Potential Active Constituents from Opophytum forsskalii (Hochst. ex Boiss.) N.E.Br against Experimental Gastric Lesions in Rats.

Opophytum forsskalii (O. forsskalii) is a desert plant that belongs to the Aizoaceae family. Although it is a natural food source for Bedouin tribes in northern Saudi Arabia, there is little information on its active metabolites. Therefore, the secondary metabolites of the hydroalcoholic extract from the leaves of this species were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass chromatography (LC-MS). LC-MS identified a total of 30 secondary metabolites. These compounds represented two main categories among sixteen classes. Among them, flavonoids represented the largest proportion with eleven metabolites while fatty acids provided seven compounds. In addition, the extract was evaluated for its gastroprotective effect against gastric lesions induced by different models, such as indomethacin, stress, and necrotizing agents (80% ethanol, 0.2 mol/L NaOH, and 25% NaCl), in rats. For each method, group 1 was used as the control group while groups 2 and 3 received the leaf extract at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively. The ulcer index (UI) and intraluminal bleeding score (IBS) were measured for each method. In addition, gastric tissue from the ethanol method was used for the analysis of nonprotein sulfhydrates (NP-SH), malondialdehyde (MDA), total protein (TP), and histopathologic evaluation. Pretreatment with O. forsskalii significantly decreased UI (p < 0.01) and IBS (p < 0.01) at 400 mg/kg. Pretreatment with O. forsskalii significantly improved total protein levels (p < 0.01) and NP-SH (p < 0.001) compared to the ethanol ulcer groups. MDA levels increased from 0.5 to 5.8 nmol/g in the normal groups compared to the ethanol groups and decreased to 2.34 nmol/g in the O. forsskalii pretreatment. In addition to the gastroprotective markers, histopathological examination of gastric tissue confirmed the gastroprotective potential of O. forsskalii extract against ethanol.

Phytochemical Screening, In Vitro and In Silico Studies of Volatile Compounds from Petroselinum crispum (Mill) Leaves Grown in Saudi Arabia.

The herbal plant Petroselinum crispum (P. crispum) (Mill) is commonly available around the world. In this study, the leaves of the herbal plant P. crispum were collected from the central region of Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, to explore their in vitro pharmacological activity. Essential oil from the leaves of P. crispum was isolated using the hydrodistillation method. The composition of P. crispum essential oil (PCEO) was determined using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 67 components were identified, representing approximately 96.02% of the total volatile composition. Myristicin was identified as the principal constituent (41.45%). The in vitro biological activity was assessed to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory potential of PCEO. PCEO showed the highest antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus among all the evaluated microbial species. In vitro anti-inflammatory evaluation using albumin and trypsin assays showed the excellent anti-inflammatory potential of PCEO compared to the standard drugs. An in silico study of the primary PCEO compound was conducted using online tools such as PASS, Swiss ADME, and Molecular docking. In silico PASS prediction results supported our in vitro findings. Swiss ADME revealed the drug likeness and safety properties of the major metabolites present in PCEO. Molecular docking results were obtained by studying the interaction of Myristicin with an antifungal (PDB: 1IYL and 3LD6), antibacterial (PDB: 1AJ6 and 1JIJ), antioxidant (PDB: 3NM8 and 1HD2), and anti-inflammatory (3N8Y and 3LN1) receptors supported the in vitro results. Therefore, PCEO or Myristicin might be valuable for developing anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial drugs.

Evaluation of the composition and in vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities of Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L. leaves) cultivated in Saudi Arabia (Al-Kharj).

BACKGROUND: In the present study, we explored the composition of Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L. leaves) essential oil (CEO) cultivated in Saudi Arabia (Al-Kharj) and explored its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro. METHODS: Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy was used to detect the CEO composition. The 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-induced free radical and ferric chloride scavenging methods were used to determine the antioxidant activity. Antimicrobial activity was investigated using the well diffusion method. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using egg albumin and trypsin-induced inflammation methods. RESULTS: Forty-six compounds representing 90.17% of the total aroma were identified in the CEO; the major constituents were found to be 1-decanol (17.85%), decanal (11.04%), trans-2-dodecen-1-ol (7.87%), menthone (6.71%), 2-decen-1-ol, trans- (5.44%), dodecanal (4.76%), trans-tetradec-2-enal (3.14%), sedanolide (3.02), and thymol (3.01%). DPPH-induced free radical and ferric chloride scavenging assays demonstrated low antioxidant effects of CEO, and the antioxidant activity was observed at a high CEO concentration. The antimicrobial activity of CEO was assessed against 5 microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) by using well diffusion methods; CEO was found to possess excellent antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms, except Escherichia coli. Moreover, CEO demonstrated strong anti-inflammatory activity against egg albumin- and trypsin-induced inflammation. CONCLUSION: The essential oil extracted from C. sativum chemotype grown in Al-Kharj region of Saudi Arabia possesses low antioxidant potential, superior antimicrobial activity, and outstanding anti-inflammatory effects.

Quantitative determination of canagliflozin in human plasma samples using a validated HPTLC method and its application to a pharmacokinetic study in rats.

Canagliflozin (CNZ) is the first sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor approved for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In the proposed work, a sensitive, rapid and validated high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was established for the estimation of CNZ in human plasma for the first time. HPTLC analysis of CNZ and internal standard (sildenafil) was performed on glass coated silica gel 60 F254 HPTLC plates using a binary mixture of chloroform-methanol 9:1 (%, v/v) as the mobile phase. Densitometric detection was done at 295 nm. Retardation factor values were obtained as 0.22 and 0.52 for the CNZ and the IS, respectively. The linearity range of CNZ was obtained as 200-3,200 ng/ml. A simple protein precipitation method was used for the extraction of analyte from plasma using methanol. The proposed HPTLC technique was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. The proposed HPTLC technique was successfully utilized for the assessment of pharmacokinetic profile of CNZ in rats after oral administration. After oral administration, the peak plasma concentration of CNZ was obtained as 1458.01 ng/ml in 2 h. The proposed HPTLC method could be applied to the study of the pharmacokinetic profile of pharmaceutical formulations containing CNZ.