophylid species within Davaineidae with close relationships to the previously described species of R. chiltoni, R. dromaius, and R. beveridgei based on the ITS2 gene region and R. coreensis and R. sonini based on the ND1 gene regions. Heavy metals accumulation in the recovered parasite and its host showed significantly higher concentrations in the parasite compared to its host tissues. Generally, concentrations of metals exceeded the permissible limits recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Therefore, pigeon cestodes can be regarded as useful bio-indicators when evaluating the environmental pollution of terrestrial ecosystems by heavy metals.

Contour analysis for interpretable leaf shape category discovery

BACKGROUND

The categorical description of leaf shapes is of paramount importance in ecology, taxonomy and paleobotanical studies. Classification systems proposed by domain experts support these descriptions. Despite the importance of these visual descriptive systems, classifications based on this expert's knowledge may be ambiguous or limited when representing shapes in unknown scenarios, as expected for biological exploratory domains. This work proposes a novel strategy to automatically discover the shape categories in a set of unlabeled leaves by only using the leaf-shape information. In particular, we overcome the task of discovering shape categories from different plant species for three different biological settings.

RESULTS

The proposed method may successfully infer the unknown underlying shape categories with an F-score greater than 92%.

CONCLUSIONS

The approach also provided high levels of visual interpretability, an essential requirement in the description of biological objects. This method may support morphological analysis of biological objects in exploratory domains.

Morphological Re-Description and 18 S rDNA Sequence Confirmation of the Pinworm Aspiculuris tetraptera (Nematoda, Heteroxynematidae) Infecting the Laboratory Mice Mus musculus

Aspiculuris tetraptera is a heteroxynematid nematoda infecting most of the laboratory animals, occasionally mice which represent the mostly used animal for biological, medical, and pharmacological studies. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of nematode parasites infection in the laboratory mice Mus musculus in Egypt. Morphologically, this oxyurid possessed four distinct cephalic papillae on a cephalic plate, with three small rudimental lips carrying two sessile poorly developed labial papillae and one pair of amphidial pores. Esophagus divided into cylindrical corpus and globular bulb. Distinct cervical alae interrupted at the level of esophago-intestinal junction forming an acute angle. At the caudal end, twelve caudal papillae in male worms while an ovijector apparatus opening and a vulva surrounded by protruded lips in females were observed. The general morphological criteria include this nematode with other Aspiculuris species which were compared in the present study. Molecular characterization based on 18SSU rDNA sequencing performed to confirm the taxonomic position of this species and to documents the morphological data. Sequence alignment detects a percent of identity up to 88.0% with other Heteroxynematidae species. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the present recorded is a putative sister taxon to A. tetraptera recorded in a previous study. The SSU rDNA sequence has been deposited in the GenBank under the accession no. MG019400.

A new lizard malaria parasite Plasmodium intabazwe n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) in the Afromontane Pseudocordylus melanotus (Sauria: Cordylidae) with a review of African saurian malaria parasites

Background

Saurian malaria parasites are diverse apicomplexan blood parasites including the family Plasmodiidae Mesnil, 1903, and have been studied since the early 1900s. Currently, at least 27 species of Plasmodium are recorded in African lizards, and to date only two species, Plasmodium zonuriae (Pienaar, 1962) and Plasmodium cordyli Telford, 1987, have been reported from the African endemic family Cordylidae. This paper presents a description of a new malaria parasite in a cordylid lizard and provides a phylogenetic hypothesis for saurian Plasmodium species from South Africa. Furthermore, it provides a tabular review of the Plasmodium species that to date have been formally described infecting species of African lizards.

Methods

Blood samples were collected from 77 specimens of Pseudocordylus melanotus (A. Smith, 1838) from Platberg reserve in the Eastern Free State, and two specimens of Cordylus vittifer (Reichenow, 1887) from the Roodewalshoek conservancy in Mpumalanga (South Africa). Blood smears were Giemsa-stained, screened for haematozoa, specifically saurian malaria parasites, parasite stages were photographed and measured. A small volume was also preserved for TEM studies. Plasmodium and Haemoproteus primer sets, with a nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol, were employed to target a fragment of the cytochrome-b (cyt-b) gene region. Resulting sequences of the saurian Plasmodium species’ isolates were compared with each other and to other known Plasmodium spp. sequences in the GenBank database.

Results

The presence of P. zonuriae in both specimens of the type lizard host C. vittifer was confirmed using morphological characteristics, which subsequently allowed for the species’ molecular characterisation. Of the 77 P. melanotus, 44 were parasitised by a Plasmodium species, which when compared morphologically to other African saurian Plasmodium spp. and molecularly to P. zonuriae, supported its description as a new species Plasmodium intabazwe n. sp.

Conclusions

This is the first morphological and molecular account of Plasmodium species within the African endemic family Cordylidae from South Africa. The study highlights the need for molecular analysis of other cordylid Plasmodium species within Africa. Future studies should also include elucidating of the life-cycles of these species, thus promoting the use of both morphological and molecular characteristics in species descriptions of saurian malaria parasites.

Morphological re-description and new geographical records for three digenean parasites infecting African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Pisces: Clariidae) in Egypt

Sixty specimens of African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Clariidae) were collected during the period of March 2014-February 2015 from boat landing sites and fishermen of the River Nile at Beni Suef Governorate, Egypt, and examined for the presence of digenean parasites. The morphology of these parasites was studied by using light microscopy to describe morphological and morphometrically measurements for different body parts. Three digenean species belonging to three different genera were collected from various organs within the examined fish species. A certain degree of site specificity was also observed, with Thaparotrema botswanensis being found only in the gall bladder of C. gariepinus, while both Pseudoholorchis clarii and Glossidium pedatum were found only in the intestine and thus seem to occupy a certain niche within their host. This study represent as the first record of T. botswanensis and G. pedatum from C. gariepinus, as well as the first report of the genera from the River Nile in Egypt. In addition, re-description of P. clarii clarifies measurements for some body parts.