Phytochemical profile and in vitro protoscolicidal effects of Juniperus phoenicea L., Calotropis procera (Aiton) Dryand, and Artemisia judaica L. against Echinococcus granulosus cysts

Context: Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus) is a significant zoonotic agent in veterinary and medicinal fields. Surgery and benzimidazole drugs are used as treatments but have significant drawbacks. Therefore, there is growing interest in ethnomedical approaches to investigating the scolicidal properties of plants traditionally as anthelmintics. Calotropis procera, Juniperus phoenicea, and Artemisia judaica are three plants traditionally used as anthelmintics. Aims: To examine the phytochemical composition and scolicidal capability against E. granulosus cysts of C. procera, J. phoenicea, and A. judaica methanolic extracts. Methods: Fresh E. granulosus cysts were isolated from livestock in southern Jordan and tested to determine the scolicidal potential of C. procera, J. phoenicea, and A. judaica aerial parts methanolic extracts, and their chemical compositions were examined using LC-MS. Results: Although all treatments were protoscolicidal, that of J. phoenicea exhibited higher protoscolices mortality rates at lower concentrations and treatment times than the other extracts. The LC-MS analysis revealed several components with biologically active properties were present in the plant extracts, including terpenes and polyphenolic compounds. Only C. procera contained the steroid uzarin and the flavonoid isoquercitrin. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the potent effects of A. judaica, J. phoenicea, and C. procera methanolic extracts against E. granulosus protoscoleces in vitro, indicating that these plants and/or their phytochemical components may be attractive sources of novel scolicidal medications

Assessment of exogenous application of plant growth regulators on Cress seed germination and ?-Galactosidase activity

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) were involved in several types of abiotic stress responses by means of improving seed germination and modifying the growth and development of medicinally important Lepidium sativum via alleviating the negative effects of abiotic stresses. Therefore, the present research was carried out to investigate the effects of exogenous application of PGRson seed germination, protein content and ?-galactosidase activity of L. sativum. Germination of L. sativum seeds was monitored for a short interval after the start of incubation until growth became 100%. While cytokinin treatment showed a positive effect on seed germination more than Gibberellic acid (GA), salicylic acid (SA) produced a higher negative effect than auxins. Quantifying changes in total protein content during seed germination as influenced by PGRs revealed that all PGRs have to exert a positive effect arranged in the following order: SA ? auxin ? cytokinin ? GA. Parallel to changes in germination percentage and total protein content of seed, a negative effect was attainedon ?-galactosidase specific activity in response to PGRs with the following arrangement: SA ? auxin ? cytokinin ? GA.In conclusion, the present study proposed the potential importance of the type and magnitude of exogenously applied PGRs during the germination of easily or even more difficult-to-germinate seeds

Antibacterial synergy of Tritirachium oryzae-produced silver nanoparticles with different antibiotics and essential oils derived from Cupressus sempervirens and Asteriscus graveolens (Forssk)

Purpose: To carry out eco-friendly biosynthesis of fungi-derived silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and investigate their antibacterial synergies with essential oils (EOs) of Asteriscus graveolens (Forssk.) Less. and Cupressus sempervirens. Methods: Biosynthesis of AgNPs was carried out using a cell-free filtrate of Tritirachium oryzae. The biosynthesized AgNPs characteristics were assessed using different methods, including ultravioletvisible spectrophotometry (UV), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results: Obvious synergistic effects were observed between AgNPs and chloramphenicol, vancomycin, nitrofurantoin or tetracycline with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, through increases in fold area of inhibition (IFAs) within the range of 2.4 to 9.0. Synergistic interactions were also seen between AgNPs and the antibiotics used, depending on the strain. Increase in IFA ranged from 1- to 3-fold for S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa. Similarly, combinations of AgNPs, EO of A. graveolens and cefotaxime, nitrofurantoin or amoxicillin against P. aeruginosa led to 10-, 3- and 10-fold synergy, respectively. In contrast, the use of AgNPs and trimethoprim, tetracycline or amoxicillin against E. coli led to 1 to 6-fold synergy. The best synergistic capacity resulted from AgNPs and the EO of C. sempervirens and trimethoprim against S. epidermidis, which yielded 29-fold increase in IFA. The use of combination of AgNPs and vancomycin against P. aeruginosa led to 16.4-fold enhancement of IFA. Conclusion: The findings can potentially lead to the development of a new perception of antibacterial agents (innovative medications) involving the incorporation of nanoparticles (NPs) or new materials that potentially synergize with antibiotics, NPs and the EOs of different plants

Assessment of antioxidant potential, cytotoxicity, and anticancer activity of methanolic extracts from selected wild medicinal plants

Introduction: Medicinal plants are considered an important source of human health because of their therapeutic capabilities in treating various diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical profile, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities of the methanolic extracts of three wild medicinal plants (Ruta graveolens, Peganum harmala and Citrullus colocynthis). Methods: The total phenolic content was determined according to the Folin–Ciocalteu method. The total flavonoid contents were measured by the aluminum chloride colorimetric method. The antioxidant activity was estimated based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The phytochemical analysis was performed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. The cytotoxicity and anticancer activity of each plant extract was investigated against fibroblast and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines, respectively, using Giemsa staining assay. Results: R. graveolens extract exhibited the highest concentrations of total phenols (25.5 ± 0.5 mg GA/g dry extract) and flavonoids (9.8 ± 0.5 mg Rutin/g dry extract). Additionally, it demonstrated the most robust antioxidant capacity, as demonstrated by both DPPH (100.8 ± 0.56 mg GA/g dry extract) and FRAP (91.2 ± 1.33 mg GA/g dry extract) assays. Within this plant, Rutin constituted 13.7 % of the total compounds. Furthermore, R. graveolens displayed the most significant anticancer activity, with statistical significance at p< 0.01. Notably, it exhibited the lowest cytotoxicity against the fibroblast cell line, even at the highest tested concentration of 100 μg/ml. In contrast, both P. harmala and C. colocynthis demonstrated substantial anticancer potential (p< 0.01); however, they both exhibited significant cytotoxicity against the fibroblast cell line (p<0.01). Conclusion: R. graveolens extract holds promise as a potential reservoir of safe and effective antioxidant and anticancer compounds for human use

Protective role of Punica granatum L. peel extract against oxidative damage in experimental diabetic rats

Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) peels extract had the highest free radical scavenging capacity among the tested medicinal plants which are being used traditionally for treatment of diabetes in Jordan. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the antioxidant effect of P. granatum peel methanolic extract against oxidative damage in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The antioxidant activity of P. granatum peel extract was investigated by examining the level of antioxidant enzymes, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR), the serum total antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation in the tissues of treated diabetic rates comparing with normal and untreated diabetic ones. The results revealed that intraperitoneal administration of 10 and 20 mg kg−1 (body weight) of P. granatum peel extract for 4 weeks significantly enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes in liver, kidney and RBC of STZ-induced diabetic rats. The extract also caused a significant reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxide's marker, in diabetic rat tissues and elevated the total serum antioxidant capacity in dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, this study clearly showed that P. granatum peel extract has protective role against the oxidative damage in STZ-induced diabetic rats

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of four Malaysian sponge species (petrosiidae)

Aqueous and organic extracts from four marine sponges collected from the coastline of Malaysia were screened against six microorganisms, including the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, Bacillus cereus ATCC11778, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, Escherichia coli ATCC35218, the yeasts Candida albicans ATCC10231 and Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC90112. All the sponge species in this study showed antibacterial activity against at least one bacterial strain and only one sponge species was significantly active against C. albicans. P. aeruginosa was considered resistant to all tested samples, since no inhibition zone was observed while the Gram-positive B. cereus was shown to be the most sensitive microorganism followed by C. albicans and S. aureus. The highest activity was obtained for the aqueous extract of Neopetrosia exigua against the Gram-positive bacteria B. cereus (inhibition zone 25 mm and MIC 0.07 mg/mL) and S. aureus (17.5 mm and 0.12 mg/mL) and against C. albicans (21 mm and 0.32 mg/mL). This extract is currently undergoing further analysis to identify the active compounds

Chemical composition and antibacterial activities of essential oil of Thymus capitatus from Jordan

The essential oils from the dried leaves of Thymus capitatus was isolated by steam distillation. The collected oil were analyzed by GC-MS and also evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activity. Twenty-two compounds, constituting about 95.4% of the total oil, were identified. The main constituents were thymol (39.2%), p-cymene (19.4%), carvacrol (11.8%) and g-terpinene (7.4%). The antibacterial activity of the oil was estimated using agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods against four bacteria. The essential oils wer found to show a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against all the tested bacteria strains. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most sensitive bacteria. The essential oil were equally active against Gram-negative and ram-positive bacteri

The Ability of Rhizopus stolonifer MR11 to Biosynthesize Silver Nanoparticles in Response to Various Culture Media Components and Optimization of Process Parameters Required at Each Stage of Biosynthesis

One of the most important roles for nanotechnology concerns is the development of optimizable experimental protocols for nanomaterials synthesis. The formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was supported by Rhizopus stolonifer MR11, which was isolated from olive oil mill soil samples. The ability of R. stolonifer MR11 to biosynthesize silver nanoparticles in response to various components of different culture media was tested. Furthermore, the conditions under which the reducing biomass filtrate was obtained, as well as the conditions of the bio-reduction reaction of AgNO3 into AgNPs, were investigated. The fungal biomass filtrate of the strain Rhizopus stolonifer MR11 was capable of converting silver nitrate into AgNPs, as evidenced by the color change of the fungal filtrates. UV-Vis spectrophotometer, TEM, Zeta potential, Zeta sizer, FT-IR, and XRD analyses were used to characterize the AgNPs. TEM analysis revealed that the silver nanoparticles were 1–35 nm in size. R. stolonifer MR11 produced the maximum AgNPs when grown for 18 hours at 36 °C in media with starch and yeast extract as the sole carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. The reducing biomass filtrate was obtained by incubating 5 g mycelial biomass in deionized water with a pH of 6 for 48 hours at 30 °C. The optimal reduction conditions of the biosynthesis reaction were determined by adding 1.0 mM AgNO3 to a pH 5 buffered mycelial filtrate and incubating it for 72 hours at 33 °C. The current study’s findings highlighted the importance of process parameters at each stage for optimal AgNPs biosynthesis