Triazole Fungicide Residues and Their Inhibitory Effect on Some Trichothecenes Mycotoxin Excretion in Wheat Grains

Wheat is one of the global strategic crops and ranks third in terms of cereals production. Wheat crops are exposed to many fungal infections during their cultivation stages, some of which have the ability to secrete a number of toxic secondary metabolites that threaten the quality of the grains, consumer health, producer economics, and global trade exchange. Fifty-four random samples were collected from wheat which originated from different countries. The samples included 14 types of soft wheat to study the extent of their contamination with deoxynivalenol (DON) and T-2 toxin by auto-ELISA technology and r-biopharm microtiter plate. All samples were contaminated with DON toxin except one sample, and the values ranged between 40.7 and 1018.8 µg/kg⁻¹. The highest contamination rates were in Lithuanian wheat and the lowest was in Indian wheat. Meanwhile, the highest average level of T-2 toxin contamination was in Lithuanian wheat grains with 377.4 µg/kg⁻¹, and the lowest average was 115.3 µg/kg⁻¹ in Polish wheat. GC-MS/MS and multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) were used to detect 15 triazole derivatives in the collected samples, which may be used to combat fungal diseases on wheat during the growing season. Only 9 derivatives were found: simeconazole, penconazole, hexaconazole, cyproconazole, diniconazole, tebuconazole, metconazole, fenbuconazole, and difenoconazole. These derivatives varied according to the origin of the wheat samples as well as their concentration, whereas another 6 derivatives were not detected in any samples. A direct inverse relationship was found between the DON concentration in the samples and the residues of simeconazole, penconazole, diniconazole, tebuconazole, metconazole, fenbuconazole, and difenoconazole, and the T-2 toxin showed the same relationship except for tebuconazole. The safe and rational use of some triazole derivatives may be a new approach and a promising strategy to not only reduce plant diseases and their problems, but also to get rid of some mycotoxins as grain contaminants.     

In Silico Mining of Terpenes from Red-Sea Invertebrates for SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (Mpro) Inhibitors

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent for the COVID-19 pandemic, which generated more than 1.82 million deaths in 2020 alone, in addition to 83.8 million infections. Currently, there is no antiviral medication to treat COVID-19. In the search for drug leads, marine-derived metabolites are reported here as prospective SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. Two hundred and twenty-seven terpene natural products isolated from the biodiverse Red-Sea ecosystem were screened for inhibitor activity against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^pro) using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations combined with molecular mechanics/generalized Born surface area binding energy calculations. On the basis of in silico analyses, six terpenes demonstrated high potency as M^pro inhibitors with ΔG_binding ≤ −40.0 kcal/mol. The stability and binding affinity of the most potent metabolite, erylosides B, were compared to the human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitor, lopinavir. Erylosides B showed greater binding affinity towards SARS-CoV-2 M^pro than lopinavir over 100 ns with ΔG_binding values of −51.9 vs. −33.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Protein–protein interactions indicate that erylosides B biochemical signaling shares gene components that mediate severe acute respiratory syndrome diseases, including the cytokine- and immune-signaling components BCL2L1, IL2, and PRKC. Pathway enrichment analysis and Boolean network modeling were performed towards a deep dissection and mining of the erylosides B target–function interactions. The current study identifies erylosides B as a promising anti-COVID-19 drug lead that warrants further in vitro and in vivo testing.     

Doping of polyaniline films with organic sulfonic acids in aqueous media and the effect of water on these doped films

Polyaniline (PANI) films in the form of emeraldine salt (ES) doped with aqueous organic sulfonic acids such as camphorsulfonic acid (CSA), p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) were studied. The ES films were obtained by treating the PANI in the form of emeraldine base (EB) with the aqueous solution of the acids. The dopant weight fraction (w), which is related to the mass gain during the redoping of EB, was in situ determined using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The behaviour of PANI doping with different acids indicates that the uptake shows a slow diffusion process. The kinetics of the doping reaction is dominated by Fickian diffusion kinetics. The diffusion coefficients (D) of the dopant ions into the PANI chains were determined and were found to vary within the range of (1.6-18) × 10⁻¹⁵ cm² s⁻¹. Moreover, the effect of water on these doped ES films was studied. The starting point is the fact that PANI-coated the electrode of QCM shows significant frequency shifts on exposure to water. The changes in the frequency as a function of treatment time in water were quantitatively measured. The response of the device suggests that the mass decrease under water exposure is due to dopant ions release. The latter films were dedoped by exposure to ammonia solution to obtain the EB film form. A further decrease in the mass of the films was observed. The percentage of the mass loss due to water exposure is found to be less than w determined during the dedoping process.     

Microfabricated Solid-contact Potentiometric Sensor for Determination of Tedizolid Phosphate,Application to Content Uniformity Testing

Solid contact sensors were designed for determination of the antibiotic prodrug tedizolid phosphate. The sensors are based on; microfabricated copper as cost-effective electrode substrate and graphene layer as a transducer. The ion sensing PVC polymeric membrane was optimized by proper selection of the anion exchanger. The graphene layer was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR, besides measuring electrochemical impedance for the fabricated sensors. The potential drift decreased down to 0.133 mV h⁻¹ compared to 6.67 mV h⁻¹ for graphene free sensor. The sensors have been used to determine tedizolid phosphate in its pharmaceutical formulation and content uniformity testing applications.     

Preparation and characterization of in situ carbon paste and screen-printed potentiometric sensors for determination of econazole nitrate: surface analysis using SEM and EDX

The construction and performance characteristics of new sensitive and selective in situ carbon paste (ICPE) and screen-printed (ISPE) potentiometric sensors modified with ion-pairing agents such as phosphotungstic acid, sodium tetraphenylborate, phosphomolybdic acid and ammonium reineckate for determination of econazole nitrate (ECN) have been developed. The reaction mechanism between ECN and ion-pairing agents at the electrode surface was studied through scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The electrodes under investigation showed potentiometric response for ECN in the concentration range from 1.0 × 10^?6 to 5.0 × 10^?3 mol L^?1 and from 1.0 × 10^?6 to 1.0 × 10^?2 mol L^?1 for ISPE (electrode I) and ICPE (electrode II) potentiometric sensors, respectively, at 25 °C. The electrode response was pH independent in the range 2.5–7.5 and 2.5–6.5 for electrodes I and II, respectively. These sensors have Nernstian slope values of 59.4 ± 0.2 and 59.10 ± 0.2 mV decade^?1 with detection limit of 1.0 × 10^?6 mol L^?1 for electrodes I and II, respectively. The electrodes showed fast response time of 4 and 9 s for electrodes I and II, respectively. The ISPE (electrode I) showed lifetime of 28 days, and this was considered as advantage over ICPE (electrode II). Selectivity for ECN with respect to a number of interfering materials was also investigated. The proposed electrodes were applied for determination of ECN in pure and pharmaceutical formulation using calibration, potentiometric titration and standard addition methods. The results showed good agreement with those obtained using official method. The t and F values indicated no significant difference between the suggested and reported methods. Method validation parameters were optimized according to ICH recommendations.     

Overview on the phosphonation of the C=X functional groups utilizing alkyl phosphites

The main objective of this survey is to provide a comprehensive review of recent achievements related to the phosphonation processes, applying alkyl phosphites and different electrophiles (C?X, X: O, N, or C). The review discusses the important reactions of trialkyl and dialkyl phosphite reagents with a variety of aldehydes, ketones, aldimines, ketimines, hydrazones, oximes, diazo compounds, thio- and isocyanates as well as activated olefins as a convenient methodology for the synthesis of biologically important α-hydroxy- and α-aminophosphonates as well as heterocycles containing phosphorus and substituted heterocyclic phosphor esters. We are herein concentrating only on reactions that lead to phosphorylated products as they represent a vast and important research area of interest for academic, as well as for industrial, pharmaceutical and phytopharmaceutical chemists. The literature survey has been fully covered up by our group and others over the last 25 years.     

Utility of Hantzsch Ester in Synthesis of Some 3,5‐Bis‐dihydropyridine Derivatives and Studying Their Biological Evaluation

The present work involves synthesis of new 3,5‐bis‐substituted dihydropyridine derivatives 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 starting from dihydropyridine‐3,5‐dicarboxylate ( 1 ) as starting material. Structures of new compounds were established by spectral and elemental analyses. Some of the new compounds were evaluated for anticancer and antimicrobial activity. Screening data of the tested compounds show promising anticancer and antimicrobial activity. The detail synthesis, spectroscopic data, and pharmacological activities are reported.     

In vitro cytotoxicity of some Narcissus plants extracts

This study compares the chloroform extracts of bulbs and roots of Narcissus papyraceus Ker Gawl. and Narcissus tazetta L. The cytotoxicity of the plant extracts was evaluated against human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HEPG2) and colon carcinoma cell line (HCT116) in comparison to doxorubicin. The extracts from the after-flowering (AF) bulbs of N. tazetta L. and N. papyraceus exhibited strong cytotoxic activity against HEPG2 (IC₅₀: 2.2, 3.5 μg mL^? 1) and HCT116 (IC₅₀: 4.2, 3.9 μg mL^? 1) cell lines, respectively. N. tazetta L. bulbs exhibited the least cell viability percentage in HepG-2 cell line (5.32%), while the AF root extracts of N. papyraceus exhibited the least cell viability percentage in HCT116 cell line (4.93%), when applied at a concentration of 50 μg mL^? 1, thereby being more active than doxorubicin at the same concentration.     

Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of (ethylenediaminediacetato)chromium(III) by N-bromosuccinimide

The kinetics of oxidation of (ethylenediaminediacetato)-chromium(III), [Cr(EDDA)(OH2)2]+, by N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) in aqueous solution to yield CrVI have been studied spectrophotometrically over the 20–40°C range. The reaction rate is first order with respect to both [NBS] and [CrIII], and increases with pH over the range 4.8–5.8. The activation parameters were calculated. A mechanism in which deprotonated [CrIII(EDDA)(OH2)(OH)] is the reactive species is suggested. The electron transfer may proceed via an inner sphere mechanism through bridging of the two reactants by the hydroxo ligand.     

Nomad Jellyfish Rhopilema nomadica Venom Induces Apoptotic Cell Death and Cell Cycle Arrest in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma HepG2 Cells

Jellyfish venom is a rich source of bioactive proteins and peptides with various biological activities including antioxidant, antimicrobial and antitumor effects. However, the anti-proliferative activity of the crude extract of Rhopilema nomadica jellyfish venom has not been examined yet. The present study aimed at the investigation of the in vitro effect of R. nomadica venom on liver cancer cells (HepG2), breast cancer cells (MDA-MB231), human normal fibroblast (HFB4), and human normal lung cells (WI-38) proliferation by using MTT assay. The apoptotic cell death in HepG2 cells was investigated using Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining-based flow cytometry analysis, western blot analysis, and DNA fragmentation assays. R. nomadica venom displayed significant dose-dependent cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells after 48 h of treatment with IC₅₀ value of 50 μg/mL and higher toxicity (3:5-fold change) against MDA-MB231, HFB4, and WI-38 cells. R. nomadica venom showed a prominent increase of apoptosis as revealed by cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, upregulation of p53, BAX, and caspase-3 proteins, and the down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein and DNA fragmentation. These findings suggest that R. nomadica venom induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first scientific evidence demonstrating the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of R. nomadica jellyfish venom.