Analysis of L-citrulline and L-arginine in Ficus deltoidea leaf extracts by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography

Ficus deltoidea (FD) is one of the native plants widely distributed in several countries in Southeast Asia. Previous studies have shown that FD leaf possess antinociceptive, wound healing and antioxidant properties. These beneficial effects have been attributed to the presence of primary and secondary metabolites such as polyphenols, amino acids and flavonoids. Objective: The aim was to develop a reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with ultraviolet detection that involves precolumn derivatisation with O-phthaladehyde for simultaneous analysis of two amino acids L-citrulline and L-arginine in FD leaf extracts. Materials and Methods: An isocratic elution program consisting of methanol: acetonitrile: Water at 45:45:10 v/v (solvent A) and 0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 7.5 (solvent B) at A: B v/v ratio of 80:20 on Zorbax Eclipse C18 SB-Aq column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) were used. The flow rate was set at 1 ml/min and detection was carried out at 338 nm with 30 min separation time. Results: Good linearity for L-citrulline and L-arginine was obtained in the range 0.1-1000 μg/ml at R2 ≥ 0.998. The limit of detection and limit of quantification values for both L-citrulline and L-arginine were 1 and 5 μg/ml, respectively. The average of recoveries was in the range 94.94-101.95%, with relative standard deviation (%RSD) less than 3%. Intra- and inter-day precision was in the range 96.36-102.43% with RSD less than 2%. Conclusion: All validation parameters of the developed method indicate the method is reliable and efficient for simultaneous determination of L-citrulline and L-arginine for routine analysis of FD

Investigation of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of tetracera scandens leaf using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-based metabolomics

Introduction: Tetracera scandens is a shrub that belongs to Dilleniaceae family. The leaves of this plant have medicinal values and traditionally been used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Malaysia. The conventional quality control analysis of medicinal plantsthat relies on the quantification of few major metabolites is considered time-consuming since it requires extensive sample preparation and neglects the possible impacts that the other metabolites could have on the activity. Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the α-glucosidase inhibitory (AGI) potential of different ratios of water-methanol extracts of T. scandens leaves and to establish a predictive multivariate model that could be used for the quality evaluation of T. scandens leaf based on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of its extracts. Materials and Methods: Different ratios of solvent (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% methanol in water) were used to prepare a total of 36 extracts. The AGI potential and the FT-IR fingerprint spectrum were acquired for each extract. Results: A four components OPLS model (1+3+0) with R2Y of 0.951 and Q2Y of 0.916 was established to describe the correlation between the fingerprint FT-IR spectra of different T. scandens extracts and their corresponding AGI activities. The carbonoxygen, carbon-halide single bonds, as well hydroxyl and carbonyl groups were identified to be positively correlated with the AGI activity. Conclusion: An OPLS model was successfully developed as a rapid quality evaluation method to predict the AGI activity of T. scandens leaves

In vitro adipogenic potential and glucose uptake stimulatory effect of the terpenoids isolated from Tetracera indica Merr.

In vitro adipogenic potential and glucose uptake stimulatory effect of the terpenoids isolated from Tetracera indica Merr

Effect of different drying treatments and different extraction methods on α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of S. zalacca fruit

Introduction: Salacca zalacca (Gaertn Voss), commonly known as snake fruit and belongs to the Arecaceae family and natives of Southeast Asia. This fruit is edible and have certain medicinal values. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of different drying and extraction methods. Material and methods: Flesh of this fruit was subjected to two different drying methods namely; oven dried (OD) and freeze dried (FD) and extracts were prepared using soxhlet (SX), sonication (SC) and maceration (MC) techniques. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of extracts were evaluated using α-glucosidase enzyme . Results: The S. zalacca fruit extracts obtained through SC and MC demonstrated better α-glucosidase inhibitory activity as compared to SX method, specifically, the FD extracts showed higher activity compared to the OD extracts. Analysis of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the OD S. zalacca fruit extract indicates that extract obtained through SC method possesses significantly higher activity (IC50 79.42 µg/mL) than that of SX extracted sample which displayed IC50 at 125.73 µg/mL. Considering the effects of both methods (drying and extraction) on the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of S. zalacca fruit extracts, extract obtained through SC of the FD fruits demonstrated the highest activity (IC50 19.40 µg/mL) Meanwhile, extracts obtained via OD and different extraction methods such as SX, MC and SC showed the least inhibition with IC50 125.73, 87.23 and 79.42 µg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that S. zalacca fruit has the potential for nutraceutical enhancement and as ingredient in medicinal preparation

Moxibustion (artemisia plant at acupuncture point) as alternative therapy in hypertension: a promising approach

Hypertension is a pathological condition in which the blood pressure is higher than under normal physiological conditions, i.e., 140/90 mmHg or higher. Blood pressure is measured as the force exerted by the blood pumped by the heart against the walls of arteries (aorta) and distributed throughout the body. Use of complementary and alternative medicine as a cure for hypertension is a common phenomenon because of the high risk of cardiovascular complications and kidney diseases caused by conventional Western medicine. It is reported that high blood pressure causes ~49% of myocardial infarction and 62% of strokes. Effective treatment of hypertension is restricted by adverse effects and cost of the medication. Moxibustion is the application of heat by burning a small bundle of tightly bound moxa, to targeted acupoint, and sometimes it is used along with acupuncture. Encouraging results have been reported on randomized trials indicating the ef cacy of moxibustion. But more controlled clinical trials are required to further establish the potential ef cacy of moxibustion approach in hypertension

Correlation of FT-IR fingerprint and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of Salak (Salacca zalacca) fruit extracts utilizing orthogonal partial least square

Salak fruit (Salacca zalacca), commonly known as snake fruit, is used indigenously as food and for medicinal applications in Southeast Asia. This study was conducted to evaluate the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of salak fruit extracts in correlation to its Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) fingerprint, utilizing orthogonal partial least square. This calibration model was applied to develop a rapid analytical method tool for quality control of this fruit. A total of 36 extracts prepared with different solvent ratios of ethanol–water (100, 80, 60, 40.20, 0% v/v) and their α-glucosidase inhibitory activities determined. The FT-IR spectra of ethanol–water extracts measured in the region of 400 and 4000 cm−1 at a resolution of 4 cm−1. Multivariate analysis with a combination of orthogonal partial least-squares (OPLS) algorithm was used to correlate the bioactivity of the samples with the FT-IR spectral data. The OPLS biplot model identified several functional groups (C–H, C=O, C–N, N–H, C–O, and C=C) which actively induced α-glucosidase inhibitory activity

The use of psychotropic substances among students: The prevalence, factor association, and abuse

This detailed review analyzed the previously published studies related to the prevalence of psychotropic substances use, associated factors, and the misuse of the psychotropics among students. A comprehensive literature search covering six databases was performed. References from published articles and reports were extracted. This helped in identifying the available information on the use of psychotropic drugs. A total of 16 articles were included in this review. There is an upsurge of using psychotropics with the preceding years. More students are exposed to the risk of using psychotropic substances due to the multiple factors like stress, increased academic workload, etc. The misuse is found to be common with prescribed psychotropic substances. Students need to be aware of the bad outcomes of using psychotropic substances. Participation of every stakeholder to curb this menace needs to be emphasized. More extensive studies are required to know about the increasing prevalence, factors, and misuse of psychotropics

Antioxidant and α‐glucosidase inhibitory activities and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry pro le of salak (salacca zalacca) fruit peel extracts

Background: This study was aimed to investigate antioxidant and α‑glucosidase inhibitory activity, with a proximate analysis of total phenolic and total flavonoid content with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‑MS) profiling of salak (Salacca zalacca) fruit peel extracts. Materials and Methods: The peels extracts were prepared by maceration process at room temperature with different ratio of ethanol/water. Results: Phytochemical screening showed the presence of phenolic and flavonoid contents in all the extracts. About 100% ethanol extract shows the highest phenolic content (116.70 ± 0.764 μg/mL) while 60% ethanol extract has the lowest content 18.65 ± 1.155 μg/ml using gallic acid as a reference. 100% ethanol extract was observed to exhibit highest radical scavenging, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and α‑glucosidaseinhibitory activities (IC50: 49.45 ± 3.87 μg/mL, 144.81 ± 3.72 μg AAE/g,IC50: 11.62 ± 0.67b μg/mL), respectively. Water extracts had the lowestFRAP, radical scavenging activity as well as α‑glucosidase activity. The phytochemical investigation on GC‑MS showed the presence of active compounds in salak fruit peel extracts. Conclusion: Salak fruit peels showed the highest antioxidant as well as α‑glucosidase inhibitory activities. Phytochemical analysis on GC‑MS confirms the presence of gallic acid, linoelaidic acid, palmitic acid, α‑tocopherol, and steric acid whichmay contribute to α‑glucosidase inhibitory activity

GC-MS analysis of metabolites from soxhlet extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction and supercritical fluid extraction of Salacca zalacca flesh and its alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity

ABSTRACT Different extraction processes were employed to extract bioactive metabolites from Salacca zalacca flesh by a range of aqueous and organic solvents. The highest extraction yield was obtained by 50% ethanol extract of SE (73.18 ±4.35%), whereas SFE_1 showed the lowest yield (0.42 ±0.08%). All extracts were evaluated for in vitro a-glucosidase inhibitory activity, measured by their IC50 values in comparison to that of quercetin, the positive control (IC50 ¼ 2.7 ±0.7 lg/mL). The lowest a-glucosidase inhibitory activity was indicated by water extract of SE (IC50 ¼ 724.3 ±42.9 lg/mL) and the highest activity was demonstrated by 60% ethanol extract by UAE (IC50 ¼ 16.2 ± 2.4 lg/mL). All extracts were analysed by GC-MS and identified metabolites like carbohydrates, fatty acids, organic acids, phenolic acids, sterols and alkane-based compounds etcetera that may possess the potential as a-glucosidase inhibitor and may attribute to the a-glucosidase inhibitory activity

Metabolomics-based profiling with chemometric approach to identify bioactive compounds in Salacca zalacca fruits extracts and in silico molecular docking

Salak (Salacca zalacca) is well-known as snake fruit and it is immensely studied for its antioxidative and antidiabetic active metabolites throughout the southeast Asian countries. However, there are many remaining unidentified metabolites due to very low abundance and natural variation, which need to be further explored. Nowadays mass spectrometry (MS/MS) facilitates the tentative identification of unknown compounds in the crude herbal extracts. This study described the metabolite profiling of hydroalcoholic extracts of S. zalacca analysed by LCQTOF- MS/MS. The 60% ethanolic extract exhibited the highest a-glucosidase inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant power activities with IC50 of 15.94 mg/mL and 78.13 lg AAE/g, respectively. Multivariate data analysis (MVDA) by an orthogonal partial least-squares (OPLS) algorithm was conducted to correlate the a-glucosidase inhibition activity with the LC- QTOF-MS data. A total of 4 compounds were reported for first time in this fruit and identified based on the molecular mass and fragment ions. LC-QTOF-MS analysis indicated the presence of carexane I, 5-phenoxytetra zol-1-yl)-2,3,5,6-hexahydrofurofuran-3-ethylurea, 3-acetylphenoxy)-N-[(2)-1-amino-4-methyl-1-oxo pentan-2-yl]-4,5-dihydroxycyclohexene-1-carboxamide and Ethyl 4-[5-methyl-2-oxo-10,20,50,60,70,70 a-hexahydro-1H-spiro[indole-3,30-pyrrolizine]-20-ylamido] benzoate. Molecular docking of those compounds with the a–glucosidase enzyme was performed to confirm their antidiabetic potential. These bioactive compounds could be suggested as a-glucosidase inhibitors and functional food additive