Thymus vulgaris and Arctium lappa have been used as a folk remedy in the Iraqi Kurdistan region to deal with different health problems. The aim of the current study is to investigate the cytotoxicity of T. vulgaris and A. lappa in leukemia and multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines and determine the mode of cell death triggered by the most potent cytotoxic fractions of both plants in MM. Resazurin assay was used to evaluate cytotoxic and ferroptosis activity, apoptosis, and modulation in the cell cycle phase were investigated via Annexin V-FITC/PI dual stain and cell-cycle arrest assays. Furthermore, we used western blotting assay for the determination of autophagy cell death. n-Hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions of T. vulgaris and A. lappa exhibited cytotoxicity in CCRF-CEM and CEM/ADR 5000 cell lines at concentration range 0.001–100 μg/mL with potential activity revealed by chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions. NCI-H929 displayed pronounced sensitivity towards T. vulgaris (TCF) and A. lappa (ACF) chloroform fractions with IC50 values of 6.49 ± 1.48 and 21.9 ± 0.69 μg/mL, respectively. TCF induced apoptosis in NCI-H929 cells with a higher ratio (71%), compared to ACF (50%) at 4 × IC50. ACF demonstrated more potent autophagy activity than TCF. TCF and ACF induced cell cycle arrest and ferroptosis. Apigenin and nobiletin were identified in TCF, while nobiletin, ursolic acid, and lupeol were the main compounds identified in ACF. T. vulgaris and A. lappa could be considered as potential herbal drug candidates, which arrest cancer cell proliferation by induction of apoptosis, autophagic, and ferroptosis.
Background and objective: Rheum ribes (polygonaceae) roots are used traditionally to treat diabetes, hypertension, obesity, ulcer, diarrhea, anthelmintic and expectorant. The purpose of this study was to investigate clinically the antidiabetic activity of Rheum ribes in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and phytochemical study for the correlation of antidiabetic activity with the active constituents in the plant. Methods: The antidiabetic activity of Rheumribes given alone and in combination with standard oral hypoglycemic agents was investigated in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study was conducted on 120 patientswith type 2 diabetes mellitus for a period of 12 weeks. Preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out followed by high performance liquid chromatography analysis for the identification of flavonoid constituents in the root of Rheumribes. Results: Rheumribes root showed significant blood glucose reduction (P <0.01) on 12 th weeks of the observation period with 39.63% percent blood glucose reduction. The combination treatment of Rheumribes root and glibenclamide showed a significant difference (P <0.05) with the treatment group of glibenclamide and metforminwith maximum percent of reduction in blood glucose level of 48.91%.The results of preliminary phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, anthraquinones, and quinones. Quercetin was identified by high performance liquid chromatography. The proposed high performance liquid chromatography method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision and limit of quantitation. Conclusion: Rheum ribes root was found to reduce significantly blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.Quercetin was identified by high performance liquid chromatography as an important flavonoid constituent.
Objective. To explore for the first time the extent to which Iraqi pharmacy students and faculty use Facebook and university email for academic communications, and to examine factors influencing utilization within the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).Methods. An electronic survey was administered to convenience samples of students and faculty of six Iraqi public schools and colleges of pharmacy in 2015. Results. Responses included 489 student and 128 faculty usable surveys. Both students and faculty use Facebook more than university email for academic communications. Less than a third of the faculty used university email. Students used Facebook for academic purposes twice as much as faculty. Conclusion. Absence of university email in Iraqi schools and colleges of pharmacy makes Facebook essential for faculty-student communications. The majority (71.1% to 82%) of respondents perceived that Facebook was easy to use. Three TAM variables (intention to use, attitude toward use and perceived usefulness) had significant positive associations with actual use of both Facebook messaging and university email.
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