Background: Viral and microbial infections constitute one of the most important life-threatening problems. The emergence of new viral and bacterial infectious diseases increases the demand for new therapeutic drugs. Purpose: The objective of this study was to use the aqueous and hexane extracts of Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea F. Aizoaceae for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, and to investigate its possible antiviral activity. In addition to the investigation of the phytochemical composition of the crude methanolic extracts of the two plants through UPLC-MS metabolomic profiling, and it was followed by molecular docking in order to explore the chemical compounds that might contribute to the antiviral potential. Methods: The formation of SNPs was further confirmed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antiviral activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated using MTT assay against HSV-1, HAV-10 virus and Coxsackie B4 virus. Metabolomics profiling was performed using UPLC-MS and molecular docking was performed via Autodock4 and visualization was done using the Discovery studio. Results: The early signs of SNPs synthesis were detected by a color change from yellow to reddish brown color. The TEM analysis of SNPs showed spherical nanoparticles with mean size ranges between 10.12 nm to 27.89 nm, and 8.91 nm 14.48 nm for Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea aqueous and hexane extracts respectively. The UV-Visible spectrophotometric analysis showed an absorption peak at λmax of 417 nm.The green synthesized SNPs of L. coccineus and M. lutea showed remarkable antiviral activity against HSV-1, HAV-10, and CoxB4 virus. Metabolomics profiling of the methanolic extract of L. coccineus and M. lutea resulted in identifying 12 compounds. The docking study predicted the patterns of interactions between the compounds of L. coccineus and M. lutea with herpes simplex thymidine kinase, hepatitis A 3c proteinase, and Coxsackievirus B4 3c protease, which was similar to those of the co-crystal inhibitors and this can provide a supposed explanation for the antiviral activity of the aqueous and nano extracts of L. coccineus and M. lutea. Conclusion: These results highlight that SNPs of L. coccineus and M. lutea could have antiviral activity against HSV-1, HAV-10, and CoxB4 virus.

The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using plant extracts is an eco-friendly method. It is a single step and offers several advantages such as time reducing, cost-effective and environmental non-toxic. Silver nanoparticles are a type of Noble metal nanoparticles and it has tremendous applications in the field of diagnostics, therapeutics, antimicrobial activity, anticancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In the present work, the aqueous extracts of aerial parts of Lampranthus coccineus and Malephora lutea F. Aizoaceae were successfully used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The formation of silver nanoparticles was early detected by a color change from pale yellow to reddish-brown color and was further confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX). The TEM analysis of showed spherical nanoparticles with a mean size between 12.86 nm and 28.19 nm and the UV- visible spectroscopy showed λ_max of 417 nm, which confirms the presence of nanoparticles. The neuroprotective potential of SNPs was evaluated by assessing the antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory activity. Metabolomic profiling was performed on methanolic extracts of L. coccineus and M. lutea and resulted in the identification of 12 compounds, then docking was performed to investigate the possible interaction between the identified compounds and human acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and glutathione transferase receptor, which are associated with the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. Overall our SNPs highlighted its promising potential in terms of anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity as plant-based anti-Alzheimer drug and against oxidative stress.

Objectives: This study aimed to make a broad review of the chemical constituents and biological activities of genus Zygophyllum. Methods: This review covers the peer reviewed articles between 1977 and August, 2018, retrieved from PubMed, Science Direct, Sci-Hub, Springer and Wikipedia Results: In traditional medicine, plants of genus Zygophyllum have been employed and utilized as anti-rheumatic, anti-gout, antidiabetic, anti-hyperlipidemic, antimicrobial, anti-oxidant, antihypertensive, antiseptic, anti-eczema and antidiarrheal. Zygophyllum species have been phytochemically studied leading to the identification of various classes of compounds including triterpenes, flavonoids, saponins, sterols, simple phenolic compounds, and esters. Biological studies on Zygophyllum species have also indicated various bioactive potentials including antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial antitumor and anti-inflammatory effects. The reported medicinal Zygophyllum species were selected and summarized on basis of their; geographical distribution, traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities. Conclusion: It would therefore be important to extensively investigate their phytochemicals and pharmacologically determine their activities for future drug discovery and development.

This study aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer activities of Cucumis melo L. cv. Ismailawi fruits, as well as the investigation of the phenolic content and lipoidal matter composition via high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry respectively. Both the petroleum ether and defatted methanol extracts of the fruit pulp showed 63.13% and 54.97% decrease in oedema volume respectively after 4 h in comparison to indomethacin standard drug. Both the petroleum ether extract and ethyl acetate fractions at a dose (200 mg/kg) showed significant anti-ulcer activity decreasing both ulcer number and severity in comparison to ranitidine as standard drug. Histopathological investigation further confirmed these results. Moreover; this is the first report for the investigation of the phenolic content and the lipoidal matter of Cucumis melo L. cv. Ismailawi fruits where methyl palmatate, gallic acid and rutin represented the major detected components.

Objectives: This study is aimed to be a comprehensive review of the phytochemical constituents and biological activities of Aizoaceae family plants (Mesembryanthemaceae). Methods: This study is covering articles between 1969 and 2018, reviewed from internationally accepted databases and scientific data from scientific Journals. Results: Phytochemically studied plants of family Aizoaceae have shown the presence of various classes of compounds including; alkaloids, triterpenes, sterols, lignans, phenolic compounds, betacyanins, and essential oils. Biological studies on plants of family Aizoaceae have indicated various bioactive potentials including antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antitumor, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory and other effects. The reported medicinal plants of family Aizoaceae were selected and summarized on the basis of their; phytochemical constituents and biological activities. Conclusion: The results of this study may inspire further ethno-botanical and ethno-pharmacological research and investigations toward drug discovery.