Neurodegenerative diseases, for example Alzheimer’s, are perceived as driven by hereditary, cellular, and multifaceted biochemical actions. Numerous plant products, for example flavonoids, are documented in studies for having the ability to pass the blood-brain barrier and moderate the development of such illnesses. Computer-aided drug design (CADD) has achieved importance in the drug discovery world; innovative developments in the aspects of structure identification and characterization, bio-computational science, and molecular biology have added to the preparation of new medications towards these ailments. In this study we evaluated nine flavonoid compounds identified from three medicinal plants, namely T. diversifolia, B. sapida, and I. gabonensis for their inhibitory role on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, using pharmacophore modeling, auto-QSAR prediction, and molecular studies, in comparison with standard drugs. The results indicated that the pharmacophore models produced from structures of AChE, BChE and MAO could identify the active compounds, with a recuperation rate of the actives found near 100% in the complete ranked decoy database. Moreso, the robustness of the virtual screening method was accessed by well-established methods including enrichment factor (EF), receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), Boltzmann-enhanced discrimination of receiver operating characteristic (BEDROC), and area under accumulation curve (AUAC). Most notably, the compounds’ pIC50 values were predicted by a machine learning-based model generated by the AutoQSAR algorithm. The generated model was validated to affirm its predictive model. The best models achieved for AChE, BChE and MAO were models kpls_radial_17 (R2 = 0.86 and Q2 = 0.73), pls_38 (R2 = 0.77 and Q2 = 0.72), kpls_desc_44 (R2 = 0.81 and Q2 = 0.81) and these externally validated models were utilized to predict the bioactivities of the lead compounds. The binding affinity results of the ligands against the three selected targets revealed that luteolin displayed the highest affinity score of −9.60 kcal/mol, closely followed by apigenin and ellagic acid with docking scores of −9.60 and −9.53 kcal/mol, respectively. The least binding affinity was attained by gallic acid (−6.30 kcal/mol). The docking scores of our standards were −10.40 and −7.93 kcal/mol for donepezil and galanthamine, respectively. The toxicity prediction revealed that none of the flavonoids presented toxicity and they all had good absorption parameters for the analyzed targets. Hence, these compounds can be considered as likely leads for drug improvement against the same.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The management of diabetes over the years has involved the use of herbal plants, which are now attracting interest. We assessed the antidiabetic properties of aqueous extract of C. purpureus shoots (AECPS) and the mechanism of action on pancreatic ß-cell dysfunction.Methods: This study was conducted using Thirty-six 36) male Wistar rats. The animals were divided into six equal groups (n = 6) and treatment was performed over 14 days. To induce diabetes in the rats, a single dose of 65 mg/kg body weight of alloxan was administered intraperitoneal along with 5% glucose. HPLC analysis was carried out to identified potential compounds in the extract. In vitro tests α-amylase, and α-glucosidase were analyzed. Body weight and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were measured. Biochemical parameters, such as serum insulin, liver glycogen, hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (F-1,6-BP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-ĸB), were analyzed. Additionally, mRNA expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were each evaluated.Results: This in vitro study showed inhibitory potency of Cenchrus purpureus extract (AECPS) as compared with the positive controls. AECPS showed a gradual decrease in alloxan-induced increases in FBG, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL-c), G6P, F-1,6-BP, malondialdehyde (MDA), IL-6, TNF-α, and NF-ĸB and increased alloxan-induced decreases in liver glycogen, hexokinase, and high density lipoprotein (HDL-c). The diabetic control group exhibited pancreatic dysfunction as evidenced by the reduction in serum insulin, homeostasis model assessment of ß-cell function (HOMA-β), expressions of PI3K/AKT, Bcl-2, and PCNA combined with an elevation in homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed 3-O-rutinoside, ellagic acid, catechin, rutin, and kaempferol in AECPS.Conclusion: AECPS showed efficient ameliorative actions against alloxan-induced pancreatic dysfunction, oxidative stress suppression as well as, inflammation, and apoptosis via the activation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathways.

No abstract

Humans are daily exposed to 7,12‐dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), a well known polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). This study investigated the role of dietary intake of Vitamin K (VK), a polyphenolic compound, with potential antioxidative properties, against DMBA‐induced hepatotoxicity. Sixty experimental animals (120‐150 g) were divided into six groups (A‐F): Control, DMBA (80 mg/kg bw) only, VK (0.00 g/10 kg) diet only, VK (7.5 g/10 kg) diet only, DMBA + VK (0.0 g/10 kg) diet and DMBA + VK (7.5 g/10 kg) diet. Single oral administration of DMBA (80 mg/kg body weight) to Wistar rats resulted in hepatic damage after 16 weeks. DMBA significantly (P < .05) decreased the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and Vitamin C were significantly decreased with increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in serum and liver. Aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), γ‐glutamyltransferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities were significantly (P < .05) elevated in the serum but reduced in the liver of DMBA‐administered group. Ingestion of 7.5 g/10 kg VK diet prevented the up regulations in inflammatory biomarkers (granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) and interleukin 17A (IL‐17A)) which elicited liver damaged in the DMBA‐treated group. DMBA induced hepatic alterations in DMBA‐treated group but was restored to near normal in VK (7.5 g/10 kg) diet group. These findings suggest the protective potential of increased dietary intake of vitamin K against DMBA‐induced hepatic dysfunction.

No abstract