Biochemistry Research International最新文献

Background: Afzelia africana is a plant species with reported numerous medicinal potentials and secondary metabolites. Various parts of the plant have been applied for the treatment of hernia, rheumatism, pain, lumbago, malaria, etc. The study seeks to evaluate the phytochemical constituents, antiplasmodial, and ESI-MS scan of bioassay-guided fractions from the methanol extract of the bark of the plant.

Aims: The main aim of the study was to carry out bioassay-guided fractionation of the crude methanol extract of Afzelia africana in order to isolate fractions and to evaluate their antiplasmodial activities and ESI-MS fingerprints.

Methods: The methods employed include column chromatographic fractionation, phytochemical screening, antiplasmodial activity (malaria SYBER green assay (MSF)), and ESI-MS profile (full ESI-MS scan).

Results: The column chromatographic fractionation and phytochemical screening of the plant led to the separation of the following four fractions: 1 (flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids), 2 (alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids), 3 (anthraquinones, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids), and 4 (alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids). The antiplasmodial activities of the fractions were tested against the 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum with reported stronger activities for 1 (IC₅₀: 0.097 ± 0.034 μg/mL) and 3 (IC₅₀: 1.43 ± 0.072 μg/mL), and weaker activities for 2 (IC₅₀: >100 μg/mL) and 4 (IC₅₀: 37.09 ± 6.14 μg/mL). The full ESI-MS fingerprint of fractions 1, 2, 3, and 4 revealed the presence of 14, 24, 34, and 37 major molecular ions or compounds in each fraction, respectively.

Methods: Phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity, α-amylase, and α-lipase inhibitory assessment were carried out on Moringa oleifera extract.

Results: The result of the phytochemical screening revealed the presence of total phenolic, flavonoid, tannin, and alkaloid contents of values 0.070 ± 0.005 mg gallic acid equivalent/g, 0.180 ± 0.020 mg rutin equivalent/g, 0.042 ± 0.001 mg tannic equivalent/g, and 12.17 ± 0.001%, respectively, while the total protein analysis was 0.475 ± 0.001 mg bovine serum albumin equivalent/g. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) values were 0.534 ± 0.001 mg gallic acid equivalent/g and 0.022 ± 0.00008 mg rutin equivalent/g, respectively. Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis (ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), and nitric oxide (NO) assays showed the extract to have a strong free radical scavenging activity. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of the lipase and amylase activities of the extract are 1.0877 mg/mL and 0.1802 mg/mL, respectively.

Conclusion: However, α-lipase and α-amylase inhibiting activity of M. oleifera could be related to the phytochemicals in the extract. This research validates the ethnobotanical use of M. oleifera leaves as an effective plant-based therapeutic agent for diabetes and obesity.

Reservoir water physicochemical characteristics provide important information about water suitability for fish production. Accordingly, the study aimed to characterize the physicochemical characteristics of Dembi reservoir water for sustainable fish production. The study was conducted in Dembi reservoir during the dry season. Water samples were collected in triplicate from selected 10 sampling sites of the reservoir water using manually prepared water sampler made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube. The depth integrated sampling technique was employed to take water samples for all physicochemical characteristics analysis. From the selected 14 physicochemical characteristics, four (temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen) were tested onsite using a multisystem HQ4d electronic meter (probe), whereas the rest 10 water quality characteristics were tested in the laboratory. The result showed that the current average depth of the dam was 5.6 ± 1.61 m. The overall mean values of the water quality characteristics at different sites of the reservoir were as follows: turbidity (26.4 ± 0.44 FTU), total hardness (22.2 ± 0.51 mgL^-1), NO₃ (5.4 ± 0.48 mgL^-1), NO₂ (0.3 ± 0.11 mgL^-1), NH₄ (2.1 ± 0.06 mgL^-1), PO₄ ^-3 (1.7 ± 0.27 mgL^-1), total alkalinity (52.5 ± 0.91 mgL^-1), and BOD₅ (2.7 ± 0.24 mgL^-1). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in all physicochemical characteristics among 10 sampling sites of the reservoir water. The recorded values of all physicochemical characteristics, except NO₂, NH₄, and PO₄ ^-3, were found within the recommended standard limit for fish production. The change in reservoir water depth and increase in nutrients shows the presence of sediment siltation and nutrient enrichment. Therefore, proper watershed management practices and waste management should be carried out for sustainable water quality maintenance and fish production.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) follows a series of metabolic diseases categorized by high blood sugar levels. Owing to the increasing diabetes disease in the world, early diagnosis of this disease is critical. New methods such as nanotechnology have made significant progress in many areas of medical science and physiology. Nanobiosensors are very sensible and can identify single virus particles or even low concentrations of a material that can be inherently harmful. One of the main factors for developing glucose sensors in the body is the diagnosis of hypoglycemia in individuals with insulin-dependent diabetes. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the most up-to-date and fastest glucose detection method by nanosensors and, as a result, faster and better treatment in medical sciences. In this review, we try to explore new ways to control blood glucose levels and treat diabetes. We begin with a definition of biosensors and their classification and basis, and then we examine the latest biosensors in glucose detection and new biosensors applications, including the artificial pancreas and updating quantum graphene data.

Synthetic modifications of sulfathiazole derivatives become an interesting approach to enhance their biological properties in line with their applications. As a result, sulfathiazole derivatives become a good candidate and potential class of organic compounds to play an important role towards medicinal chemistry. In present study, one thiazole derivative and two new sulfathiazole derivatives are synthesized with 94% and 72-81% yields, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against two Gram-negative (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) and two Gram-positive bacterial strains (S. pyogenes and S. aureus) by disk diffusion method. Among synthesized compounds, compound 11a showed potent inhibitory activity against Gram-negative, E. coli with 11.6 ± 0.283 mm zone of inhibition compared to standard drug sulfamethoxazole (15.7 ± 0.707 mm) at 50 mg/mL. The radical scavenging activities of these compounds were evaluated using DPPH radical assay, and compound 11a showed the strongest activity with IC₅₀ values of 1.655 μg/mL. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in silico molecular docking analysis using S. aureus gyrase (PDB ID: 2XCT) and human myeloperoxidase (PDB ID: 1DNU) and were found to have minimum binding energy ranging from -7.8 to -10.0 kcal/mol with 2XCT and -7.5 to -9.7 with 1DNU. Compound 11a showed very good binding score -9.7 kcal/mol with both of the proteins and had promising alignment with in vitro results. Compound 11b also showed high binding scores with both proteins. Drug likeness and ADMET of synthesized compounds were predicted. The DFT analysis of synthesized compounds was performed using Gaussian 09 and visualized through Gauss view 6.0. The structural coordinates of the lead compounds were optimized using B3LYP/6-31 G (d,p) level basis set without any symmetrical constraints. Studies revealed that all the synthesized compounds might be candidates for further antibacterial and antioxidant studies.

Currently, oxidative stress is one of the major problems that threatens human health. It is at the root of many diseases such as cancer. Despite the enormous efforts provided to combat this scourge, oxidative stress is still relevant and hence comes the need for research of new remedies especially from natural origin. For this purpose, the study of the antioxidant activity of extracts of Cistus monspeliensis from Morocco is a principal research objective. The phenolic extracts were obtained by maceration of the plant in a water/acetone mixture and then separated by liquid/liquid extraction with solvents of increasing polarity. The first phytochemical tests carried out on these extracts showed the existence of different families of phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, tannins, and others. Assays for total polyphenols, flavonoids, hydrolysable, and condensed tannins were carried out by known colorimetric methods. The results of these assays have shown that the studied extracts are rich in phenolic compounds present in the plant in the form of flavonoids (69.81 ± 0.22 mg EQ/g DM), hydrolysable tannins (61.86 ± 0.89 mg ETA/g DM), and condensed tannins (70.05 ± 1.61 mg EC/g DM). The evaluation of the antioxidant activity is carried out by two different methods: the DPPH test (2,2-DiPhenyl-1-Picryl-Hydrazyl) and the FRAP test (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power). The results obtained show that the extracts of Cistus monspeliensis are active and have interesting antioxidant powers. In particular, the water/acetone (WAE) (IC₅₀ = 0.079 mg/mL) and butanolic (BUE) (IC_0.5 = 0.099 mg/mL) extracts are the most active with values comparable to that of ascorbic acid. The interesting results obtained in this study clearly show that Cistus monspeliensis originating from Morocco can be considered as a source of natural antioxidants. Therefore, the extracts of this plant deserve to be tested in the medicinal field, against cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and in food field as an additive and preservative.

Alzheimer's disease manifests itself in brain tissue by neuronal death, due to aggregation of β-amyloid, produced by senile plaques, and hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein, which produces neurofibrillary tangles. One of the genetic markers of the disease is the gene that translates the presenilin-2 protein, which has mutations that favor the appearance of the disease and has no reported crystallographic structure. In view of this, protein modeling is performed using prediction and structural refinement tools followed by an energetic and stereochemical characterization for its validation. For the simulation, four reported mutations are chosen, which are Met239Ile, Met239Val, Ser130Leu, and Thr122Arg, all associated with various functional responses. From a theoretical analysis, a preliminary bioinformatic study is made to find the phosphorylation patterns in the protein and the hydropathic index according to the polarity and chemical environment. Molecular visualization was carried out with the Chimera 1.14 software, and the theoretical calculation with the hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics system from the semi-empirical method, with Spartan18 software and an AustinModel1 basis. These relationships allow for studying the system from a structural approach with the determination of small distance changes, potential surfaces, electrostatic maps, and angle changes, which favor the comparison between wild-type and mutant systems. With the results obtained, it is expected to complement experimental data reported in the literature from models that would allow us to understand the effects of the selected mutations.