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Rhizoctonia solani, the causative agent of sheath blight disease in rice, poses a significant threat to agricultural productivity. Traditional management approaches involving chemical fungicides have been effective but come with detrimental consequences for the ecosystem. This study aimed to investigate sustainable alternatives in the form of antifungal peptides derived from Solanaceous plant species as potential agents against R. solani. Peptide extracts were obtained using an optimized antimicrobial peptide (AMP) extraction method and desalted using the solid-phase extraction technique. The antifungal potential of peptide-rich extracts from Solanum tuberosum and Capsicum annum was assessed through in vitro tests employing the agar well diffusion method. Furthermore, peptide-protein docking analysis was performed on HPEPDOCK and HDOCK server; and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) of 100 ns period were performed using the Gromacs 2020.4. The results demonstrated significant inhibition zones for both extracts at concentrations of 100 mg/mL. Additionally, the extracts of Solanum tuberosum and Capsicum annum had minimum inhibitory concentrations of 50 mg/mL and 25 mg/mL, respectively with minimum fungicidal concentrations of 25 mg/mL. Insights into the potential mechanisms of key peptides inhibiting R. solani targets were gleaned from in-silico studies. Notably, certain AMPs exhibited favorable free energy of binding against pathogenicity-related targets, including histone demethylase, sortin nexin, and squalene synthase, in protein-peptide docking simulations. Extended molecular dynamics simulations lasting 100 ns and MM-PBSA calculations were performed on select protein-peptide complexes. AMP10 displayed the most favorable binding free energy against all target proteins, with AMP3, AMP12b, AMP6, and AMP15 also exhibiting promising results against specific targets of R. solani. These findings underscore the potential of peptide extracts from S. tuberosum and C. annum as effective antifungal agents against rice sheath blight caused by R. solani., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Mustapha et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Herbal extracts have evoked interest owing to the small number of terpenoids and phenolic compounds, which impart antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of four herbal extracts (lemon grass oil, basil oil, peppermint oil, and Obicure tea extract) against endodontic pathogens along with the MIC: MBC/MFC ratio were evaluated. The antimicrobial activity by detecting the MIC of three essential oils and tea extract was evaluated against eight common endodontic pathogens by the broth dilution method, while MBC was detected by subculturing onto blood agar from the first -three to five tubes from the MIC dilution tubes (showing no turbidity), which were plated on blood agar. All herbal extracts proved to be effective antimicrobials against tested endodontic pathogens. Basil oil had a bacteriostatic effect on all the organisms ( P < 0.05). Mint oil showed bacteriostatic activity on Enterococcus (E.) faecalis and Peptostreptococcus ( P > 0.05). Tea extract had a bacteriostatic effect ( P > 0.05) against all tested microbes except Actinomyces, Lactobacilli, Staphylococcus (S.) aureus , and Fusobacterium (F.) nucleatum . Lemon grass oil had a bactericidal effect against all the organisms and a bacteriostatic effect against Peptostreptococcus ( P > 0.05). It can be concluded that basil oil showed a strong bactericidal effect on the test organisms. The MIC for the organisms ranged from 0.2 to 50 μg/ml., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences.)

A novel series of triazole-benzohydrazone hybrids was efficiently designed and synthesized as antiproliferative agents, targeting different kinases. All compounds were screened via the National Cancer Institute (NCI) against 60 cancer cell lines, where compounds 16, 17, and 18 exhibited growth inhibition percent (GI%) of various leukemia subpanels with values of 70.33%, 64.13%, and 76.03%, respectively. Compound 18 showed broad-spectrum antiproliferative efficacy toward most cancer cells, with outstanding potency regarding melanoma (MALME-3M GI% = 101.82%) and breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 GI% = 85.87%), while proving safe toward the WI-38 normal cell line, compared to doxorubicin. Multikinase investigation including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2), mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-Met), proto-oncogene B-Raf, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase was accomplished to reveal its plausible mechanism of action, giving the ultimate potency against both VEGFR-2 and c-Met with IC 50 values of 0.055 and 0.042 μM, respectively, while displaying moderate to good inhibition concerning the remaining kinases. DNA binding capability was excluded using the methyl green colorimetric assay. Further, it exhibited both early and late apoptotic induction by about 16- and 9.4-fold over the control, respectively, triggering cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. Physicochemical properties and bioavailability radar plot inferred drug-likeness characteristics for compound 18. The molecular docking study assessed the binding pattern with the active sites of c-Met and VEGFR-2., (© 2023 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

Aim: Oral hygiene is one of the most significant lifestyle-related determinants of well-being. Health sciences undergraduate students are not only future healthcare providers but also educators of society in maintaining the overall general health. The aim of the study was to assess the practice, perception, and attitude of healthcare students in RAS Al-Khaimah toward toothbrush selection, maintenance, and replacement., Materials and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing undergraduate students. The data on demography, practice, perception, and attitude was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. It was evaluated using the Chi-square test and Spearman's rho test., Results: Out of 318 participating students of both genders, medicine (26.4%), dentistry (25.7%), pharmacy (35.8%), and nursing (12.0%) students showed satisfactory practice (51.8%) and perception (77.3%) of toothbrush selection, maintenance, and replacement. A significant difference ( p = 0.000) in attitude was observed across the different disciplines., Conclusion: The study group demonstrated a satisfactory level of understanding regarding the selection, maintenance and replacement of toothbrush to ensure oral care and hygiene. Educating the health sciences students during their undergraduate studies with more general health topics such as oral hygiene is of utmost need, and community engagements, interdisciplinary learning approaches and curriculum updates can help to achieve this., Clinical Significance: This study draws the attention for the inclusion of health-related topics in the curriculum that may impact on community health and education. How to cite this article: Bhongade BA, Ali AA, Makade CS, et al . A Comparative Study of Practice, Perception, and Attitude of Undergraduate Healthcare Students towards Toothbrush Selection, Maintenance and Replacement in RAS Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. J Contemp Dent Pract 2023;24(12):974-980.

Inflammatory bowel disease, comprising Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is often debilitating. The disease etiology is multifactorial, involving genetic susceptibility, microbial dysregulation, abnormal immune activation, and environmental factors. Currently, available drug therapies are associated with adverse effects when used long-term. Therefore, the search for new drug candidates to treat IBD is imperative. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) is highly expressed in the colon. PPARγ plays a vital role in regulating colonic inflammation. 1,8-cineole, also known as eucalyptol, is a monoterpene oxide present in various aromatic plants which possess potent anti-inflammatory activity. Molecular docking and dynamics studies revealed that 1,8-cineole binds to PPARγ and if it were an agonist, that would explain the anti-inflammatory effects of 1,8-cineole. Therefore, we investigated the role of 1,8-cineole in colonic inflammation, using both in vivo and in vitro experimental approaches. Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis was used as the in vivo model, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα)-stimulated HT-29 cells as the in vitro model. 1,8-cineole treatment significantly decreased the inflammatory response in DSS-induced colitis mice. 1,8-cineole treatment also increased nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) translocation into the nucleus to induce potent antioxidant effects. 1,8-cineole also increased colonic PPARγ protein expression. Similarly, 1,8-cineole decreased proinflammatory chemokine production and increased PPARγ protein expression in TNFα-stimulated HT-29 cells. 1,8-cineole also increased PPARγ promoter activity time-dependently. Because of its potent anti-inflammatory effects, 1,8-cineole may be valuable in treating IBD.

The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis) are increasing worldwide. The etiology of IBD is multifactorial, including genetic predisposition, dysregulated immune response, microbial dysbiosis, and environmental factors. However, many of the existing therapies are associated with marked side effects. Therefore, the development of new drugs for IBD treatment is an important area of investigation. Here, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of α -bisabolol, a naturally occurring monocyclic sesquiterpene alcohol present in many aromatic plants, in colonic inflammation. To address this, we used molecular docking and dynamic studies to understand how α -bisabolol interacts with PPAR- γ , which is highly expressed in the colonic epithelium: in vivo (mice) and in vitro (RAW264.7 macrophages and HT-29 colonic adenocarcinoma cells) models. The molecular docking and dynamic analysis revealed that α -bisabolol interacts with PPAR- γ , a nuclear receptor protein that is highly expressed in the colon epithelium. Treatment with α -bisabolol in DSS-administered mice significantly reduced Disease Activity Index (DAI), myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and colonic length and protected the microarchitecture of the colon. α -Bisabolol treatment also reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL1 β , TNF- α , and IL-17A) at the protein and mRNA levels. The expression of COX-2 and iNOS inflammatory mediators were reduced along with tissue nitrite levels. Furthermore, α -bisabolol decreased the phosphorylation of activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and nuclear factor kappa B (NF κ B) proteins and enhanced colon epithelial PPAR- γ transcription factor expression. However, the PPAR- α and β / δ expression was not altered, indicating α -bisabolol is a specific stimulator of PPAR- γ . α -Bisabolol also increased the PPAR- γ transcription factor expression but not PPAR- α and β / δ in pretreated in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. α -Bisabolol significantly decreased the expression of proinflammatory chemokines (CXCL-1 and IL-8) mRNA in HT-29 cells treated with TNF- α and HT-29 PPAR- γ promoter activity. These results demonstrate that α -bisabolol mitigates colonic inflammation by inhibiting MAPK signaling and stimulating PPAR- γ expression., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Balaji Venkataraman et al.)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), a novel member of the betacoronavirus family is a single-stranded RNA virus that has spread worldwide prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global pandemic. This creates an alarming situation and generates an urgent need to develop innovative therapeutic agents. In this context, an in silico molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study on the existing 58 antiviral and antimalarial compounds was performed on 3CLpro, PLpro and RdRp SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The antiviral compounds are best fitted in the binding pockets and interact more profoundly with the amino acid residues compared to antimalarial compounds. An HIV protease inhibitor, saquinavir showed a good dock score and binding free energy with varied binding interactions against 3CLpro and PLpro. While, adefovir, a nucleotide HBV DNA polymerase inhibitor exhibited good dock score and binding interactions against RdRp. Although, the antimalarial compounds showed relatively less dock score but were found to be crucial in displaying essential binding interactions with these proteins. The MD simulation runs for 100 ns on 3CLpro-saquinavir, PLpro-saquinavir and RdRp-adefovir complexes using Desmond revealed fairly stable nature of interactions. This study helped in understanding the key interactions of the vital functionalities that provide a concrete base to develop lead molecules effective against SARS-CoV-2.

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), a trypsin-like serine protease, has been implicated in large number of malignancies, tumor cell invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis; hence, the potent and selective inhibitors of uPA may therefore be therapeutically useful drugs for treatment of various forms of cancer. A three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D QSAR) study was performed on five different chemical series reported as selective uPA inhibitors employing comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA)/comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) techniques to investigate the structural requirements for substrates and derive a predictive model that may be used for the design of novel uPA inhibitors. ClogP has been used as an additional descriptor in the CoMFA analysis to study the effects of lipophilic parameters on activity. Inclusion of ClogP did not improve the models significantly and exhibited comparable correlation coefficients with CoMFA steric and electrostatic models. 3D QSAR models were derived for 2-pyridinylguanidines (training set N = 25, test set N = 8), 4-aminoarylguanidines and 4-aminoarylbenzamidines (training set N = 29, test set N = 8), thiophene-2-carboxamindines (training set N = 64, test set N = 19), 2-naphthamidines (training set N = 32, test set N = 8), and 1-isoquinolinylguanidines (training set N = 29, test set N = 7). The CoMFA models with steric and electrostatic fields exhibited r(2)(cv) 0.452-0.722, r(2)(ncv) 0.812-0.986, r(2)(pred) 0.597-0.870, whereas CoMFA ClogP models showed r(2)(cv) 0.420-0.707, r(2)(ncv) 0.849-0.957, r(2)(pred) 0.600-0.870. The CoMSIA models displayed r(2)(cv) 0.663-0.729, r(2)(ncv) 0.909-0.998, r(2)(pred) 0.554-0.855. 3D contour maps generated from these models were analyzed individually, which provides the regions in space where interactive fields may influence the activity. The superimposition of contour maps on the active site of serine proteases additionally helps in understanding the structural requirements of these inhibitors. Further, the predictive ability of 3D QSAR models was affirmed by predicting the activity of novel 2-naphthamidines. 3D QSAR models developed may be used in designing and predicting the uPA inhibitory activity of novel molecules.

A series of indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines have been reported to inhibit various trypsin-like serine proteases viz. uPA, tPA, factor Xa, thrombin, plasmin, and trypsin, which are involved in various types of pathophysiological conditions such as cancer progression, thrombosis etc. Inhibition of these protease enzymes may serve as therapeutic agents in various types of cancer as well serve as anticoagulant or antithrombotic agents. The dual inhibitory action may result in poor clinical candidates. 3D-QSAR models were generated for indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines using the CoMFA technique to study their selectivity trends toward various trypsin-like serine proteases. Molecular superimposition was carried out on the template structure using atom-based RMS fit method. The CoMFA models were established from the training set of 25-29 molecules and validated by predicting the activities of seven-eight test set molecules. The CoMFA models generated using steric and electrostatic fields for tPA, fXa, thrombin, plasmin, and trypsin inhibition exhibited better statistical significance than the CoMFA models generated using ClogP as an additional descriptor. Thus, the validated CoMFA models with steric and electrostatic fields were used to generate 3D contour maps, which may provide possible modification of molecules for better selectivity/activity. The present 3D-QSAR studies emphasize the selectivity trends of indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines, which may be obliging in designing novel selective serine protease inhibitors of therapeutic interest.

Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) was performed on a series of indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines as urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) inhibitors. The ligand molecular superimposition on template structure was performed by atom/shape-based RMS fit, multifit, and RMSD fit methods. The removal of two outliers from the initial training set of 30 molecules improved the predictivity of the models. The statistically significant model was established from 28 molecules, which were validated by evaluation of test set of nine compounds. The atom-based RMS alignment yielded best predictive CoMFA model (r2(cv) = 0.611, r2(cnv) = 0.778, F value = 43.825, r2(bs) = 0.842, r2(pred) = 0.616 with two components) while the CoMSIA model yielded (r2(cv) = 0.499, r2(cnv) = 0.976, F value=96.36, r2(bs) = 0.993, r2(pred) = 0.694 with eight components). The contour maps obtained from 3D-QSAR studies were appraised for the activity trends of the molecules analyzed. The results indicate that the steric, electrostatic, and hydrogen bond donor/acceptor substituents play significant role in uPA activity and selectivity of these compounds. The data generated from the present study can be used as putative pharmacophore in the design of novel, potent, and selective urokinase plasminogen activator inhibitors as cancer therapeutics.

In search for potential anti cancer drug candidates in imidazo (2,1-b)-1,3,4-thiadiazole series, two series of 5-formyl-6-arylimidazo(2,1-b)-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-N- (dimethylaminomethino) sulfonamides and 5-bromo-6-aryl/ethylacetateimidazo(2,1-b)-1,3,4- thiadiazole-2-sulfonamides were synthesised. All compounds showed significant cytotoxic effects (log10 GI50 < -4.0, log molar drug concentration required to cause 50% growth inhibition) against a variety of human tumor cell lines of the National Cancer Institute in vitro screen, including cells derived from solid tumors such as non-small cell lung, colon, central nervous system, melanoma, ovarian, prostate and breast cancer, and also few cell lines of leukemia and renal cancer. Introduction of a formyl group at the 5- and substituted aromatic group at 6-position generated compounds with potent antitumor activity. Incorporation of a bromo at 5- and ester group at 6-position produced compounds with reduced activity.