UPLC-Q-TOF-MS profiling of Viola stocksii Boiss. and evaluation of aphrodisiac potential and risk factors associated with erectile dysfunction.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Viola stocksii Boiss. locally known as makhni or makhanr booti, is an important medicinal food plant with multiple therapeutic applications, including erectile dysfunction (ED). It is mixed with butter and used for boosting energy and sexual health in the subcontinent. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This study was designed to evaluate the chemical composition, aphrodisiac potential and effect of V. stocksii on the risk factors associated with ED. METHODOLOGY: The hydroethanolic extract of V. stocksii (HEEVS) was prepared through the microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique. The chemical composition was evaluated using preliminary phytochemical screening and UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. Metals and minerals analysis was performed by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The aphrodisiac activity of HEEVS was evaluated using an in vivo aphrodisiac model established in male albino rats and the effect on various sexual parameters such as mount, intromission, ejaculation frequencies and mount, intromission, ejaculation latencies, postejaculatory interval, penile reflexes and serum hormone concentration were analyzed. The effect of HEEVS on various risk factors associated with ED, including prostate cancer (PC), bacterial infections, diabetes and obesity, was evaluated using various in vitro assays. Moreover, four compounds were selected from the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS profile and evaluated for in silico computational analysis against phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) for possible interaction. FINDINGS: The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various secondary metabolites in HEEVS, while 58 compounds were tentatively identified in the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. Various important minerals and metals such as zinc, calcium, cadmium and magnesium were detected in the atomic absorption spectrometry analysis. The in vivo aphrodisiac evaluation showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the mount, intromission and ejaculation frequencies and a decrease in the mount, intromission latencies and post-ejaculatory intervals at a dose of 300 mg/kg. A marked (p < 0.05) increase was observed in the concentration of serum testosterone and luteinizing hormones in HEEVS treated animals with a significant increase in total penile reflexes. The extract displayed significant anti-prostate cancer activity and a potential antibacterial spectrum against E. coli and S. aureus, with MIC50 values of 215.72 µg/mL and 139.05 µg/mL, respectively. Similarly, HEEVS was found active towards pancreatic lipase (67.34 ± 1.03%), α-glucosidase (3.87 ± 0.54 mmol ACAE/g d.w.) and α-amylase (6.98 ± 1.63 mmol ACAE/g d.w.). The in silico docking study presented a potential interaction between the selected compounds and residues of the active site of PDE-5. CONCLUSION: This report highlights the aphrodisiac potential of V. stocksii and provides experimental support for its traditional use in ED with an attenuative effect on the risk factors associated with ED. Moreover, the chemical composition displayed the presence of functional phytoconstituents and minerals in HEEVS and paves the way for the isolation of compounds with potent aphrodisiac activity.

Validated HPLC method for simultaneous quantitative determination of dimethylcurcumin and resveratrol in pluronic-F127 nanomicelles: Formulation with enhanced anticancer efficacy.

Nano-micelles offer a promising vehicle for the delivery various therapeutically significant biologicals. Development of convenient and efficient chromatographic methods for the quantitative determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in such systems is of immense importance. In this study pluronic-F-127 nano-micelles were prepared and loaded with dimethylcurcumin (DMC) and resveratrol (Res). A simple, convenient and effective HPLC method was developed for the quantitative estimation of DMC and Res in the polymeric nano-micelles through a single injection. A reverse-phase ACE® C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm) was used with a gradient mobile phase system consisting of 1 % MeOH and 0.1 % H3PO4:100 % acetonitrile at 1 mL/min flow rate with UV detection for Res, and fluorescence detector for DMC. The calibration curves generated for both the compounds were found linear with r2 values of 1.000 over a concentration range of 2-25 µg/mL with low limit of detection (LOD) values of 0.37 and 0.16 µg/mL for DMC and Res respectively and limit of quantification (LOQ) values of 1.23 and 0.55 µg/mL for DMC and Res respectively. Similarly, accuracy was found in a range of 98.80 -102.47 % for DMC and 100.58-101.77 % for Res. Furthermore, the within-run precisions (%RSD) were 0.073 - 0.444% for DMC and 0.159 - 0.917% for Res, while between-run precisions (%RSD) were 0.344 - 1.47 for DMC and 0.458 - 1.651 for Res. Moreover, the DMC with Res co-loaded nanomicelles showed higher activity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB 231 compared to DMC and Res alone. Overall, this study presented a simple, convenient, precise and accurate method for the quantitative determination of DMC and Res in polymeric nano-micelles which have anticancer potential.•A simple HPLC for the quantitative determination of DMC and Res in nanomicelles having anti-cancer potential.•Non complicate with high degree of recoveries of sample preparation process.•This method can be used to determine a mixture of DMC and Res in pharmaceutical formulation in single injection.

Preparation of Self-Assembled, Curcumin-Loaded Nano-Micelles Using Quarternized Chitosan-Vanillin Imine (QCS-Vani Imine) Conjugate and Evaluation of Synergistic Anticancer Effect with Cisplatin.

Nano-micelles are self-assembling colloidal dispersions applied to enhance the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents. In this study, the conjugate of quarternized chitosan and vanillin imine (QCS-Vani imine) was synthesized using the reaction of a Schiff base characterized by proton-NMR (1HNMR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, and FT-IR. The critical micelle concentration (CMC), particle size, and zeta potential of the resulting product were determined. The QCS-Vani imine conjugate was used as a carrier for the development of curcumin-loaded nano-micelles, and their entrapment efficiency (%EE), drug-loading capacity (%LC) and in vitro release were investigated using HPLC analysis. Moreover, the nano-micelles containing curcumin were combined with various concentrations of cisplatin and evaluated for a possible anticancer synergistic effect. The anticancer activity was evaluated against lung cancer A549 and mouse fibroblast L929 cell lines. The percent yield (%) of the QCS-Vani imine conjugate was 93.18%. The curcumin-loaded QCS-Vani imine nano-micelles were characterized and found to have a spherical shape (by TEM) with size < 200 nm (by DLS) with high %EE up to 67.61% and %LC up to 6.15 ± 0.41%. The loaded lyophilized powder of the nano-micelles was more stable at 4 °C than at room temperature during 120 days of storage. pH-sensitive release properties were observed to have a higher curcumin release at pH 5.5 (cancer environment) than at pH 7.4 (systemic environment). Curcumin-loaded QCS-Vani imine nano-micelles showed higher cytotoxicity and selectivity toward lung cancer A549 cell lines and exhibited lower toxicity toward the normal cell (H9C2) than pure curcumin. Moreover, the curcumin-loaded QCS-Vani imine nano-micelles exhibited an enhanced property of inducing cell cycle arrest during the S-phase against A549 cells and showed prominently induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells compared to that with curcumin. The co-treatment of cisplatin with curcumin-loaded QCS-Vani imine nano-micelles presented an enhanced anticancer effect, showing 8.66 ± 0.88 µM as the IC50 value, in comparison to the treatment with cisplatin alone (14.22 ± 1.01 µM). These findings suggest that the developed QCS-Vani imine nano-micelle is a potential drug delivery system and could be a promising approach for treating lung cancer in combination with cisplatin.

New Insights on Acanthus ebracteatus Vahl: UPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS Profile, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activities.

This study investigated the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, and phytochemical profiling of extracts from the leaves and stem/root of Acanthus ebracteatus (AE). The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, 2, 2'-azino-Bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical-scavenging activity, metal chelating activities (MCA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) were used for antioxidant assessment. The ethanolic extracts of the leaves (AEL-nor) and stem/root (AEWP-nor) without chlorophyll removal and those with chlorophyll removal, using sedimentation process (AEL-sed and AEWP-sed), were prepared. Generally, AEL-sed showed the highest antioxidant activity (FRAP: 1113.2 µmol TE/g; ORAC: 11.52 µmol TE/g; MCA: 47.83 µmol EDTA/g; ABTS 67.73 µmol TE/g; DPPH 498.8 µmol TE/g; TPC: 140.50 mg/GAE g and TFC: 110.40 mg/CE g) compared with other extracts. Likewise, AEL-sed also showed the highest bacteriostatic (MIC) and bactericidal (MBC) effects, as well as the highest anticancer and antiproliferative activity against oral squamous carcinoma (CLS-354/WT) cells. UPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS analysis of AEL-sed and AEWP-sed tentatively identified several bioactive compounds in the extracts, including flavonoids, phenols, iridoids, and nucleosides. Our results provide a potentially valuable application for A. ebracteatus, especially in further exploration of the plant in oxidative stress-related disorders, as well as the application of the plant as potential nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals.

One-pot biofabrication and characterization of Tara gum/Riceberry phenolics-silver nanogel: A cytocompatible and green nanoplatform with multifaceted biological applications.

This work proposed a one-pot green route for the development of a biocompatible Tara gum-Riceberry phenolics­silver nanosphere hybrid nanocomposite (TG/RiPE-SNG) with manifold biological potentialities. The reaction system comprised of AgNO3 as nanosilver precursor, Riceberry phenolic extract as the green in situ reductant, and Tara gum as stabilizing and anchoring agent. TG/RiPE-SNG was extensively characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, FTIR, RAMAN, TEM, FESEM, EDX, DLS/zeta potential, XRD, and TGA analyses. Small, stable, spherical, well-dispersed SNP with an average particle size of 13.01 nm and λmax of 421 nm were synthesized in situ, and uniformly distributed within the gel-like TG/RiPE composite. The prepared nanocomposite demonstrated superior antibacterial properties (MIC of 12.5 µg/mL) against S. aureus and S. epidermidis compared to the gum or extract. Additionally, TG/RiPE-SNG exhibited strong light barrier, tyrosinase inhibitory and antioxidant functionalities. TG/RiPE-SNG also exhibited high stability at different pH and was more thermally stable relative to the plain TG/RiPE composite. Furthermore, TG/RiPE-SNG showed good biocompatibility towards mouse L929 fibroblasts and rat erythrocytes. The obtained findings revealed a simple, benign, and inexpensive approach using only natural ingredients for the preparation of gum-based biopolymer-nanosilver hybrid nanocomposite and underscored the strong attributes of TG/RiPE-SNP as a nanomaterial with desirable biomedical potentials.