Profiling of two Lampranthus species using LC-ESI/MS with evidence of their hepatoprotective activity.

Lampranthus glaucus and Lampranthus glaucoides are only reported to have significant cytotoxic activity against certain cancer cell lines with phytochemical investigation of their petroleum ether and the ethyl acetate extracts. Further investigation was suggested concerning their hepatoprotective activity and relating it to the metabolic profile of their defatted methanol extracts using LC-ESI/MS analysis. Hepatoprotective activity was evaluated through assessment of three liver parameters as well as liver histopathological examination in thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity model. Sixty-eight and 26 phytochemicals were tentatively identified in L. glaucoides and L. glaucus, respectively, with phenolic compounds as the major class. Both plants showed significant inhibition of serum GPT and GOT levels, inhibition of tissue IL-1ß and TNF-α levels and inhibition of tissue NF-κß and caspase-3 gene expression proving hepatoprotective action. Liver treated with L. glaucoides showed lesion scoring range between negative to mild, whereas L. glaucus showed a range between mild to moderate.

Structural characterization of three cytotoxic steroidal saponins from the leaves of Agave desmetiana hort.

Three steroidal saponins detected by LC-MS were isolated from the leaves of Agave desmetiana hort. The three saponins were characterized as; Tigogenin 3 - [{O - ß - D - xylopyranosyl (1 â†’ 2) - α - L-rhamnopyranosyl (1 â†’ 3)}-ß-D- glucopyranoside), Tigogenin- 3 - ([O- α -L-rhamnopyranosyl (1 â†’ 3) - ß - D - glalactopyranosyl (1 â†’ 2)] - ß - D - glucopyranoside) and Tigogenin- 3 - ([{O - α - L - rhamnopyranosyl (1 â†’ 4)} - ß - D - galactopyranosyl (1 â†’ 3) - ß - D - xylopyranosyl (1 â†’ 2)] - ß - D - glucopyranoside). Identification and structure elucidation of the isolates were done via 1D and 2D NMR techniques, and chemical methods. Cytotoxic activity for the crude saponins and the three isolated compounds were evaluated against Hepg-2 and Mcf-7 cell lines. Compound 2 proved to be the most cytotoxic against tested cell lines with an IC50 2.97 and 2.49 µg/ml respectively.

The anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer activities and phytochemical investigation of Cucumis melo L. cv. Ismailawi fruits.

This study aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer activities of Cucumis melo L. cv. Ismailawi fruits, as well as the investigation of the phenolic content and lipoidal matter composition via high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry respectively. Both the petroleum ether and defatted methanol extracts of the fruit pulp showed 63.13% and 54.97% decrease in oedema volume respectively after 4 h in comparison to indomethacin standard drug. Both the petroleum ether extract and ethyl acetate fractions at a dose (200 mg/kg) showed significant anti-ulcer activity decreasing both ulcer number and severity in comparison to ranitidine as standard drug. Histopathological investigation further confirmed these results. Moreover; this is the first report for the investigation of the phenolic content and the lipoidal matter of Cucumis melo L. cv. Ismailawi fruits where methyl palmatate, gallic acid and rutin represented the major detected components.

Anti-Alzheimer potential, metabolomic profiling and molecular docking of green synthesized silver nanoparticles of Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea aqueous extracts.

The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using plant extracts is an eco-friendly method. It is a single step and offers several advantages such as time reducing, cost-effective and environmental non-toxic. Silver nanoparticles are a type of Noble metal nanoparticles and it has tremendous applications in the field of diagnostics, therapeutics, antimicrobial activity, anticancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In the present work, the aqueous extracts of aerial parts of Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea F. Aizoaceae were successfully used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The formation of silver nanoparticles was early detected by a color change from pale yellow to reddish-brown color and was further confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX). The TEM analysis of showed spherical nanoparticles with a mean size between 12.86 nm and 28.19 nm and the UV- visible spectroscopy showed λmax of 417 nm, which confirms the presence of nanoparticles. The neuroprotective potential of SNPs was evaluated by assessing the antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory activity. Metabolomic profiling was performed on methanolic extracts of L. coccineus and M. lutea and resulted in the identification of 12 compounds, then docking was performed to investigate the possible interaction between the identified compounds and human acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and glutathione transferase receptor, which are associated with the progress of Alzheimer's disease. Overall our SNPs highlighted its promising potential in terms of anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity as plant-based anti-Alzheimer drug and against oxidative stress.

Antiviral potential of green synthesized silver nanoparticles of Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea.

BACKGROUND: Viral and microbial infections constitute one of the most important life-threatening problems. The emergence of new viral and bacterial infectious diseases increases the demand for new therapeutic drugs. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to use the aqueous and hexane extracts of Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea F. Aizoaceae for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, and to investigate its possible antiviral activity. In addition to the investigation of the phytochemical composition of the crude methanolic extracts of the two plants through UPLC-MS metabolomic profiling, and it was followed by molecular docking in order to explore the chemical compounds that might contribute to the antiviral potential. METHODS: The formation of SNPs was further confirmed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antiviral activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated using MTT assay against HSV-1, HAV-10 virus and Coxsackie B4 virus. Metabolomics profiling was performed using UPLC-MS and molecular docking was performed via Autodock4 and visualization was done using the Discovery studio. RESULTS: The early signs of SNPs synthesis were detected by a color change from yellow to reddish brown color. The TEM analysis of SNPs showed spherical nanoparticles with mean size ranges between 10.12 nm to 27.89 nm, and 8.91 nm 14.48 nm for Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea aqueous and hexane extracts respectively. The UV-Visible spectrophotometric analysis showed an absorption peak at λmax of 417 nm.The green synthesized SNPs of L. coccineus and M. lutea showed remarkable antiviral activity against HSV-1, HAV-10, and CoxB4 virus. Metabolomics profiling of the methanolic extract of L. coccineus and M. lutea resulted in identifying 12 compounds. The docking study predicted the patterns of interactions between the compounds of L. coccineus and M. lutea with herpes simplex thymidine kinase, hepatitis A 3c proteinase, and Coxsackievirus B4 3c protease, which was similar to those of the co-crystal inhibitors and this can provide a supposed explanation for the antiviral activity of the aqueous and nano extracts of L. coccineus and M. lutea. CONCLUSION: These results highlight that SNPs of L. coccineus and M. lutea could have antiviral activity against HSV-1, HAV-10, and CoxB4 virus.