Cycas pectinata Buch.-Ham. is commonly used in folk medicine against various disorders. The present study investigated the antidepressant and cytotoxicity activity of methanol extract of C. pectinata (MECP) along with quantitative phytochemical analysis by GC-MS method. Here, the GC-MS study of MECP presented 41 compounds, among which most were fatty acids, esters, terpenoids and oximes. The antidepressant activity was assessed by the forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) models. In contrast, MECP (200 and 400 mg/kg) exhibited a significant and dose-dependent manner reduction in immobility comparable with fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) and phenelzine (20 mg/kg). MECP showed a weak toxicity level in the brine shrimp lethality bioassay (ED50: 358.65 µg/mL) comparable to the standard drug vincristine sulfate (ED50: 2.39 µg/mL). Three compounds from the GC-MS study were subjected to density functional theory (DFT) calculations, where only cyclopentadecanone oxime showed positive and negative active binding sites. Cyclopentadecanone oxime also showed a good binding interaction in suppressing depression disorders by blocking monoamine oxidase and serotonin receptors with better pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties. Overall, the MECP exhibited a significant antidepressant activity with moderate toxicity, which required further advance studies to identify the mechanism.

Background The study sought to investigate the biological efficacy of methanol leave extract of Acacia auriculiformis (MEAA) via in vitro, in vivo, in silico approaches. The in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated through brine shrimp lethality assay, and anti-inflammatory activity was determined by membrane stabilisation and protein denaturation methods (BSA and egg albumin). The in vivo antipyretic activity was examined via Brewer’s yeast induced pyrexia model. Results A. auriculiformis extract unveiled moderate cytotoxicity with significant anti-inflammatory efficacy (p < 0.001) compared to standard drug. This extract also exhibited dose-dependent time of paralysis and death for the worm (p < 0.001) in the anthelmintic test which was directly proportional to employed concentrations. A notable percentage of clot lysis effect (36.42 ± 1.95%, p < 0.001) was also observed for MEAA in human blood compared to control. However, this extract significantly (p < 0.05) reduced fever in a dose-dependent manner during the antipyretic experiment. Besides, in computer-aided investigations, two compounds (2,4-ditert-butylphenol and 3-hydroxy-β-damascone) revealed the best binding interaction with six proteins for cytotoxicity, inflammation, helminthic, thrombolytic and pyretic effect. Moreover, these two compounds satisfy Lipinski’s ‘Rule of Five’ and revealed drug-likeness profiles in the toxicological study. Conclusions These findings disclosed that methanol leaves extract of A. auriculiformis might be a potent source for anti-inflammatory, anti-helminthic, thrombolytic and antipyretic agents.

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Increasing rate of fast-food consumption has been associated with different health related concerns (e.g., obesity, heart disease). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of fast-food consumption among young adult students in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and to assess the correlation of fast-food consumption with obesity. A total of 440 youth was included using a systemic random sampling from universities and colleges in Chittagong in order to perform a cross-sectional analysis. The students who reported frequent fast-food consumption (1–3 times per week) accounted for 30.5% (n=134) of the sample, while 32.5% (n=143) of participants reported consuming fast-food 8–15 times per month. There was a significant (p=0.030) difference between students who consumed and did not consume fast-food. Youth who reported consuming fast-food and soft drinks more than 4 times per week constituted 35.0% (n=154), followed by approximately 27.7% (n=122) who consumed these items 1–3 times per week. In addition, an obesity epidemic was observed among those who reported low levels of physical exercise or lack of sleep. The study illustrates that Bangladeshi youth face an increasing risk of becoming overweight and obese. Prevention is regarded as the most effective way to reduce the prevalence of obesity.

The Water-Soluble Extract (WSE) is a crude bioactive phytoconstituent of Nigella sativa (L.) seeds discovered recently. The current findings report about the thrombolytic and cytotoxic effects of WSE using human blood clot lysis and brine shrimp lethality (BSL) bioassay. The thrombolytic effect of WSE (1,666.67 µg/mL) was determined via the clot and lysate weight measurements compared to streptokinase (STK) of 30,000 IU/mL and normal saline (NS) while the cytotoxicity of WSE (44.14-2,000 µg/mL) against vincristine sulfate (VCS;3.125-100 µg/mL). WSE has shown extremely statistically significant (p<0.0001) clot lysis (90.00%) compared to NS (3.76%) whilst it was also significantly different (p<0.0063) to STK (72.41%) exhibiting LC50 of 1,795.90 µg/mL vs. VCS (39.25 µg/mL) in a dose-dependent manner. The current results suggested WSE has a potent thrombolytic effect with mild dose-dependent cytotoxicity towards brine shrimp nauplii (Artemia salina). It also suggested WSE might have enzymatic roles on thrombin, fibrin, and plasmin of blood. This pharmacological action of WSE is might be due to its antioxidant property, short-chain fatty acids and/or amino acids. Further studies are highly recommended on the enzymatic role(s) and bioactive phytoconstituents of WSE.