Patients with diabetes mellitus often suffer from chronic wounds due to wound healing impairment. Considering the increased prevalence of diabetes, this would predispose significant medical, economic, and social problems. These chronic wounds are frequently infected with pathogenic bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which complicates the situation and makes the wound healing process more difficult. Therefore, there is a high need for therapeutic alternatives to the currently available treatments. Plants are vital sources of many bioactive compounds with multiple biological activities. We elucidated the wound healing possibility and antibacterial effect of Cycas thouarsii n-butanol fraction (CTBF) for the first time. Also, CTBF's phytochemical fingerprint was investigated using the LC-MS/MS technology. Interestingly, CTBF revealed antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa isolates with minimum inhibitory concentrations range 16-128 µg/mL. Regarding the wound healing potential, we used in vivo experiment on diabetic rats. Remarkably CTBF caused a significant reduction (p 0.05) in the levels of forkhead box O1, matrix metalloproteinases 9, and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 20. Additionally, it led to a substantial increase (p 0.05) in the level of transforming growth factor β1. Moreover, CTBF improved the wound histological features by increasing the collagen area percentage. Regarding the immunohistochemical studies, CTBF resulted in a strong positive epidermal growth factor and a moderate positive caspase 9 immunoreaction in the epidermis and sebaceous glands of the wounds. Therefore, CTBF could be a promising source of bioactive compounds with wound healing and antibacterial activities. Finally, molecular docking was attempted using MOE software to investigate the binding mode of the major identified compounds in the matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) receptor (PDB code: 1GKC).

Flowers are rich sources of bioactive antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer components. This study aimed to determine the constituents of the ethanol extract of Malvaviscus arboreus red flower (ERF) by GC-MS analysis and HPLC identification of phenolic compounds and flavonoids, in addition to the ¹HNMR fingerprint. The antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities of the ERF were investigated. The GC-MS analysis revealed twenty-one components, while HPLC analysis revealed the presence of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. The ERF showed antifungal and antibacterial activity. The highest antibacterial activity was found against Vibrio damsela where a time-kill assay revealed a decline in the amount of viable V. damsela. For fungi, the highest activity was observed against Aspergillus terreus. Using the SRB test on HepG2, the anti-proliferative efficacy of the ERF was evaluated. Cell cycle analysis was utilized to determine autophagic cell death. The ERF prevented the proliferation of the HepG2 cell line with an IC₅₀ of 67.182 µg/µL. The extract primarily promoted apoptosis in HepG2 cells by accumulating hypodiploid cells in the sub-G0/G1 phase, increased caspase 3/7 activity, and caused considerable autophagic cell death in apoptosis-deficient cells. Finally, the observed elevation of cancer cell death indicated that ERF had substantial anticancer potential against HepG2 cells.

Dioon is a genus in the family Zamiaceae. Species in this genus are dioecious and palm like shrubs. Many of them are chemically and biologically unexplored. The macroscopical and microscopical characters of three Dioon species that are cultivated in Egypt, D. holmgrenii De Luca, Sabato & Vázq.Torres, D. mejiae Standl. & L.O.Williams, and D. meorlae De Luca, Sabato & Vázq. Torres were investigated. Their methanol extracts were biologically examined via cytotoxic activity against seven cell lines using MTT assay method, and antioxidant effects using bleomycin dependent DNA damage and ABTS antioxidant assay methods. The antimicrobial against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi were also tested. Phenolic and flavonoid contents were analysed by Folin-Denis and aluminium chloride assays, respectively using gallic acid and rutin as standards. Results from this study revealed that there are some structural differences between the three species. D. holmgrenii and D. mejiae displayed high cytotoxic activity against number of tested cell lines, while D. meorlae showed less cytotoxicity. D. holmgrenii exhibited the highest antioxidant activity followed by D. mejiae then D. meorlae. Regarding the antimicrobial activity, D. holmgrenii was the most active species, particularly against Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus Subtilis followed by D. mejiae. Methanol extract of D. holmgrenii had the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents then D. mejia, while D. meorlae possessed the lowest contents.The two Dioon species, D. holmgrenii and D. mejiae displayed high biological activity.