Saponins are triterpenoid or steroidal glycosides and are an important group of naturally occurring compounds of plant origin. They exhibit diverse pharmacological potentials including radical scavenging, as well as neuroprotective, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory activities, owing to their diverse chemical scaffolds. Saponins consist of an aglycone part (non-sugar) and a glycone part (sugar) and have at least one glycosidic (C–O sugar bond) linkage present between the glycone and aglycone mostly at C-3. On the basis of the aglycone part, saponins are classified into triterpenoid glycosides, steroid glycosides and alkaloid glycosides. Saponins exhibit neuroprotective activities against various disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) including stroke, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Huntington’s disease (HD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). They mediate their therapeutic effects by modulation of various pathological targets. This study highlights various neuroprotective mechanisms of saponins including free radical scavenging, modulation of neuroprotective signaling pathways, activation of neurotrophic factors, modulation of neurotransmitters, inhibition of BACE1 enzyme and tau hyper-phosphorylation. The study concludes that saponins have considerable efficacy against various pathological targets of neurological disorders, especially AD, and might be an important source of leads against neurodegenerative disorders.
Introduction. Natural products are among the most useful sources for the discovery of new drugs against various diseases. Keeping in view the ethnobotanical relevance ethnopharmacological significance of Polygonaceae family in diabetes, the current study was designed to isolate pure compounds from Persicaria hydropiper L. leaves and evaluate their in vitro and in silico antidiabetic potentials. Methods. Six compounds were isolated from the chloroform-ethyl acetate fractions using gravity column chromatography and were subjected to structure elucidation process. Structures were confirmed using 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and mass spectrometry techniques. Isolated phytochemicals were subjected to in vitro antidiabetic studies, including α-glucosidase, α-amylase inhibition, and DPPH, and ABTS antioxidant studies. Furthermore, the in silico binding mode of these compounds in the target enzymes was elucidated via MOE-Dock software. Results. The isolated compounds revealed concentration-dependent inhibitions against α-glucosidase enzyme. Ph-1 and Ph-2 were most potent with 81.84 and 78.79% enzyme inhibitions at 1000 µg·mL−1, respectively. Ph-1 and Ph-2 exhibited IC50s of 85 and 170 µg·mL−1 correspondingly. Likewise, test compounds showed considerable α-amylase inhibitions with Ph-1 and Ph-2 being the most potent. Tested compounds exhibited considerable antioxidant potentials in both DPPH and ABTS assays. Molecular simulation studies also revealed top-ranked confirmations for the majority of the compounds in the target enzymes. Highest observed potent compound was Ph-1 with docking score of −12.4286 and formed eight hydrogen bonds and three H-pi linkages with the Asp 68, Phe 157, Phe 177, Asn 241, Glu 276, His 279, Phe 300, Glu 304, Ser 308, Pro 309, Phe 310, Asp 349, and Arg 439 residues of α-glucosidase binding packets. Asp 68, Glu 276, Asp 349, and Arg 439 formed polar bonds with the 3-ethyl-2-methylpentane moiety of the ligand. Conclusions. The isolated compounds exhibited considerable antioxidant and inhibitory potentials against vital enzymes implicated in T2DM. The docking scores of the compounds revealed that they exhibit affinity for binding with target ligands. The enzyme inhibition and antioxidant potential of the compounds might contribute to the hypoglycemic effects of the plant and need further studies.
Objective: Our objective is to study epidemiology of rotavirus infection in children less than five years during one year in Omdurman Paediatric Hospital. Materials and Methods:The study design was a setting-based study. The required data were obtained by reviewing records of a year in the hospital. Results: The findings revealed that, the total cases of rotavirus infection was 1563, majority of cases occurred among age group 1-12 months 642(41%). About 899(57.5%) of cases were males while 664(42.5%) were females. High percentage 520(33.3%) of diagnosed children came from Umbda. Most of rotavirus cases occurred during April168 (10.7%) and May 158(10.1%), Mild dehydration was found in 1121(71.7%) of cases while 320(20.5%) of patients suffered from severe dehydration. Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) were given to 1120(71.7%) of patients as treatment, intravenous fluids (IVF) to 334(21.3%) and ORT & IVF to 109 (7%). A lot of cases 1110(71%) were improved after received the treatment, 9(0.6%) were died and the rest were still suffering from the clinical features. Conclusion: The study concluded that rotavirus represents a public health problem among children less than five which and effective control measures are needed to minimize this problem.
Background and objective Ever since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first detected in December 2019, more than 0.550 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the number is on the rise. In this study, we aimed to perform an epidemiological analysis of COVID-19 cases in Al-Leith, KSA. Methods A community-based descriptive study was carried out to assess the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Al-Leith, KSA. The relevant data were collected using a questionnaire designed for this study, which included questions on basic information and characteristics in addition to data on COVID-19. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Statistics software (IBM, Armonk, NY). Results The significant findings were as follows: people aged between 26-40 years were more affected (55.7%) than other age groups, and more than half (74.1%) of COVID-19 patients were female; most of them were employed (85, 48,9%), and most of those got infected through direct contact (137, 78.7%) with other infected people. About 163 (93.7%) cases were asymptomatic, and 168 (96.6%) cases were notified to the health authorities. The findings also illustrated that 78 (44.8%) COVID-19 cases suffered from psychological impact due to infection; 83 (47.7%) cases had at least one case in the family before they became infected. The majority of cases (93.7%) suffered from symptomatic COVID-19. A considerable number of COVID-19 patients did not follow precautions before and after infection. Conclusions The study concluded that various age groups were susceptible to developing COVID-19, and direct contact was the main mode of transmission. Moreover, a considerable number of infected people did not adhere to precautionary measures.
Food borne diseases (FBDs) can occur due to the health status of the food handlers. The present study aimed to assess food hygiene knowledge, attitude and practices among hospital food handlers of ElManagil City, Sudan. A cross-sectional study was administered to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices, in food hygiene among hospital food handlers through a questionnaire. The food handlers expressed a level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of 70.1, 63.81 and 74.40%, respectively. The food handlers lacked knowledge regarding the transmission of hepatitis A virus and the working of infected food handler. They demonstrated poor attitude regarding the continuous evaluation of their health status, as well as the importance of training courses in the prevention of food contamination. They exhibited a low practice rate regarding removing nail polish and covering the head while preparing food. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing the educational level with washing the utensils with a detergent, along with wearing gloves while working. It was concluded that the hospitals food handlers in ElManagil expressed moderate level of knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice in food hygiene. Generally, there is an urgent need to improve on food hygiene in health care systems in Sudan. Food hygiene training programs should be implemented among health care food handlers.
A setting-based descriptive study was conducted to study magnitude and time trend of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among male school students and employees in Aleith. Data about Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) among school students and employees in Aleith during the last three years were collected by reviewing monthly and annual reports in school health units. The proportion of acute reparatory infections in the last three years among male student and employees in Aleith was high in year 1435 which was 50.2%, followed by the year 1437 which was 47% and 1436 was 43.3%. The time distribution of acute respiratory infections illustrates that the percentage of infection occurred during Jumada-Al-Thani (21.9%) in the year 1435, Moharam and Rabi-Al-Thani (17.3%) in the year 1436 and Jumada-Al-Awwal (18%) in the year 1437. In the year 1435, acute respiratory infection among student was 811(63.7%) and among employees was 462 (36.3%); in the year 1436, the disease was 1177 (71.4%) in students while in employees was 471 (28.6%) and in the year1437, the percentage was 747(64.7%) in students and 408(35.3%) in employees. The high percentages of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) occurred among primary school students was high 35.6%, 45.5% and 48.1% in the years 1435, 1436 and 1437 respectively. The peak of ARIs occurred during the year 1435 and the minimum proportion rate of cases was found in 1436. The study concluded that ARIs were still high and more frequent in winter months.
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