New Inhibition Detection Method to Evaluate the Human Salivary Alphaamylase Activity of Some Drugs, Molecular Docking, and SAR Studies.

BACKGROUND: For the first time, the investigation of six anti-inflammatory drugs and six antihistaminic drugs for inhibitory activities against alpha-amylase has been evaluated using a new inhibition detection method in order to find new treatments for some diseases caused by α-amylase. OBJECTIVE: The first part of this work was devoted to the evaluation of the inhibition activity of these drugs on salivary α-amylase in vitro. Then to study the nature of interactions and structure-activity relationship, using the Autodockvina program for molecular docking. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The evaluation of the inhibitory activity of our drugs is achieved using a new method that has proved its sensitivity, quickness, and effectiveness. RESULTS: The results of this study show that betamethasone and loratadine are potent α-amylase inhibitors with IC50 values 0.7mg/ml and 1.03 mg/ml, respectively compared to acarbose with IC50=5.6 µg/ml. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the loratadine and the betamethasone have a strong potential to inhibit the alpha-amylase.

In Silico and In Vitro Studies of the Inhibitory Effect of Antihistamine Drug Cyproheptadine Hydrochloride on Human Salivary Alpha Amylase.

BACKGROUND: For the first time, the inhibitory effects on the human salivary alpha-amylase activity of the anti-inflammatory drugs indomethacin, diclofenac sodium, ketoprofen, diclofenac potassium, diclofenac, triamcinolone acetonide, and the antihistamine drugs levocetirizine dihydrochloride, desloratadine, cycloheptadine hydrochloride, have been investigated to confirm the other properties of these drugs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the effect of nine known drugs on human salivary α-amylase in vitro and the nature of interactions with structure-activity relationship using molecular docking experiments. METHODS: The inhibition of human salivary alpha amylase by the six anti-inflammatory and three antihistamine drugs has been carried out using the new method that has been proved in our previous work. Molecular docking has been achieved for the first time for these drugs using the Auto- Dock Vina program. RESULTS: Cyproheptadine hydrochloride presented the highest inhibitory activity against α-amylase with IC50=0.7 mg/ml, while the other drugs showed weak activities (IC50 > 2 mg/ml). CONCLUSION: We conclude that Cyproheptadine hydrochloride, which was studied by docking experiments, exhibited the best inhibitory activity on salivary α-amylase in vitro & in silico.

In silico and in vitro Study of the Inhibitory Effect of Antiinflammatory Drug Betamethasone on Two Lipases.

BACKGROUND: For the first time, the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone is investigated for its inhibitory activity against lipase. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to demonstrate the in vitro and in silico inhibitory effect of the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone on the enzymatic activity of two lipases. METHODS: In vitro study using p-nitrophenyllaurate as lipase substrate is used to determine inhibition potency. Molecular Docking is performed using the Autodock Vina for drug molecule and two enzymes Candida rugosa lipase and human pancreatic lipase. RESULTS: Betamethasone represents a moderate inhibition effect with a value of IC50 of 0.36±0.01 mg/ml. Molecular docking allowed us to understand inhibitory - enzyme interactions and to confirm in vitro obtained results. CONCLUSION: These experiments showed that betamethasone can be used in the treatment of diseases related to lipase activity.

Defining a standardized methodology for the determination of the antioxidant capacity: case study of Pistacia atlantica leaves.

Antioxidant activity can be measured by a variety of methods, that include hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and single electron transfer (ET) methods. Most of these techniques are spectrophotometric, and thus incapable of quantifying or indicting individual antioxidant compounds. Nowadays, the integration of chromatographic and chemometric approaches allows a high-throughput identification and activity prediction of herbal products. The ethyl acetate fraction from the aqueous-acetone extract of Pistacia atlantica leaves is frequently used for the isolation of antioxidants. In this study it is investigated for its antioxidant properties in order to define a potential methodology for the determination of the antioxidant capacity of herbal extracts (which need to be confirmed by future studies). The seven free radical assays evaluated can be divided into two groups depending on the oxidizing reagent. Three methods use stable, non-biological radicals, i.e. the diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, the azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assay, and the N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DMPD) assay, which have no direct physiological importance. Four methods work with biological radical producers, including superoxide anion (O2˙-), hydroxyl (˙OH), nitric oxide (NO˙) and peroxyl (ROO˙) are produced metabolically in living organisms, and thus direct information on an extract's protective action is obtained. Furthermore, the reducing power method by potassium ferricyanide (RPC), and the iron (ferrous) ion chelating activity also have been investigated. The antioxidant activities of the samples were measured according to the different methods and modelled as a function of the HPLC fingerprints using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. The regression coefficients of the models were studied to indicate the peaks potentially responsible for the antioxidant activity. From the combined results of the different PLS models, we recommend using the DPPH, RPC and ROO˙ assays, to evaluate the overall antioxidant capacity; in the case study of P. atlantica leaves.