International Journal of Scientific Research in Biological Sciences
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Major Drivers and Effects of Land degradation in Nigeria: A Review
Get PDFLand degradation is the process of land destruction, which is usually prompted by both anthropogenic and natural activities. It is one of the major environmental problems especially in developing countries. The focus of this paper is to review the studies on the main drivers and effects of land degradation phenomenon in Nigeria. Some of the major causes are discussed including deforestation and forest degradation, overgrazing, bush burning, and mining. This study also indicate that land degradation has severe negative effects on the ecosystem some of which are desertification and drought, loss of agrarian land, low crop production, and soil erosion, etc. Furthermore, the approach to manage land degradation is presented, and it was pointed out that the advantage of using remotely sensed data in land degradation assessment is that it provides a cost-effective, timely, and consistent evidence of degraded lands regularly.
 
hemical Composition, Anti-bacterial and Anti-oxidant Activities of common Apiaceae Essential Oils
Get PDFMedicinal plants produce many compounds with biological or medicinal properties. Essential oils produced by plants have been used for health purposes for thousands of years. Apiaceae essential oils are chemically diverse and rich in effective compounds, so they can be used as an alternative to synthetic antibiotics and antioxidants, which will help to avoid the dangers of synthetic drugs. Therefore, this review provides useful information about essential oils of some Apiaceae species, including their chemical composition and some biological effects.
 
Genotoxic, Carcinogenic and Reproductive Studies on Aniline: A Mini Review
Get PDFThe presence of certain chemical pollutants in environment plays an important role in altering various biological functions. Anilines are widely used in the preparation of pesticides, herbicides, plants, pharmaceuticals and dyes. The present review aims at highlighting the toxic and detrimental effects of aniline on animal model. We believe that this review will provide valuable information on toxicological profile of aniline which will further help in devising safe guidelines for the usage of aniline in a suitable manner. Aniline has shown increases the methemoglobin level in blood. A derivative of aniline, 3,4 dichloroaniline, has shown to affect the male reproductive system by increasing the frequency of structural and numerical abnormalities in sperms, decreasing sperm count and motility. In female fishes, it, decreased fecundity, caused hormonal disruption and histological changes in the ovaries. In rats, aniline hydrochloride did not show any teratogenic effect but the pregnant rats showed increased spleen weight, decreased RBC count and methemoglobinemia.
 
The Role of Medicinal Plants in Protecting Mesenchymal Stromal Cells From Oxidative Stress
Get PDFRecently, research has focused on mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as one of the most important therapeutic products, which have been effectively used in the treatment of many diseases. However, the functionality and longevity of in vitro expanded MSCs are greatly affected by oxidative stress. Moreover, most of the transplanted MSCs are lost in few days following transplantation, due to the hypoxia and the presence of oxygen-free radicals in the transplant recipient, that increase aging factors. Therefore, strategies that protect MSCs from apoptosis and increase their resistance to oxidative stress are required for optimizing MSC?based therapy. It has been shown recently that some plant compounds can protect MSC from oxidative stress. Therefore, the present review highlights the role of medicinal plants in modulating oxidative stress in MSC. We hope that this review will provide additional information that will facilitate and improve MSC-based therapies.
 
Improving Chicken Growth Performance with Nano Silver Added to Drinking Water
Get PDFSilver nanoparticles (Silver NPs) are among the most potent nanoparticles used in nanoscience. Through a five-week feeding trial, this study examined the effects of various concentrations of (Silver NPs) added to water on broiler chicken growth performance. From 21-3-2019 to 24-4-2019, 225-day-old (Ross 308) broiler chicks were allocated into five random groups, each being replicated three times with 15 birds in each replication. Silver nanoparticles were supplemented to drinking water at 0.0, 20, 30, 40, and 50 ppm/L for groups G1 (control group), G2, G3, G4, and G5, respectively. Our findings showed that the group that received drinking water with 20 ppm/L had a significant advantage over the other groups in terms of body weight at the 4th and 5th weeks and total weight gain throughout the experiment. The overall food conversion ratio of groups that received drinking water containing up to 30 ppm/L significantly improved in groups supplemented with greater concentrations in terms of kg weight growth per kilogram feed intake. The G2 group is the only group that achieved zero mortality compared to the other groups. It was also found that the levels of Nanosilver increased the number of red and white blood cells, hematocrit, and hemoglobin at 14 and 35 days of the age of the broilers. It also increased glucose levels, triglycerides, malondialdehyde (MDA), and the glutathione enzyme at 35 days of the age of the broilers the groups G4 and G5 were the highest.
 
Green Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles using Nigella sativa Seeds Aqueous Extract and Antibacterial Activity Evaluation
Get PDFThis study aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of ZnONPs synthesized by the green method using Nigella sativa extract against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus pyogenes. In addition, the effect of pure ZnONPs on the same bacteria was compared to the effect of ZnONPs synthesized using the green method. The synthesis of ZnONPs was carried out using the standard green method. The results indicate that ZnONPs synthesized by N. sativa seed extract had an effect against S. aureus with a zone of 19 mm obtained from the concentration of 150 mg/ml of ZnONPs synthesized using 25 ml of N. sativa seed extract. Also, ZnONPs showed antimicrobial activity against S. pyogenes in zone 19 mm at 150 mg/ml concentrations of ZnONPs synthesized using 25 ml of N. sativa. The synthesized ZnONPs showed activity against K. pneumoniae in zone 14 mm for 100 mg/ml and 150 mg/ml of ZnONPs synthesized using 25 ml of N. sativa extract. Moreover, ZnONPs synthesized by the green method was low effective on P. aeruginosa. Finally, the results exhibited low antimicrobial activity of pure ZnONPs compared to the ZnONPs synthesized by the green method, and the best effect of ZnONPs was obtained at concentrations of 150 mg/ml of ZnONPs synthesized from 25 ml of N. sativa extract.
 
The role of SARS-COV-2 -Main Protease: the case of Gepants family and Veruprevir
Get PDFIn this study, our approach was to conduct a complete investigation of molecular docking analysis with the major SARS-CoV-2 proteins and SARS CoV-1 proteins. We analyzed more than 6000 drugs, downloaded by the Pubchem database. Particular attention, we have focused on 3CLpro Covid-19 protein, by “Blind docking” method and “Selective docking” procedure, in Ligand Binding site, with Autodock Vina using Pyrx, a small Virtual Screen Library, and with Autodock 4 using AMDock Software. We have selected about 30 drugs with a high-affinity Binding score (between- 9.7 and-12 kcal/mol) from our results. Next, carrying out docking Validation methods, using Human Serum Albumin, as a docking control protein, has led us to select only the three best drugs (Ubrogepant, Atogepant, and Paritaprevir), potentially active in the Ligand Binding site pocket of 3CL-pro SARS-CoV-2 protein. Ubrogepant and Atogepant, have Ki values around, 20 -25 nM and Binding Energy of approximately -10 kcal/mol, except for Paritaprevir which reports exceptional Ki values of approximately 1nM and Binding Energy of approximately - 12.5 kcal/mol. This has led us to conclude, that they could be excellent candidates against SARS-COV-2, even though further in vitro and in vivo studies are needed
In-Vitro Antibiogram Screening of Citrullus lanatus (Watermelon) Seeds and Peels against Some Food Spoilage Bacterial Isolates
Get PDFCitrullus lanatus (watermelon) is a fruits consumed all over the world and it comprised of four part; Seed, Pulp/Fleshy, Rind and Peel. Its Peels and Seeds are usually discarded as waste. This study aimed at determining the in-vitro antibiogram screening of Citrullus lanatus seeds and peels some food spoilage bacterial isolate using three varieties of watermelon; Sugar Baby, Odell’s white and Sakata Seed and Peels, the Seeds and Peels were dried and phytochemical constituent extracted by aqueous solvent. The extracts were subjected to antimicrobial assay using agar well diffusion against some food spoilage bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli). The MIC and MBC was determined according to standard protocols. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of Alkaloid, Flavalonoid, Tannins and Reducing Sugar. Results of Antimicrobial Assay revealed that S.aureus and E.coli were susceptible to the extracts, with E.coli and S.aureus having 17mm and 15mm zone of inhibitionas the highest at concentration of 200mg/ml and 200mg/ml respectively. MIC and MBC results for E.coli and S. aureus were in closed range of 80mg/ml -100mg/ml respectively. The finding of this study showed that aqueous extracts of Seeds and Peels of C. lanatus contained bioactive compounds with potent antibacterial activity.
 
Comparison Docking Studies of Polydatin and Curcumin as therapeutic Targets on Several Protein and Enzymes
Get PDFFor the first time, we performed by Molecular Docking approach for six target proteins (DYRK-2, EGFR, COX-1-COV-2, MAPK-1 and MAK-3) the binding affinity of Polydatin and Curcumin respectively to evaluate their possible biological action. From all docking results, Curcumin has shown more binding affinity than Polydatin and also we noted that Curcumin has theoretically been able to bind mainly DYRK-2 and COX-1, showing excellent binding energy values of -10.15 kcal/mol and -9.59 kcal/mol respectively. As regards the case of Polydatin, it seems to have, among all the 6 targets investigated, only a good ability to bind with MAPK-1 with a binding energy value of approximately -9.11 kcal/mol. To achieve actual results, further molecular biological studies are necessary to understand both the mechanism of action of natural substances and their biological function with cells.
 
Computational analysis of Probable inhibitors of Serine/Threonine-protein kinase PIM-1/PIM-2 and of Proto-oncogene Tyrosine-protein kinase LCK
Get PDFIn this short communication, it has been carried several computational studies of Probable inhibitors of Serine/Threonine-protein kinase Pim-1/Pim-2 and Proto-oncogene Tyrosine-protein kinase LCK. The method applied was Molecular Docking by Autodock Vina with the Pyrx program, comparing hundreds of drugs and natural molecules based on their binding energies calculated in the active site of Serine/Threonine-protein kinases PIM-1/PIM-2. From these Silico analyses, Imatinib and Hypericin showed theoretically the most binding affinity with both Serine/Threonine-protein kinase PIM-1 (Imatinib with binding energy of -10.8 kcal/mol and Hypericin with binding energy of -11.8 kcal/mol ) and Serine/Threonine-protein kinase PIM-2 (Imatinib with binding energy of -11.4 kcal/mol and Hypericin with binding energy of -13.7 kcal/mol ), compared to all other drugs and natural molecules examined. Although these results are an important first step to better understand what their biological action is with the enzymes studied, it will require many computational analyses and in vitro and in vivo biological tests to come to an actual conclusion about their mechanism.