Unveiling the Potent Antiviral and Antioxidant Activities of an Aqueous Extract from Caesalpinia mimosoides Lamk: Cheminformatics and Molecular Docking Approaches.

Our group previously demonstrated that Caesalpinia mimosoides Lamk exhibits many profound biological properties, including anticancer, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities. However, its antiviral activity has not yet been investigated. Here, the aqueous extract of C. mimosoides was prepared from the aerial parts (leaves, stalks, and trunks) to see whether it exerts anti-influenza (H1N1) effects and to reduce the organic solvents consumed during extraction, making it a desirable approach for the large-scale production for medical uses. Our plant extract was quantified to contain 7 g of gallic acid (GA) per 100 g of a dry sample, as determined using HPLC analysis. It also exerts potent antioxidant activities comparable to those of authentic GA. According to untargeted metabolomics (UPLC-ESI(-)-QTOF-MS/MS) with the aid of cheminformatics tools (MetFrag (version 2.1), SIRIUS (version 5.8.3), CSI:FingerID (version 4.8), and CANOPUS), the major metabolite was best annotated as "gallic acid", phenolics (e.g., quinic acid, shikimic acid, and protocatechuic acid), sugar derivatives, and dicarboxylic acids were deduced from this plant species for the first time. The aqueous plant extract efficiently inhibited an influenza A (H1N1) virus infection of MDCK cells with an IC50 of 5.14 µg/mL. Of equal importance, hemolytic activity was absent for this plant extract, signifying its applicability as a safe antiviral agent. Molecular docking suggested that GA interacts with conserved residues (e.g., Arg152 and Asp151) located in the catalytic inner shell of the viral neuraminidase (NA), sharing the same pocket as those of anti-neuraminidase drugs, such as laninamivir and oseltamivir. Additionally, other metabolites were also found to potentially interact with the active site and the hydrophobic 430-cavity of the viral surface protein, suggesting a possibly synergistic effect of various phytochemicals. Therefore, the C. mimosoides aqueous extract may be a good candidate for coping with increasing influenza virus resistance to existing antivirals.

Determinants of nutrition knowledge, attitude and practices of adolescent sports trainee: A cross-sectional study in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition is an important predictor of an athlete's performance. It is more important for particularly those athletes who are in the growing stage (adolescents). This study aimed to assess their current level of knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of nutrition and to predict potential factors impacting their level of these KAP. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent trainee athletes selected conveniently from 11 sports departments (e.g. cricket, football, hockey, etc.) of Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP). A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Anthropometric measurements (e.g. height, weight, BMI, BF %) were taken using appropriate methods. The data were analyzed using R (v3.6.1) and Python Jupyter Notebook. Descriptive statistics, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and logistic regression were used to determine the relationship between dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: A total number of 260 participants were enrolled in this study, most of them (86%) were male. Their mean age was 15.50 ± 1.83 ranging from 12-19 years. More than half of the participants had good nutrition knowledge (n = 149, 57.3%). Fifty-seven percent of participants had a positive attitude (n = 146) and 57.69% (n = 150) had a good level of practices regarding nutrition. Age (p = 0.007), gender (p = 0.004), department of training (p = 0.0034), and duration of sports training (p = 0.004) of participants were significantly associated with knowledge, while only age and BMI were significantly associated with practices. Athletes with less body fat were more likely to have good nutrition practice behavior (AOR 0.895; 95% CI 0.83, 0.96; p < 0.05) and nutrition knowledge was positively associated with nutrition practice (AOR 2.335; 95% CI 1.405, 3.88; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Knowledge, attitude, and practices level observed among many of our participants was satisfactory. Previous nutrition training was found as a potentially modifiable factor of good nutrition knowledge and good nutrition knowledge was found to be a predictor of good practice score. Thus, it is necessary to provide appropriate nutrition information to adolescent athletes through proper educational training and intervention on a regular basis.

Nutritional composition and antidiabetic effect of germinated endosperm (Borassus flabellifer), tuber (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) and their combined impact on rats.

Diabetic patients usually avoid germinated endosperm of sugar palm (GESP) and elephant foot yam tuber (EFYT), fearing that these may further deteriorate existing hyperglycemia. In the present study, this suspicion was investigated by analyzing the nutrients and following the animal experiments by supplementary feeding powder of GESP, EFYT, and their mixture in addition to the regular diet for the six consecutive weeks. Next three weeks, the powder was withdrawn, and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were recorded from the beginning. The results clearly showed that these foodstuffs significantly (P < 0.001) reduced FBG levels of alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The mixture of GESP & EFYT showed the maximum antidiabetic effects followed by GESP and EFYT, respectively. GESP, as well as the mixture, returned the FBG levels of diabetic rats within the normal range by the end of the 6th week, even after withdrawing the powder, but not by the EFYT. These results suggested that the foodstuffs may restore the damaged pancreatic ß-cell functions by the end of the 6th week. Nutrient contents like fiber, zinc, as well as antidiabetogenic phytochemicals present in these foodstuffs, could perform these functions.

Anti-hyperglycemic effect of the immature endosperm of sugar palm (Borassus flabellifer) fruit on type 2 diabetes mellitus patients-a case study.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the nutrient contents and the anti-hyperglycemic effect of the immature endosperm of sugar palm (IESP) (Borassus flabellifer L.) fruit on type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. METHODS: This is a short type case study where patients (n = 30) with T2DM were randomly selected and fed IESP (100 mL) twice a day after a regular meal and continued this experiment up to 4th weeks. RESULT: The mean fasting blood glucose (FBG) level was markedly reduced from 1st week (15.74 mmol/L) to 4th week (10.53 mmol/L) among the patients who had normal body mass index (18.5-24.9). Only 16.67% diabetic patients had irregular FBG levels where 10% were in the previous stages after finishing the experimental period, and exceptionally in the case of 6.67% diabetic patients, this therapeutic juice was unsuccessful because of their irregular intake of insulin. The IESP was more effective on female (p ≤ 0.001) patients than males (p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: The IESP could be considered as anti-hyperglycemic fruit, and this might be due to its nutrient contents, especially phytochemicals, fiber, sodium, potassium, copper, and zinc.

Is elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) tuber detrimental to patients with diabetes? (Or a myth?).

Elephant foot yam is widely consumed as a vegetable and locally known as 'Ol' in Bangladesh. However, taboos regarding elephant foot yam are the prominent barrier for diabetic patients to consume this tuber. The study aims to judge the concept scientifically. The literature review showed that elephant foot yam tuber is a good source of carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and minerals but low in fat. Secondary metabolites viz. phytochemicals of this tuber had a significant anti-hyperglycemic effect. In conclusion, elephant foot yam tuber is safe and beneficial for patients with diabetes.