Mulberry ( Morus alba L. ) is commonly cultivated in Asian countries as a traditional medicine and food supplement. Four Kashmiri Morus alba varieties ( Zagtul , Chtattatual , Chattatual Zaingir , and Brentul Kashmir ) were evaluated for their proximate composition, mineral content, total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant potential, and antihyperglycemic activity. Furthermore, TLC-MS-bioautography was used for the identification of antioxidant and antidiabetic compounds in the best active extract. Lastly, UPLC-MS was employed for metabolomic profiling of the best variety of M. alba . Among all the varieties, the Zagtul variety was found to have the highest phenolic (71.10 ± 0.44 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoid (53.22 ± 0.69 mg rutin/g DW) content. The highest antioxidant potential (DPPH) with an IC 50 value of 107.88 ± 3.8 μg/mL was recorded for the Zagtul variety. Similarly, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition for antidiabetic potential with IC 50 74.76 ± 6.76 and 109.19 ± 5.78 μg/mL, respectively, was recorded in Zagtul variety. TLC-MS-bioautography for identification of bioactive compounds revealed the presence of chlorogenic acid for antioxidant potential and 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and syringic acid for antidiabetic potential. Further, bioactive compounds responsible for diverse functions of M. alba were confirmed by UPLC-MS in both negative and positive modes. However, major compounds in the Zagtul variety were identified as chlorogenic acid, moracin N, gallic acid, ferulic acid, morin, 1-deoxynojirimycin, and syringic acid. Hence, based on our findings, it can be concluded that M. alba leaves can be consumed as a promising dietary supplement and can be formulated as phytopharmaceutical for the management of various metabolic disorders.

Nanoparticles have gained prominence in many areas and domains world-wide such as metallic NP, carbon-dots, quantum dots, polymeric NP, nano-suspension, nanocrystals, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), etc. and have been applied in the field of medicine as nanomedicine with promising results. Rise in global cancer mortality rate has been an issue since long with female breast cancer as one of the most detected cancers. No permanent treatment has been developed till date that could combat breast cancer with minimum side effects that are not long-lasting as there is not any proper technique through which the anticancer drugs can recognize benign or malignant or normal cells that causes systematic toxicity. Advancement in technology has led to the discovery of many biological pathways and mechanisms. Tumor cells or cancer cells overexpress some high-affinity receptors that can be targeted to deliver the anticancer drugs at specific site using these pathways and mechanisms. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are among some of the excellent drug delivery systems, especially stealth SLN (sSLN). SLN when conjugated with a ligand (called as sSLN) has affinity and specificity towards a specific receptor, and can deliver the drug in breast cancer cells overexpressing the receptors. Using this technique, various investigations have reported better anti-breast cancer activity than simple SLN (non-conjugated to ligand or no receptor targeting). This review includes the investigations and data on receptor-mediated targeting in breast cancer from 2010 to 2021 by searching different databases. Overall, information on SLN in different cancers are reviewed. Effectiveness of sSLN is discussed with in vivo studies, pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and stability. Investigations included in this review demonstrate that sSLN delivers the drug by overcoming the biological barriers and shows enhanced and better activity than non-conjugated SLN that also verifies that lesser concentration of drug can show anti-breast cancer activity. The efficacy of medicines could be increased with lower cancer deaths through stealth-SLN. Due to the low cost of synthesis, biocompatibility and easy to formulate, more study is needed in vitro and in vivo so that this novel technique could be utilized in the treatment of human breast cancer.

No abstract