The biochemical composition, secondary metabolites (phenolic compounds, flavonoids) and antimicrobial potential of different varieties of Emirati date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) pits were investigated. Total phenolic acids (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) of the different date pits were measured using a Folin–Ciocalteau reagent. Different organic solvents [(n-hexane; H₂O: EtOH (1:1); ethyl acetate; acetone: Water (1:1); and methanol: Chloroform (1:1)] were compared to evaluate the phytotoxicity of Ajwa, Fard, Khalas, Khodari, Abu Maan, Lulu, and Mabroom date pits. The antimicrobial activity of the date pit extracts were evaluated by means of agar-well diffusion assay on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29123), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Candida albicans (ATCC 66027). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were measured following clinical laboratory standardization institute (CLSI) protocol. The biochemical analyses of date pits indicate that TPC were ranged from 7.80 mg of equivalent gallic acid⁄100 g dry weight in Ajwa to 4.65 mg in Mabroom. The TFC were ranged between 1.6–4.54 mg of equivalent catechin⁄100 g dry weight. Ajwa pit extract showed good quality traits (higher protein, lower ash content, and intermediate dietary fiber). The results indicate that the ethyl acetate extract of Khalas and Khodari inhibited S. aureus with an inhibition zone diameter of 20 mm and MIC of 10 mg/mL. Abu Mann pit extract inhibited the S. aureus and also decreased the population of E. coli. The diameter of inhibition zone was 15, 16, and 18 mm after treatment with Ajwa extracts, while the MICs were 7.5 and 5 mg/mL. The MeOH: CFM extract of Abu Mann and Ajwa was more potent against E. coli bacteria than any other extract. This work demonstrates that the Emirati date pits extract has antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal) potential and can be used as phytotoxic natural compounds.

The present work describes the optimization and validation of a highly selective and sensitive analytical method using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE LC-MS/MS) for the determination of some frequently prescribed pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater received and treated by Sharjah sewage treatment plant (STP). The extraction efficiency of different SPE cartridges was tested and the simultaneous extraction of pharmaceuticals was successfully accomplished using hydrophilic-lipophilic-balanced reversed phase Waters^® Oasis HLB cartridge (200 mg/ 6 mL) at pH 3. The analytes were separated on an Aquity BEH C18 column (1.7 µm, 2.1 mm × 150 mm) using gradient elution and mass spectrometric analysis were performed in multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) selecting two precursor ions to produce ion transition for each pharmaceutical using positive electrospray ionization (+ESI) mode. The correlation coefficient values in the linear calibration plot for each target compound exceeded 0.99 and the recovery percentages of the investigated pharmaceuticals were more than 84%. Limit of detection (LOD) varied between 0.1–1.5 ng/L and limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.3–5 ng/L for all analytes. The precision of the method was calculated as the relative standard deviation (RSD%) of replicate measurements and was found to be in the ranges of 2.2% to 7.7% and 2.2% to 8.6% for inter and intra-day analysis, respectively. All of the obtained validation parameters satisfied the requirements and guidelines of analytical method validation.

The occurrence and persistence of pharmaceuticals in the food chain, particularly edible crops, can adversely affect human and environmental health. In this study, the impacts of the absorption, translocation, accumulation, and degradation of paracetamol in different organs of the leafy vegetable crop spinach (Spinacia oleracea) were assessed under controlled laboratory conditions. Spinach plants were exposed to 50 mg/L, 100 mg/L, and 200 mg/L paracetamol in 20% Hoagland solution at the vegetative phase in a hydroponic system. Exposed plants exhibited pronounced phytotoxic effects during the eight days trial period, with highly significant reductions seen in the plants’ morphological parameters. The increasing paracetamol stress levels adversely affected the plants’ photosynthetic machinery, altering the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (F_v/F_m and PSII), photosynthetic pigments (Chl a, Chl b and carotenoid contents), and composition of essential nutrients and elements. The LC-MS results indicated that the spinach organs receiving various paracetamol levels on day four exhibited significant uptake and translocation of the drug from roots to aerial parts, while degradation of the drug was observed after eight days. The VITEK^® 2 system identified several bacterial strains (e.g., members of Burkhulderia, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas and Kocuria) isolated from spinach shoots and roots. These microbes have the potential to biodegrade paracetamol and other organic micro-pollutants. Our findings provide novel insights to mitigate the risks associated with pharmaceutical pollution in the environment and explore the bioremediation potential of edible crops and their associated microbial consortium to remove these pollutants effectively.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a disorder characterized by a group of factors that can increase the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Metabolomics has provided new insight into disease diagnosis and biomarker identification. This cross-sectional investigation used an untargeted metabolomics-based technique to uncover metabolomic alterations and their relationship to pathways in normoglycemic and prediabetic MetS participants to improve disease diagnosis. Plasma samples were collected from drug-naive prediabetic MetS patients (n = 26), normoglycemic MetS patients (n = 30), and healthy (normoglycemic lean) subjects (n = 30) who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The plasma samples were analyzed using highly sensitive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS). One-way ANOVA analysis revealed that 59 metabolites differed significantly among the three groups (p < 0.05). Glutamine, 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan, L-sorbose, and hippurate were highly associated with MetS. However, 9-methyluric acid, sphinganine, and threonic acid were highly associated with prediabetes/MetS. Metabolic pathway analysis showed that arginine biosynthesis and glutathione metabolism were associated with MetS/prediabetes, while phenylalanine, D-glutamine and D-glutamate, and lysine degradation were highly impacted in MetS. The current study sheds light on the potential diagnostic value of some metabolites in metabolic syndrome and the role of their alteration on some of the metabolic pathways. More studies are needed in larger cohorts in order to verify the implication of the above metabolites on MetS and their diagnostic value.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second prominent cause of cancer-associated death worldwide. Usually, HCC is diagnosed in advanced stages, wherein sorafenib, a multiple target tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is used as the first line of treatment. Unfortunately, resistance to sorafenib is usually encountered within six months of treatment. Therefore, there is a critical need to identify the underlying reasons for drug resistance. In the present study, we investigated the proteomic and metabolomics alterations accompanying sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B cells by employing ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS). The Bruker Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) library was used to identify the differentially abundant metabolites through MetaboScape 4.0 software (Bruker). For protein annotation and identification, the Uniprot proteome for Homo sapiens (Human) database was utilized through MaxQuant. The results revealed that 27 metabolites and 18 proteins were significantly dysregulated due to sorafenib resistance in Hep3B cells compared to the parental phenotype. D-alanine, L-proline, o-tyrosine, succinic acid and phosphatidylcholine (PC, 16:0/16:0) were among the significantly altered metabolites. Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase isozyme L1, mitochondrial superoxide dismutase, UDP-glucose-6-dehydrogenase, sorbitol dehydrogenase and calpain small subunit 1 were among the significantly altered proteins. The findings revealed that resistant Hep3B cells demonstrated significant alterations in amino acid and nucleotide metabolic pathways, energy production pathways and other pathways related to cancer aggressiveness, such as migration, proliferation and drug-resistance. Joint pathway enrichment analysis unveiled unique pathways, including the antifolate resistance pathway and other important pathways that maintain cancer cells’ survival, growth, and proliferation. Collectively, the results identified potential biomarkers for sorafenib-resistant HCC and gave insights into their role in chemotherapeutic drug resistance, cancer initiation, progression and aggressiveness, which may contribute to better prognosis and chemotherapeutic outcomes.

A simple, fast and highly sensitive RP-UPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of sofosbuvir (SR) and its metabolite GS331007 in human plasma using ketotifen as an internal standard (IS). The separation was achieved on Acquity UPLC BEH C₁₈ (50 × 2.1 mm, i.d. 1.7 µm, Waters, USA) column using acetonitrile:5 mM ammonium formate:0.1% formic acid (85:15:0.1% v/v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.35 mL/min in an isocratic elution. The Xevo TQD UPLC-MS/MS was operated under the multiple-reaction monitoring mode using positive electrospray ionization. Extraction with dichloromethane was used in the sample preparation. Method validation was performed as per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines and the calibration curves of the proposed method were found to be linear in the range of 1–1000 ng/mL for SR and in the range of 10–1500 ng/mL for its metabolite (GS331007) with an elution time of 1.83 min. All validation parameters were within the acceptable range according to the bioanalytical methods validation guidelines. Furthermore, the obtained results of matrix effects indicate that ion suppression or enhancement from human plasma components was negligible under the optimized conditions. The proposed method can be applied in high-throughput analysis required for pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence studies in human samples.