Green biosynthesis of bimetallic ZnO@AuNPs with its formulation into cellulose derivative: biological and environmental applications.

Nanoparticles (NPs) formulation in biopolymers is an attractive process for the researcher to decrease the disadvantages of NPs application alone. Bimetallic NPs are a promising formula of two NPs that usually act as synergetic phenomena. Zinc oxide and gold NPs (ZnO@AuNPs) biosynthesis as a bimetallic was prepared via the eco-friendly manner currently. Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was employed for the formulation of ZnO@AuNPs as a nanocomposite via a green method. Physicochemical and topographical characterization was assigned to ZnO@AuNPs and nanocomposite features. The nanostructure of bimetallic NPs and nanocomposite were affirmed with sizes around 15 and 25 nm, respectively. Indeed, the DLS measurements affirmed the more reasonable size and stability of the prepared samples as 27 and 93 nm for bimetallic NPs and nanocomposite, respectively. The inhibitory potential of nanocomposite was more than ZnO@AuNPs against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Enterococcus faecalis, Mucor albicans, Aspergillus flavus, and Mucor circinelloid. ZnO@AuNPs and nanocomposite exhibited antioxidant activity via DPPH with IC50 of 71.38 and 32.4 µg/mL, correspondingly. Excellent anti-diabetic potential of nanocomposite with IC50 of 7.4 µg/mL, and ZnO@AuNPs with IC50 of 9.7 µg/mL was reported compared with the standard acarbose with the IC50 of 50.93 µg/mL for amylase inhibition (%). Photocatalytic degradation of RR195 and RB dyes was performed by ZnO@AuNPs and nanocomposite, where maximum degradation was 85.7 ± 1.53 and 88.7 ± 0.58%, respectively using ZnO@AuNPs, 90.3 ± 0.28 and 91.8 ± 0.27%, respectively using nanocomposite at 100 min.

Anti-Helicobacter pylori, Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, and Anti-Alzheimer's Activities of Laurel Leaf Extract Treated by Moist Heat and Molecular Docking of Its Flavonoid Constituent, Naringenin, against Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase.

It is worth noting that laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) contains several pharmacologically and nutritionally active compounds that may differ according to the pretreatment process. The current study is designed to clarify the effect of moist heat on the phenolic and flavonoid constituents and anti-Helicobacter pylori, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anti-Alzheimer's activities of laurel leaf extract (LLE). Unmoist-heated (UMH) and moist-heated (MH) LLEs showed the presence of numerous flavonoid and phenolic constituents, although at different levels of concentration. MH significantly induced (p < 0.05) the occurrence of most compounds at high concentrations of 5655.89 µg/mL, 3967.65 µg/mL, 224.80 µg/mL, 887.83 µg/mL, 2979.14 µg/mL, 203.02 µg/mL, 284.65 µg/mL, 1893.66 µg/mL, and 187.88 µg/mL, unlike the detection at low concentrations of 3461.19 µg/mL, 196.96 µg/mL, 664.12 µg/mL, 2835.09 µg/mL, 153.26 µg/mL, 254.43 µg/mL, 1605.00 µg/mL, 4486.02 µg/mL, and 195.60 µg/mL using UMH, for naringenin, methyl gallate, caffeic acid, rutin, ellagic acid, coumaric acid, vanillin, ferulic acid, and hesperetin, respectively. Chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, and daidzein were detected in the UMH LLE but not in the MH LLE, unlike pyrocatechol. The anti-H. pylori activity of the UMH LLE was lower (23.67 ± 0.58 mm of inhibition zone) than that of the MH LLE (26.00 ± 0.0 mm of inhibition zone). Moreover, the values of MIC and MBC associated with the MH LLE were very low compared to those of the UMH LLE. Via MBC/MIC index calculation, the UMH and MH LLEs showed cidal activity. The MH LLE exhibited higher anti-biofilm activity (93.73%) compared to the anti-biofilm activity (87.75%) of the MH LLE against H. pylori. The urease inhibition percentage was more affected in the UMH LLE compared to the MH LLE, with significant (p < 0.05) IC50 values of 34.17 µg/mL and 91.11 µg/mL, respectively. Promising antioxidant activity was documented with a very low value of IC50 (3.45 µg/mL) for the MH LLE compared to the IC50 value of 4.69 µg/mL for the UMH LLE and the IC50 value of 4.43 µg/mL for ascorbic acid. The MH LLE showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) inhibition of α-glucosidase and butyrylcholinesterase activities, with IC50 values of 9.9 µg/mL and 17.3 µg/mL, respectively, compared to those of the UMH LLE at 18.36 µg/mL and 28.92 µg/mL. The molecular docking of naringenin showed good docking scores against acetylcholinesterase 1E66 and butyrylcholinesterase 6EMI, indicating that naringenin is an intriguing candidate for additional research as a possible medication for Alzheimer's disease.

Phytochemical Characterization and Efficacy of Artemisia judaica Extract Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles as Inhibitors of Cancer Proliferation and Microbial Growth.

Despite the advanced development in the field of drug discovery and design, fighting infectious and non-infectious diseases remains a major worldwide heath challenge due to the limited activity of currently used drugs. Nevertheless, in recent years, the approach of designing nanoparticles for therapeutic applications has gained more interest and promise for future use. Thus, the current study is focused on the evaluation of A. judaica extract and chitosan nanoparticles loaded extract (CNPsLE) for potential antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The HPLC analysis of the extract has shown the presence of various phenolic and flavonoid compounds, including kaempferol (3916.34 µg/mL), apigenin (3794.32 µg/mL), chlorogenic acid (1089.58 µg/mL), quercetin (714.97 µg/mL), vanillin (691.55 µg/mL), naringenin (202.14 µg/mL), and rutin (55.64 µg/mL). The extract alone showed higher MIC values against B. subtilis, E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumonia, and C. albicans (62.5, 15.65, 15.62, 31.25, and 31.25 µg/mL, respectively), whereas lower MIC values were observed when the extract was combined with CNPsLE (0.97, 1.95, 3.9, 4.1, and 15.62 µg/mL, respectively). The extract exhibited low cytotoxicity against normal Vero cells with IC50 173.74 µg/mL in comparison with the cytotoxicity of the CNPsLE (IC50, 73.89 µg/mL). However, CNPsLE showed more selective toxicity against the human prostate cancer cell line (PC3) with IC50 of 20.8 µg/mL than the extract alone with 76.09 µg/mL. In the docking experiments, kaempferol and apigenin were revealed to be suitable inhibitors for prostate cancer (2Q7L). Overall, the obtained data highlighted the promising potential therapeutic use of CNPsLE as an anticancer and antimicrobial agent.

Glycosylated Flavonoid Compounds as Potent CYP121 Inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Due to the concerning rise in the number of multiple- and prolonged-drug-resistant (MDR and XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, unprecedented demand has been created to design and develop novel therapeutic drugs with higher efficacy and safety. In this study, with a focused view on implementing an in silico drug design pipeline, a diverse set of glycosylated flavonoids were screened against the Mtb cytochrome-P450 enzyme 121 (CYP121), which is established as an approved drug target for the treatment of Mtb infection. A total of 148 glycosylated flavonoids were screened using structure-based virtual screening against the crystallized ligand, i.e., the L44 inhibitor, binding pocket in the Mtb CYP121 protein. Following this, only the top six compounds with the highest binding scores (kcal/mol) were considered for further intermolecular interaction and dynamic stability using 100 ns classical molecular dynamics simulation. These results suggested a considerable number of hydrogen and hydrophobic interactions and thermodynamic stability in comparison to the reference complex, i.e., the CYP121-L44 inhibitor. Furthermore, binding free energy via the MMGBSA method conducted on the last 10 ns interval of MD simulation trajectories revealed the substantial affinity of glycosylated compounds with Mtb CYP121 protein against reference complex. Notably, both the docked poses and residual energy decomposition via the MMGBSA method demonstrated the essential role of active residues in the interactions with glycosylated compounds by comparison with the reference complex. Collectively, this study demonstrates the viability of these screened glycosylated flavonoids as potential inhibitors of Mtb CYP121 for further experimental validation to develop a therapy for the treatment of drug-resistant Mtb strains.