RESUMO
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.
RESUMO
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.