Aeginetia indica, a perennial herb from the Orobanchaceae family, generally grows as a root parasite and is widely distributed in the forests of South and South-Asian countries. The plant has valuable uses in herbal medicine against various diseases, such as diabetes, liver diseases, and arthritis. The present study was designed to investigate the antidiabetic and hepatoprotective effects of the methanol extract of the whole plant of A. indica in a mouse model followed by the isolation of bioactive compounds and their in-silico studies. The hepatoprotective effects were evaluated in a paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity mouse model. The antidiabetic effects were examined by an oral glucose tolerance test and in an alloxan-induced diabetes mouse model. The plant extract, at a dose of 400 mg/kg, caused a significant reduction (p < 0.001) in liver enzyme concentrations, including alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase, similar to the effects of standard drug silymarin. The plant extract, at 400 mg/kg, also significantly reduced (p < 0.001) the fasting blood glucose concentration by 27.33 % after 3 h, compared with a reduction of 45.31 % in response to glibenclamide. In the alloxan-induced diabetes model mice, significant reductions (p < 0.05) in elevated glucose concentrations were observed on days 10 and 20 in mice treated with plant extract and glibenclamide. Chromatographic analyses and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies identified the presence of β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and oleic acid in the extract. The possible mechanism underlying the antidiabetic effects was revealed by molecular docking analyses examining the binding of β-sitosterol and stigmasterol with sirtuin 4, an NAD-dependent deacylase enzyme that downregulates leucine-induced and glutamate dehydrogenase-induced insulin secretion. The binding affinities between sirtuin 4 and β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and NAD were found to be -8.6 kcal/mol, -7.2 kcal/mol and -9.5 kcal/mol, respectively, indicating the probable competition between NAD and the isolated components for sirtuin 4. The present study revealed that A. indica exerted protective effects against alloxan-induced diabetes and paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice, which supports the findings regarding the use of A. indica during traditional medical practice.

Essential oil from plants belonging to several species has been extensively used as natural resources in the prevention and treatment of a large number of diseases. The medicinal and aromatic plants of genus Etlingera produces high percentages of essential oil from its every organ and is recommended for a variety of health problems by traditional systems of medicine in south-east Asia. Essential oils from this genus demonstrated promising antimicrobial properties. As antibiotic resistance is emerging at an alarming rate, many infectious diseases have become difficult to treat. Thus, the genus Etlingera can be considered as a good source of essential oils, and extensive studies of biological activities of these oils may lead to the identification of new compounds which can be used in modern medicine, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry, primarily as antimicrobial agents. This review summarizes the characteristics of essential oil of Etlingera species with particular attention to the chemical composition and antimicrobial activities from the data in the recent literature. Key words: Etlingera, essential oil, chemical composition, antimicrobial activity.

Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most common type of female malignancy in Bangladesh. Polymorphisms in the CYP1A1 gene have been reported to be associated with CC in different populations. This case-control study with meta-analysis was undertaken to assess the relation of CYP1A1 rs4646903 and rs1048943 polymorphisms with the susceptibility of CC. A total of 185 CC patients and 220 controls were recruited, and the PCR-RFLP (Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) technique was applied for genotyping. Again, 42 eligible studies (24 with rs4646903 and 18 with rs1048943) were included for meta-analysis, and RevMan 5.3 and the MetaGenyo web-based tool were used. The rs4646903 polymorphism was significantly linked with CC in all association models, namely, additive 1, additive 2, dominant, recessive, overdominant, and allele models (OR = 2.41, 4.75, 2.67, 3.61, 2.13, and 2.44 with corresponding 95% CI = 1.55–3.76, 1.81–12.45, 1.75–4.07, 1.39–9.35, 1.38–3.30, and 1.71–3.48, respectively). On the contrary, rs1048943 showed no association (p > 0.05) with CC. Haplotype analysis revealed AT and AC haplotypes significantly decreased (OR = 0.45) and increased (OR = 4.86) CC risk, respectively, and SNPs are in strong linkage disequilibrium (D’ = 0.912, r² = 0.448). Again, rs4646903 carriers with a contraception history and >5 years of taking contraceptives showed an enhanced risk of CC (OR = 2.39, OR = 3.05). Besides, rs1048943 carriers aged >40 years (OR = 0.44), conceived first child aged ≤18 years (OR = 3.45), and history of contraceptives (OR = 2.18) were significantly linked with CC. Our meta-analysis found that for CYP1A1 rs4646903 codominant 1 (COD 1), codominant 2 (COD 2), codominant 3 (COD 3), dominant model (DM), recessive model (RM), and allele model (AM) in Caucasians and overdominant model (OD) in the overall population are associated with an elevated risk of CC, whereas rs1048943 is also associated with CC in overall, Caucasians and Asians in some genetic models. Our case-control study and meta-analysis summarize that CYP1A1 rs4646903 and rs1048943 polymorphisms may be correlated with cervical cancer.