Renoprotective and therapeutic effects of newly water, ethanol, and butanol ginseng fractions in hypertensive and chronic kidney disease with L-NAME.

The present study investigated the protective and treatment effects of different ginseng fractions against L-NAME-induced renal toxicity in rats. The data obtained demonstrated that L-NAME significantly increased creatinine, urea, KIM-1, and lipocalin-2 levels in serum; and also increased renal MDA and eNOS levels compared with the control group. Three bioactive fractions were newly extracted from ginseng, analyzed by GC-MS analysis, and were examined for antimicrobial, prebiotic, and histological activities. All ginseng fractions improved such histological changes, as reflected by significant reductions in creatinine, urea, KIM-1, and LCN-2 levels in serum, and renal MDA and eNOS contents in tissue homogenate. The water ginseng fraction (WGF) has the highest prebiotic index of 4.7 toward Lactobacillus reuteri, and can improve the renal functions more than butanol ginseng fraction (BGF) and ethanol ginseng fraction (EGF). These three ginseng fractions significantly reversed L-NAME-induced depletion in the TNF-α gene expression level. Interestingly, WGF was able to improve the renal functions more than BGF and EGF. L-NAME led to alterations in the histological structure and functions of renal tissue of rats and ginseng supplementation could offer greater protection against these changes. Moreover, the WGF exhibited superior renoprotection properties when compared with the other two fractions: BGF and EGF, and the reference drug losartan.

Role of levan extracted from bacterial honey isolates in curing peptic ulcer: In vivo.

Peptic ulcer is one of the worldwide diseases where 10% of adults are affected by peptic ulcers at least once in their lifetime. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of levan in treating peptic ulcer. The bacterial honey isolates called Bacillus sp. levan was utilized. Levan was chemically characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), 1H and 13C NMR analysis. Levan was used to treat gastric ulcers induced in rats by oral administration of 5 mL/kg ethanol. Microscopic examination of stomach sections indicated that treatment with 200 mg/kg levan effectively healed the ulcers. Levan had no antimicrobial activity against a common cause of ulcers such as Helicobacter pylori bacteria. Rather, we proposed that the high adhesion (manifested as a protective coating) and prebiotic activity of levan may account for the observed beneficial effects. The immunohistochemical examination showed that levan led to a noticeable Bacillus sp. levan reduction in NF-κB in the upper gastric mucosa. The results concluded that the role of levan was more protective rather than preventive and suggested that levan could play a fundamental role in solving the peptic ulcer problems.

Soft hydrogel based on modified chitosan containing P. granatum peel extract and its nano-forms: Multiparticulate study on chronic wounds treatment.

Punica granatum peel (PGP) is widely used in traditional medicinal purposes for chronic wounds owing to containing natural phenolics active components. In current study, active wound dressing hydrogel for chronic wound healing was prepared based on P. granatum peel crude extract (PGPC), ethyl acetate fraction (PGPEA) and their silver nanoforms (Ag-NPs). Methacrylated chitosan was synthesized as precursor to hydrogel and crosslinked by divinyl sulfone (DVS) in mild condition. Hydrogel was fully characterized by spectral morphological, mechanical and physical analyses. The integration of PGPEA silver nanoforms was formed with particle size of 15-56 nm to show minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) equal 63 for Staphylococcus aureus and 125 for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The hydrogel-based wound dressing with/without the active ingredients showed acceptable cytotoxicity against fibroblast human cells for PGPC and PGPEA fraction over the silver nanoforms. Rat as animal model was considered to show the impact of the active wound dressing on diabetic wounds which was proved by histopathological examination. In addition, the significant intensity of immunopositivity signals of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß1) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) in the epidermal cells have revealed the efficiency of Ag NPs-PGPEA-chitosan hydrogel for chronic wound curing.

Design, Synthesis of New Pyridine and Pyrimidine Sugar Compounds as Antagonists Targeting the ERα via Structure-Based Virtual Screening.

BACKGROUND: New aryl substituted cyclohepta[b]pyridine and cyclohepta[d]pyrimidine derivatives were synthesized. The sugar hydrazones of the synthesized pyridine and pyrimidine compounds were also prepared. METHOD: In addition, the 1,3,4-oxadiazolyl acyclic C-nucleoside analogs of the pyridine system were prepared. The hemolytic, prebiotic, anticancer and antimicrobial activities of some of the synthesized compounds were also studied. Compounds 10 and 12 showed high activity against MCF-7, HEPG-2 and HCT-116 cell lines with IC50 at range 3.56-8.55 µg/mL. In addition, the synthesized condensed thiopyrimidine derivative 10 exhibited more potent bactericidal activity while compound 7 demonstrated potent antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger. Furthermore, the synthetic compounds of the pyrimidine base promoted the growth of lactic acid bacteria. RESULTS: The predicted binding patterns of three of the prepared derivatives as possible antagonists against ERα were investigated which showed good binding patterns.

New applied pharmacological approach/trend on utilization of agro-industrial wastes.

This study aimed to transform the locally available lignocellulosic residual palm frond (PF) and rice straw (RS) wastes into multifunction added products like methylated cellulose and sulfated and phosphorylated hemicelluloses by simple processes. Hydrolysis with 2 N sulfuric acid was the most suitable reaction for microcrystalline cellulose production. The characteristics of the prepared products were studied to obtain the optimum reaction conditions. Palm frond hemicellulose (PFHC) recorded the highest antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans (22, 22, 26 mm), respectively, and phosphorylated palm frond hemicellulose (PPFHC) exhibited the highest potential antioxidant activity of approximately 60%, suggesting a possible correlation between the two bioactivities. Most of extracted celluloses and their derivatives had a variety of promising probiotic activities which are expected to reduce the side effects of the gastric mucosa and possibly play a role in curing the gastric ulcer. Accordingly, the determination of anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective activity results revealed that methylcellulose, sulfated and phosphorylated hemicelluloses showed anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective activities and the capability of all tested compounds to ameliorate the ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats' stomach. All results recommended PF and RS and their derivatives to be used as a medicinal food.