Sperm quality and testicular histopathology of Wistar albino male rats treated with hydroethanolic extract of Cordia dichotoma fruits.

CONTEXT: Cordia dichotoma Forst. (Boraginaceae) has potent pharmacological impact. Meanwhile, its effect on fertility is unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the effect of Cordia fresh fruits hydroethanolic extract on fertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 120 Wistar albino male rats were divided into four groups (n = 30). The first group was negative control, and the second, third, and fourth groups received 125, 250, and 500 mg extract/kg bodyweight for 56 days. After 56 days, Cordia force-feeding stopped, and all groups were kept under laboratory conditions for another month to study the recovering effect. RESULTS: After day 56, extract at 500 mg/kg significantly reduced sperm total count, motility%, and alive%, to 47.60 ± 2.27 × 106 sperm/mL, 43.33% ± 1.49, and 63.67% ± 1.19, respectively, abnormalities% increased considerably (26.67% ± 0.54), compared to the negative control. Also, significant depletion on follicle-stimulating hormone (2.66 ± 0.21 mIU/L), luteinizing hormone (1.07 ± 0.06 mIU/L), and testosterone (2.69 ± 0.13 nmol/L) level was recorded, compared to the negative control. Cordia negative effect showed on histopathological studies of testes, prostate, and seminal vesicles. Fortunately, these adverse effects of Cordia recovered remarkably after stopping administration for one month. CONCLUSIONS: Cordia antifertility effect may be due to its hypocholesterolemic effect, where cholesterol, the steroid cycle precursor, was significantly reduced. This study can be incorporated in clinical research after being repeated on another small experimental animal, their offspring, and one large experimental animal, then going to a clinical study that we plan to do in the future.

Sage, Salvia officinalis L., Constituents, Hepatoprotective Activity, and Cytotoxicity Evaluations of the Essential Oils Obtained from Fresh and Differently Timed Dried Herbs: A Comparative Analysis.

Sage, Salvia officinalis L., is used worldwide as an aromatic herb for culinary purposes as well as a traditional medicinal agent for various ailments. Current investigations exhibited the effects of extended dryings of the herb on the yields, composition, oil quality, and hepatoprotective as well as anti-cancer biological activities of the hydrodistillation-obtained essential oils from the aerial parts of the plant. The essential oils' yields, compositions, and biological activities levels of the fresh and differently timed and room-temperature dried herbs differed significantly. The lowest yields of the essential oil were obtained from the fresh herbs (FH, 631 mg, 0.16%), while the highest yield was obtained from the two-week dried herbs (2WDH, 1102 mg, 0.28%). A notable decrease in monoterpenes, with increment in the sesquiterpene constituents, was observed for the FH-based essential oil as compared to all the other batches of the essential oils obtained from the different-timed dried herbs. Additionally, characteristic chemotypic constituents of sage, i.e., α-pinene, camphene, ß-pinene, myrcene, 1, 8-cineole, α-thujone, and camphor, were present in significantly higher proportions in all the dried herbs' essential oils as compared to the FH-based essential oil. The in vivo hepatoprotective activity demonstrated significant reductions in the levels of AST, ALT, and ALP, as well as a significant increase in the total protein (p < 0.05) contents level, as compared to the acetaminophen (AAP) administered experimental group of rats. A significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the ALT level was demonstrated by the 4WDH-based essential oil in comparison to the FH-based essential oil. The levels of creatinine, cholesterol, and triglycerides were reduced (p < 0.05) in the pre-treated rats by the essential oil batches, with non-significant differences found among them as a result of the herbs dryings based oils. A notable increase in the viability of the cells, and total antioxidant capacity (TAOxC) levels, together with the reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were observed by the essential oils obtained from all the batches as compared with the AAP-treated cell-lines, HepG-2, HeLa, and MCF-7, that indicated the in vitro hepatoprotective effects of the sage essential oils. However, significant improvements in the in vivo and in vitro hepatoprotective activities with the 4WDH-based oil, as compared to all other essential oil-batches and silymarin standard demonstrated the beneficial effects of the drying protocol for the herb for its medicinal purposes.

Roles of Suaeda vermiculata Aqueous-Ethanolic Extract, Its Subsequent Fractions, and the Isolated Compounds in Hepatoprotection against Paracetamol-Induced Toxicity as Compared to Silymarin.

Suaeda vermiculata, a halophyte consumed by livestock, is also used by Bedouins to manage liver disorders. The aqueous-ethanolic extract of S. vermiculata, its subsequent fractions, and pure compounds, i.e., pheophytin-A (1), isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside (2), and quercetin (3), were evaluated for their hepatoprotective efficacy. The male mice were daily fed with either silymarin, plant aq.-ethanolic extract, fractions, pure isolated compounds, or carboxyl methylcellulose (CMC) for 7 days (n = 6/group, p.o.). On the day 7th of the administrations, all, except the intact animal groups, were induced with hepatotoxicity using paracetamol (PCM, 300 mg/kg). The anesthetized animals were euthanized after 24 h; blood and liver tissues were collected and analysed. The serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels decreased significantly for all the S. vermiculata aq.-ethanolic extract, fraction, and compound-treated groups when equated with the PCM group (p < 0.0001). The antioxidant, superoxide dismutase (SOD), increased significantly (p < 0.05) for the silymarin-, n-hexane-, and quercetin-fed groups. Similarly, the catalase (CAT) enzyme level significantly increased for all the groups, except for the compound 2-treated group as compared to the CMC group. Also, the glutathione reductase (GR) levels were significantly increased for the n-butanol treated group than for the PCM group. The oxidative stress biomarkers, lipid peroxide (LP) and nitric oxide (NO), the inflammatory markers, IL-6 and TNF-α, and the kidney's functional biomarker parameters remained unchanged and did not differ significantly for the treated groups in comparison to the PCM-induced toxicity bearing animals. All the treated groups demonstrated significant decreases in cholesterol levels as compared to the PCM group, indicating hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects. The quercetin-treated group demonstrated significant improvement in triglyceride level. The S. vermiculata aq.-ethanolic extract, fractions, and the isolated compounds demonstrated their hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects, confirming the claimed traditional use of the herb as a liver protectant.

Chemical Profile of Launaea nudicaulis Ethanolic Extract and Its Antidiabetic Effect in Streptozotocin-Induced Rats.

Launaea nudicaulis is used in folk medicine worldwide to treat several diseases. The present study aimed to assess the antidiabetic activity of L. nudicaulis ethanolic extract and its effect on diabetic complications in streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemic rats. The extract was orally administrated at 250 and 500 mg/kg/day for 5-weeks and compared to glibenclamide as a reference drug at a dose of 5 mg/kg/day. Administration of the extract exhibited a potential hypoglycemic effect manifested by a significant depletion of serum blood glucose concurrent with a significant elevation in serum insulin secretion. After 5-weeks, extract at 250 and 500 mg/kg/day decreased blood glucose levels by about 53.8 and 68.1%, respectively, compared to the initial values (p ≤ 0.05). The extract at the two dosages prevented weight loss of rats from the 2nd week till the end of the experiment, compared to diabetic control rats. The extract further exhibited marked improvement in diabetic complications including liver, kidney and testis performance, oxidative stress, and relative weight of vital organs, with respect to diabetic control. Histopathological examinations confirmed the previous biochemical analysis, where the extract showed a protective effect on the pancreas, liver, kidney, and testis that degenerated in diabetic control rats. To characterize extract composition, UPLC-ESI-qTOF-MS identified 85 chromatographic peaks belonging to flavonoids, phenolics, acyl glycerols, nitrogenous compounds, and fatty acids, with four novel phenolics reported. The potential anti-diabetic effect warrants its inclusion in further studies and or isolation of the main bioactive agent(s).

Phytochemical Profiling, In Vitro and In Silico Anti-Microbial and Anti-Cancer Activity Evaluations and Staph GyraseB and h-TOP-IIß Receptor-Docking Studies of Major Constituents of Zygophyllum coccineum L. Aqueous-Ethanolic Extract and Its Subsequent Fractions: An Approach to Validate Traditional Phytomedicinal Knowledge.

Zygophyllum coccineum, an edible halophytic plant, is part of the traditional medicine chest in the Mediterranean region for symptomatic relief of diabetes, hypertension, wound healing, burns, infections, and rheumatoid arthritis pain. The current study aimed to characterize Z. coccineum phytoconstituents, and the evaluations of the anti-microbial-biofilm, and anti-cancers bioactivities of the plant's mother liquor, i.e., aqueous-ethanolic extract, and its subsequent fractions. The in silico receptors interaction feasibility of Z. coccineum major constituents with Staph GyraseB, and human topoisomerase-IIß (h-TOP-IIß) were conducted to confirm the plant's anti-microbial and anti-cancer biological activities. Thirty-eight secondary metabolites of flavonoids, stilbene, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and coumarin classes identified by LC-ESI-TOF-MS spectrometric analysis, and tiliroside (kaempferol-3-O-(6''''-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside, 19.8%), zygophyloside-F (12.78%), zygophyloside-G (9.67%), and isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside (4.75%) were identified as the major constituents. A superior biofilm obliteration activity established the minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) for the chloroform fraction at 3.9-15.63 µg/mL, as compared to the positive controls (15.63-31.25 µg/mL) against all the microbial strains that produced the biofilm under study, except the Aspergillus fumigatus. The aqueous-ethanolic extract showed cytotoxic effects with IC50 values at 3.47, 3.19, and 2.27 µg/mL against MCF-7, HCT-116, and HepG2 cell-lines, respectively, together with the inhibition of h-TOP-IIß with IC50 value at 45.05 ng/mL in comparison to its standard referral inhibitor (staurosporine, IC50, 135.33 ng/mL). This conclusively established the anti-cancer activity of the aqueous-ethanolic extract that also validated by in silico receptor-binding predicted energy levels and receptor-site docking feasibility of the major constituents of the plant's extract. The study helped to authenticate some of the traditional phytomedicinal properties of the anti-infectious nature of the plant.

Drying Induced Impact on Composition and Oil Quality of Rosemary Herb, Rosmarinus Officinalis Linn.

The natural drying of Rosmarinus officinalis Linn. herbs severely affects its volatile oil quality and yields, which is reported here for the first time. The oils obtained through hydrodistillation from fresh, one, two, and three-weeks dried herbs were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID), and the yields were 198 ± 3.45, 168.7 ± 5.11, and 97.8 ± 1.27 mg, respectively, as compared to the internal referral standard of 327 ± 5.91 mg yield of the one-week dried herbs' oil. Camphor, the major constituent, significantly depleted from 20.96% to 13.84%, while bornyl acetate yields increased from 1.42% to 12.46% (p values < 0.0001) in three-weeks drying, reflecting the redox processes undergoing within the oil during drying. Several constituents (25) were found in one-week dried herbs' oil as compared to the fresh, two-, and three-weeks oils, which consisted of 23, 19, and 14 constituents, respectively, leading to the recommendation of the one-week drying of the herb for maximum oil yield. The DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl) reactivity was highest for the two- and three-weeks dried herb-based oils, followed by the one-week dried- and fresh-herb-based oils (p < 0.0001), again indicating major chemical changes during herbs' dryings, affecting the free-radical scavenging capacity of these batches of oils obtained after different drying times.