Potential Use of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles from Solanum Trilobatum Against Pathogenic Bacteria

Recently, the biosynthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles using plant extract gained great attention compared to other methods. In this work, CuO nanomaterial was synthesized by using the leaf extract of Solanum trilobatum. Synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles were characterized by UV, FT-IR, XRD, SEM, and EDX to determine the functional group, crystalline size, shape, and elemental composition of the synthesized nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction and SEM results confirmed that the synthesized CuO NPs were crystalline in nature and the average size was found to be 38.34 nm. The spherical shape of CuO NPs was reported in the green approach, but first-time pentagons, cubes, and elongated forms of CuO NPs are found in this work. The EDX studies showed that the Solanum trilobatum mediated CuO NPs contain 53.57 % of copper and 46.43% of oxygen. Synthesized CuO NPs were tested against the five pathogenic bacteria and they showed a very good zone of inhibition compared with copper sulfate and plant extract. Especially against Escherichia Coli, Solanum trilobatum mediated CuO NPs performed well inhibitory effect.

In vitro Assessment of Cytotoxic Activity of Bioactive Peptides from Momordica dioica and Solanum trilobatum against Human Colon Cancer Cells

Plant peptides have gained attention in the medicinal field due to their high anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties. Various plant sources are being used to extract proteins and peptides to be used as a cure for a variety of diseases. The latest studies show that plant peptides are effective in the treatment of cancer due to their ability to preferentially bind to the receptors or membranes of cancer cells leading to tumour growth inhibition, cytotoxicity, decreased proliferation, and apoptosis. The peptides get internalized into the cells causing cancer cell agglutination and aggregation. In addition to acting as therapeutic agents, plant peptides are also used for the targeting of drugs specific to cancer cells. In this study, bioactive peptides were isolated from the seeds of Momordica dioica and leaves of Solanum trilobatum. They were screened and identified using HPLC and MALDI-TOF techniques. In this study, apoptosis was analyzed by the Hoechst 33342 staining method which detected the presence of condensed pycnotic nuclei in apoptotic COLO320DM and COLO205 colon cancer cellsat the maximum concentrations of 150 and 175 µg/mL of plant peptides.Further DCFH-DA staining indicated the intracellular ROS production in the treated COLO320DM and COLO205 colon cancer cells. Thus, the isolated bioactive plant peptides can be formulated towards the development of effective anticancer drugs for the treatment of colon cancer in humans.

Edible Solanum trilobatum chloroform extract modulates CCL4 induced toxic changes in rat liver by enhancing the antioxidant activity

Liver diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality all over world. Environmental chemicals and pesticides are one of the most common causative factors for liver injury. Since there are no reliable hepatoprotective drugs available, many plant extracts are frequently utilized to treat liver disease. Therefore, searching for effective and safe plant based drugs for liver disorders is a matter of interest. In this study, hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of the polyphenol rich chloroform extract of Solanum trilobatum (CST) was evaluated on CCl4 induced acute hepatotoxicity in Sprague Dawley rats. METHODS: Cytotoxic effect of CST on cancer cells as well as primary rat hepatocytes and proliferative effect on human peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) were evaluated in vitro. Animals were divided into 4 groups control group (received only normal saline), CCl4 group (received only CCl4 (2.0g/kg body weight), CST group (received 50 mg/kg and CCl4 (2.0g/kg body weight), CST group (received 100mg/kg and CCl4 (2.0g/kg body weight). After 14 consecutive days of treatment, the levels of hepatic biochemical markers, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, peroxidase and catalase activities were measured. The histopathological study of control and treated animals were also performed. RESULTS: Administration of CST prior to CCl4 was found to significantly inhibit the hepatotoxicity produced by CCl4 since CST restored the elevated activities of serum and liver marker enzymes and also enhanced the antioxidant enzyme levels. Histological changes caused by CCl4 were found to be significantly reversed by CST, which further confirms the dual effect of CST on CCl4-induced acute liver injury as a hepatoprotectant and antioxidant. CONCLUSIONS: The present study clearly demonstrates that CST contains therapeutic components which in combination/alone possess hepatoprotective and in vivo antioxidant effect.

Qualitative Phytochemical Screening of Selected Medicinal Plants

Phytochemicals have great potency as therapeutic agents. There is continuous and urgent need to discover new therapeutic compounds with diverse chemical structures and novel mechanism of action because there has been an alarming increase in the incidence of new and re-emerging infectious diseases. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to assess the phytoconstituents of leaf extracts of four different medicinal plants viz. Acorus calamus, Senna alata, Solanum torvum and Solanum trilobatum. The leaves of four plants were collected from their wild habitats, washed, air dried and then powdered. The solvent extracts of the respective leaves were prepared using Soxhlet apparatus with acetone, ethanol and petroleum ether. The extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical analyses as per standard procedures. The results showed that alkaloids were present in all the four plants analyzed and all the three solvents extracted. Meanwhile, carbohydrates and proteins were absent in the same. It was also indicated that the ethanol extract of Solanum trilobatum leaf showed the presence of 7 compounds among 9 phytochemicals analyzed. The result of this study is encouraging further quantitative estimation and the need for clinical studies to determine the potential effectiveness of particular phytochemical in vivo. Keywords: Preliminary phytochemical analyses, Acorus calamus, Senna alata, Solanum torvum and Solanum trilobatum.