Candida albicans can cause various infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. Its ability to develop resistance to the current antifungal drugs as well as its multiple virulence factors have rendered the problem even more complicated. Thus, in the present investigation, we elucidated an in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity of Encephalartos laurentianus methanol extract (ELME) against C. albicans clinical isolates for the first time. A phytochemical identification of 64 compounds was conducted in ELME using LC-MS/MS. Interestingly, ELME exhibited antifungal activity with MIC values that ranged from 32–256 µg/mL. Furthermore, we investigated the antibiofilm activity of ELME against the biofilms formed by C. albicans isolates. ELME displayed antibiofilm activity using a crystal violet assay as it decreased the percentages of cells, moderately and strongly forming biofilms from 62.5% to 25%. Moreover, the antibiofilm impact of ELME was elucidated using SEM and fluorescent microscope. A significant reduction in the biofilm formation by C. albicans isolates was observed. In addition, we observed that ELME resulted in the downregulation of the biofilm-related tested genes (ALS1, BCR1, PLB2, and SAP5) in 37.5% of the isolates using qRT-PCR. Besides, the in vivo antifungal activity of ELME on the kidney tissues of rats infected with C. albicans was investigated using histological and immunohistochemical studies. ELME was found to protect against C. albicans induced renal damage, decrease desmin and inducible nitric oxide synthase, increase alkaline phosphatase, and increase infected rats’ survival rate. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of ELME was elucidated on Human Skin Fibroblast normal cells using MTT assay. ELME had an IC50 of 31.26 µg/mL. Thus, we can conclude that ELME might be a promising future source for antifungal compounds.

LC-MS/MS analysis of Glechoma hederacea L. methanolic extract (GHME), revealed the identification of 25 metabolites. Ursolic acid (1), 2α-hydroxyursolic acid or corosolic acid (2), 2β-hydroxyursolic acid or epi-corosolic (3), luteolin 7-O-β-Dglucopyranoside (4) and rosmarinic acid (5) were isolated and identified using spectroscopy.Antibacterial activity of GHME against multi drug resistance Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates was measured. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were ranged from 62.5 to 500 µg/ml. In vivo wound healing potential 2%, and 5% GHME prepared hydrogels were criticized on Staphylococcus aureus infected wound rat model. 5% GHME prepared hydrogel treated group showed significant (P<0.05) shrinkage of their colony forming unit/ml (CFU/ml) values in comparison with standard Fucidin. Meanwhile, wound closure associated with full re-epithelization and hair follicles proliferation was noticed after ten days of treatment. Finally, among the GHME isolated compounds, luteolin 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4) exhibited the highest molecular docking score (-9.6 kcal/mol) against matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) target.

Phytochemical investigation of Urtica urens L. aerial parts resulted in isolation of kaempferol 3,7-di-O-α-L-rhamnoside (kaempferitrin), tryptophan and adenosine for the first time from this species; in addition to β-sitosterol, β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucoside, scopoletin, quercetin and succinic acid. The chemical structure of the compounds was determined using different spectroscopic techniques including UV, IR, EI-MS, 1 HNMR and 13 CNMR. Antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-hyperglycemic activities of Urtica urens L. family Urticaceae were investigated. By using DPPH radical scavenging method and quercetin as standard antioxidant compound, the methanol extract of the aerial parts showed a significant antioxidant activity. Cytotoxic activity using SRB assay method was carried out on the total methanol extract in addition to four different fractions (petroleum ether, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and n-butanol) against four different cell lines. The ethyl acetate and the n-butanol fractions have the highest cytotoxic activity against HEPG2 and PC3 cell lines with percent inhibition 74% and 87% respectively in the single dose experiment. The results showed that the ethyl acetate fraction is more potent than doxorubicin against HEPG2 cell line and the n-butanol fraction is less potent than doxorubicin against PC3 cell line. Urtica urens L. aerial parts methanol extract showed anti-diabetic activity and improved other biochemical and histopathological parameters in STZinduced diabetic rats compared to glibenclamide as standard.

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