Search

Siddig Ibrahim Abdelwahab,1 Bassem Yousef Sheikh,2 Manal Mohamed Elhassan Taha,1 Chee Wun How,3 Rasedee Abdullah,3 Umar Yagoub,1 Rashad El-Sunousi,1 Eltayeb EM Eid31Medical Research Centre, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia; 3Laboratory of Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, MalaysiaBackground: Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), composed of solid and liquid lipids, and surfactants are potentially good colloidal drug carriers. Thymoquinone is the main bioactive compound of Nigella sativa. In this study, the preparation, gastroprotective effects, and pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of thymoquinone (TQ)-loaded NLCs (TQNLCs) were evaluated.Method: TQNLCs were prepared using hydrogenated palm oil (Softisan® 154), olive oil, and phosphatidylcholine for the lipid phase and sorbitol, polysorbate 80, thimerosal, and double distilled water for the liquid lipid material. A morphological assessment of TQNLCs was performed using various methods. Analysis of the ulcer index, hydrogen concentration, mucus content, and biochemical and histochemical studies confirmed that the loading of TQ into the NLCs significantly improved the gastroprotective activity of this natural compound against the formation of ethanol-induced ulcers. The safety of TQNLC was tested on WRL68 liver normal cells with cisplatin as a positive control.Results: The average diameter of the TQNLCs was 75 ± 2.4 nm. The particles had negative zeta potential values of −31 ± 0.1 mV and a single melting peak of 55.85°C. Immunohistochemical methods revealed that TQNLCs inhibited the formation of ethanol-induced ulcers through the modulation of heat shock protein-70 (Hsp70). Acute hepatotoxic effects of the TQNLCs were not observed in rats or normal human liver cells (WRL-68). After validation, PK studies in rabbits showed tha

The current in vitro study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of boesenbergin A (BA), a chalcone derivative of known structure isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29), non-small cell lung cancer (A549), prostate adenocarcinoma (PC3), and normal hepatic cells (WRL-68) were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of BA using the MTT assay. The antioxidant activity of BA was assessed by the ORAC assay and compared to quercetin as a standard reference antioxidant. ORAC results are reported as the equivalent concentration of Trolox that produces the same level of antioxidant activity as the sample tested at 20 µg/mL. The toxic effect of BA on different cell types, reported as IC50, yielded 20.22 ± 3.15, 10.69 ± 2.64, 20.31 ± 1.34, 94.10 ± 1.19, and 9.324 ± 0.24 µg/mL for A549, PC3, HepG2, HT-29, and WRL-68, respectively. BA displayed considerable antioxidant activity, when the results of ORAC assay were reported as Trolox equivalents. BA (20 µg/mL) and quercetin (5 µg/mL) were equivalent to a Trolox concentration of 11.91 ± 0.23 and 160.32 ± 2.75 µM, respectively. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory activity of BA was significant at 12.5 to 50 µg/mL and without any significant cytotoxicity for the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 at 50 µg/mL. The significant biological activities observed in this study indicated that BA may be one of the agents responsible for the reported biological activities of B. rotunda crude extract.

Zerumbone (ZER), a monosesquiterpene found in the subtropical ginger tZingiber zerumbet Smith), possesses antiproliferative properties to several cancer cell lines, including cervical, skin and colon cancers. In this study, the antitumor effects of ZER were assessed in rats induced to develop liver cancer with a single intraperitoneal injection of diethylnitrosamine (DEN, 200 mg/kg body wt.) followed two weeks later by daily dietary 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF, 0.02%) for another two weeks. Eighty rats were divided into 16 equal groups (n=5), comprising of normal (control) rats at three sacrifice times (3 groups), rats with induced hepatocarcinogenesis at three sacrifice times [positive control (DEN/ AAF)] (3 groups), rats with induced hepatocarcinogenesis given three ZER treatment doses (15, 30 or 60 mg/kg body wt.) each at three sacrifice times (9 groups) and normal rats treated with ZER (60 mg/kg body wt.) and sacrificed at end of experiment (1 group). Treated rats received intraperitoneal ZER injections twice weekly for 4, 8 or 11 weeks after AAF treatment. The effects of ZER on rat hepatocarcinogenesis were studied through body weight profile, apoptosis proteins (Bax and Bcl-Z), (1- fetoprotein (AfP), glutathione (GSH), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (AP) and y-glutamyltranspeptidase (yGT) concentrations, TUNEL and lipid peroxidation assays, histopathological examinations, immunohistochemical staining of cell proliferation marker (peNA), transmission electron microscopy and AFP and apoptosis genes expressions using realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The current study also used the liver cancer cell line (J-IepG2) as the in vitro model. The effects of ZER on liver cancer cells were determined by the MTT, caspase-3 and reactive oxygen species assays, inverted light microscopy, Hoechst DNA stain, and estimation of lactate dehydrogenase (L

This present study aims to investigate, the elemental analysis of some medicinal plants used traditionally as anticancer cure by local Malaysians. Element's content of these plants was carried out using Energy Dispersive X-ray Microanalysis combined with Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope microanalysis (EDX). In this study, elements' contents from the leaves of Goniothalamus umbrosus, Kaempferia galangal, Gynura procumbens, Morinda citrifollia, Lawsonia inermis and Baringtonia racemosa using EDX technique. The elemental distribution revealed the presence of C, O, Mg, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Al, Si and Fe, in anti-cancer medicinal plants and their relative weight percentages were estimated. These elements may be responsible for the biomedicinal properties of these plants, which based on anticancer properties. This supports the traditional usage of these plants as anti-tumor.

This study was designed to investigate elements’ content and anti-microbial effects of two Malaysian plants, Pereskia bleo and Goniothalamus umbrosus. Elements’ analysis was carried out using Energy Dispersive X-ray Microanalysis combined with Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope (EDX, VPSEM). Anti-microbial screening was performed using disc diffusion method using two gram-positive bacteria, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Bacillus subtilis B29, and other two gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa60690 and Salmonella choleraesuis. The elemental distribution revealed the presence of C, O, Mg, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Al, Si and Fe, in these medicinal plants and their relative weight percentages were estimated. A variable susceptibility of microbial strains of this study towards Pereskia bleo and Goniothalamus umbrosuswas noticeably observed. From this study, it is shown that the analysis of elements of anticancer plants can be considered as potential sources for providing information regarding the medicinal usages of plants.

Recent in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that zerumbone (ZER) possesses anticancer properties. The main objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the combination of ZER and cisplatin (CIS) to treat cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in vivo. Microculture tetrazolium assay and immunohistochemistry of proliferating cellular nuclear antigen were used to study the antitumor effect of ZER.Prenatally exposed female BALB/c micewere used as a model. The progenies with CIN were injected peritoneally with isotonic sodium chloride solution (positive control), CIS, ZER,and a combination of both compounds. All treated and untreated mice were humanely killed, and serum and cervix were obtained for interleukin 6 analysis and histopathologic studies using hematoxylin and eosin staining, respectively. Zerumbone has revealed an antitumor effect on human cervical cancer cells and downregulates immunoexpression of proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (P < 0.05). In vivo study indicates that ZER at 16 mg/kg and CIS at 10 mg/kg have a regressing effect on CIN. The combination of ZER and CIS also showed similar effectiveness in regressing CIN. Our results indicate that the combination of ZER and CIS has modulated the serum level of interleukin 6 when compared with that in mice treated with isotonic sodium chloride solution (P < 0.05). The effectiveness of combining ZER and CIS could be further explored as a new therapeutic intervention of early precancerous stages of carcinogenesis before the invasive stage begins.