Phytochemical Analysis and Molecular Identification of Green Macroalgae Caulerpa spp. from Bali, Indonesia.

The studies of the Bulung Boni and Bulung Anggur (Caulerpa spp.) species and secondary metabolites are still very limited. Proper identification will support various aspects, such as cultivation, utilization, and economic interests. Moreover, understanding the secondary metabolites will assist in developing algae-based products. This study aimed to identify these indigenous Caulerpa algae and analyze their bioactive components. The tufA sequence was employed as a molecular marker in DNA barcoding, and its bioactive components were identified using the GC-MS method. The phylogenetic tree was generated in MEGA 11 using the maximum likelihood method, and the robustness of the tree was evaluated using bootstrapping with 1000 replicates. This study revealed that Bulung Boni is strongly connected to Caulerpa cylindracea. However, Bulung Anggur shows no close relationship to other Caulerpa species. GC-MS analysis of ethanolic extracts of Bulung Boni and Bulung Anggur showed the presence of 11 and 13 compounds, respectively. The majority of the compounds found in these algae have been shown to possess biological properties, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, anti-inflammation, and antidiabetic. Further study is necessary to compare the data obtained using different molecular markers in DNA barcoding, and to elucidate other undisclosed compounds in these Caulerpa algae.

Effects of Moleac 901 after severe spinal cord injury on chronic phase in Wistar rats.

Background: MLC901 is a phytopharmaceutical comprising significant compounds that can induce microenvironments conducive to the proliferation and specialization of neural cell progenitors. This study investigates the impact of administering MLC901, reducing the expression of NG2 and caspase-3 and increasing IL-10 levels, as well as histopathological and motor function, after severe spinal cord injury (SCI) in the chronic phase. Methods: The study employed a randomized post-test-only control group design conducted between February and April 2023 at the Integrated Biomedical Laboratory. The participants in this study were categorized into three distinct groups: normal control, negative control, and therapy. A cohort of 18 rats was utilized for the study, with each group assigned a random allocation of six rats as subjects. Results: The findings demonstrated a statistically significant disparity in the average NG2 expression (-52.00 ± 20.03; p ≤ 0.05), as well as Caspase-3 expression (-94.89 ± 8.57; p ≤ 0.05), which exhibited a lower magnitude. The levels of IL-10 (8.96 ± 3.98; p ≤ 0.05) were observed to be higher, along with an elevation in BBB score (7.67 ± 0.89; p ≤ 0.05), which was more pronounced in the treatment group compared to the negative control group. The cut-off point for cavitation diameter is determined to be 114.915 µm, exhibiting a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. The area under curve (AUC) value is 1.0. The administration of MLC901 demonstrated a strong positive correlation with the increase in IL-10 levels (B 8.968; p ≤ 0.05), as well as a substantial negative correlation with the decrease in Caspase-3 expression (B -52.000; p ≤ 0.05) and NG2 expression (B -94.892; p ≤ 0.05). The administration of MLC901 via the upregulation of NG2 and Caspase-3 significantly increased the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scores. Conclusions: MLC901 positively affects motor and histopathological outcomes in the chronic phase of severe SCI in the Wistar rat model. These benefits are believed to be achieved by suppressing gliosis, neuroapoptosis, and neuroinflammation processes.

Phytochemical composition and health properties of Sembung plant (Blumea balsamifera): A review.

Indonesia's mindset has been focusing on the use of natural medicines, food, and healing practices widely recognized by the nation's culture. Traditional medicines and herbs used in traditional medicine can often lead to the discovery of drugs against certain diseases. The aim of this review was to study evidence-based data on the importance of Sembung plant, Blumea balsamifera, as a potential traditional medicine. The distribution, ethnopharmacology, secondary metabolites, and bioactivity against several diseases are focused in this review. Information and research related to Sembung plant were searched using the terms "B. balsamifera," "phytochemicals," and "pharmacological activity" on ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, and scientific information-based databases up to 2020. Several ethnomedical articles recommend B. balsamifera for the treatment of sinusitis, colic pain, cough, kidney stones, flu, or as a diuretic. This knowledge has already been applied in several countries in Southeast Asia. B. balsamifera has been reported to contain several phytochemicals both volatile (terpenoids, fatty acids, phenols, alcohol, aldehydes, ethers, ketones, pyridines, furans, and alkanes) and non-volatile (flavonoids, flavanones, and chalcones). Extracts and phytochemicals of B. balsamifera contain several biological capacities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, anti-infertility, hepatoprotective activity, antidiabetic, gastroprotective, antitumor, anticancer, and immunomodulatory agent against Coronavirus disease-19 infection. This review provides essential data for the potential application of B. balsamifera as a nutraceutical or in future medicinal preparations.

The role of E3 ubiquitin ligase seven in absentia homolog in the innate immune system: An overview.

The innate immune system has been considered as an ancient system and less important than the adaptive immune system. However, the interest in innate immunity has grown significantly in the past few years marked by the identification of Toll-like receptors, a member of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). The PRRs are crucial for the identification of self- and non-self-antigen and play a role in the initiation of signaling events that activate the effective immune response. These sensor signals through interweaving signaling cascades which result in the production of interferons and cytokines as the effector of immune system. Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifiers (UBLs) actively mediate the rapid and versatile regulatory processes that initiate the activation of the innate immune system cascade. The seven in absentia homolog (SIAH) is a potent RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligase that is known to involve in several stress responses, including hypoxia, oxidative stress, DNA damage stress, and inflammation. In this review, the role of SIAH will be discussed as an E3 ubiquitin ligase on the regulation of innate immune.