Ergot of Rye is a plant disease caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea which infects the grains of cereals and grasses but it is being used for ages for its medicinal properties. All the naturally obtained ergot alkaloids contain tetracyclic ergoline ring system, which makes them structurally similar with other neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline, dopamine or serotonin. Due to this structure homology these alkaloids can be used for the treatment of neuro related conditions like migraine, Parkinson’s disease etc. For hundreds of years, it has been used in obsctrics and gynecology as an uterotonics. Ergot drugs have important role in treating prolactinomas and type II Diabetes. Their role in cancer treatment has also been established. These drugs constitute an important group of compounds called “Smart drugs” used to improve cognitive function and memory and other age related brain disorders. Structural resemblance with various neurotransmitters allows them to interact with a number of receptors which makes them work on different target thus designing new ergot based drugs with receptor subtype selectivity will be more effective.

Manikyam HK, Tripathi P, Patil SB, Lamichhane J, Chaitanya MVNL, Patil AR. 2022. Extraction, purification, and quantification of hesperidin from the immature Citrus grandis/maxima fruit Nepal cultivar. Asian J Nat Prod Biochem 20: 21-26. Hesperidin, a flavanone group of flavonoids and a 7-O-rutinoside of hesperitin is abundantly present in citrus fruits. Pomelo or Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck/ C. maxima (Burm.) Merr. is grown and cultivated in Nepal as seasonal edible fruit. Pomelo has flavanone and other chemical constituents. Flavanones like naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, and naringenin are present in the fruits of C. grandis. Many extraction techniques have been reported in the extraction and purification of hesperidin citrus fruits like sweet lemons, grapefruits, mandarins, etc. However, little information has been provided on hesperidin content in Pomelo fruits. In order to estimate the quantity of hesperidin in the Pomelo fruits of Nepal, we have first time made study. The immature Pomelo fruits of size 2-7 cm were collected from the cultivation field and dried completely. The pulverized fruit powder with moisture content less than 15% was subjected to 5% methanolic acetic extraction and Dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent extraction in Soxhlet apparatus by refluxing at 90°C in 1:15 ration in three subsequent extractions of each 1 hour. The concentrates were crystalized at freezing temperatures in methanol and further purified by repeating the crystallization process. The white amorphous powder was subjected to RP-HPLC analysis method, chromatographic conditions 285 nm wavelength, C18 column 4.6 mm x 15 cm x 5 µm, flow rate 1.2 mL/minute with injection volume 10 µL run time of 30 minutes, column temperature 40°C. Hesperidin yields were 0.12 g/100 g with acetic acid methanol with a purity of 87% and 0.17 g/100 g in DMF extraction with a purity of 90% with recoveries of 87% in acetic acid methanol extraction and 90% in DMF extraction when compared with standard 93%. Further extraction does not yield any hesperidin content indicating a total of 0.15-0.17 g/100 g of hesperidin content in the whole immature fruit of C. grandis/maxima. Thus we found DMF and 5% methanolic acetic solvents as preferable solvents to extract hesperidin.

A novel coronavirus designated as SARS-CoV-2 in February 2020 by World Health organization (WHO) was identified as main cause of SARS like pneumonia cases in Wuhan city in Hubei Province of China at the end of 2019. This been recently declared as Global Pandemic by WHO. There is a global emergency to identify potential drugs to treat the SARS-CoV-2. Currently, there is no specific treatment against the new virus. There is a urgency to identifying potential antiviral agents to combat the disease is urgently needed. An effective and quick approach is to test existing antiviral drugs against. Whole genome analysis and alignment carried out using BLASTn, SMART BLAST and WebDSV 2.0 had shown more than 238 ORF’s coding for proteins mostly origin from Bat SARS coronavirus and root genomic origin from Archaea. Molecular docking results against protein targets Furin, papain like proteases, RdRp and Spike glycoprotein had shown paritaprevir, ritonavir, entecavir and chloroquine derivatives are the best drugs to inhibit multi targets of coronavirus infection including natural compounds corosolic acid, baicalin and glycyrrhizic acid with minimal inhibitory concentrations. Thus we propose use of paritaprevir, entecavir, ritonavir and chloroquine derivatives as best drug combination along with niacinamide, folic acid and zinc supplements to treat novel coronavirus infection. We also propose use of plant protease inhibitors (PI’s) and Anti-IL8, IL-6, IL-2 as future drug models against coronavirus.

Microwave assisted Subcritical water extraction of Berberine hydrochloride from the roots of Berberis Aristata using Harmony search algorithm Hemanth Kumar

The recent resurgence of the Monkeypox Virus (MPXV) has prompted increased efforts to discover effective antiviral treatments. This study utilized an in silico docking approach with CB Dock2 to assess both natural compounds and repurposed antiviral medications. We concentrated on several critical viral targets for inhibition, specifically VP39 2'-O Methyltransferase, viral topoisomerase-DNA complexes, and poxin. Our results identified a number of natural substances, including Physalin A, Sitoindoside IX, Withanolide, Shatavarin 1, Kutkoside, and Berberine HCl, as promising inhibitors. Tecovirimat was found to be the most effective among the repurposed antivirals. Notably, natural products like Withanolide, Sitoindoside IX, and Physalin A showed significant inhibitory potential based on their Vina scores and binding affinities, suggesting they may serve as alternative therapeutic options. Tecovirimat consistently proved to be the most powerful inhibitor among repurposed antivirals across all examined targets, reinforcing its importance in combating MPXV.