Total antioxidant potential of resinous exudates from Heliotropium species, and a comparison of the ABTS and DPPH methods

Synthesis, Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Evaluation, Molecular Docking and DFT Studies of Some Novel Coumarin and Fused Coumarin Derivatives

N'-[(4-Chloro-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)methylene]-2-cyanoacetohydrazide (3) was synthesized in excellent yield from the condensation of 4-Chloro-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carbaldehyde with cyanoacetohydrazide. Compound 3 was utilized as a building block to synthesize novel coumarin and heterocycle-fused coumarin derivatives. The chemical structures of all the new coumarin compounds were identified by spectral analyses. Some of the new coumarins compounds were screened in human cancer cell lines (HEPG-2, MCF-7, HCT-116 and PC-3) to learn about their cytotoxic effects in addition to the study of their DNA damage and antioxidant activity. Three of these compounds exhibited remarkable antioxidant and anti-proliferative activities. Moreover, they have the capability to protect DNA from damage induced by bleomycin. Molecular docking, DFT and molecular electrostatic potential studies were performed on the compounds in vitro.

Amino-Pyrazoles in Medicinal Chemistry: A Review

A pyrazole nucleus is an easy-to-prepare scaffold with large therapeutic potential. Consequently, the search for new pyrazole-based compounds is of great interest to the academic community as well as industry. In the last ten years, a large number of papers and reviews on the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of different classes of pyrazoles and many pyrazole-containing compounds have been published. However, an overview of pyrazole derivatives bearing a free amino group at the 3, 4, or 5 position (namely, 3-aminopyrazoles, 4-aminopyrazoles, and 5-aminopyrazoles, respectively) and their biological properties is still missing, despite the fact that aminopyrazoles are advantageous frameworks able to provide useful ligands for receptors or enzymes, such as p38MAPK, and different kinases, COX and others, as well as targets important for bacterial and virus infections. With the aim to fill this gap, the present review focuses on aminopyrazole-based compounds studied as active agents in different therapeutic areas, with particular attention on the design and structure-activity relationships defined by each class of compounds. In particular, the most relevant results have been obtained for anticancer/anti-inflammatory compounds, as the recent approval of Pirtobrutinib demonstrates. The data reported here are collected from different databases (Scifinder, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Pubmed) using "aminopyrazole" as the keyword.

Synthesis, DFT investigations, antioxidant, antibacterial activity and SAR-study of novel thiophene-2-carboxamide derivatives

Synthetic strategy for the synthesis of thiophene 2-carboxamide derivatives substituted with hydroxyl, methyl and amino groups at position-3 was proposed. The strategy includes the cyclization of the precursor ethyl 2-arylazo-3-mercapto-3-(phenylamino)acrylate derivatives, 2-acetyl-2-arylazo-thioacetanilide derivatives and N-aryl-2-cyano-3-mercapto-3-(phenylamino)acrylamide derivatives with N-(4-acetylphenyl)-2-chloroacetamide in alcoholic sodium ethoxide. IR, ¹H NMR, and mass spectroscopic analyses were used to characterize the synthesized derivatives. In addition, molecular, electronic properties of the synthesized products were studied by the density functional theory (DFT) where they exhibited close HOMO-LUMO energy gap (ΔE_H-L) in which the amino derivatives 7a-c have the highest while the methyl derivatives 5a-c were the lowest. Using the ABTS method, the antioxidant properties of the produced compounds were evaluated, where amino thiophene-2-carboxamide 7a exhibit significant inhibition activity 62.0% compared to ascorbic acid The antibacterial activity against two pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and two of pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) revealed that 7b records the highest activity index compared to ampicillin 83.3, 82.6, 64.0, 86.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the thiophene-2-carboxamide derivatives were docked with five different proteins with the use molecular docking tools and the results explained interactions between amino acid residue of enzyme and compounds. Compounds 3b and 3c showed the highest binding score with 2AS1 protein.

Biologically Active Preparations from the Leaves of Wild Plant Species of the Genus Rubus

The plants of the genus Rubus (R.) are applied as antiseptic agents in the treatment of skin diseases. Despite the great interest in plants of this genus, there are few reports on the antioxidant and biological activities of preparations obtained from the leaves of these plants. Therefore, we decided to evaluate the antioxidant activity of preparations from leaves of wild plant species of the genus Rubus using the frequently applied DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP methods, as well as to determine the total polyphenol content using the Folin−Ciocalteau method and perform qualitative evaluation by gas chromatography−mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The bactericidal and fungicidal activities of the obtained preparations were evaluated by applying laboratory tests: using the disc and the well methods based on the standards EN 13697:2019, EN 13697:2015, and EN 1500:2013. Microbiological tests of the plant preparations against bacteria, fungi, and yeasts isolated from the environment and against reference strains were performed. Moreover, antimicrobial testing of antibiotics against the tested strains was performed for comparison. The n-octanol/water partition coefficient of the obtained preparations was determined by the shake-flask method to determine their lipophilicity. According to the results, a high content of polyphenols and other antioxidant and biologically active compounds can be thought of as the parameter responsible for the effective activity of plant preparations obtained from wild plant species of the genus Rubus. The methods for determining bactericidal and fungicidal activity clearly demonstrates that preparations with reduced ethanol content exhibit bactericidal and fungicidal activity on surfaces. Testing of hand disinfection by means of rubbing with the preparations confirmed their antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli K12 NCTC 10538. The obtained results show that the tested preparations exhibit on average two times lower activity against the reference bacterial strains than comparable antibiotics. The preparations obtained from the leaves of R. idaeus L. and R. fruticosus L. could complement classical antibiotics. While environmental bacteria showed a similar response to the preparations and antibiotics, their sensitivity was about one-third less than that of the reference strains. Our studies have shown that the obtained preparations are highly hydrophilic (logP < 0). Thus, these preparations can only be used in lipid bilayers in the aqueous core of liposomes, not in the lipid envelope.

Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Capacities of Various Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivars in Korea

Whole wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a rich source of bioactive compounds with health benefits such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative activities. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant and cytoprotective capacities of 41 wheat cultivars. The antioxidant capacities of whole wheat grain extracts (WWE) from various wheat cultivars were evaluated using total phenolic content and ABTS and DPPH radical-scavenging activities. The relative antioxidant capacity index (RACI) was calculated to integrate different chemical methods of antioxidant capacity. The cytoprotective capacity of the WWE was investigated using hepatocytes (HepG2), myoblasts (C2C12), and endothelial (EA.hy926) cells. The RACI was the highest and lowest for Dajoong (1.71) and Topdong (−1.96), respectively. Pearson correlation tests were conducted to determine the correlation between the antioxidant and cytoprotective activities. However, no significant correlations between RACI and the cytoprotective capacities were ascertained. Principal component analysis revealed that the first two components represented 68.93% of the total variability. Hierarchical cluster analysis classified WWE into three groups based on measured parameters. The results of this study highlight the variation in the antioxidant and cytoprotective capacities of 41 different wheat cultivars. This study provides basic information that can guide decisions in wheat breeding programs for the development of functional food crops and new dietary ingredients.

Chemical Composition, Total Phenolic Content, and Antioxidant Activity of the Essential Oils Extracted from the Needle of Ten Pinus Taxa

This study investigated the chemical compositions of essential oils (EOs) from ten taxa belonging to the Pinus genus. The studied taxa that grow wildly in China, and the EOs were extracted by steam distillation; the chemical compositions were isolated and characterized by GC-MS. Eighty-one components, representing over 92.10% of the EOs, were identified. The main constituents of EOs were α-pinene (6.44%–53.00%), β-caryophyllene (2.43%–24.64%), β-pinene (0.00%–22.32%), δ-cadinene (2.56%–17.56%), germacrene D (0.74%–11.38%), and camphene (0.78%–10.48%). Furthermore, we determined the total phenolic content (TPC) of the EOs, with the values from 26.50 to 60.01 mg eq GAE/mL EO. DPPH free radical scavenging activity (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and ABTS radical cation scavenging activity (ABTS) were used to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of the EOs, and the obtained values were ranged from 499.15 to 1,272.75 mmol eq Trolox/mL EO, 1,255.67 to 3,857.93 mmol eq Trolox/mL EO, and 370.81 to 1,677.19 mmol eq Trolox/mL EO, respectively. The results showed that all of the EOs studied had strong antioxidant activity, and these pine plants could be used as natural antioxidants in functional food and pharmaceutical industries.

Spectral, Molecular Modeling, and Biological Activity Studies on New Schiff's Base of Acenaphthaquinone Transition Metal Complexes

The newly synthesized Schiff's base derivative, N-allyl-2-(2-oxoacenaphthylen-1(2H)-ylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide, has been characterized by different spectral techniques. Its reaction with Co(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) acetate led to the formation of 1 : 1 (M:L) complexes. The IR and NMR spectral data revealed keto-thione form for the free ligand. On chelation with Co(II) and Ni(II), it behaved as mononegative and neutral tridentate via O, N¹, and S donors, respectively, while it showed neutral bidentate mode via O and N¹ atoms with Zn(II). The electronic spectra indicated that all the isolated complexes have an octahedral structure. The thermal gravimetric analyses confirmed the suggested formula and the presence of coordinated water molecules. The XRD pattern of the metal complexes showed that both Co(II) and Ni(II) have amorphous nature, while Zn(II) complex has monoclinic crystallinity with an average size of 9.10 nm. DFT modeling of the ligand and complexes supported the proposed structures. The calculated HOMO-LUMO energy gap, ΔE_H-L, of the ligand complexes was 1.96–2.49 eV range where HAAT < Zn(II) < Ni(II) < Co(II). The antioxidant activity investigation showed that the ligand and Zn(II) complex have high activity than other complexes, 88.5 and 88.6%, respectively. Accordingly, the antitumor activity of isolated compounds was examined against the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2), where both HAAT and Zn(II) complex exhibited very strong activity, IC₅₀ 6.45 ± 0.25 and 6.39 ± 0.18 μM, respectively.

Hepatoprotective, cytotoxic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Dioon spinulosum leaves Dyer Ex Eichler and its isolated secondary metabolites

Given the lack of adequate research on Dioon spinulosum (D. spinulosum) Dyer Ex Eichler, this study was conducted focusing on different biological activities and phytochemical investigation of D. spinulosum for the first time. D. spinulosum showed strong protective activity against DNA damage and potent activity against VERO cell line. It also presented antimicrobial and hepatoprotective activity. Phytochemical investigation of the leaves resulted in isolation of two new flavonoids, apigenin 7-O-α-d-glucopyranoside (15) and amentoflavone 7-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside (16), in addition to fifteen known compounds: phytone (1), trans-phytol (2), β-sitosterol (3), stigmasterol (4), oliveriflavone (5), 7,4',7″,4″'-tetramethylamentoflavone (6), 7,4',7''-trimethylamentoflavone (7), scaidopitysin (8), bilobetin (9), isoginkgetin (10), aromadendrin (11), sotusflavone (12), engeletin (14) and eriocitrin (17) for the first time together with amentoflavone (13). Compounds (11) and (13) displayed very strong cytotoxic activity and showed the highest protective activity against DNA damage.

Ganoderma lucidum Prevents Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity through Inhibition of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Signaling and Autophagy-Mediated Apoptosis

Background

Cisplatin (cis-diaminedichloroplatinum, CDDP) is a broad-spectrum antineoplastic agent. However, CDDP has been blamed for its nephrotoxicity, which is the main dose-limiting adverse effect. Ganoderma lucidum (GL), a medicinal mushroom, has antioxidant and inflammatory activities. Therefore, this study is aimed at finding out the potential nephroprotection of GL against CDDP-induced nephrotoxicity in rats and the possible molecular mechanisms including the EGFR downstream signaling, apoptosis, and autophagy.

Methods

Rats were given GL (500 mg/kg) for 10 days and a single injection of CDDP (12 mg/kg, i.p).

Results

Nephrotoxicity was evidenced by a significant increase in renal indices and oxidative stress markers. Additionally, CDDP showed a plethora of inflammatory and apoptotic responses as evidenced by a profound increase of HMGB-1, NF-κB, and caspase-3 expressions, whereas administration of GL significantly improved all these indices as well as the histopathological insults. Renal expression of EGFR showed a similar trend after GL administration. Furthermore, activation of autophagy protein, LC3 II, was found to be involved in GL-mediated nephroprotection correlated with the downregulation of apoptotic signaling, caspase-3 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT) renal expressions.

Conclusion

These results suggest that GL might have improved CDDP-induced nephrotoxicity through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and autophagy-mediated apoptosis mechanisms and that inhibition of EGFR signaling might be involved in nephroprotection.

Synthesis, Antimicrobial Activity and Molecular Docking of Novel Thiourea Derivatives Tagged with Thiadiazole, Imidazole and Triazine Moieties as Potential DNA Gyrase and Topoisomerase IV Inhibitors

To develop new antimicrobial agents, a series of novel thiourea derivatives incorporated with different moieties 2–13 was designed and synthesized and their biological activities were evaluated. Compounds 7a, 7b and 8 exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against all Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and the fungal Aspergillus flavus with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 0.95 ± 0.22 to 3.25 ± 1.00 μg/mL. Furthermore, cytotoxicity studies against MCF-7 cells revealed that compounds 7a and 7b were the most potent with IC₅₀ values of 10.17 ± 0.65 and 11.59 ± 0.59 μM, respectively. On the other hand, the tested compounds were less toxic against normal kidney epithelial cell lines (Vero cells). The in vitro enzyme inhibition assay of 8 displayed excellent inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli DNA B gyrase and moderate one against E. coli Topoisomerase IV (IC₅₀ = 0.33 ± 1.25 and 19.72 ± 1.00 µM, respectively) in comparison with novobiocin (IC₅₀ values 0.28 ± 1.45 and 10.65 ± 1.02 µM, respectively). Finally, the molecular docking was done to position compound 8 into the E. coli DNA B and Topoisomerase IV active pockets to explore the probable binding conformation. In summary, compound 8 may serve as a potential dual E. coli DNA B and Topoisomerase IV inhibitor.

White Peony (Fermented Camellia sinensis) Polyphenols Help Prevent Alcoholic Liver Injury via Antioxidation

White peony is a type of white tea (Camellia sinensis) rich in polyphenols. In this study, polyphenols were extracted from white peony. In vitro experiments showed that white peony polyphenols (WPPs) possess strong free radical scavenging capabilities toward 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS). Long-term alcohol gavage was used to induce alcoholic liver injury in mice, and relevant indices of liver injury were examined. WPPs effectively reduced the liver indices of mice with liver injury. The serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (ATS), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), nitric oxide (NO), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were downregulated, while those of albumin (ALB), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were upregulated. WPPs also reduced the serum levels of interluekin-6 (IL-6), interluekin-12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in mice with liver injury. Pathology results showed that WPPs reduced alcohol-induced liver cell damage. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot results revealed that WPPs upregulated the mRNA and protein expressions of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), cupro–zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), and CAT and downregulated iNOS expression in the liver of mice with liver injury. WPPs protected against alcoholic liver injury, and this effect was equivalent to that of silymarin. High-performance liquid chromatography revealed that WPPs mainly contained the polyphenols gallic acid, catechinic acid, and hyperoside, which are critical for exerting preventive effects against alcoholic liver injury. Thus, WPPs are high-quality natural products with liver protective effects.

Synthesis, Antiproliferative, and Antioxidant Evaluation of 2-Pentylquinazolin-4(3H)-one(thione) Derivatives with DFT Study

The current study was chiefly designed to examine the antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of some novel quinazolinone(thione) derivatives 6–14. The present work focused on two main points; firstly, comparing between quinazolinone and quinazolinthione derivatives. Whereas, antiproliferative (against two cell lines namely, HepG2 and MCF-7) and antioxidant (by two methods; ABTS and DPPH) activities of the investigated compounds, the best quinazolinthione derivatives were 6 and 14, which exhibited excellent potencies comparable to quinazolinone derivatives 5 and 9, respectively. Secondly, we compared the activity of four series of Schiff bases which included the quinazolinone moiety (11a–d). In addition, the antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of the compounds with various aryl aldehyde hydrazone derivatives (11a–d) analogs were studied. The compounds exhibited potency that increased with increasing electron donating group in p-position (OH > OMe > Cl) due to extended conjugated systems. Noteworthy, most of antiproliferative and antioxidant activities results for the tested compounds are consistent with the DFT calculations.