Sawsan S Al-Rawi

ABSTRACT Introduction Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels is crucial in the initial development of embryonic growth, wound healing, tissue development and in many diseases including stroke. Wound healing occurs as a cellular response to injury and involves activation of keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, macrophages and platelets. Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) an edible form of coconut oil, widely utilized in South Asian region for various applications including food, medicine and industry application. Fermented form of VCO (FVCO) meticulously extracted through bacterial fermentation process. Objectives This study evaluates the potency of FVCO in angiogenesis and wound healing. Methods Rat aortic assay was employed to evaluate proliferation of blood vessel formation using six different concentrations. Wound healing was evaluated using in vivo wound excision model in Sprague Dawley rats, supported by in vitro assays using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), human fibroblast cells (CCD-18) and retinal ganglion cells (RGC-5). The proliferation, migration and morphological changes of these cell lines using Hoechst fluorescent dye were also investigated. Results FVCO significantly stimulated the growth of new blood vessel at different concentrations as compared with negative control. The excision wound model shows that VCO demonstrated higher percentage of wound contraction compared to the control group. Shorter closure time and epithelialisation (16 days) was observed using FVCO compared to 20 days for the control group indicating better wound healing activity. FVCO was significantly active on wound healing, CCD18 and RGC-5 cell proliferation at concentrations of 12-25µg/mL respectively. Conclusions These findings suggest that FVCO might be a good pro-angiogenic agent. References _____________________________________________________________________ * Correspondent Author.

This paper describes synthesis, characterization (NMR, FT-IR, microanalysis, and X-ray crystallography),in vitroanticancer activity ofortho/para-xylyl linked bis-imidazolium salts (4-5) and respective dinuclear Ag(I)N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes (6-7). All the compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity against human colorectal cancer (HCT 116) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. According to cell viability measurements using MTT assay, all the complexes (6-7) showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic activity against both the cell lines, whereas respective salts (4-5) proved to be inactive. The complexes (6-7) demonstrated significant activity with IC50values range 5.6–20.3 μM for HCT 116 and 1.12–6.38 μM for MCF-7. 5-Fluorouracil was used as standard drug (IC50= 5.9 μM) for HCT 116, whereas tamoxifen was used as standard drug for MCF-7 (IC50= 14 μM) cell line.

Garcinia kola belongs to the Garcinia genus of the Clusiaceae family and Malpighiales order. It contains more than 180 members all over the globe. It is found all over Asia and in tropical African countries. In Africa, traditionally, G kola is used to manage and treat cancer, diabetes, malaria, analgesics, hypertension, and other numerous ailments. This review aimed to comprehensively update relevant information regarding the pharmacological potential of Garcinia kola. Electronic databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, Wiley, Google Scholar, Hindawi, and Springer extracted valuable information from original scientific research papers. Inclusion Criteria. Antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antibacterial, medications, antiviral, traditional medicine, ethnopharmacology, toxicity, cytotoxic action, chemical composition, mineral elements, GCMS analysis, and any other related phrases were used as filters to find studies. Exclusion Criteria. Data from questionable online sources, a...

The process of wound healing involves activation of keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, etc. Angiogenesis is crucial during the process of wound healing. Virgin coconut oil is widely utilized in South Asia for various purposes including food, medicinal and industrial applications. This study aimed to evaluate the potency of fermented virgin coconut oil (FVCO) in angiogenesis and wound healing via both in vitro and in vivo assays. Human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC), fibroblast (CCD-18) and retinal ganglion (RGC-5) cells were cultured in medium containing different concentrations of FVCO. The proliferation, migration and morphological changes of cells were determined. The angiogenic effect of FVCO was evaluated by rat aortic assay. The therapeutic effect of FVCO on wound healing was further assessed in a wound excision model in Sprague Dawley rats. The expression of phospho-VEGFR2 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2) in HUVECs was detected by Western blot. ...

Fermented Virgin Coconut Oil (FVCO) is widely used in the Southeast Asia as food and traditional medicine. The objective of the present study is the evaluation of chronic safety of the commercialized FVCO of Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. A single dose of 5000 mg/kg of FVCO was administered orally in rats (each group, n = 5) for the acute toxicity study and 175, 550 and 2000 mg/kg for sub-chronic and chronic studies (each group, n = 10), respectively. The behavior, mortality, and body weight of the rats were assessed to determine the toxic effects of FVCO. The haematology, biochemistry and histopathology of the treated rats were evaluated. The treated rats were safe with the dose of 5000 mg/kg in acute, sub-chronic and chronic indication. Abnormal clinical signs and morphology (gross necroscopy), changes of organ weight, anomalous haematology and biochemistry indexes were not found in comparison with the control (p > 0.05). In general, food and water intake were higher in the treated rats related to control. It was concluded that the presence of the antioxidant active compounds of FVCO might be the reason of safety. The structure activity relationship (SAR) provides a comprehensive mechanism to determine the safety that is the presence of the electron donating phenolic groups, carbonyl groups, and carboxylic acid in the ortho and meta position of the aromatic rings. The SAR showed the antioxidant properties of myristic acid and lauric acid determined by GC-MS analysis. This result suggests the safety of FVCO for chronic use, nutritional activity that FVCO formulation complies the requirements of regulatory agencies.

Desert truffles are seasonal and important edible fungi that grow wild in many countries around the world. Truffles are natural food sources that have significant compositions. In this work, the antioxidant, chemical composition, anticancer, and antiangiogenesis properties of the Terfezia claveryi truffle were investigated. Solvent extractions of the T. claveryi were evaluated for antioxidant activities using (DPPH, FRAP and ABTS methods). The extracts cytotoxicity on the cancer cell lines (HT29, MCF-7, PC3 and U-87 MG) was determined by MTT assay, while the anti-angiogenic efficacy was tested using ex-vivo assay. All extracts showed moderate anticancer activities against all cancer cells (p < 0.05). The hexane extract inhibited the brain cell line (U-87 MG) with an IC 50 of 50 lg/ ml and significantly promoted cell apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway and DNA fragmentation p < 0.001. The ethanol extract demonstrated potent antioxidants; DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS with an IC 50 value of 52, 48.5 and 64.7 lg/ml, respectively. In addition, the hexane and ethyl acetate extract significantly (p < 0.001) inhibited the sprouting of microvessels by 100% and 81.2%, at 100 lg/ml, respectively. The GC analysis of the most active extract (hexane) showed the presence of several potent phytochemicals such as stigmasterol, beta-Sitosterol, squalene, lupeol, octadeca-dienoic acid, and oleic acid.

Introduction: Recently, fish by-products have been evaluated as a source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. Fish mucus has a myriad of pharmacological activities including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, wound healing and cell proliferation properties. Objectives: The present study describes the potential activity of Channa striatus epidermal mucus for in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial, wound healing, cell proliferation and ex vivo Rat aortic assays. Methods: The free radical scavenging activity was studies in vitro by measuring 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Antibacterial activities were evaluated against six microorganisms using agar well diffusion method. The cell viability and proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and retinal ganglion cells (RGC-5) were evaluated using MTT assay. An in vitro assay of scratch wound healing onto monolayer of HUVEC cells was used to assess the effect of fish mucous on cell migration into a wound space....

ABSTRACT Most cancer chemotherapy procedure employs cytotoxic drugs that target tumor cell. Some natural product contains cytotoxic compound but in low concentration. However, fractionation method can significantly increase the concentration of the cytotoxic compound present, resulting in more effectiveness, which can easily achieve using Supercritical extraction. Therefore, this study aims to extract and fraction Aquilaria Malaccensis oil using supercritical fluid extraction, and investigate the cytotoxic properties of the extracted and fractioned oil. Aquilaria Malaccensis oil was extracted using supercritical extractor at temperature of 40-50°C, pressure of 20.7, 27.6 and 34.5 MPa and extraction dynamic time 30 min. The extract with the highest extraction yield was then fractionated using the best obtained operating condition to extract the most active fraction. Both samples and fractions were tested for anticancer activity by employing MTT assay on human colon (HCT116) cancer cell line. The result of this study shows that the highest amount of extracted oil was obtained at 50 °C, applied pressure of 34.5 MPa within 30 min extraction time, using CO 2 flow rate of 1 ml/min. The most cytotoxic fraction was obtained at the first ten minutes at operating temperature of 50°C, pressure 34.5 MPa. The cytotoxicity result of the tested cell showed a significant cell growth inhibition of 99% for using the whole sample and 94% for using the fraction and IC 50 values against the tested cell was 4 µg/ml. These finding reveals that the supercritical extraction oil of Aquilaria Malaccensis has strong anticancer activity towards human colon cancer cells and hence can be a good candidate for treating cancer.

Nutmeg oil is an industrial product usually produced using traditional solvent extraction. The oil is quite available in the local market to be used by the local people as an ointment to treat many diseases such as rheumatism, stomach ache and chest pain. The ...

Most cancer chemotherapy procedure employs cytotoxic drugs that target tumor cell. Some natural product contains cytotoxic compound but in low concentration. However, fractionation method can significantly increase the concentration of the cytotoxic compound present, resulting in more effectiveness, which can easily achieve using Supercritical extraction. Therefore, this study aims to extract and fraction Aquilaria Malaccensis oil using supercritical fluid extraction, and investigate the cytotoxic properties of the extracted and ...