Background and Objectives: Fibrotic lung disease is one of the main complications of many medical conditions. Therefore, the use of anti-fibrotic agents may provide a chance to prevent, or at least modify, such complication. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective pulmonary anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects of Dinebra retroflexa. Materials and methods: Dinebra retroflexa methanolic extract and its synthesized silver nanoparticles were tested on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis was induced by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin (5 mg/5 mL/kg-Saline) as a supposed model for induced lung fibrosis. The weed evaluation was performed by intratracheal instillation of Dinebra retroflexa methanolic extract and its silver nanoparticles (35 mg/100 mL/kg-DMSO, single dose). Results: The results showed that both Dinebra retroflexa methanolic extract and its silver nanoparticles had a significant pulmonary fibrosis retraction potential, with Ashcroft scores of three and one, respectively, and degrees of collagen deposition reduction of 33.8 and 46.1%, respectively. High-resolution UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS metabolic profiling and colorimetrically polyphenolic quantification were performed for further confirmation and explanation of the represented effects. Such activity was believed to be due to the tentative identification of twenty-seven flavonoids and one phenolic acid along with a phenolic content of 57.8 mg/gm (gallic acid equivalent) and flavonoid content of 22.5 mg/gm (quercetin equivalent). Conclusion: Dinebra retroflexa may be considered as a promising anti-fibrotic agent for people at high risk of complicated lung fibrosis. The results proved that further clinical trials would be recommended to confirm the proposed findings.

Objective: The aim of this work is to identify and purify bioactive compounds from 70℅ aqueous methanolic extract (AME) of B. spectabilis leaves collected in Cairo, Egypt and assessed their rheumatoid arthritis activity. Methods: The methanolic extract of B. spectabilis leaves was fractionated and subjected to different chromatographic techniques to isolate pure new compounds which were identified by one dimensional and two dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analyses and mass spectrometric methods. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity on adjuvant induced chronic rheumatoid arthritis. Results & Discussion: Seven bioactive compounds were purified and identified for the first time from the methanolic extract of Bougainvillea spectabilis leaves; secologanin dimethyl acetal, α- and β-amyrin, α- and β-amyrin acetate, Kaempferol and kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside. The previously mentioned compounds had a significant effect against rheumatoid arthritis. Conclusion: The seven compounds isolated from the methanolic extract of B. spectabilis leaves showed strong anti-rheumatoid arthritis activity.

Recently, the world directed to the use of natural products as antibiotic alternatives to substitute antibiotics, particularly in livestock animals and poultry to avoid antibiotic resistance and antibiotic residues in all products used for human consumption. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activities of Gerbera jamesonii and Chrysanthemum “dante purple” flowers extracts as well as rutin and luteolin previously isolated from Gerbera jamesonii and Chrysanthemum “dante purple”, respectively, against the enteropathogen Escherichia coli (E. coli O78) as well as, the detection of their effects on the blood parameters and the clinical signs of the treated birds. Firstly, in vitro antimicrobial activity of the total methanolic extracts, and fractions (petroleum ether or hexane, ethyl acetate and butanol) of Gerbera jamesonii and Chrysanthemum “dante purple” flowers as well as the pure isolated compounds; rutin and luteolin were tested against different pathogens. Further in vivo antimicrobial activity of the pure compounds, rutin and luteolin against E. coli was evaluated. The two pure compounds remarkably protected against the infection induced by the enteropathogen, E. coli O78, in infected chicks. This could prove the efficacy of using the two natural compounds, rutin and luteolin, as protective supplements in poultry.

Alcoholic leaves extracts of six species belong to genus Jatrtopha (J. integerrima Jacq, J. integerrima Rosea, J. multifida Linn, J. curcas Linn, J. gossypifolia Linn and J. pandurifolia Andrews) were screened for their total phenolic and flavonoid contents along with evaluation of their in-vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were calculated as mg of gallic acid and quercetin equivalents (GAE & QE) / g dry extract by a colorimetric method utilizing Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and AlCl3, respectively. The highest phenolic content was found in J. gossypifolia L. extract (11.21), followed by J. curcas L. (9.14), J. integerrima Jacq (5.01), J. multifida L. (4.26), J. pandurifolia Andr. (3.40) and J. integerrima Rosea (2.16). Moreover, J. gossypifolia L. recorded the highest flavonoid content (7.05), followed by J. curcas L. (6.33), J. integerrima Jacq (3.01), J. pandurifolia Andr. (1.25), J. multifida L (0.98) and J. integerrima Rosea (0.25). Concerning the biological evaluation, DPPH radical scavenging assay and membrane stabilization method were used to determine the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of plant extracts, respectively. The J. gossypifolia L. has shown the best antioxidant activity (94.4%) followed by J. curcas L. (92.5%), J. integerrima Jacq (88.3%), J. multifida L. (73.5%), J. pandurifolia Andr. (66.9%) and J. integerrima Rosea (56.1%).