Infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its subsequent complications are a major cause of mortality worldwide. The water extract of the wild Egyptian artichoke (WEA) (Cynara cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lam.) Fiori) leaves is a freely available herbal product that is used for treatment of HCV-infection complications such as jaundice and ascites. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether WEA exhibits activity against HCV, identify bioactive chemicals in its extract and to tentatively examine the potential inhibitory interactions of WEA with human drug-metabolizing enzymes. The current pilot clinical trial revealed that the water extract of a WEA plant decreased the HCV viral load below the detection level in 12 out of 15 patients. Furthermore, the liver enzymes ALT and AST, as well as the level of bilirubin were normalized. The total WEA extract inhibited CYP2B6 (OH-BUP) and CYP2C19 (5-OH-OME) with high affinity, IC50 ∼ 20 μg ml(-1), while moderate inhibitory interactions were observed for CYP1A2, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4. Results presented herein suggest that the WEA exhibits strong antiviral activity against HCV and may be useful for its treatment. Compared to the artichoke product "Hepar SL Forte(®)", WEA was found to be more enriched in sesquiterpenes versus the abundance of phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids in Hepar SL Forte(®) as revealed via UPLC-MS analysis coupled to chemometrics.
This study was carried out at the Tissue Culture and Germplasm Conservation Research Laboratory, Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt. in cooperation with Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Egypt. from 2016 to 2020.
Medicinal plants contain many reduction substances e.g. terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, and glycosides. Melia azedarach and Artemisia herba-alba are rich in these compounds that are able to reduce chromium metal (VI) to chromium nanoparticles (Cr2O3). Chromium oxide nanoparticles were green synthesized by the reduction of potassium dichromate solution with Melia azedarach and Artemisia herba-alba plant extract. In biological methods, Cr2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by two biological agents of Erwinia amylovora dry matter and extraction. The resulting Cr2O3 nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy. The antibacterial effect of Cr2O3 nanoparticles against E. amylovora gave the highest inhibition zone for Cr2O3 nanoparticles reduction by Artemisia followed by Melia (31.0 and 25.0 mm respectively). These particles were shown to have an effective bactericide on contaminated callus pear cells by Erwinia bacteria which gave survival 75% and 50% and 0.0% contamination.
The effect of foliar spraying with yeast extract and algae extract, as well as soil drench application with humic acid on some vegetative growth parameters, chlorophyll content and N, P, K% of Prime grape transplants grafted on Freedom and Paulsen rootstocks were studied during 2018 and 2019 seasons. A great effect on vegetative growth including stem height, stem diameter, number of lateral shoots/ plant, number of leaves/ plant, leaf area and root length were obtained with Prime grape transplants grafted on Freedom rootstock. All applied treatments were superior to control in improving growth parameters and the great effect was gained with combining treatment (T8) which including 0.2% yeast extract + 0.2% algae extract + 2.5 g/L./tree humic acid. However, the highest values of total chlorophyll, N and K% were obtained with Prime grape transplants grafted on Freedom rootstock, whereas P% values did not affect the type of rootstocks. Moreover, the highest values of total chlorophyll, N and P% were recorded by the combining treatment (T8) whereas; the highest K% values were obtained with 0.4% algae extract treatment. It could be concluded that Prime grape transplants grafted on Freedom rootstock were superior to Prime grape transplants grafted on Paulsen rootstock either on vegetative growth parameters or on some chemical constituents.
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