Analysis of the anti-cancer effect of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate extracted cekur (Kaempferia galanga) on cancer cell lines with wild-type and null p53

This study aimed to examine the in-vitro anti-cancer potential of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate (EPMC), the major constituent of Kaempferia galanga (K. galanga) in selected human lung adenocarcinoma cells line A549 (p53 wild-type) and H1299 (p53 null). The involvement of p53 pathway in the anti-cancer effect of EPMC on selected cells was determined using MTT assay and Real-time PCR. The MTT results show that EPMC induces cytotoxicity in a dose- dependent manner in A549 cancer cell lines containing the p53 wild-type gene. Meanwhile, our RT-PCR results indicate that the apoptotic activity of EPMC does not involve the p53 pathway. Overall, these results indicate that EPMC compounds of K. galanga stimulates in vitro cytotoxic and apoptotic activity unrelated to the p53 pathway

Effects of Chondroitin Sulfate (CS) on (HeLa) Cervical Cancer and Breast Cancer (MCF-7) cell lines

Chondroitin Sulfate (CS) is the main constituent of Blue-spotted Stingray which shows promising in vitro anticancer activities in cancer cell lines. However, the effects of CS on human breast cancer and cervical cancer cell lines remain to be explored. Here we report that CS induced different degree of cytotoxicity in two human cancer cell lines, cervical cancer HeLa and breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines. We found that MCF-7 was more resistant to CS exposure than HeLa cell line. Moreover, CS induced apoptosis in HeLa but not MCF-7 cell line as shown by caspase-3 activity assay. The CS-induced caspase-3 activation in HeLa cells was also confirmed by using quantititative RT-PCR. Our findings show that the caspase-3 activation induced by CS in HeLa cells was transcriptional. These results indicate that as an anticancer candidate, CS is more potent on cervical cancer than the breast cancer cell line

In vitro cytotoxicity analysis of bioceramic root canal sealers on human gingival fibroblast cells

Cytotoxicity of various bioceramic root canal sealers are not well understood due to the limited scientific data. Previous research focused on comparing the conventional and bioceramic root canal sealers but there was no comparison between the latter. The aim of this study is to evaluate the cytotoxicity of bioceramic root canal sealers and to propose the material that is less cytotoxic for clinical purposes. Bioceramic root canal sealers, such as GuttaFlow Bioseal, MTA Fillapex, CeraSeal Bioceramic root canal sealer and iRoot SP root canal sealer were mixed according to the manufacturers’ instructions and placed into a sterilised cylindrical silicone mold with 5 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to analyse changes in the quality and consistency of all the bioceramic root canal sealers. Human gingival fibroblast cells were cultivated and exposed to material extracts for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h in a 5% CO2 humidified incubator at 37 °C. The MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was conducted to determine cell viability at each incubation period and compared between all the bioceramic root canal sealers. The cell viability was qualitatively graded as severe ( 90%). The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 25.0. GuttaFlow Bioseal showed less cytotoxicity followed by CeraSeal Bioceramic root canal sealer, iRoot SP root canal sealer, and MTA Fillapex. Clinicians should select bioceramic root canal sealers that have low cytotoxic effects during root canal treatment procedure

In vitro cytotoxicity analysis of bioceramic root canal sealers on human gingival fibroblast cells

Cytotoxicity of various bioceramic root canal sealers are not well understood due to the limited scientific data. Previous research focused on comparing the conventional and bioceramic root canal sealers but there was no comparison between the latter. The aim of this study is to evaluate the cytotoxicity of bioceramic root canal sealers and to propose the material that is less cytotoxic for clinical purposes. Bioceramic root canal sealers, such as GuttaFlow Bioseal, MTA Fillapex, CeraSeal Bioceramic root canal sealer and iRoot SP root canal sealer were mixed according to the manufacturers’ instructions and placed into a sterilised cylindrical silicone mold with 5 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to analyse changes in the quality and consistency of all the bioceramic root canal sealers. Human gingival fibroblast cells were cultivated and exposed to material extracts for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h in a 5% CO2 humidified incubator at 37 °C. The MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was conducted to determine cell viability at each incubation period and compared between all the bioceramic root canal sealers. The cell viability was qualitatively graded as severe ( 90%). The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 25.0. GuttaFlow Bioseal showed less cytotoxicity followed by CeraSeal Bioceramic root canal sealer, iRoot SP root canal sealer, and MTA Fillapex. Clinicians should select bioceramic root canal sealers that have low cytotoxic effects during root canal treatment procedure

Ayurvedic mediated green synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles from marine microalgae Isochrysis sp.

Ayurveda is an Indian traditional medicinal system. Yet Ayurveda remains in living tradition. There has been an increased global interest in traditional medicine systems. Asavas is a novel yet less exploited hydro extraction method in Ayurveda. As green synthesis of metal nanoparticles is widely under exploration in the current research world, synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles by employing the Ayurveda method using marine microalgae is tested in this research. The characterization of metal nanoparticles was confirmed by UV- Visible Spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Through the Arishtas method, gold and silver nanoparticles were successfully isolated from Isochrysis sp. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibit excellent antioxidant and antimicrobial activities

In vitro evaluation of the effect of Pluchea indica extracts in promoting glucose consumption activity on a liver cell line

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that is associated with mortality and morbidity. Recently, several plant-based agents have been used in the management of diabetes. Pluchea indica has been traditionally consumed as a medicinal plant in Southeast Asia, and its leaves have demonstrated induction of hypoglycemic effect in normal rats. This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the potency of P. indica extracts in stimulating glucose consumption in human liver CCL-13 cell line model. Methods: P. indica leaves were dried and extracted using a series of organic solvents and water. The effect of the extracts on cell viability was determined by MTT assay. The glucose consumption was analyzed using glucose oxidase method. Results: Our results revealed that the methanol extract of P. indica could significantly increase glucose consumption of cells in a concentration-dependent manner, which suggests the usefulness of the extract as an antidiabetic candidate via stimulation of glucose uptake into the liver cells. Conclusion: Our study suggests that P. indica is a potential natural candidate for diabetes mellitus management

Mangostins stimulate glucose uptake and inhibit adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Garcinia mangostana (Guttiferae) has interesting biological activities with potential medicinal application. α-mangostin and β-mangostin are the most abundant xanthones isolated from the species. The paper reported the inhibitory effect of the compounds on triglyceride formation, glucose uptake stimulation and gene expression effects on 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Evaluation of the effect of the compounds on triglyceride accumulation was examined by Oil red O staining. The result showed that all compounds inhibited lipid accumulation on 3T3-L1 adipocytes at concentration of 50 μM (P < 0.05) compared to MDI treated cells in a dose-dependent manner. Effect of the cells on uptake of 2-deoxy-D-[3H]glucose was significantly improved by increasing the concentration of the compounds. Analysis of gene expressions by quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated that the compounds inhibited the expression of early adipogenic transcription factor (PPARγ). In addition, the compounds enhanced the expression and plasma membrane translocation of GLUT4 in mature adipocytes. Analysis by using the adipolysis kit showed that α-mangostin particularly increases the free fatty acid release by stimulating the lipolysis pathway. Therefore, these results suggested that α-mangostin and β-mangostin have been found to have a beneficial action in diabetic complications (antiobesity effect) via stimulation of GLUT4 expression and inhibition of PPARγ expression

Antibacterial activities of metal-natural extract complexes

Metal-based compounds consist of an organic substituent as the ligand and an inorganic substituent as the metal center. Natural products, particularly natural extract, are well known to exhibit excellent biological activities, while the inorganic substituents are usually metal ions. Metal ions, especially transition metals, exhibit different oxidation states and can interact with any ligands. Advances in inorganic chemistry provide better opportunities to use metal-based compounds as therapeutic agents. The mode of action of these metal-based compounds on living organisms is different from non-metals. The unique properties of metal ions should be exploited to design new compounds. Pluchea indica (L.) Less (locally known as Beluntas), Clinacanthus nutans (locally known as Belalai Gajah), and Phyllanthus niruri (locally known as Dukung Anak) are medicinal plants that possess various biological properties. Incorporation of transition metal ions (Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Zn2+) into the crude extracts from these medicinal plants would give metal-natural extract complexes of the plants. Leaves of Pluchea indica (L.) Less, Clinacanthus nutans, and Phyllanthus niruri were collected and extracted with either methanol or ethanol and reacted with various transition metal salts to yield metal-natural extract complexes. The metal-natural extract complexes were assessed for their antibacterial activities using quantitative and qualitative antibacterial assays against four pathogenic bacteria, which were Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), Bacillus cereus (ATCC 117788), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922). The antibacterial assays showed that the biological activities of the metal-natural extract complexes were enhanced and selective towards selected target bacteria. It was found that the identity of transition metal ions plays an important role in enhancing the bioactivity exhibited by the metal-natural extract complexes. The results showed that these metal-natural extract complexes of Pluchea indica (L.) Less, Clinacanthus nutans, and Phyllanthus niruri are potential alternative antibacterial agents

Xanthones from Garcinia Malaccencis improve Glut4 aswell as decreased Pparγ activation on adipocytes

In this study, we used α-mangostin, the major xanthone compounds and β-mangostin from Garcinia malaccensis Hk.f (locally known as “manggis burung”) and evaluate its in vitro activities on adipocyte differentiation, glucose uptake and related gene expression (pparγ and glut4) mechanism. Firstly, we elucidated the inhibitory effect of the compounds on lipid accumulation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by using Oil red O staining. Cell treated with α-mangostin and β-mangostin dose-dependently was found to inhibit the cytoplasmic lipid accumulation as well as adipogenic differentiation of preadipocyte. All compounds showed high lipid inhibition activity at 50 μg/mL concentration (P < 0.05) compared to MDI treated cells. Besides, glucose uptake activity was investigated in differentiated adipocytes using a radioactive-labelled glucose by Liquid Scintillation Counter. The insulin-induced 2-deoxy-D-[3H] glucose uptake activities were significantly improved with increasing the concentration of the test compounds. Further evaluation with the quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) shows that α-mangostin and β-mangostin reduced the expression of pparγ genes during adipocyte differentiation. At the same time, induction of glucose uptake by α-mangostin and β-mangostin was accompanied by the increased mRNA expression of glut4 genes. Since downregulation of pparγ has been reported to be activated during inhibition of adipogenesis and enhance expression of glut4 has been shown to be increased during glucose uptake we demonstrated that both compounds follow the antiobesity pathways. Taken together, these results indicate that xanthones derived from Garcinia malaccencis may be a candidate for preventing metabolic disorders such as obesity

Cytotoxic and anti- inflammatory activities of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) from selected sea food waste extract on cell lines

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are long unbranched polysaccharide that composed of repeating disaccharide units. They are classified into heparan sulfate (HS), heparin, chondroitin sulfate (CS), dermatan sulfate (DS), keratan sulfate (KS) and hyaluronic acid (HA). During the last decade, demand of GAGs were getting increased due to their potential uses. Vertebrate animal, commonly cartilaginous mammalian tissue, were potential producer of GAGs and have the higher number of biological activities extracted from sea bass waste. Sea bass waste from Lates calcarifer was used as the raw material to extract crude GAGs. Different part of sea bass waste such as, gills, viscera and air bladders were used. The higher content of crude GAGs in sea bass waste was used in cytotoxic and inflammatory study. Different concentration of extract GAGs from gills were used ranging between 0.16-20 mg/mL. GAGs from sea bass waste (gills) showed dose-dependent cytotoxic activity towards MCF-7 cell line in lower concentration. Meanwhile, for anti-inflammatory study GAGs from sea bass waste (gills) showed dose-dependent manner and also reduce NO production in LPS-stimulated cells. This research study concluded that, GAGs from sea bass waste are the alternative source that can be used for cancer and inflammation study