ABSTRACT
Correlation between the BOD/COD ratio and Partition coefficient of octanol/ water (Pow) on a single organic substance shows that the Pow value is directly proportional to the toxicity level and inversely proportional to BOD/COD ratio. This research examined the correlation to a mixture of organic substances. The objective is to obtain a varied range of substances, as well as determining the quality of wastewater discharging to fresh waters. Need for analysis of organic substances used as antiseptics during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, organic substances from the organophosphate pesticide class, diazinon, were used. BOD5, COD, Pow, and LC50-96h toxicity tests using Daphnia magna were used. Six types of the mixture of organic substances included diazinon-formaldehyde-isopropyl alcohol, ethanol-oxalic acid-formaldehyde, isopropyl alcohol-glycerol-lactose, acetic acid-isopropyl alcohol-formaldehyde, sucrose-glycerol-acetic acid, and oxalic acid-formaldehyde-diazinon, with 3 different concentrations of 10, 100, and 1000 mg/L, three repetitions. The lowest BOD/COD ratio (<0.2) and the highest Pow value (>4) are found in diazinon-formaldehyde-IPA. Its toxicity in D. magna also showed the lowest LC-50 (11.82 mg/L). Whereas, sucrose-glycerol-acetic acid had the highest BOD/COD ratio (>0.7) and lowest Pow (<0.7) with the highest LC-50 (567.88 mg/L). Other organic substances mixtures have characteristics in the range of these mixtures. Pow variability and the BOD/COD ratio have a negative correlation. A mixture of organic matter is more biodegradable making it has a higher tendency to dissolve in water.Copyright © 2022 Informatics Publishing Limited and The Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
In order to keep the home and occupational environment clean and non-infectious, the consumption of cleaners and disinfectants, including cosmetics, is increasing. Excessive use of these products results in their accumulation in the aquatic environment. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are unable to effectively remove the emergent pollutants, including personal care products. This article is focused on the monitoring of the presence of personal care products in surface waters in two river basins in the Slovak Republic, in terms of the surfactant content. Ecotoxicological evaluation of the selected samples from the monitored river basins was performed by an acute toxicity test using the test organism Daphnia magna. The monitoring results indicate the presence of personal care products in the aquatic environment which poses an ecological and environmental risk. Monitoring in the Hron and Nitra river basins confirmed contamination with the surfactants, to which the measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed. The content of the surfactants in personal care products is significant, and their impact on the aquatic environment is not sufficiently monitored.
ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 is a kind of coronavirus that produces Covid-19 illness, which is still a public health concern in Indonesia. Meanwhile, an effective drug has not yet been found and although vaccination has been carried out, in several regions and neighboring countries there is still an increase in Covid-19 cases. This study aimed to obtain bioactive compounds from sea urchins (Echinometra mathaei) that have greater antiviral potential and lower toxicity than remdesivir. This research was started by predicting druglikeness with SwissADME, followed ADMET predicition with pkCSM online, and docking of molecule using the Molegro Virtual Docker (MVD) 5.5 software against the main protease (Mpro) target (PDB ID: 6W63). The results showed that six compounds from sea urchins (Echinometra mathaei) had antiviral activity, where the bioactive compound from sea urchins (Echinometra mathaei) with the highest affinity was shown by Spinochrome C a smaller rerank score compared with Remdesivir and native ligand (X77). So that Spinochrome C compounds are candidates as SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors potential developed drug.Copyright Published by Oriental Scientific Publishing Company © 2023.
ABSTRACT
Ginger rhizome, a common spice that has been traditionally used in various health aspects. The rhizome contains volatile oil and nonvolatile oil compounds, including oleoresin. Chemical constituents of ginger are numerous and vary depending on the geographic origin, harvest process, and storage conditions. [6]-Gingerol, a major bioactive constituent of ginger, has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidant, and antiemetic effects. Therefore, it is a valuable food molecule with benefits for human health. This review summarized current findings on [6]-gingerol with regards to its beneficial effects on human health, encompassing the biological activities, mechanisms of action and toxicity assessment. In addition, relevant evidence in support of the application of [6]-gingerol towards the promotion health and vitality, as well as methods for extraction, identification and quantitative determination of [6]-gingerol are also provided.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s)
ABSTRACT
Background: The scientific community has supported the medicinal flora of ancient as well as modern times in extracting chemicals, which holds therapeutic potential. In many previous studies, Amentoflavone discovered as an anti-viral agent, and it is present as a bioactive constituent in many plants of different families like Selaginellaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Calophyllaceae. Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) is already considered a significant anti-viral agent in traditional medicine, and it is the main source of Somniferine-A and Withanolide-B. Objective(s): In this study, phytochemicals such as withanolide-b, somniferine-a, stigmasterol, amentoflavone, and chavicine were analyzed to screen protein inhibitors, out of them;such proteins are involved in the internalization and interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with human cytological domains. This will help in developing a checkpoint for SARS-CoV-2 internalization. Method(s): Chemi-informatic tools like basic local alignment search tool (BLAST), AutoDock-vina, SwissADME, MDWeb, Molsoft, ProTox-II, and LigPlot were used to examine the action of pharmacoactive agents against SARS-CoV-2. The tools used in the study were based on the finest algorithms like artificial neural networking, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Result(s): On the basis of binding energies less than equal to-8.5 kcal/mol, amentoflavone, stigmasterol, and somniferine-A were found to be the most effective against COVID-19 disease as these chemical agents exhibit hydrogen bond interactions and competitively inhibit major proteins (SARS-CoV-2 Spike, Human ACE-2 receptor, Human Furin protease, SARS-CoV-2 RNA binding protein) that are involved in its infection and pathogenesis. Simulation analysis provides more validity to the selection of the drug candidate Amentoflavone. ADMET properties were found to be in the feasible range for putative drug candidates. Conclusion(s): Computational analysis was successfully used for searching pharmacoactive phytochemicals like Amentoflavone, Somniferine-A, and Stigmasterol that can bring control over COVID-19 expansion. This new methodology was found to be efficient, as it reduces monetary expenditures and time consumption. Molecular wet-lab validations will provide approval for finalizing our selected drug model for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
Absence of a relevant animal disease model and lack of the use of supportive studies have limited the process of rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. This study has evaluated how the choice of species selection and study design affected the outcomes of the non-clinical toxicity studies of the various SARS-CoV-2 vaccine concepts. The study has been focused on safety aspects i.e. on the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity (DART) and Repeated Dose Toxicity (RDT) studies. Rat and rabbitwere themost commonly used species in preclinical toxicity testing. Some COVID-19 vaccine candidates show a DART study design suboptimal for antibody transfer during lactation. The toxicity studies showed no serious adverse effects.Minor effectswere expected, i.e. local reactogenicity, immune response and macroscopic findings at the injection site. In addition, comments received during the EMA assessment of the vaccines have been evaluated and consisted most frequently of commentary on study design, species selection and missing data regardless of the utilized vaccine concept. Use of supportive platform studies often substantiated the commentary on these main three categories. Animal model-based toxicity testing has shown limited value in establishing safety of the vaccines, and, more importantly, low translational value in supporting clinical development. From a 3R perspective sponsors are encouraged to focus on products from the supportive platform, both with respect to DART and RDT studies. Regulatory emphasis on data obtained from vaccines with the same platform technology data can be used to support marketing approval of new vaccines.
ABSTRACT
The pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought many challenges in the field of personal protective equipment. The amount of disposable surgical masks (DSMs) consumed increased dramatically, and much of it was improperly disposed of, i.e., it entered the environment. For this reason, it is crucial to accurately analyze the waste and identify all the hazards it poses. Therefore, in the present work, a DSM was disassembled, and gravimetric analysis of representative DSM waste was performed, along with detailed infrared spectroscopy of the individual parts and in-depth analysis of the waste. Due to the potential water contamination by micro/nanoplastics and also by other harmful components of DSMs generated during the leaching and photodegradation process, the xenon test and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure were used to analyze and evaluate the leaching of micro/nanoplastics. Micro/nanoplastic particles were leached from all five components of the mask in an aqueous medium. Exposed to natural conditions, a DSM loses up to 30% of its mass in just 1 month, while micro/nanoplastic particles are formed by the process of photodegradation. Improperly treated DSMs pose a potential hazardous risk to the environment due to the release of micro/nanoparticles and chloride ion content.
ABSTRACT
Natural products can be the alternative of synthetic medicine and antiviral drugs can be potential from natural products. An attempt was made to evaluate the antiviral activity from the extract of Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC. as a phytomedicine (GanjhuVirR) for the treatment of dengue fever associated with thrombocytopenia. The present study was evaluated acute and subacute toxicity in rat as well as clinical trial in treated and without treated patients who admitted in hospital due to dengue fever associated with thrombocytopenia. The rats were grouped into group 1 (control) and 2, 3 and 4 (treated) for toxicity test while 51 patients were included in the clinical trial and 25 were treated and 26 provided only standard management as control. The parameters viz. platelet count, fever profile, average hospitalization period, clinical profiles and viral load reduction were tested for both the group. All the data related to morbidity, mortality and behavioural features were observed similar between exposed and control group. The haematological and biochemicals findings were comparable between the group. The platelet counts were significantly (P<0.001) increased and body temperature and hospital stay were significantly (P<0.001) decreased in the treated group than control group. Moreover, GanjhuVirR is a phytomedicine extracted from studied plant and capable to treat viral activity especially for Dengue virus. This is non-toxic as per animal study and is safe without any adverse events and normalize the clinical findings among patients. Future research is suggested to know the efficacy of mild to moderate Covid-19 Patients.
ABSTRACT
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiology of an outbreak Covid-19. SARS-CoV-2 has a structural part consisting of spike glycoprotein, nucleoprotein N, membrane M and envelopes small membrane pentamer E. Immunoinformatic approach epitope analysis is developed to identify both weak and robust epitopes. Our study aims to identify several epitopes present in the spike glycoprotein, envelope, and membrane protein from the SARCoV-2 surface, with the help of insilico approach that highly potential as vaccine candidates. Analysis of antigeninicity was performed with the Kolaskar and Tongaonkar Antigenicity software. Epitope Mapping was analyzed using Linear Epitope Prediction Bepired. The structure of proteins with epitope regions was visualized by software Pyrex and PyMOL. Conserve analysis was performed using bio edit software. HLA mimicry was analyzed through HLAPred software. Molecular docking between the epitope with HLA I and HLA II was validated by Chimera and PyMOL software. The toxicity test for candidate vaccine peptides was carried out using ToxinPred software. Our study found seven potential epitope candidates as vaccine candidates. The seven epitopes were derived from spike proteins (5 epitopes), envelope proteins (1 epitope), and membrane proteins (1 epitope). All epitope codes are conserved and are not the same as HLA in Humans. The docking test results show a value with low affinity so that a strong bond can provide a high immune response. Toxicity tests show that all epitopes are non-toxic and safe to use as vaccine ingredients. Seven peptides from the spike, envelope, membrane protein that showed potential as vaccine candidates against Covid-19.
ABSTRACT
The antimicrobial potential of Aspergillus sp., isolated from the Amazon biome, which is stored at the Amazon Fungi Collection-CFAM at ILMD/FIOCRUZ, was evaluated. The fungal culture was cultivated in yeast extract agar and sucrose (YES) for cold extraction of the biocompounds in ethyl acetate at 28 °C for 7 days in a BOD type incubator. The obtained extract was evaluated for its antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans and Gram-positive and negative bacteria by the “cup plate” method and the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by the broth microdilution method. The extract was subjected to thin layer chromatography (TLC) and fractionated by open and semipreparative column chromatography. The fractions of interest had their chemical constituents elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. The elucidated molecule was evaluated for cytotoxicity against the human fibroblast strain (MRC5). The extract presented inhibitory activity against both Gram-positive and negative bacteria, with the range of inhibition halos from 5.3 to 14 mm in diameter and an MIC ranging from 500 to 15.6 μg/mL. Seventy-one fractions were collected and TLC analysis suggested the presence of substances with double bond groups: coumarins, flavonoids, phenolic, alkaloids, and terpenes. NMR and MS analyses demonstrated that the isolated molecule was kojic acid. The results of the cytotoxicity test showed that MRC5 cells presented viability at concentrations from 500 to 7.81 μg/mL. The kojic acid molecule of Aspergillus sp., with antibacterial activity and moderate toxicity at the concentrations tested, is a promising prototype of an alternative active principle of an antimicrobial drug.
ABSTRACT
[...]the need is obvious when you consider that less than 1% of the chemicals registered for commercial use in the United States have undergone toxicity characterization, whether they are used for medicinal purposes or for fracking. [...]there are many scientific, ethical, and economic advantages to replacing the animals currently used in toxicity tests with non-animal test systems, and great speed and cost advantages in using computer systems. [...]material and chemical usage has increased to 60 billion tonnes per year during the twentieth century2, underscoring the advantages of a rapid machine-learning approach for toxicity characterization. [...]the number of materials and chemicals that can be designed digitally far exceeds the number that have been well characterized.