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Chitosan and its nanoparticles (NPs) could be extracted from numerous fungal species and used as effectual carriers for bioactive compounds. The fungal chitosan (FC) was innovatively acquired from Fusarium oxysporum grown mycelia, characterized and used for NP synthesis and loading with bee venom (BV). The nano-FC (NFC) had 192.4 nm mean NP diameter, 38.22% loading capacity, and 92.42% entrapment efficiency. BV release from NFC was pH and time dependent; burst BV release was detected at the first 6 h, followed by gradual releases up to 30 h. The in vitro anticancer potentiality valuation, of NFC, BV, and NFC/BV nanoconjugates against HeLa cervix carcinoma, revealed that they all had potent dose-dependent anticancer activity; BV/NFC nanoconjugates were the most effective with IC50=200 μg/mL. The fluorescent staining of treated HeLa cells with BV/NFC nanoconjugates, with DAPI and acridine orange/propidium iodide combination, indicated the appearance of early apoptosis, secondary apoptosis, and secondary necrosis markers and their increment with exposure prolongation. The production of NFC from F. oxysporum and their loading with BV are strongly counseled for production of potent natural antitumor agent with augmented activity against cervix carcinoma.

Cancers still globally endanger millions of people yearly; the incidences/mortalities of colorectal cancers are particularly increasing. The natural nanoparticles (NPs) and marine biopolymers were anticipated to provide effectual safe significances for managing cancers. The transformation of curcumin to nano-curcumin (NCur) was conducted with gum Arabic. The resulted NCur was utilized for the biosynthesis of selenium NPs (SeNPs), then bioactive nanocomposites (NC) from them with fucoidan (Fu) were fabricated and evaluated as candidates to suppress colorectal cancers (CaCo-2 and HT-29) cells. The NCur and NCur-synthesized SeNPs were effectually produced with mean diameters of 34.67 ± 4.32 and 5.17 ± 1.06 nm, respectively. The plain and NCs of Fu/NCur/SeNPs characterization, with infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy, emphasized their interaction and conjugations. The entire agents/NCs had potent cytotoxic effects against cancers’ lines; the NC of Fu/NCur/SeNPs was the most effectual with IC50 of 10.35 ± 0.83 and 19.44 ± 1.39 mg/L against CaCo-2 and HT-29 cells, respectively, which were significantly exceeded the action of standard cisplatin drug. The NCs led to vigorous DNA damages in CaCo-2 cancerous cells, as proved with comet assay. The ultrastructure imagining (scanning/transmission microscopy) of treated cells with Fu/NCur/SeNPs confirmed the capability of NCs to induce severe apoptosis and deformation signs in cancerous cells. The bio-based constituents of Fu/NCur/SeNPs and advocate their prospective applications for preventing/managing colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Advances in proteome research have opened the gateway to understanding numerous metabolic pathways and fundamental mechanisms involved in abiotic stress tolerance. In the present study, the antioxidant capacity of four tomato genotypes i.e., Kashi Amrit, Kashi Anupam, EC-317-6-1, and WIR-4360 was determined under drought stress to ascertain the scavenging potential for reactive oxygen species (ROS). A significant increase in the superoxide dismutase (SOD), Ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT) activities in all the four genotypes under drought stress was observed, which seemed to be associated with a protective role against ROS (p < 0.001). Based on the antioxidant enzyme activities, a proteomic approach was applied to study differential protein expression in two selected genotypes from different species i.e., EC-317-6-1 (Solanum pimpinellifolium) and Kashi Amrit (Solanum lycopersicum) grown under irrigated, drought, and re-watering conditions. To reveal the protein network regulated under these conditions, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was employed to identify and quantify the number of proteins in drought-sensitive (Kashi Amrit) and tolerant (EC-317-6-1) genotypes. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight analysis (MALDI-TOF) revealed a total of 453 spots after fine-tuning factors i.e., smoothness, saliency, and minimum area that responded to drought. Out of 453 total spots, 93 spots were identified in Kashi Amrit and 154 in EC-317-6-1 under irrigated conditions, whereas 4 spots were identified in Kashi Amrit and 77 spots in EC-317-6-1 under drought conditions. Furthermore, differentially expressed proteins were distinguished according to the fold change of their expression. Information provided in this report will be useful for the selection of proteins or genes in analyzing or improving drought tolerance in tomato cultivars. These findings may assist in the construction of a complete proteome database encompassing various divergent species which could be a valuable source for the improvement of crops under drought-stress conditions in the future.

Pistacia integerrima Stew ex Brandis is a valued medicinal plant used for curing various diseases such as diarrhea, fever, liver disorder, pain, asthma, and inflammation. The aim of this study was the isolation of bioactive leishmanicidal agents from the methanolic extract. The methanolic extract led to the isolation of flavonoids 3,5,7,4/-tetrahydroxy-flavanone (1). The extract and isolated compound 1 were tested for antileishmanial effect. The extract showed a percent effect of 63.09 with an IC50 value (49.32 µM). The isolated compound 1 was more leishmanicidal than the extract with a percent growth inhibition of 68.09. We have performed docking studies on two antileishmanial targets; homology modeled dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and pteridine reductase (PTR1) from Leishmania major (L. major). Interaction with important residues of the studied enzymes revealed the possible mechanism of in-vitro activity against promastigotes of L. major.

This study was performed to analyze various demographic data such as age, gender, nationality, status of the patients, and the causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) of 349 patients who were undergoing hemodialysis (HD) during the period from January 2013 to December 2015 at the Dialysis Center of King Khalid Hospital in Tabuk City. One hundred and fifty-two patients (43.6%) were on HD in 2015. Age of the patients ranged from 9 to 93 years and the mean age was 51.3 ± 17.6 years. Majority of the patients, i.e., 140 (40.1%) were in the age group of 40–59 years, followed by the age group of 60–79 years by 27.8% (97 patients). Saudis constituted 84.2% (294) and non-Saudis accounted 15.8% (55) of the patients over the years studied. There were 198 males (56.7%) and 151 females (43.3%). The death rate in 2014 was 6.2%, whereas it increased in 2015 to 10.5%. The high escape rate (10.3%) of patients was in 2014. Diabetic nephropathy was the most common cause of ESRD, accounting for 30.4% of all cases, followed by unknown etiologies accounting for 25.2%. Nearly 22.6% of all ESRD cases had hypertension. Primary glomerular disease was seen in 8.9% and obstructive uropathy in 3.7%. Other causes constituted 7.4% of the cases. The data of ERSD patients in Tabuk City are comparable with that of other regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We conclude that analysis studies of HD centers help to understand the problems and the needs of the patients, find the solutions, and create a connection between the consumers and health-care providers.

Background. Catha edulis, also known as khat or qat, is a plant that grows in East Africa and southern Arabia. Several millions of people chew the leaves and twigs of khat plant for their central stimulating amphetamine-like effects. Khat chewing is becoming more common in Europe and the United States, owing to worldwide migration. Objective. This review examines the khat ingredients, global prevalence, and legal status as well as its effects on lipid profile. Methodology. A literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to collect information within articles published up to April 2021 with the goal of identifying relevant studies. The proposed mechanisms of cathinone effects on total cholesterol and triglyceride were also discussed. Conclusion. The khat chewing habit is considered as a serious economic and health issue that needs specialized programs to assist those people to quit or reducing this habit.

In the current study, the folklore medicine, Syzygium cumini, was experimentally evaluated for anti-inflammatory, analgesic, sedative, and muscle relaxant effects. The extract and fractions of S. cumini were found safe up to 1000 mg/kg with no mortality, except for slight sedation as a minor side effect. Both, the extract and various fractions of S. cumini demonstrated significant inhibition (86.34%) of carrageenan-induced inflammation in mice. Acetic acid induced writhes were attenuated (p<0.001) by S. cumini in a dose-dependent manner, except for the n-hexane fraction. The maximum effect was observed at a dose of 500 mg/kg in mice. The maximum muscle relaxant effect of all tested samples was recorded at a dose of 500 mg/kg bodyweight, where the percent inhibition exhibited by dichloromethane fraction was 82.34%, followed by chloroform fractions (71.43%) and methanolic extract (70.91%). Our findings validate the folklore medicinal claims of S. cumini, as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent.

The galls of Pistacia integerrima are used in folk medicine for curing diabetes. The main aim of this study was the purification of flavonoids from galls of P. integerrima. The methanolic extract was subjected to column chromatographic analysis which afforded six flavonoids, namely, 3,5,7,4′-tetrahydroxy-flavanone (1), naringenin (2), 3,5,4′-trihydroxy,7-methoxy-flavanone (3), sakuranetin (4), spinacetin (5), and patuletin (6). These isolated compounds (1–6) were tested against α-glycosidase. The maximum antagonistic effect was noted against compound 6 (97.65%) followed by compound 5 (90.42%) and compound 1 (90.01%) at the same concentration (0.2 μg). The inhibitory potential of all tested compounds was significant with a degree of variation from each other. Docking studies showed that all studied compounds interact with the active site residues via hydrogen bond interactions with hydroxyl groups, and thus, inhibition was enhanced. Hence, this finding would be the first screening of isolated flavonoids for α-glycosidase activity and with the mechanism of action. These flavonoids should be further investigated as candidate drugs for combating diabetes mellitus.

Studies of the ethyl acetate extract bark extract of Olea ferruginea led to the isolation of one new compound Ferruginan A (1) in addition to two known compounds, Ferruginan (2) and cycloolivil (3). Structures of the isolated compounds were confirmed by mass spectrometry (MS) and NMR spectral data. The ethyl acetate fraction and compounds (1–3) were evaluated against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and as antioxidants using the free radical scavenging assay. Results revealed that compound 2 exhibits significant antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 21.74 μg/mL. In addition, the ethyl acetate fraction showed good cytotoxic activity (79.31% inhibition at 250 μg/mL), whereas compounds 1–3 exerted mild cytotoxic activity (IC50=8.03–12.01 μg/mL) as compared to the standard (IC50=4.41 μg/mL) against MCF-7. Docking studies suggested that antioxidant activity is due to the chelation of compounds with copper present in the active site of tyrosinase. These results suggest that the extract exhibits considerable antioxidant activity, and the isolated compounds exert moderate anticancer activity.