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Plants belonging to the genus Prosopis L. (family Fabaceae, subfamily Mimosoideae) have gained significant popularity in traditional medicine due to their potential as anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial compounds. The primary objective of this work was to determine the phytochemical composition of the ethanolic extract derived from Prosopis juliflora leaves, as well as to assess its antibacterial and cytotoxic properties. The phytochemical screening using GC-MS revealed the presence of phytosteroids, ketone, esters, diisooctyl phthalate, and triterpenes. Besides, varying amounts of some silicon derivatives, which were reported to have antimicrobial activity, were detected with octasiloxane, which showed the highest amount (18.47%). 6-Ethoxy-6-methyl-2-cyclohexenone (antioxidant, antidiabetic, antiobesity, and antimicrobial) was detected in considerable quantity. Cytotoxic activity was seen in human breast cancer (MCF-7), human ovary adenocarcinoma (A2780), and human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell lines, as well as in normal human fetal lung fibroblasts (MRC-5), when subjected to the MTT assay. The plant extract exhibited the highest level of activity (5.75 μg/mL) against the A2780 cell line, with the MCF-7 cell line showing a somewhat lower level of activity (18.49 μg/mL). The antibacterial effect of the plant extracts was evaluated against four standard Gram-positive and four standard Gram-negative. The antimicrobial potential was observed only against Staphylococcus aureus which recorded a 14.5 ± 0.05 mm inhibition zone. The present study has demonstrated the identification of bioactive constituents in P. juliflora plant extracts, which exhibit significant cytotoxic activity against breast and colon malignancies. The study also highlighted P. juliflora extract as an antibacterial against S. aureus.

This study was performed to evaluate phytochemical composition of Khaya senegalensis stem bark and Azadirachta indica leaf hydroethanolic (80%) extracts using GC-MS technique as a tentative identification method and screen for antioxidant and antidiabetic properties in Wistar rats. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (150 mg/kg·bw). Animals were divided into groups of six and treated by extracts (400 mg/kg·bw) for 28 days. The results compared with positive and negative control groups of animals. After treatment, blood samples were collected to determine the blood glucose level, lipid profile, liver and kidney function markers, and DPPH free radical scavenging activity was evaluated. Phytochemical investigations revealed that extracts were enriched with a wide range of secondary metabolites such as phenols, saponins, triterpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols, fatty acids, siloxane derivatives, and anthraquinones in diverse concentrations with reported antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. Biological screening results indicated that both extracts exhibited free-radical scavenging property in DPPH screening, and in that, K. senegalensis stem bark extract (91 ± 0.02%) showed greater reduction than A. indica leaf extract (55 ± 0.03%), with an IC50 of 0.023 ± 0.03 g/mL, which was lower than the reference drug propylgallate (0.077 ± 0.03 g/mL). Both the extracts remarkably reduced the blood glucose concentration in diabetic rats (p

Smokeless tobacco (SLT) has been reported to have deleterious effects on the health of its users. This study aims to analyze the constituents of locally collected SLT sample extracts (S1–S11) from Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia using GC-MS and investigate their cytotoxic effect on human gingival fibroblasts (hGFs), normal human fibroblasts (MRC5), and two cancer cell lines (HT29 and HepG2) using MTT assay. GC-MS results showed that pyridine, 3-(1-methyl-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-, tetracyclo[4.4.1.1(7,10).0(2,5)]dodec-3-en-11-ol, and cotinine were found in S1, while ethyl iso-allocholate was traced in S2. Compounds 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, ethyl ester, 7-methyl-Z-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, cis-10-heptadecenoic acid and octadecanoic acid, ethyl ester, and nicotine traces were found in S4, while compound 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol, tetradecamethyl-hexasiloxane, and phytol in S5. Additionally, octadecamethyl cyclononasiloxane, oleic acid, and trimethylsilyl ester were found in S6 and S9, respectively. Interestingly, extracts S4, S10, and S6 were the most cytotoxic to the normal fibroblasts (hGF and MRC5, with low selectivity index:

The interaction behavior of Fe3+ with transferrin and apotransferrin (iron-free form) was investigated in this study using affinity capillary electrophoresis. Change in the mass and charge of protein upon binding to the metal ion in the capillary tube led to variation in its migration time and was used to measure the noncovalent binding interactions by fast screening method. Acetanilide was used as the electroosmotic flow (EOF) marker to avoid possible errors due to the change in EOF during the experiment. The binding results were calculated from the mobility ratios of protein (Ri) and EOF marker (Rf) using the formula (Ri − Rf)/Rf or ∆R/Rf. For more comprehensive understanding, the kinetics of the interaction was studied and binding constants were calculated. Results showed that the Fe3+ displayed insignificant interaction with both proteins at lower metal ion concentrations (5–25 μmol/mL). However, transferrin exhibited significant interactions with the metal ion at 50 and 100 μmol/mL (ΔR/Rf = 0.0114 and 0.0201, resp.) concentrations and apotransferrin showed strong binding interactions (ΔR/Rf = −0.0254 and 0.0205, resp.) at relatively higher Fe3+ concentrations of 100 and 250 μmol/mL. The binding constants of 18.968 mmol−1 and −13.603 mmol−1 were recorded for Fe3+ interaction with transferrin and apotransferrin, respectively, showing significant interactions. Different binding patterns of Fe3+ with both proteins might be attributed to the fact that the iron-binding sites in transferrin have already been occupied, which was not the case in apotransferrin. The present study may be used as a reference for the investigation of protein-metal ion, drug-protein, drug-metal ion, and enzyme-metal ion interactions and may be helpful to provide preliminary insight into the new metal-based drug development.

The popularity of energy beverages among young adult population is high. These drinks are claimed to boost energy and performance and contain high concentration of caffeine as one of the several ingredients. Discrepancies have been encountered by some of the previous studies between the actual quantity of caffeine present in the product and the amount mentioned on the label, making the determination of caffeine content in these drinks very important. Thus, in this study, we analyzed the caffeine concentration in most popular energy drinks available in Saudi Arabia. The energy drink samples (n = 9) were procured from retail outlets. Sample solutions were prepared in methanol and analyzed for caffeine content by GC-MS. Chromatographic parameters were optimized to achieve optimum resolution and various validation parameters were evaluated. The method was successfully applied for the quantification of caffeine in energy drinks by directly injecting the multifold diluted samples in methanol. The method was linear (r2 = 0.999) over a concentration range of 5–25 µg/mL, specific, precise (%RSD of peak area = 0.56–0.78), and accurate (%recovery = 99.3–101.2%). The amounts of caffeine determined were found in the range of 20.82–33.72 mg/100 mL (52.05–84.3 mg/pack). Results revealed that the amount of caffeine actually present in the tested drinks varied within ±10% range from the amount specified on the product labels. The amounts of caffeine detected in tested beverages were within the USFDA safe upper limit of per-day caffeine consumption, which has indicated that the consumption of one serving of energy drink is unlikely to produce any adverse health effect.