• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• health sciences close
• 3. Good health close

Ethnopharmacological relevance Phaseaoli pericarpium (bean pods) is a pharmacopeial plant material traditionally used as a diuretic and antidiabetic agents. Diuretic activity of pod extracts was reported first in 1608. Since then Phaseoli pericarpium tea figures in many textbooks as medicinal plant material used by patients. Aim of the study Despite the traditional use of extracts from Phaseolium vulgaris pericarp, limited information is available on bioactivity, chemical composition, and bioavailability of such preparations. The following study aimed to investigate the phytochemical composition, the in vitro permeability of selected extract's constituents over the Caco-2 permeation system, and potential antivirulence activity against uropathogenic Escherichia coli of a hydroalcoholic Phaseoli pericarpium extract (PPX) in vitro to support its traditional use as a remedy used in urinary tract infections. Material and methods The chemical composition of the extract PPX [ethanol:water 7:3 (v/v)] investigated by using UHPLC-DAD-MSn and subsequent dereplication. The permeability of compounds present in PPX was evaluated using the Caco-2 monolayer permeation system. The influence of PPX on uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strain NU14 proliferation and against the bacterial adhesion to T24 epithelial cells was determined by turbidimetric assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The influence of the extract on the mitochondrial activity of T24 host cells was monitored by MTT assay. Results LC-MSn investigation and dereplication, indicated PPX extract to be dominated by a variety of flavonoids, with rutin as a major compound, and soyasaponin derivatives. Rutin, selected soyasaponins and fatty acids were shown to permeate the Caco-2 monolayer system, indicating potential bioavailability following oral intake. The extract did not influence the viability of T24 cells after 1.5h incubation at 2 mg/mL and UPEC. PPX significantly reduced the bacterial adhesion of UPEC to human bladder cells in a concentration-dependent manner (0.5–2 mg/mL). Detailed investigations by different incubation protocols indicated that PPX seems to interact with T24 cells, which subsequently leads to reduced recognition and adhesion of UPEC to the host cell membrane. Conclusions PPX is characterised by the presence of flavonoids (e.g. rutin) and saponins, from which selected compounds might be bioavailable after oral application, as indicated by the Caco-2 permeation experiments. Rutin and some saponins can be considered as potentially bioavailable after the oral intake. The concentration-dependent inhibition of bacterial adhesion of UPEC to T24 cells justifies the traditional use of Phaseoli pericarpium in the prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections.

AbstractIn Mexico, plants are commonly used to alleviate various ailments, including controlling some chronic degenerative diseases through the regular consumption of decoctions, infusions, and teas. However, there is little scientific evidence consolidating traditional medicine within health systems. Therefore, this work determined the phytochemical profile of the most used plants to treat various ailments (Cedro rojo, Cancerina, Ortiguilla, Hierba de la golondrina, Hierba de arlomo) and their general consumption as infusions. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts were generated, while the phytochemical compound content in the extracts obtained was quantified. The results indicate that the ethanolic extracts showed the highest phenolic compound and tannin content, with the highest contents for Cedro rojo (831.04 mg L−1) and Cancerina (864.80 mg L−1). The antioxidant activity was also determined, and a significant difference was observed (p<0.05). The extracts with the highest antioxidant capacity were the ethanolic extracts ranging from 250 to 907 μMET mL−1, while the aqueous extracts ranged from 112 to 390 μMET mL−1. The compounds identified by high‐performance liquid chromatography characterization on the aqueous extracts highlighted the presence of chlorogenic acid>cinnamic acid>quercetin. In ethanolic extracts, the presence of chlorogenic acid>cinnamic acid>quercetin>gallic acid>ferulic acid>coumaric acid was highlighted. The correlation between bioactive compounds, type of extract, and antioxidant activity suggests a significant affinity of these phytochemical compounds for the ethanol solvent. The results indicate that these plants are good sources of antioxidant phenolics and can be incorporated for use as functional beverages. However, more studies are needed to corroborate their beneficial effect.

Plukenetia volubilis Linneo (P. volubilis), or Sacha inca, is an oleaginous plant from the Euphorbiaceae family. The presence of terpenoids, saponins, tannins, glycosides, phytosterols, and phenolic compounds in the ethanol extracts of P. volubilis L leaves has been reported, showing a range of bioactivities including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and analgesia. However, the safety of this plant has not yet been reported explicitly. This study thus is aimed at evaluating the toxicity of the ethanol extract of P. volubilis leaves (EtPV) by acute and subchronic toxicity tests in Swiss albino mice following standard procedures set by The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with slight modifications. In the acute toxicity test, the treatment groups were administered orally with the EtPV at doses of 1000, 3000, 5000, and 7000 mg/kg body weight in small fractions during 16 hours, and the mice were then observed in 14 consecutive days. In the subchronic toxicity study, the EtPV was given at doses of 100, 300, 500, and 700 mg/kg body weight for 90 days. Changes in behavior, mortality rate, and body and the weights of vital organs, hematology, clinical biochemistry, urine analysis, and histologic morphology were evaluated. The acute toxicity study showed that the EtPV causes no sign of toxicity or mortality. The hematological, biochemical and urine analyses, changes in the weight of the body and vital organs (heart, liver and kidney), and histopathological analyses of organs indicated no evidence of toxicity at any doses. It was also revealed that oral administration of EtPV is safe at the oral doses set by acute and subchronic toxicity tests, and the oral lethal dose for the EtPV is higher than 7000 mg/kg. This study is the first to confirm the safety of P. volubilis leaf ethanol extract, and as a result, encouraging further investigation to examine EtPV potential for traditional medicine.

Microbial fuel cells are a promising technology for energy generation from various waste types. However, the molecular mechanisms of microbial extracellular electron transfer to the electrode need to be elucidated. G. sulfurreducens is a common key player in electricity generation in mixed-culture microbial fuel cell systems and a model microorganism for the study of extracellular electron transfer.

Efforts to rapidly and easily supply purified human serum albumin (HSA) in remote areas during a pandemic are challenging. Here, we developed an HSA-imprinted microsphere (HSAIM) as a matrix to purify HSA from blood plasma on a small scale. HSAIMs were generated by encapsulating silica-3-(2-imidazoline-1-yl) propyltriethoxysilane-Cu2+-HSA (SiO2-IMEO-Cu2+-HSA) into agarose gel, and the stereospecific template for HSA was obtained by eluting the agarose gel. The physicochemical properties and performance of HSAIM were evaluated, and HSAIMs were applied to purify HSA from human blood plasma. Spherical HSAIMs had an average diameter of 51.2 ± 6.1 μm. HSAIMs had a maximum adsorption of 8.77 × 10-2 μmol HSA g-1 with an imprinting factor of 2.83, and the selectivity factors of BSA, thrombin and IgG were 0.96, 0.59 and 0.26, respectively. HSAIMs had a dynamic binding capacity (DBC10%) of 5.94 × 10-2 μmol HSA g-1 and could be reused up to 10 cycles with an ultimate recovery of 55.92%. HSA adsorption kinetics of HSAIM fitted to a pseudo-second-order mechanism, and HSA binding characteristics fit with a Sips isotherm model. For practical purposes, an initial blood plasma sample containing 24.9 ± 2.5 mg protein was pretreated with ethanol yielding 14.5 ± 4.6 mg protein, and further purification with HSAIM yielded 3.6 ± 1.1 mg protein. Starting with a blood plasma sample containing 149 type proteins, a single protein identified as HSA was obtained after final purification step with the HSAIM column, indicating that HSAIMs stereospecifically bound HSA. Hence, HSAIM was promising for blood plasma purification on a small scale.

In order to evaluate the interactions between a potential drug candidate like inhibitor N3 and the residues in substrate binding site of SARS-CoV-2 main protease ( M pro ), we used molecular docking and dynamics simulations. The structural features describing the degrees of folding states of M pro formed by beta-barrels and alpha-helices were analyzed by means of root mean square deviation, root mean square fluctuation, radius of gyration, residue velocity, H-bonding, dihedral angle distributions and radial distribution function. All of the residues forming ligand binding domain (LBD) of M pro lie within the allowed region of the dihedral angle distributions as observed from the equilibrating best pose of M pro -N3 system. Sharp peaks of radial distribution function (RDF) for H-bonding atom pairs (about 2 Å radial distance apart) describe the strong interactions between inhibitor and SARS-CoV-2 M pro . During MD simulations, HSE163 has the lowest residue speed offering a sharp RDF peak whereas GLN192 has the highest residue speed resulting a flat RDF peak for the H-bonding atom pairs of M pro -N3 system. Along with negative values of coulombic and Lenard-Jones energies, MM/PBSA free energy of binding contributed by the non-covalent interactions between M pro and N3 has been obtained to be -19.45 ± 3.6 kcal/mol. These physical parameters demonstrate the binding nature of an inhibitor in M pro -LBD. This study will be helpful in evaluating the drug candidates which are expected to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatic and circulating expression of miR-155, miR-122 and miR-217 in a model of chronic exposure to ethanol in adult zebrafish.Wild-type adult zebrafish were divided into two groups (n = 281): an EG (exposed to 0.5% v/v Ethanol in aquarium water) and a CG (without ethanol). After 28 days the animals were euthanized, followed by histopathological analysis, quantification of lipids, triglycerides and inflammatory cytokines in liver tissue. miR-155, miR-122 and miR-217 gene expression was quantified in liver tissue and serum.We observed hepatic lesions and increased accumulation of hepatic lipids in the EG. The expression of il-1β was higher in the EG, but there were no differences in il-10 and tnf-α between groups. In the liver, expression of miR-122 and miR-155 was higher in the EG. The circulating expression of miR-155 and miR-217 was significantly higher in the EG.Chronic exposure to ethanol in zebrafish leads to altered hepatic and circulating expression of miR-155, miR-122 and miR-217. This confirms its potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target.

The antitumor effects of Coix lacryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf. (adlay seed) ethanolic extract have been increasingly shown. This study aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of both the fractions and subfractions of adlay seed ethanolic extract on the human breast (MCF-7) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines, as well as exploring their possible mechanisms of action. The ethanolic extracts were obtained from different parts of adlay seed, including AHE (adlay hull extract), ATE (adlay testa extract), ABE (adlay bran extract) and PAE (polished adlay extract). The results of a 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl- tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that AHE-Ea and ATE-Ea showed significant growth inhibitory effects in a dose-dependent manner. The results also showed that the AHE-Ea-K, AHE-Ea-L, ATE-Ea-E and ATE-Ea-F subfractions inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase and decreased CDK4/Cyclin D1 protein expression. Finally, the extract activated caspase-3 activity and PARP protein expression, which induced MCF-7 and HeLa cell apoptosis. We then used liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) to identify the potential active components., Quercetin showed an anticancer capacity. In conclusion, the AHE-Ea-K, AHE-Ea-L, ATE-Ea-E and ATE-Ea-F subfractions showed antitumor effects through the inhibition of MCF-7 and HeLa cell line viability, as well as inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.