Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Science

Chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of some Lamiaceae essential oils

2023-12-10T19:51:12+00:00

Medicinal and aromatic plants contain a variety of pharmacological bioactive compounds that provide enormous beneficial effects. Essential oils are natural substances formed by aromatic plants as secondary metabolites. They are the main reason for the aroma of aromatic plants. Aromatic plants produce essential oils to help them survive and protect them from environmental stressors such as pathogens. Essential oils have received increasing attention in recent years due to its relatively high safety, wide acceptance by consumers, and great potential for multiple commercial use. They are used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions. Essential oils exhibit various biological properties, such as sedative, digestive, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities. Lamiaceae species rich in essential oils are of great value in natural medicine, pharmacology, aromatherapy and cosmetology. The present review gives an insight into some of common essential oils extracted from Lamiaceae species, regarding their chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities.

Simplified Approach for Environmental Remediation of Methylene Blue and Crystal Violet from Aqueous Solution Utilizing Nanoclay Material: Kinetic, Isotherm, Thermodynamic Studies

2024-01-14T14:12:01+00:00

This paper explains a rapid, simple, easy, and eco-friendly method for the elimination of the dyes Crystal Violet (C.V) and Methylene Blue (M.B) from aquatic solution onto eco-friendly Halloysite nanoclay (HSNC) solid phase. Physical features of the HSNC as SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, and BET were studied. The study examined various parameters that impact adsorption efficiency, including pH solution, adsorbent dosage, temperature, contact time, and KNO₃ concentration. The efficiency of CV and MB dyes' adsorption on HSNC was studied kinetically and obtained data showed the processes were organized via a pseudo-second order (PSO) system through calculated adsorption capacity (q_e,cal) were 46.72 mg/g for C.V and 43.47 mg/g for M.B dyes on HSNC. Under best conditions, the Langmuir model was found suitable model for explaining the isotherm behavior for removal CV and MB dyes onto HSNC, with maximum adsorption capacity (q_m) 45.25 mg/g for C.V and 44.44 mg/g for M.B. Also, the thermodynamic study indicates the removal of C.V and M.B dyes is an endothermic process, and the adsorption of dyes is a chemisorption and spontaneous process. Finally, testing the elimination efficiency of CV and MB dyes based on three different actual samples on HSNC gave (E%) more than 93%. Overall, it was discovered that HSNC was an inexpensive, ecologically friendly substance for eliminating cationic CV and MB dyes.

Physiological and Histopathological Alterations Induced by Phenanthrene on Marine Cultured Tilapia Fish Oreochromis spilurus saudii

2023-12-13T18:14:50+00:00

Saudi Arabia is an oil producing and refining country that also transports huge oil shipments around the world. Due to the enormous worldwide demand for crude oil, a massive negative impact on marine ecosystems and habitats caused by oil spills that occur during transportation. These oil spills result in the contamination of seawater with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including phenanthrene, which subjects aquatic organisms to petroleum contaminants that have direct and indirect effects on human health. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different concentrations of phenanthrene (0, 10, 25 50 mg L^-1) mixed with spike food on four treatment groups of 20 marine cultured tilapia. Such effects include morphological, structural, functional, and genetic changes. Significant reductions (P<0.05) in fish length and weight (7.09 cm and 6.53 g) were found in the group treated with the highest dose of phenanthrene (50 mg L^-1). The fluorescence spectrophotometry results of treated fish oil revealed that the phenanthrene concentrations in samples of treated fish increased as the phenanthrene dose increased. Moreover, histological changes in liver tissue along with genetic changes were also investigated using the RAPD-PCR technique. The results revealed that phenanthrene was present in the biological system of the fish, and its effects on fish tissues ware confirmed. Further studies are recommended to investigate the toxicity of phenanthrene on fishes and its biomarkers at biochemical levels.

Flavonoid-Based Smart Drug Delivery Systems in Cancer Therapy: New Hope for Precision Medicine

2024-04-16T10:02:39+00:00

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds that have powerful anticancer properties. Despite this, they are not suitable for treating cancer due to low solubility, instability, and bioavailability. To enhance their durability and bioavailability, it has been suggested that using delivery methods that include flavonoids to enhance their bioavailability may be a promising solution. Our analysis will focus on the most promising flavonoid-based delivery methods developed for anticancer medicines, particularly for cervical cancer. In addition to flavonoids' enormous therapeutic potential, delivery methods are critical to achieving positive results in cancer therapy. In addition to their anticancer properties, flavonoids are also polyphenolic compounds that occur naturally. However, these compounds are not suitable for treating cancer due to their insolubility, stability, and bioavailability. By adding flavonoids to delivery systems, the properties of flavonoids can be enhanced, resulting in higher bioavailability and durability Data obtained highlights flavonoids' great therapeutic potential as well as the importance of constructing good delivery mechanisms for cancer patients to achieve good outcomes. In conclusion, flavonoids may provide more efficient and individualized cancer treatment when incorporated into delivery systems. The adoption of flavonoid-based cervical cancer treatment methods could significantly improve the quality of life of millions of women. By encapsulating flavonoids in delivery systems, chemotherapy's adverse effects can be reduced, and patient outcomes may improve.

Streptococcus pyogenes: Virulence factors and Prevention measures

2024-07-06T15:04:02+00:00

Group A streptococcus, or GAS, is a common name for Streptococcus pyogenes, a significant bacterial pathogen that is particular to humans and can cause a wide range of symptoms, from minor localized infections to potentially fatal invasive infections. The bacterium that causes GAS infections is typically spread by respiratory droplets, skin sores that are touched by GAS, or coming into contact with contaminated objects or materials. Foodborne transmission is another possibility, but further investigation is required to determine the extent of this infection route. It was discovered that GAS illnesses are quite common in indigenous groups, low-socioeconomic areas in developed countries, and emerging countries. Many of the extracellular secretions produced or released by S. pyogenes strains are virulence factors because they aid in the promotion of illness and/or the pathogen's survival in the host. The virulence factors that are released or secreted from the bacterial surface are reviewed in this article. Numerous virulence factors have the potential to serve as digestive enzymes, supplying the bacteria with nutrients derived from the host. Overcrowding and the increased degree of social interaction in these environments have been attributed to this. Improving living conditions and hand and personal cleanliness should be the main goals of prevention and control strategies. In high-risk environments, adherence to infection prevention and control measures should be prioritized. It is also important to consider how governments, particularly those in industrialized nations, distribute resources.

Combinational supplements of organic amendments alleviate copper-induced stress in Withania coagulans (Dunal)

2024-03-13T10:14:58+00:00

Heavy metal contamination in the whole biosphere, especially in soil, is accountable for most of the adverse consequences influencing the prosperity of fauna and flora. A pot experiment was designed to investigate the effects of Copper (Cu) with and without combinational supplements of organic amendments (OAs) [cow dung citric acid and amino acid (L-glutamine)] on various physiological and biochemical parameters of Withania coagulans. The peat moss soil was treated with two concentrations of Cu [ and (10mM, 15mM)] alone and/or with organic amendments [cow dung (10g, 15g), citric acid (05mM, 10mM), and amino acid (05mM, 10mM)]. After four weeks, the results revealed that a higher concentration of Cu significantly reduced the plant agronomic traits by 31% (Number of leaves), 17% (Shoot length), 24% (Root length), 19% (Fresh weight), and 35% (Dry weight), whereas photosynthetic pigments by 34% carotenoids, 33% chlorophyll a (chl a), and 16% chlorophyll b (chl b) compared to control. Moreover, it was noticed that the combination of organic amendments alleviates the negative effects of a higher concentration of Cu on agronomic traits and photosynthetic pigments of a tested plant. The additional supplements of organic amendments improved the plant physiology and enhanced the antioxidant enzyme activities to overcome the induced oxidative damage by the higher concentration of copper. Our findings showed that higher doses of Cu had an impact on the agronomic and biochemical characteristics of Withania coagulans, whereas the addition of organic amendments alleviated that impact of Cu.

Conditional Saddle-point Approximations for Bivariate Compound Distributions

2024-03-26T16:46:28+00:00

The majority of existing research that is related to our study aims to explain phenomena in various fields of application that rely on bivariate random variables [1,2]. Although these distributions have attracted some attention in the literature, little research exists on the bivariate compound distribution due to computational difficulties in implementing it. This study introduces the conditional saddle-point approximation method, which is more powerful than other approximation methods, to the bivariate compound distribution in continuous and discrete settings. We discuss conditional approximations for cumulative distribution functions of bivariate compound distributions. Furthermore, examples of continuous and discrete distributions from the bivariate compound truncated Poisson compound class are presented and comparisons between saddle-point approximations and exact calculations show the great accuracy of the saddle-point methods.