AntiHepatitis C Virus Activity of Alectryon serratus Leaves Extract

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) has infected approximately 2-3% (130-170 million) of the world's population. No vaccine is available to prevent HCV infection. Investigation of anti-HCV agent is thus deemed necessary. Various plants have been explored for their anti-HCV activity. A. serratus is a member of Sapindaceae family, which fruit and seed were traditionally used as insecticide. Anti-HCV activity tested on A.serratus leaves extract has been done. The result showed that leaves extract exhibited anti-HCV with IC₅₀ value of 14.9 μg/ml and 9.8 μg/ml against HCV J6/JFH1 and JFH1a, respectively. The cytotoxicity assay results showed that A.serratus leaves extract was not toxic and has CC₅₀ >100 μg/ml. Mode of action experiment results suggested that A.serratus extract inhibited HCV at the post-entry step. Further fractionation of leaves extract by open column chromatography resulted in 4 fractions. Only Fraction 1 (AP-5F.1) exhibited anti-HCV with IC₅₀ value of 1.2 μg/ml against HCV JFH1a. Separation of AP-5F.1 by open column chromatography resulted in 15 fractions. Fraction number 13 (AP-5F.1.13) exhibited anti-HCV with IC₅₀ value of 0.43 μg/ml against HCV JFH1a. Separation of AP-5F.1.13 by semi preparative-HPLC resulted in isolate identified by TLC and LC-MS method as chlorophyll derivate. There was a possibility that chlorophyll derivate has participated in performing the anti-HCV activity of fractions and extract besides the other compounds contained. In this study, we concluded that A. serratus leaves extract, AP-5F.1, and AP-5F.1.13 exhibited anti-HCV activity against JFH1a virus.     

Additive effect of Lygodium venustum SW. in association with gentamicin

The aim of this work was to evaluate the interactions between gentamicin and the ethanol extract of the fern Lygodium venustum SW (EELV). The ethanol extract of L. venustum was obtained, the phytocompounds were identified and the EELV was assayed by the checkerboard method with gentamicin against two bacterial strains multiresistant to antibiotics. The antibiotic activity of gentamicin, when associated with the extract, was enhanced in an additive manner against both strains. The results indicated that L. venustum can be a source of secondary metabolites to be used in association with antibiotics as aminoglycosides in the antibiotic chemotherapy against resistant bacteria.     

Chemical constituents and antioxidant activity of essential oil and organic extract from the peel and kernel parts of Citrus japonica Thunb. (kumquat) from Iran

The constituents of essential oils and organic extracts from peel and kernels of Citrus japonica were analysed by GC and GC/MS. The content of essential oil in peel and kernel was 1.1 and 0.8% based on dry weight. The essential oil of C. japonica peel and kernel was characterised by a higher amount of limonene (51.0 and 47.1%) and germacrene D (12.1 and 6.3%), and the hexane extracts of its peel and kernel were characterised by a higher amount of dodecanol-1(12.9 and 20.8%) and linolenic acid (13.1 and 16.3%), respectively. The antioxidant activities of oils were evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The results indicate that both oils from different parts of C. japonica possess considerable antioxidant activity. The fruit peel and kernel essential oil could thus be useful in the industries, chiefly in the food and pharmaceutical industries.     

铋铁复合氧化物光催化材料的制备及其性能研究

采用共沉淀法制备了一系列铋铁复合氧化物光催化剂,并以可见光降解甲基橙为模型反应,研究其在可见光照射下降解甲基橙的光催化性能。详细考察了p H值、铋铁摩尔比、煅烧温度等对其光催化性能的影响。在优化条件下,铋铁摩尔比为2∶1、p H=3~4时制备出的样品具有较好的光催化性能,甲基橙的降解率可达到91.95%。     

阴离子交换色谱-积分脉冲安培检测法测定赣南脐橙中的氨基酸

建立了阴离子交换色谱-积分脉冲安培法测定脐橙中17种氨基酸的分析方法。样品用无水乙醇提取,经聚苯乙烯-二乙烯基苯型阳离子交换树脂(PS-DVB)003x7去除碳水化合物,采用AminoPac PA10保护柱(50×2mm)和AminoPac PA10分析柱(250×2mm)分离,积分脉冲安培检测器检测。所测17种氨基酸在一定浓度范围内与峰面积呈良好的线性关系,相关系数均大于0.995,检出限为0.01~0.19mg/L。在2.0mg/L和8.0mg/L两个添加水平的平均回收率在72.5%~130.5%之间,相对标准偏差在0.5%~10.1%范围。该法具有较好的准确度和精密度,基本能满足实际样品分析的要求。     

Non-alkaloids extract from Stemona sessilifolia enhances the activity of chemotherapeutic agents through P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug-resistant cancer cells

One of the major impediments to the successful treatment of cancer is the development of resistant cancer cells, which could cause multidrug resistance (MDR), and overexpression of ABCB1/P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is one of the most common causes of MDR in cancer cells. Recently, natural products or plant-derived chemicals have been investigated more and more widely as potential multidrug-resistant (MDR) reversing agents. The current study demonstrated for the first time that non-alkaloids extract from Stemona sessilifolia significantly reversed the resistance of chemotherapeutic agents, adriamycin, paclitaxel and vincristine to MCF-7/ADR cells compared with MCF-7/S cells in a dose-dependent manner. The results obtained from these studies indicated that the non-alkaloids extract from S. sessilifolia plays an important role in reversing MDR of cancer as a P-gp modulator in vitro and may be effective in the treatment of multidrug-resistant cancers.     

赖氨酸辅助高分散金粒子修饰氮掺杂TiO_2纳米管催化剂的合成及光催化性能

通过溶胶-凝胶法联合水热合成法制备了氮掺杂TiO_2纳米管,并以该纳米管为载体,采用绿色无毒的赖氨酸作为链接剂和螯合剂,一步实现金粒子在TiO_2纳米管上的高度分散,制备得到高分散金粒子修饰氮掺杂TiO_2纳米管催化剂(Au/N-TiO_2纳米管).表征了产物的形貌、结构、光学特性及组成,通过紫外光下甲基橙水溶液的光降解率评价产物的光催化活性,讨论了氮掺杂量、金负载量、赖氨酸及焙烧对合成催化剂光催化性能的影响.结果显示,在赖氨酸存在下,金粒子在TiO_2纳米管上呈高度分散状态,未发生聚集.且与纯TiO_2纳米管相比,Au/N-TiO_2纳米管显示出更高的光催化活性.Au/N-TiO_2纳米管的高催化活性是由于氮掺杂后引起的TiO_2带隙能窄化、金粒子在载体上的高分散状态及金与TiO_2形成的肖特恩势垒引起的低电子-空穴复合率共同作用导致的.     

The anti-hyperuricemic effect of flavonoid extract of saffron by-product and its pharmacokinetics in rats after oral administration

Only the dried stigma of the saffron, a flower deemed as the most valuable spice globally, is utilized for industrial production. Hence, there exists a growing interest in utilizing saffron floral bio-residues. The anti-hyperuricemic activity of a flavonoid extract from saffron floral bio-residues was assessed in potassium oxonate-induced hyperuricemia mice. In addition, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method was established and validated to determine the pharmacokinetics of five main flavonoids and three phase-II metabolites in rat plasma after oral administration of the flavonoid extract for the first time. Compared with pharmacokinetic parameters of kaempferol-3-O-sophoroside, the most abundant flavonoid in the extract, and its aglycone kaempferol, we observed that coexisting compounds significantly reduced the absorption, accelerated the excretion of kaempferol-3-O-sophoroside, while significantly increasing the absorption and prolonging the residence time of kaempferol in the flavonoid extract. These results suggest the promising potential of the flavonoid extract from saffron floral bio-residues as an anti-hyperuricemic agent. Kaempferol was absorbed in plasma at high concentrations owing to the biotransformation of kaempferol glycosides in vivo.     

Green formulation of Ag nanoparticles by Hibiscus rosa-sinensis: Introducing a navel chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of liver cancer

An eco-friendly biosynthesized Ag NPs immobilized Hibiscus rosa-sinensis extract has been introduced. The as-prepared nanoparticles were characterized using UV–Vis, SEM, and FT-IR analysis. In the FT-IR test, the presence of many antioxidant compounds with related bonds caused the excellent condition for reducing of silver in the silver nanoparticles. In UV–Vis, the clear peak in the wavelength of 428 nm indicated the formation of silver nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles had very low cell viability and high anti-liver cancer activities dose-dependently against pleomorphic hepatocellular carcinoma (SNU-387), hepatic ductal carcinoma (LMH/2A), morris hepatoma (McA-RH7777), and novikoff hepatoma (N1-S1 Fudr) cell lines without any cytotoxicity on the normal cell line (HUVEC). The synthesized nanoparticles inhibited half of the DPPH molecules in the concentration of 78 µg/mL. Perhaps notable anti-liver cancer activities of the synthesized nanoparticles against common liver cancer cell lines are linked to their antioxidant activities.     

Optical and antibacterial activity of biogenic core-shell ZnO@TiO2 nanoparticles

Inorganic nanocomposites, due to increased stability and safety, are gaining importance in wide range of engineering and medical applications. In view of this, the present study demonstrates the optical and antibacterial activity of core-shell ZnO@TiO₂ nanoparticles synthesized via biogenic method using Azadirachta indica flower extract. The synthesized nanocomposite is characterized by XRD, TEM and EDS. The optical activity of the ZnO@TiO₂ nanoparticle, assessed by photoluminescence spectra, indicated concentration dependent increase in the number of defects. The antibacterial activity of synthesized core-shell ZnO@TiO₂ nanoparticles was determined by agar disc diffusion method against 9 clinical isolates (Gram positive - S. aureus, S. pneumonia, B. subtilis and Gram negative - E. coli, S. dysenteriae, K. pneumonia, V. cholera, P. aeruginosa, and P. vulgaris). The synthesized nanoparticle exhibited significant antibacterial activity against all the strains tested. The synthesized core-shell ZnO@TiO₂ nanoparticle can be a potential antimicrobial candidate for various biomedical applications.