Application of a new choline-imidazole based deep eutectic solvents in hybrid magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer for efficient and selective removal of naproxen from aqueous samples

A magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (Fe3O4@MIP) with naproxen (as template) was successfully prepared by adding a co-solvent consisting of a choline-imidazole based deep eutectic solvent (ChCl-BuIM) during polymerisation. The morphological, functional group, and magnetic characteristics of the synthesised materials were characterised by elemental analysis, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. This hybrid Fe3O4@MIP-ChCl-BuIM material was used as a magnetic adsorbent for efficient and selective removal of naproxen from wastewater samples. A batch adsorption study showed that adsorption of naproxen onto the multilayer surface of the adsorbent through a chemisorption mechanism. The data showed that the adsorption was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic. The Fe3O4@MIP-ChCl-BuIM removed more naproxen (93.2–97.1%) than Fe3O4@MIP without ChCl-BuIM (83.2–88.9%). This finding confirms that the use of ChCl-BuIM improved both the selectivity and affinity of the MIP adsorbent towards naproxen. Competitive recognition studies of the Fe3O4@MIP-ChCl-BuIM using naproxen and structurally similar non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs revealed that the Fe3O4@MIP-ChCl-BuIM had high selectivity for naproxen. A cytotoxicity test showed that the synthesised ChCl-BuIM was non-toxic, as the human normal cell lines MCF-10A, and BEAS-2B maintained viability above 50%. These results show that Fe3O4@MIP-ChCl-BuIM has potential for use as a functional adsorption material for the removal of naproxen from water samples

Antioxidant Activity, Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content and LC–MS Profiling of Leaves Extracts of Alstonia angustiloba

Plants have a wide range of active compounds crucial in treating various diseases. Most people consume plants and herbals as an alternative medicine to improve their health and abilities. A. angustiloba extract showed antinematodal activity against Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, antitrypanosomal action against Trypanosoma brucei and anti-plasmodial activity against the chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum K1 strain. Moreover, it has demonstrated growth inhibitory properties towards several human cancer cell lines, such as MDA-MB-231, SKOV-3, HeLa, KB cells and A431. DPPH and ABTS assays were carried out to determine the antioxidant activity of the aqueous and 60% methanolic extract of A. angustiloba leaves. Moreover, total phenolic and flavonoid contents were quantified. The presence of potential active compounds was then screened using liquid chromatography coupled with a Q-TOF mass spectrometer (LC–MS) equipped with a dual electrospray ionisation (ESI) source. The EC50 values measured by DPPH for the 60% methanolic and aqueous extracts of A. angustiloba leaves were 80.38 and 94.11 µg/mL, respectively, and for the ABTS assays were 85.80 and 115.43 µg/mL, respectively. The 60% methanolic extract exhibited the highest value of total phenolic and total flavonoid (382.53 ± 15.00 mg GAE/g and 23.45 ± 1.04 mg QE/g), while the aqueous extract had the least value (301.17 ± 3.49 mg GAE/g and 9.73 ± 1.76 mg QE/g). The LC–MS analysis revealed the presence of 103 and 140 compounds in the aqueous and 60% methanolic extract, respectively. It consists of phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, amino acids, glycosides, alkaloids, etc. It can be concluded that the therapeutic action of this plant is derived from the presence of various active compounds; however, further research is necessary to determine its efficacy in treating diseases

Antioxidant Activity, Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content and LC–MS Profiling of Leaves Extracts of <i>Alstonia angustiloba</i>

Plants have a wide range of active compounds crucial in treating various diseases. Most people consume plants and herbals as an alternative medicine to improve their health and abilities. A. angustiloba extract showed antinematodal activity against Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, antitrypanosomal action against Trypanosoma brucei and anti-plasmodial activity against the chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum K1 strain. Moreover, it has demonstrated growth inhibitory properties towards several human cancer cell lines, such as MDA-MB-231, SKOV-3, HeLa, KB cells and A431. DPPH and ABTS assays were carried out to determine the antioxidant activity of the aqueous and 60% methanolic extract of A. angustiloba leaves. Moreover, total phenolic and flavonoid contents were quantified. The presence of potential active compounds was then screened using liquid chromatography coupled with a Q-TOF mass spectrometer (LC–MS) equipped with a dual electrospray ionisation (ESI) source. The EC50 values measured by DPPH for the 60% methanolic and aqueous extracts of A. angustiloba leaves were 80.38 and 94.11 µg/mL, respectively, and for the ABTS assays were 85.80 and 115.43 µg/mL, respectively. The 60% methanolic extract exhibited the highest value of total phenolic and total flavonoid (382.53 ± 15.00 mg GAE/g and 23.45 ± 1.04 mg QE/g), while the aqueous extract had the least value (301.17 ± 3.49 mg GAE/g and 9.73 ± 1.76 mg QE/g). The LC–MS analysis revealed the presence of 103 and 140 compounds in the aqueous and 60% methanolic extract, respectively. It consists of phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, amino acids, glycosides, alkaloids, etc. It can be concluded that the therapeutic action of this plant is derived from the presence of various active compounds; however, further research is necessary to determine its efficacy in treating diseases

Analysis of Sterol Glucosides in Momordica charantia L. Extracts and Nutraceutical Products: Analysis of Sterol Glucosides

Sterol glucosides were biosynthesised in Momordica charantia L. and used as markers for the standardization of M. charantia extracts. The sterol glucoside, charantin, used as a marker consisted of equal amounts of two sterol glucosides, namely, 5, 25-stigmastadienol glucoside (1) and β-sitosterol glucoside (2). Most quantitation methods either mixed up both isomers, namely (1) and stigmasterol glucoside (3) or both the sterol glucosides (1) and (2) were not separated in the quantitation methods. The labelling of individual sterol glucosides needs to be clearly stated in nutraceutical products. This study aimed to resolve the separation of the commonly mixed-up sterol glucosides and further validate a high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA) method for the quantification of individual sterol glucosides in M. charantia. The HPLC-PDA instrument was used for method development as it is a universal instrument available in most nutraceutical companies. Sterol glucosides (1)-(3) were separated with a Zorbax SB-C18 column and an isocratic HPLC mobile phase system of 88% methanol in deionized water. The wavelength of the PDA detector was set at 200 to 500 nm with a linearity range of 90 to 300 μg/mL and a good correlation coefficient of r2 &gt; 0.99. The validated method was applied to fresh fruits and nutraceutical products. The sterol glucoside (1) is the major constituent in charantin. Hybrid fruits biosynthesised higher content of sterol glucosides compared to non-hybrid fruits. The content of (1)-(3) in the final nutraceutical products fluctuates and dependent on the source of raw material. Thus, standardization of extracts is essential in nutraceutical production to ensure uniform content of secondary metabolites and reproducible therapeutic effect

Synthesis of Bio-Inspired 1,3-Diarylpropene Derivatives via Heck Cross-Coupling and Cytotoxic Evaluation on Breast Cancer Cells

International audienceThe Heck cross-coupling reaction is a well-established chemical tool for the synthesis of unsaturated compounds by formation of a new C-C bond. In this study, 1,3-diarylpropene derivatives, designed as structural analogues of stilbenoids and dihydrostilbenoids, were synthesised by the palladium-catalysed reactions of 2-amidoiodobenzene derivatives with either estragole or eugenol. The products were obtained with high (E) stereoselectivity but as two regioisomers. The ratios of isomers were found to be dependent on the nature of the allylbenzene partner and were rationalised by electronic effects exercising a determining influence in the β-hydride elimination step. In addition, the cytotoxic effects of all the Heck reaction products were evaluated against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, with unpromising results. Among all, compound 7d exhibited weak cytotoxic activity towards MCF-7 cell lines with IC50 values of 47.92 µM in comparison with tamoxifen and was considered to have general toxicity (SI value < 2)

Cynometra cauliflora L.: An indigenous tropical fruit tree in Malaysia bearing essential oils and their biological activities

Cynometra cauliflora L., locally known as ‘‘nam-nam” or ‘‘katak puru-puru” in Malaysia is belonging to the Fabaceae family. The tree is native to Malaysia and has been used traditionally as folk medicine. Limited works have been conducted on C. cauliflora regarding its chemical composition. In view of this, the present study aimed to identify the essential oil (EO) composition of the leaf, twig and fruit of C. cauliflora and evaluate their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. EOs obtained from different parts of the tree were analyzed using capillary GC and GC/MS. Twenty-six, seventeen and fifty constituents were identified in the leaf, twig and fruit EOs of C. cauliflora. Results demonstrated the dominance of monoterpenes hydrocarbons in the leaf oil and oxygenated monoterpenes in the twig oil. On the contrary, fruit oil was abundant in oxygenated sesquiterpenes. Different chemical profiles were found in different parts of EOs which have contributed to varied biological activities. Twig oil (IC50 37.12 ± 2.84 mg/mL) showed better antioxidant power than the leaf (IC50 207.17 ± 2.95 mg/mL) and fruit oils (IC50 461.88 ± 12.61 mg/mL) in DPPH assay. Additionally, twig oil inhibited an entire range of microorganisms tested with inhibition zones ranging 10.3 ± 0.4 to 29.7 ± 0.4 mm. The twig oil displayed low MIC and MBC values against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 125.0 mg/mL; MBC 250.0 mg/mL) and MRSA (MIC 125.0 mg/mL; MBC 250.0 mg/mL). In in vitro MTT assay, twig oil showed antiproliferative effects against human breast cancer MCF-7 cells

Cynometra cauliflora essential oils loaded-chitosan nanoparticles: Evaluations of their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities

Nanoencapsulation has appeared as an alternative approach to protect the bioactive constituents of essential oils (EOs) and to improve their properties. In this study, Cynometra cauliflora essential oils (CCEOs) were nanoencapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) using an emulsion-ionic gelation technique. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images illustrated a well dispersion and spherical shape of C. cauliflora EOs-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CCEOs-CSNPs) with an average size of less than 100 nm. In addition to that, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed the success of CCEOs nanoencapsulation. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) was in the range of 38.83% to 44.16% while the loading capacity (LC) reached 32.55% to 33.73%. The antioxidant activity (IC50) of CCEOs-CSNPs was ranged from 21.65 to 259.13 μg/mL when assessed using DPPH radical scavenging assay. CCEOs-CSNPs showed an appreciable antimicrobial effects on diabetic wound microorganisms. Notably, cytotoxic effects against human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells recorded IC50 of 3.72–17.81 μg/mL and 16.24–17.65 μg/mL, respectively, after 72 h treatment. Interestingly, no cytotoxicity against human breast normal MCF-10A cells was observed. Thus, nanoencapsulation using CSNPs could improve the properties of CCEOs in biomedical related applications

A Bottom-Up Synthesis Approach to Silver Nanoparticles Induces Anti-Proliferative and Apoptotic Activities Against MCF-7, MCF-7/TAMR-1 and MCF-10A Human Breast Cell Lines

A bottom-up approach for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-GA) phytomediated by Garcinia atroviridis leaf extract is described. Under optimized conditions, the AgNPs-GA were synthesized at a concentration of 0.1 M silver salt and 10% (w/v) leaf extract, 1:4 mixing ratio of reactants, pH 3, temperature 32 &deg;C and 72 h reaction time. The AgNPs-GA were characterized by various analytical techniques and their size was determined to be 5&ndash;30 nm. FTIR spectroscopy indicates the role of phenolic functional groups in the reduction of silver ions into AgNPs-GA and in supporting their subsequent stability. The UV-Visible spectrum showed an absorption peak at 450 nm which reflects the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AgNPs-GA and further supports the stability of these biosynthesized nanoparticles. SEM, TEM and XRD diffractogram analyses indicate that AgNPs-GA were spherical and face-centered-cubic in shape. This study also describes the efficacy of biosynthesized AgNPs-GA as anti-proliferative agent against human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1. Our findings indicate that AgNPs-GA possess significant anti-proliferative effects against both the MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 cell lines, with inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50 values) of 2.0 and 34.0 &micro;g/mL, respectively, after 72 h of treatment. An induction of apoptosis was evidenced by flow cytometry using Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide staining. Therefore, AgNPs-GA exhibited its anti-proliferative activity via apoptosis on MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 breast cancer cells in vitro. Taken together, the leaf extract from Garcinia atroviridis was found to be highly capable of producing AgNPs-GA with favourable physicochemical and biological properties