Complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) has been used to develop the arthritic or inflammatory condition in the animal, but there is a lack of information concerning high CFA doses on nociceptive behaviour and inflammatory parameters. This study aimed to compare the effects of different high doses of CFA in rat to closely mimic nociceptive and inflammatory parameters of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in humans. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 6): Control (C), CFA-induced polyarthritic groups at 5.0 mg/mL (CFA 5.0), 7.5 mg/mL (CFA 7.5) and 10.0mg/mL (CFA 10.0). The rats’ right hindpaw was inoculated with CFA intradermally and developed into a polyarthritic state within 20 days. Nociceptive behavioural assessments, including von Frey and hot plate tests and spontaneous activities, were conducted on day 0, 7, 15 and 20. Bilateral ankle joints diameter and circumference, full blood count, joints and paw histological examinations were also conducted throughout the study period. Based on the results, CFA 5.0 and CFA 7.5 groups showed a significant increase in spontaneous activities and development of thermal hyperalgesia but no change in body weight and food intake, no development of tactile allodynia and haematological indices, and no significant morphological changes of joints histology. Meanwhile, CFA 10.0 group demonstrated significant and constant changes in all nociceptive and inflammatory parameters investigated. In conclusion, CFA at the dose of 10mg/mL has the most potential and reliable dosage to develop polyarthritis in a rat model to mimic RA condition in humans.

Christia vespertilionis, commonly known as ‘Daun Rerama’, has recently garnered attention from numerous sources in Malaysia as an alternative treatment. Its herbal decoction was believed to show anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. The present study investigated the cytotoxicity of the extract of root and leaf of C. vespertilionis. The plant parts were successively extracted using the solvent maceration method. The most active extract was further fractionated to afford F1–F8. The cytotoxic effects were determined using MTT assay against human breast carcinoma cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). The total phenolic content (TPC) of the extracts were determined. The antioxidant properties of the extract were also studied using DPPH and β-carotene bleaching assays. The ethyl acetate root extract demonstrated selective cytotoxicity especially against MDA-MB-231 with the highest TPC and antioxidant properties compared to others (p < 0.05). The TPC and antioxidant results suggest the contribution of phenolic compounds toward its antioxidant strength leading to significant cytotoxicity. F3 showed potent cytotoxic effects while F4 showed better antioxidative strength compared to others (p < 0.05). Qualitative phytochemical screening of the most active fraction, F3, suggested the presence of flavonoids, coumarins and quinones to be responsible toward the cytotoxicity. The study showed the root extracts of C. vespertilionis to possess notable anti-breast cancer effects.

Context: Paederia foetida L. (Rubiaceae) is an edible plant distributed in Asian countries including Malaysia. Fresh leaves have been traditionally used as a remedy for indigestion and diarrhea. Several phytochemical studies of the leaves have been documented, but there are few reports on twigs. Objective: This study investigates the enzyme inhibition of P. foetida twig extracts and compound isolated from them. In addition, in silico molecular docking of scopoletin was investigated. Materials and methods: Plants were obtained from two locations in Malaysia, Johor (PFJ) and Pahang (PFP). Hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts along with isolated compound (scopoletin) were evaluated for their enzyme inhibition activities (10,000–0.000016 µg/mL). The separation and identification of bio-active compounds were carried out using column chromatography and spectroscopic techniques, respectively. In silico molecular docking of scopoletin with receptors (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) was carried out using AutoDock 4.2. Results: The IC 50 values of α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activity of PFJ chloroform extract were 9.60 and 245.6 µg/mL, respectively. PFP chloroform extract exhibited α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activity (IC 50 = 14.83 and 257.2 µg/mL, respectively). The α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of scopoletin from both locations had IC 50 values of 0.052 and 0.057 µM, respectively. Discussion and conclusions: Separation of PFJ chloroform extract afforded scopoletin ( 1 ), stigmasterol ( 2 ) and γ-sitosterol ( 3 ) and the PFP chloroform extract yielded ( 1 ), ( 2 ), ( 3 ) and ergost-5-en-3-ol ( 4 ). Scopoletin was isolated from this species for the first time. In silico calculations gave a binding energy between scopoletin and α-amylase of −6.03 kcal/mol.

The present study investigated the antidiabetic properties of the extracts and fractions from leaves and stem bark of M. glabra based on dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and α-Amylase inhibitory activity assays. The chloroform extract of the leaves was found to be most active towards inhibition of DPP-4 and α-Amylase with IC50 of 169.40 μg/mL and 303.64 μg/mL, respectively. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the leaves’ chloroform extract revealed fraction 4 (CF4) as the most active fraction (DPP-4 IC50: 128.35 μg/mL; α-Amylase IC50: 170.19 μg/mL). LC-MS/MS investigation of CF4 led to the identification of trans-decursidinol (1), swermirin (2), methyl 3,4,5-trimethoxycinnamate (3), renifolin (4), 4′,5,6,7-tetramethoxy-flavone (5), isorhamnetin (6), quercetagetin-3,4′-dimethyl ether (7), 5,3′,4′-trihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-flavone (8), and 2-methoxy-5-acetoxy-fruranogermacr-1(10)-en-6-one (9) as the major components. The computational study suggested that (8) and (7) were the most potent DPP-4 and α-Amylase inhibitors based on their lower binding affinities and extensive interactions with critical amino acid residues of the respective enzymes. The binding affinity of (8) with DPP-4 (−8.1 kcal/mol) was comparable to that of sitagliptin (−8.6 kcal/mol) while the binding affinity of (7) with α-Amylase (−8.6 kcal/mol) was better than acarbose (−6.9 kcal/mol). These findings highlight the phytochemical profile and potential antidiabetic compounds from M. glabra that may work as an alternative treatment for diabetes.

Paederia foetida L. (Rubiaceae) is a climber which is widely distributed in Asian countries including Malaysia. The plant is traditionally used to treat various diseases including diabetes. This study is to evaluate the enzymatic inhibition activity of Paederia foetida twigs extracts and to identify the metabolites responsible for the bioactivity by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics profiling. Three different twig extracts, namely, hexane (PFH), chloroform (PFC), and methanol (PFM), were submerged for their α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition potential in 5 replicates for each. Results obtained from the loading column scatter plot of orthogonal partial least square (OPLS) model revealed the presence of 12 bioactive compounds, namely, dl-α-tocopherol, n-hexadecanoic acid, 2-hexyl-1-decanol, stigmastanol, 2-nonadecanone, cholest-8(14)-en-3-ol, 4,4-dimethyl-, (3β,5α)-, stigmast-4-en-3-one, stigmasterol, 1-ethyl-1-tetradecyloxy-1-silacyclohexane, ɣ-sitosterol, stigmast-7-en-3-ol, (3β,5α,24S)-, and α-monostearin. In silico molecular docking was carried out using the crystal structure α-amylase (PDB ID: 4W93) and α-glucosidase (PDB ID: 3WY1). α-Amylase-n-hexadecanoic acid exhibited the lowest binding energy of -2.28 kcal/mol with two hydrogen bonds residue, namely, LYS178 and TYR174, along with hydrophobic interactions involving PRO140, TRP134, SER132, ASP135, and LYS172. The binding interactions of α-glucosidase-n-hexadecanoic acid complex ligand also showed the lowest binding energy among 5 major compounds with the energy value of -4.04 kcal/mol. The complex consists of one hydrogen bond interacting residue, ARG437, and hydrophobic interactions with ALA444, ASP141, GLN438, GLU432, GLY374, LEU373, LEU433, LYS352, PRO347, THR445, HIS348, and PRO351. The study provides informative data on the potential antidiabetic inhibitors identified in Paederia foetida twigs, indicating the plant has the therapeutic effect properties to manage diabetes.