Benincasa hispida Alleviates Stress and Anxiety in a Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Model.

The Ayurvedic medical system uses fruits of the Benincasa hispida plant to treat mental diseases, including schizophrenia. The goal of the current study was to assess the aqueous extract of B. hispida fruit's ability to relieve stress and anxiety induced in zebrafish models using neuropharmacological evaluation, which included determining behavioral parameters in tests such as the T-maze, open tank test (OTT), and light-dark preference test (LDPT). After measuring the zebrafish survival rate for 96 h, the LC50 was found to be 5 µg. AChE (acetylcholinesterase) inhibitory activity and the status of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and LDH) were also used to evaluate the toxicity. Furthermore, the administration of the aqueous extract of B. hispida fruit increased the frequency of entry and duration of time spent in the bright section, suggesting a noteworthy reduction in levels of stress and anxiety. Additionally, the antistress and antianxiety activity was confirmed by the docking studies' mechanism of action, which involves the AChE receptor binding stability of the homogalactaconan molecule found in the aqueous extract of B. hispida fruit. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrated that the aqueous extract of B. hispida fruit is a viable therapeutic molecule for the creation of novel drugs and the treatment of stress since it has the therapeutic advantage of reversing the negative effects of stress and anxiety.

Remediation of phenanthrene by highly efficient CdS-SnS photocatalyst and its cytotoxic assessments.

Cadmium sulfide-tin sulfide (CdS-SnS) nanoparticles are a novel kind of photocatalyst. These CdS-SnS nanoparticles are synthesized and characterized using UV-Vis, FT-IR, XRD, SEM-EDX, and DLS techniques, to understand their size distribution, crystalline nature, morphology, shape, optical properties, and elemental composition. This research offers insight into the efficient photocatalytic degradation of Phenanthrene (PHE) using CdS-SnS. The CdS-SnS NPs as photocatalyst can effectively photodegrade the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) such as phenanthrene under simulated solar and UV light. UV-vis spectra of these nanoparticles exhibit peaks at 365 and 546 cm-1 respectively, the mean size of the CdS-SnS NPs in DLS is determined to be 78 nm. The CdS-SnS stretching frequency was observed at wave numbers below 700 cm-1, the absorption peak at 1123 cm-1 indicates the presence of C-N stretch or CS bond of thiourea, while the peak at 1350.38 cm-1 corresponds to the tris-amine C-N stretch in FT-IR. Additionally, the peaks observed at 2026 cm-1 indicate the presence of isothiocyanate (NCS). 1456.23 cm-1 represents the asymmetric scissor deformation vibration. EDAX revealed the presence of elemental Cd and Sn oxides. The antimicrobial studies showed that the CdS-SnS NPs at the concentration of 150 µg/mL, exhibit maximum inhibition (15 ± 1.25 mm) against the strains Proteus mirabilis followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis and Clostridium spp. Among fungal strains Colletotrichum spp. exhibits the maximum zone of inhibition (9 ± 0.25). This research also observed the cytotoxic effects of CdS-SnS NPs on HepG2 and ZF4 cells. HepG2 cells exhibited 50% inhibition at 50 µg/mL and 70% inhibition at 100 µg/mL concentrations, while ZF4 cells exhibited 50% inhibition at 50 µg/mL and 78% inhibition at 100 µg/mL concentrations, respectively. The parameters like concentration of PHE, concentration of CdS-SnS NPs, pH, and sources of irradiation on batch adsorption were examined to maximize the efficiency of the photodegradation process.