Chemical Composition and Cytotoxic Activity of Pistacia atlantica var. kurdica Fruits

Pistacia atlantica var. kurdica (Anacardiaceae) is a major subspecies found in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and has several beneficial bioactivities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral. P. atlantica growing in the Kurdistan region is not yet studied phytochemically and pharmacologically. Hence, the goal of the present study is to characterize chemical compounds present in ethanolic extract of P. atlantica fruits by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) and to evaluate cytotoxic activity using A549 (human lung cancer) cell lines by (3-4,5 dimethylthiazol-2yl2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. The GC–MS analysis shows the presence of 33 chemical compounds which constitute about 99.95% of total compounds, and isospathulenol (14.63%), spathulenol (13.45%), α-terpineol (13.28%), limonene (10.92%), terpinolene (10.89%), β-myrcene (6.92%), ethyl pentadecanoate (6.15%), β-pinene (4.98%), and caryophyllene oxide (4.01%) were found as major chemical compounds. P. atlantica inhibits cell proliferation in A549 cell lines in a time (24 h) and dose-dependent manner (0.5–500 µg/mL). After 24 h of treatment with P. atlantica, the cell viability of A549 cell lines ranged from 93.01 ± 5.24 to 57.69 ± 4.15% for concentrations of 0.5–500 µg/mL, respectively. This study expands the knowledge of the chemical composition of P. atlantica fruits and provides scientific evidence for its possible use as an anticancer medicine. The substantial anticancer activity of P. atlantica fruits may be due to the presence of isospathulenol, spathulenol, α-terpineol, limonene, terpinolene, β-myrcene, ethyl pentadecanoate, β-pinene, and caryophyllene oxide

Influence of Physical Training on Selected Psychological Variables among Obese Children

The purpose of the present study was to find out the influence of physical training on selected psychological variables among obese children. To achieve the purpose of the present study, thirty obese children from Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India were selected as subjects at random and their ages ranged from 9 to 12 years. The selected subjects are divided in to two groups. Group I acted as physical training group and Group II acted as control group. The experimental group participated physical training programme for twelve weeks duration. The control group was not undergone any training other than their daily routine. The data was analyzed by applying dependent ‘t test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The physical training had positive impact on aggression and anxiety among obese children

Chemical Composition and Cytotoxic Activity of Pistacia atlantica var. kurdica Fruits

Pistacia atlantica var. kurdica (Anacardiaceae) is a major subspecies found in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and has several beneficial bioactivities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral. P. atlantica growing in the Kurdistan region is not yet studied phytochemically and pharmacologically. Hence, the goal of the present study is to characterize chemical compounds present in ethanolic extract of P. atlantica fruits by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) and to evaluate cytotoxic activity using A549 (human lung cancer) cell lines by (3-4,5 dimethylthiazol-2yl2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. The GC–MS analysis shows the presence of 33 chemical compounds which constitute about 99.95% of total compounds, and isospathulenol (14.63%), spathulenol (13.45%), α-terpineol (13.28%), limonene (10.92%), terpinolene (10.89%), β-myrcene (6.92%), ethyl pentadecanoate (6.15%), β-pinene (4.98%), and caryophyllene oxide (4.01%) were found as major chemical compounds. P. atlantica inhibits cell proliferation in A549 cell lines in a time (24 h) and dose-dependent manner (0.5–500 µg/mL). After 24 h of treatment with P. atlantica, the cell viability of A549 cell lines ranged from 93.01 ± 5.24 to 57.69 ± 4.15% for concentrations of 0.5–500 µg/mL, respectively. This study expands the knowledge of the chemical composition of P. atlantica fruits and provides scientific evidence for its possible use as an anticancer medicine. The substantial anticancer activity of P. atlantica fruits may be due to the presence of isospathulenol, spathulenol, α-terpineol, limonene, terpinolene, β-myrcene, ethyl pentadecanoate, β-pinene, and caryophyllene oxide.</jats:p

Antibacterial potential of <i>Bacopa monnieri</i> (L.) Wettst. and its bioactive molecules against uropathogens—an in silico study to identify potential lead molecule(s) for the development of new drugs to treat urinary tract infections

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are becoming more common, requiring extensive protection from antimicrobials. The global expansion of multi-drug resistance uropathogens in the past decade emphasizes the necessity of newer antibiotic treatments and prevention strategies for UTIs. Medicinal plants have wide therapeutic applications in both the prevention and management of many ailments. Bacopa monnieri is a medicinal plant that is found in the warmer and wetlands regions of the world. It has been used in Ayurvedic systems for centuries. The present study aimed to investigate the antibacterial potential of the extract of B. monnieri leaves and its bioactive molecules against UTIs that are caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis. This in vitro experimental study was conducted by an agar well diffusion method to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of 80% methanol, 96% ethanol, and aqueous extracts of B. monnieri leaves on uropathogens. Then, further screening of their phytochemicals was carried out using standard methods. To validate the bioactive molecules and the microbe interactions, AutoDock Vina software was used for molecular docking with the Klebsiella pneumoniae fosfomycin resistance protein (5WEW) and the Zn-dependent receptor-binding domain of Proteus mirabilis MR/P fimbrial adhesin MrpH (6Y4F). Toxicity prediction and drug likeness were predicted using ProTox-II and Molinspiration, respectively. A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was carried out to study the protein ligand complexes. The methanolic leaves extract of B. monnieri revealed a 22.3 mm ± 0.6 mm to 25.0 mm ± 0.5 mm inhibition zone, while ethanolic extract seemed to produce 19.3 mm ± 0.8 mm to 23.0 mm ± 0.4 mm inhibition zones against K. pneumoniae with the use of increasing concentrations. In the case of P. mirabilis activity, the methanolic extracts showed a 21.0 mm ± 0.8 mm to 24.0 mm ± 0.6 mm zone of inhibition and the ethanol extract produced a 17.0 mm ± 0.9 mm to 23.0 mm ± 0.7 mm inhibition zone with increasing concentrations. Carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponin, phenolic, and terpenoid were common phytoconstituents identified in B. monnieri extracts. Oroxindin showed the best interactions with the binding energies with 5WEW and 6Y4F, −7.5 kcal/mol and −7.4 kcal/mol, respectively. Oroxindin, a bioactive molecule, followed Lipinski’s rule of five and exhibited stability in the MD simulation. The overall results suggest that Oroxindin from B. monnieri can be a potent inhibitor for the effective killing of K. pneumoniae and P. mirabilis. Additionally, its safety has been established, indicating its potential for future drug discovery and development in the treatment for UTIs