Honey is known for its content of biomolecules, such as enzymes. The enzymes of honey originate from bees, plant nectars, secretions or excretions of plant-sucking insects, or from microorganisms such as yeasts. Honey can be characterized by enzyme-catalyzed and non-enzymatic reactions. Notable examples of enzyme-catalyzed reactions are the production of hydrogen peroxide through glucose oxidase activity and the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen by catalase enzymes. Production of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from glucose or fructose is an example of non-enzymatic reactions in honey.

Wound dressings created using nanotechnology are known as suitable substrates to speed up the healing of both acute and chronic wounds. Therapeutic substances can be delivered using these materials. In this study, a hydrogel loaded with Cu (II) Schiff base 8-hydroxy quinoline complex (CuSQ) solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) was formulated to investigate its wound healing potential in an excision wound healing model in rats. The CuSQ SLN were spherical shaped with sizes ranging from 111 to 202 nm and a polydispersity index (PDI) ranging from 0.43 to 0.76, encapsulation efficiency (EE) % between 85 and 88, and zeta potential (ZP) of −11.8 to −40 mV. The formulated hydrogel showed good homogeneity, good stability, and a pH of 6.4 which indicates no skin irritation and had no cytotoxicity on the human skin fibroblast (HSF) cell line. In the in vivo study, animals were placed in five groups: control, standard, plain hydrogel, low dose, and high dose of CuSQ hydrogel. Both doses of CuSQ showed significantly faster healing rates compared to standard and control rats. In addition, the histopathology study showed more collagen, improved angiogenesis, and intact re-epithelization with less inflammation. A significant increase in transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) level and increased immune expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by CuSQ treatment validates its role in collagen synthesis, proliferation of fibroblasts and enhancement of angiogenesis. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) was found to be significantly reduced after CuSQ treatment. Immunohistochemistry of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) revealed a marked decrease in inflammation. Thus, we concluded that CuSQ would be a beneficial drug for cutaneous wound healing since it effectively accelerated wound healing through regulation of various cytokines and growth factors.

The activity of honey enzymes are affected by floral and geographical origins, climate conditions, honeybee species, health and nutrition. This article investigated the effect of floral and geographical origins on the activity of glucose oxidase (GOx) and catalase (CAT) enzymes in honey samples from the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the moisture, total sugars, pH and conductivity were measured as quality parameters. The floral origin of the honey samples was determined microscopically while the quality parameters were measured according to the methods of international honey commission. The activity of the honey enzyme was determined following the instructions of the Megazyme International kits. The obtained results were statistically analyzed by the statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, v.20). The GOx activity of the Acacia, Ziziphus and polyfloral honey samples of the Asir region were (5.19 ± 2.33 U/g), (4.01 ± 1.17 U/g) and (5.69 ± 1.67 U/g), respectively. The Acacia, Ziziphus and polyfloral honey samples from the Jazan region had GOx activities of (6.85 ± 0.47 U/g), (10.48 ± 9.22 U/g) and (5.31 ± 2.7 U/g), respectively. The geographical origin significantly affected the GOx activity of Ziziphus honey (p-value = 0.005) and the GOx activity of the Ziziphus honey was significantly more than that of the polyfloral honey of the Jazan region (p-value = 0.009). With regard to the CAT activity in Asir region honey samples, the mean values of the Acacia, Ziziphus and polyfloral honeys were (2.89 ± 1.08 U/g), (3.58 ± 1.59 U/g) and (2.84 ± 1.24 U/g), respectively. The mean values of the CAT activity in the Jazan honey samples were Acacia (4.35 ± 1.01 U/g), Ziziphus (3.94 ± 0.04 U/g) and polyfloral (3.43 ± 0.67 U/g). The geographical origin significantly affected the CAT activity in Acacia honey (p-value = 0.014). The geographical and floral origins had significant effects on the activity of the honey GOx and CAT enzymes.

Simple, precise, rapid, and low-cost potentiometric and spectrophotometric methods were developed for the determination of cefotaxime in pure form, pharmaceutical formulations, and biological samples (urine and serum samples). The potentiometric method is based on the direct titration of cefotaxime in an aqueous medium with 0.1 M NaOH at µ = 0.5 NaCl and 25 ± 1.0 ℃ utilizing a combined glass pH electrode. Using the standard addition method based on Gran plot, the lower limits of detection and quantification were found to be 2.89 and 4.0 µg/mL, respectively over a linear concentration range of 4.0 to 65.0 µg/mL of cefotaxime with correlation coefficient of R² = 0.9973 and standard deviation (SD = 0.1) (n = 5). Cefotaxime content in pure solutions, vials, urine, and serum was effectively determined using this approach, yielding satisfactory results. Common components found in the samples analyzed did not cause any interference. Cefotaxime was recovered in a range of 95.0% to 101.6% from various biological fluids and vial dosage forms. Furthermore, the spectrophotometric method was based on the formation of a Prussian Blue (PB) complex. The spectrophotometric detection and determination of cefotaxime were achieved through by interaction between acidic hydrolysis product of cefotaxime (at 70 °C) and a combination of FeCl₃ and hexacyanoferrate (III) ions. The maximum absorbance of the formed complex measured at 700 nm, with 2.50 × 10⁴ Lmol^− 1cm^− 1 molar absorptivity. The Prussian Blue (PB) complex demonstrated excellent stability and sensitivity under ideal conditions, with absorbance rising in direct proportion to the cefotaxime concentration. The quantification limit was determined to be 1.35 µg/mL, and the detection limit was 0.41 µg/mL. The linear calibration, curve within a concentration range of 1.0–6.0 µg/mL, exhibited a standard deviation of 0.004 and a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.9957 (n = 5). The proposed methods proved to be effective for the determination of cefotaxime in pure form, pharmaceutical formulations and biological samples. The results were in good agreement with those reported in the literature for cefotaxime determination, as well as with those obtained using the proposed potentiometric approach. Furthermore, the environmental impact was assessed using three green evaluation tools: the Analytical Eco-Scale (ESA), the Analytical GREEnness metric (AGREE) and the Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI).