Search

Aplastic anemia, life-threatened disease, is a hematologic disorder characterised by bone marrow hypoplasia. Multiple modalities such as bone marrow transplantation and immunosuppression treatment have been proposed to ameliorate this entity, however it remains ineffective. Sambucus, a group of herb plants, possesses a broad spectrum of medicinal properties such as antioxidant, insulin-like activity, anticancer and antiviral. However, the study about its activity toward aplastic anemia incidence is based on limited data. Thus, the research aim of this study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory activities of Sambucus javanica in chloramphenicol-induced anemia aplastic mouse model. In this present study, BALB/c mice were administrated with chloramphenicol (CMP) to induce aplastic anemia then followed by S. javanica extracts treatment. Additionally, cellular and molecular aspects were evaluated by flow cytometry and Hematoxylin-Eosin staining. Further analysis showed that S. javanica extracts could promote the population number of regulatory T-cells and naive cytotoxic T-cells. Moreover, those extract also reduced the inflammation and necrotic incidence in CMP-induced mouse aplastic anemia model. Together, these results suggest that S. javanica has therapeutically effect to aplastic anemia by altering the immune system as an immunomodulatory agent.

Purpose: Accumulating evidence shows the genus of Sambucus exerts a broad spectrum ofmedicinal potencies such as anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, and antidiabetes. Based on theprevious studies, we hypothesized that bioactive compounds of Sambucus might alter severalbiological systems, including the immune system. Therefore, this study extensively aimed toevaluate the immunomodulatory activities of Sambucus javanica extracts in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-treated BALB/c mouse.Methods: The experimental mice were orally administrated with 2.8 mg.kg-1 BW of DMBA forten times within a month. After that, the mice were treated by S. javanica berries and leavesextracts for 2 weeks. Subsequently, the inflammation rate was evaluated by using flow cytometryanalysis, whereas the necrosis incidences were observed by hematoxylin & eosin staining.Results: Based on the results, we found the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)and interferon gamma (IFN-ɣ) were increased however after treated by S. javanica berries andleaves extracts were significantly decreased. In the same way, necrosis incidence was increasedin the DMBA-treated group however it was diminished with S. javanica extracts treatment.Conclusion: Together, these results suggested that S. javanica extracts have immunomodulatoryactivities to suppress inflammation and reduce necrosis incidence in experimental mice.

Rohman F, Putra WE. 2021. Short Communication: The bioinformatics perspective of Foeniculum vulgare fruit's bioactive compounds as natural anti-hyperglycemic against alpha-glucosidase. Biodiversitas 22: 79-84. The management in controlling the blood glucose level is crucially necessary to be promoted. Many reports showed the harmful effect of glucose toxicity, most of them are the cluster of metabolic disorder. Nowadays, natural products are getting much attention on health issues. The uses of medicinal plants for drug materials are dramatically increasing. In our previous study about local medicinal plants identification, we found that Tengger Tribe in Indonesia uses numerous type of species, including Foeniculum vulgare which was widely found and occupied as traditional medicine by Tengger Tribe in the area of Taman Nasional Bromo Tengger Semeru, East Java, Indonesia. According to their local belief, F. vulgare has been used to ameliorate several types of diseases. Thus, in this present study, we aimed to virtually evaluate the bioactive compounds of F. vulgare for anti-hyperglycemic against the alpha-glucosidase. We performed computational prediction of ligands-protein interaction by molecular docking approaches. The 2D structure of ligands and 3D structure of target protein were retrieved via the database. The natural compound's structure was then evaluated by the Lipinski rule of five to indicate whether it can be categorized as drug-like or not. Moreover, according to our simulation, F. vulgare fruit's bioactive compounds including sterol, anethole, and fenchone might have therapeutic effect to reduce the hyperglycemia incidence by inhibiting the alpha-glucosidase activity. Compared to miglitol, an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, Sterol have the most significant binding affinity against the alpha-glucosidase. Therefore, these findings suggest that sterol, anethole, and fenchone might be potential new candidates for alpha-glucosidase inhibitors.

Yani A, Amin M, Rohman F, Suarsini E, Putra WE. 2020. Profiling indigenous lead-reducing bacteria from Tempe Lake, South Sulawesi, Indonesia as bioremediation agents. Biodiversitas 21: 4778-4786. The pollution of heavy metals by anthropogenic activities in freshwater, especially in lakes, reduces the quality and endangers the existence of aquatic flora and fauna. This happens in Lake Tempe, which is located, in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The study aimed to evaluate the content of heavy metals, isolation, and identify a lead reduction of indigenous bacteria as candidates for bioremediation agents. It began by examining the level of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) in seven sampling sites of Tempe Lake. Furthermore, propagation and isolation, morphological observation, laboratory-scale reduction tests, and species identification of potential bacteria reduction Pb were performed by using 16s rDNA. The reduction test to Pb was measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), and the research data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA with the Duncan advanced method. The results showed that the Cd, Cu, and Pb content of the seven sampling points exceeded the water quality standard Following the Indonesian Government Regulation (IGR) and WHO standards. Pb has the highest concentration among the other heavy metals in the water sample reaching 0.40 mg/L. Four bacterial isolates could grow on Pb-enriched media (isolates A, B, C, and D). The Bacillus form was found in two different species bacteria (isolate A and D), while the cocci shape was found in two other species (isolate B and C). Those all Gram-negative bacteria were observed to be a reduction to Pb exposure within a bacterial medium. Interestingly, these indigenous bacteria could decrease Pb concentration ranging from 7.45 to 3.48 ppm for seven days. Furthermore, the sequencing data showed that the indigenous bacteria (isolate D) had a 99.90% similarity to the Comamonas testosteroni strain S-2 constructed using Neighbor-joining phylogenetic analysis. Therefore, the indigenous bacteria C. testosteroni strain S-2 from Tempe lake may be proposed as a bioremediation agent to reduce Pb the water contaminants.

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is known as master of regulation due to its multiple roles in biological system, including metabolism, inflammation, or even diseases like cancer. The downstream phosphorylation of NF-κB complex is affected by the activity of inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit beta (IKK-B). Thus, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the bioactive compounds of Zingeber officinale as inhibitor agent against the IKK-B. The virtual screening evaluation was based on the interaction activity and binding free energy among the protein and the ligands. The virtual chemical structures of bioactive compounds from Zingiber officinale and protein structure of IKK-B were obtained from Pubchem web server and PDB, respectively. Molecular docking, visualization, and data analysis were performed by computation approach. In this study, we found that 6-Shogaol might be potential as drug like molecule for anti-inflammation compared to other compounds. Importantly, further study is needed to evaluate the biological mechanism of 6-Shogaol inhibit the IKK-B activity.

Recent trends in health care demonstrate the significant use of herbs as preventive or therapeutic agents against multiple types of diseases, including respiratory disorder caused by cigarette smoking. Thus, in this present study, we explored the potential of medicinal plants’ phytochemical compounds as an inhibitor against the human α-3 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (NAchR). The computation prediction was performed to evaluate the energy and possible interactions among the ligands and target protein. Specifically, the 2D structure of bioactive compounds was retrieved from PubChem database. On the other hand, the protein sequences of human α-3 NAchR were obtained from Uniprot and protein database. The 3D structure was then built up through SWISS-MODEL. Additionally, protein and ligand preparation was employed to optimize the molecular interaction results. The final step of this screening through molecular docking approach was performed using data visualization and analysis. In this study, we found that there are three potential compounds as an inhibitor against α-3 NAchR based on their energy-free binding, namely, Theaflavin-3-Gallate, Asiaticoside, and Theaflavin-3,3-Digallate. Therefore, work indicates that the medicinal plants’ bioactive compounds might be the potential to develop as inhibitory agents for α-3 NAchR to minimize the negative effect of nicotine.

The ability of tumor cells to escape immune destruction and their acquired resistance to chemotherapy are major obstacles to effective cancer therapy. Although immune checkpoint therapies such as anti-PD-1 address these issues in part, clinical responses remain limited to a subpopulation of patients. In this report, we identified IL34 produced by cancer cells as a driver of chemoresistance. In particular, we found that IL34 modulated the functions of tumor-associated macrophages to enhance local immunosuppression and to promote the survival of chemoresistant cancer cells by activating AKT signaling. Targeting IL34 in chemoresistant tumors resulted in a remarkable inhibition of tumor growth when accompanied with chemotherapy. Our results define a pathogenic role for IL34 in mediating immunosuppression and chemoresistance and identify it as a tractable target for anticancer therapy. Cancer Res; 76(20); 6030–42. ©2016 AACR.