The encapsulation of plant extract in nanomatrices has limitations due to its adhesion to walls, size control, high cost and long durations that results in low yield. Macroscale and microscale level techniques for development of micro/nanoparticles may impact the encapsulation of plant extract. This study aimed to evaluate the relative efficiency of microscale and macroscale techniques for encapsulation of plant extract, which is not compared yet. Keeping this in view, encapsulation of Calotropis gigantea leaves extract (CaG) was attained in silver-conjugated poliglusam nanomatrices (POL/Ag) to induce apoptosis in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) cells. The ethanolic CaG extract was prepared using percolation method and characterized by chemical tests for its active phytochemical compounds. The droplet-based microfluidic system was utilized as microscale encapsulation technique for CaG in nanomatrices at two different aqueous to oil flow rate ratios 1.0:1.5, and 1.0:3.0. Moreover, conventional batch system was utilized as macroscale encapsulation technique consisted of hot plate magnetic stirrer. The prepared nanomatrices were analysed for antioxidant activity using DPPH test and for cytotoxicity analysis using MCF-7 cells. The characteristic peaks of UV-Vis, FTIR and XRD spectrum confirmed the synthesis of CaG(POL/Ag) by both the encapsulation methods. However, microfluidic system was found to be more expedient because of attaining small and uniform sized silver nanoparticles (92 ± 19 nm) at high flow rate and achieving high encapsulation efficiency (80.25%) as compared to the conventional batch method (52.5%). CaG(POL/Ag) nanomatrices found to have significant antioxidant activity (p = 0.0014) against DPPH radical scavenging activity. The CaG(POL/Ag) of the smallest sized formulated by the microfluidic system has also shown the highest cytotoxicity (90%) as compared to batch method (70%) at 80 µg/mL. Our results indicate that the microscale technique using microfluidic system is a more efficient method to formulate size-controlled CaG(POL/Ag) nanomatrices and achieve high encapsulation of plant extract. Additionally, CaG(Pol/Ag) was found to be an efficient new combination for inducing potent (p < 0.0001) apoptosis in IDC cells. Therefore, CaG(Pol/Ag) can be further tested as an anti-cancer agent for in-vivo experiments.

Propeptides, released from the autocatalytic activation of its zymogen, are potential inhibitors against proteases involved in cancer cell invasion and migration. Our research team previously obtained novel propeptides (SnuCalCpIs) from transcriptome analysis of the medicinal plant Calotropis procera R. Br. and reported them as promising candidates for cancer therapeutics due to their cathepsin L inhibition activity. In the present study, inhibitory activity among SnuCalCpIs was compared with inhibition efficiency and verified by in silico molecular docking analysis. Only SnuCalCpI03 and SnuCalCpI15, expressed in Escherichia coli, showed inhibitory activity against cathepsin L as competitive inhibitors, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) values of 2.1 nM and 1.6 nM, respectively. They were stable below 70 °C, maintaining more than 90% inhibitory activity over a wide range of pH (2.0-10.0), except at the isoelectric point (pI). The template-based docking simulation models showed that SnuCalCpI02, SnuCalCpI12, and SnuCalCpI16 could not interact with the substrate-binding cleft of cathepsin L even though they possessed the same conserved domain. In contrast, SnuCalCpI03 and SnuCalCpI15 interacted with cathepsin L along the propeptide binding loop and substrate-binding cleft, resulting in obstruction of substrate access to the active site.

Some studies focused on metabolic relationships between plants and their endophytic bacterial associates, and more research is required to generate critical evidence for these relationships. In the current interest, we tried to confirm the relationship between the traditional medicinal plant, Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T. Aiton, and its associated endophytes, Bacillus siamensis and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, as the first matching study regarding the production of bioactive secondary metabolites from the plant vis-a-vis its bacterial endophytes.Secondary metabolites of both the plant and its endophytic bacteria were extracted using different solvents, e.g., water, methanol, and ethyl acetate. All extracts exhibited high quantities of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, and saponins. In addition, they showed significant antioxidant capacity which was found to be positively correlated with total phenolic contents. The highest total antioxidant capacity (99.28 ± 0.0 mg AA equivalent/g extract) was measured for the aqueous extract of B. siamensis.Antibacterial activity of the different extracts was evaluated against certain pathogenic bacteria, i.e., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Salmonella typhi, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococcus aureus. It was strikingly found that the broadest antibacterial spectrum was revealed by extracts of both C. procera and its endophytic B. siamensis. Interestingly, antibacterial activity was significantly correlated to phenolic and flavonoid contents.

Background C. procera is an important wild medicinal plant used in different area of Burkina Faso for the neuropsychiatric disorders treatment. It was reported to possess many pharmacological properties because of its phytochemical diversity. This study was carried out to identify possible specific chemical characteristics form C. procera leaves and root-bark samples, harvested in two regions of Burkina Faso, for a better selective use of specimens in traditional medicine. Methods Plant materials (leaves and root-bark) were collected from five sites in each region. Samples powders and extracts were mixed with potassium bromide for the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. A multivariate data analysis was performed to highlight differences in the FTIR spectral profile of samples. Therefore, phytochemical contents such as phenolics, flavonoids and terpenoids were evaluated with aqueous and methanolic extracts, using UV/visible light spectrophotometer method. Results Results of principal component analysis (PCA) showed a significant difference between leaves and root-bark spectral profile, independently to the region of collection. These profiles possess characteristic signals which could be exploited as biomarkers for plant organ discrimination. The phytochemical contents evaluation showed that C. procera leaves contain more significant phenolics, and root-bark possess more terpenoid compounds. This study of C. procera Ait. based on FTIR spectral characteristic and phytochemical content, suggest that terpenoids, notably cardenolide-type could be a good biomarkers for C. procera samples characterization and to explain root-bark therapeutic potential.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are used for a number of imaging and therapeutic applications in east and western part of the world. For thousands of years, the traditional Indian Ayurvedic approach to healing involves the use of incinerated gold ash, prepared with a variety of plant extracts and minerals depending on the region. Here, we describe the characterization of incinerated gold particles (IAuPs) in HeLa (human cells derived from cervical cancer) and HFF-1 (human foreskin fibroblast cells) in comparison to synthesized citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). We found that while individual IAuP crystallites are around 60 nm in size, they form large aggregates with a mean diameter of 4711.7 nm, some of which can enter cells. Fewer cells appeared to have IAuPs compared to AuNPs, although neither type of particle was toxic to cells. Imaging studies revealed that IAuPs were in vesicles, cytosol, or in the nucleus. We found that their nuclear accumulation likely occurred after nuclear envelope breakdown during cell division. We also found that larger IAuPs entered cells via macropinocytosis, while smaller particles entered via clathrin-dependent receptor-mediated endocytosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) ranks as the second leading cause of deaths due to infectious diseases. Although global efforts have been made to control TB, still, this is a serious threat as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) produced resistance against both the first- and second-line drugs. The increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant, extremely drug resistant, and totally drug-resistant TB worldwide requires extra efforts to search for new anti-TB drugs.
The present study evaluated the antimycobacterial activities of Citrullus colocynthis, Calotropis procera, Ricinus communis, Capparis decidua, and Fagonia cretica plants\' extracts against rifampicin-sensitive (H37Rv) and rifampicin-resistant (TMC331) strains of MTB.
Out of 44 extracts, 19 extracts were found active against H37Rv sensitive strain. Highest activities were observed in chloroform extract of C. colocynthis (leaves) and n-hexane extract of R. communis (seeds) with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 2.5 mg/ml each.
Results show antimycobacterial potential in some of the fractions of studied plants that may be utilized further for isolation of active compounds and as a possible cure against TB.

The Bedes form one of the largest tribal or indigenous communities in Bangladesh and are popularly known as the boat people or water gypsies because of their preference for living in boats. They travel almost throughout the whole year by boats on the numerous waterways of Bangladesh and earn their livelihood by selling sundry items, performing jugglery acts, catching snakes, and treating village people by the various riversides with their traditional medicinal formulations. Life is hard for the community, and both men and women toil day long. As a result of their strenuous lifestyle, they suffer from various types of pain, and have developed an assortment of formulations for treatment of pain in different parts of the body. Pain is the most common reason for physician consultation in all parts of the world including Bangladesh. Although a number of drugs are available to treat pain, including non-steroidal, steroidal, and narcotic drugs, such drugs usually have side-effects like causing bleeding in the stomach over prolonged use (as in the case of rheumatic pain), or can be addictive. Moreover, pain arising from causes like rheumatism has no proper treatment in allopathic medicine. It was the objective of the present study to document the formulations used by the Bede traditional practitioners for pain treatment, for they claim to have used these formulations over centuries with success. Surveys were conducted among a large Bede community, who reside in boats on the Bangshi River by Porabari village of Savar area in Dhaka district of Bangladesh. Interviews of 30 traditional practitioners were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. It was observed that the Bede practitioners used 53 formulations for treatment of various types of pain, the main ingredient of all formulations being medicinal plants. Out of the 53 formulations, 25 were for treatment of rheumatic pain, either exclusively, or along with other types of body pain. A total of 65 plants belonging to 39 families were used in the formulations. The Fabaceae family provided 7 plants followed by the Solanaceae family with 4 plants. 47 out of the 53 formulations were used topically, 5 formulations were orally administered, and 1 formulation had both topical and oral uses. 8 formulations for treatment of rheumatic pain contained Calotropis gigantea, suggesting that the plant has strong potential for further scientific studies leading to discovery of novel efficacious compounds for rheumatic pain treatment.

In the present study we compared the clot inducing and dissolving properties of Calotropis gigantea R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae), Synadenium grantii Hook. f. (Euphorbiaceae) and Wrightia tinctoria R. Br. (Apocynaceae) latex extracts. All the three latex extracts hydrolyzed casein, fibrinogen and crude fibrin dose-dependently. The proteolytic action on fibrinogen subunity was in the order of Aalpha > Bbeta > gamma. All extracts exhibited procoagulant activity as assayed by re-calcification time. However, thrombin like activity is restricted to C. gigantea. In addition, the extracts dose-dependently hydrolyzed blood and plasma clots. Furthermore, the hydrolyzing pattern of fibrin in the plasma clot was substantiated by SDS-PAGE. The extracts hydrolyzed all the subunits (alpha polymer, alpha-chains, gamma-gamma dimer and beta-chain) of fibrin efficiently. Both fibrinogenolytic and fibrinolytic activity potency of the extracts were in the order of C. gigantea > S. grantii > W. tinctoria. Among the three latices, C. gigantea is toxic with a minimum hemorrhagic dose (MHD) of > 75 microg, whereas S. grantii and W. tinctoria latex extracts were non-toxic and did not induce any hemorrhagic effect at the tested dose (> 200 microg). The proteolytic activity of C. gigantea latex extract on different substrates was inhibited by IAA. On the other hand, the proteolytic activities of S. grantii and W. tinctoria were inhibited by PMSF. Thus, this study provides the basis for the probable action of plant latex proteases to stop bleeding and effect wound healing as exploited in folk medicine.

The role of prostaglandins in Calotropis procera latex induced inflammation and hyperalgesia has been well established. The acute inflammation induced by the dried latex (DL) of this plant could be effectively ameliorated by standard anti-inflammatory drugs. In present study we have evaluated the efficacy of rofecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor in monoarthritis induced by intra-articular injection of DL and compared it with that against Freund\'s Complete Adjuvant (FCA). DL and FCA were injected into the right ankle joint of the rat and the joint diameter was measured by a micrometer screw gauge on day 0, 4, 8, 12, 20 and 28. Concomitantly the hyperalgesic response was also evaluated by motility test, stair climbing ability test, dorsal flexion pain test and compression test. The effect of rofecoxib was evaluated on these parameters in both the models. Both DL and FCA produced peak inflammation on day 4 that was associated with decreased pain threshold and functional impairment. Although rofecoxib was more effective in improving motility in the DL model, its effect on joint inflammation, hyperalgesia and stair climbing ability was comparable in both the models. Thus, our study indicates that DL induced monoarthritis could be used as a model for the screening and evaluation of anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic drugs.

Fresh leaf extract of milkweed (Calotropis procera) showed larvicidal properties against mosquito larvae of Anopheles stephensi, Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti. Methanolic extracts of the same plant were, however, more effective as larvicide. C. procera is a weed growing in uncultivated soils as well as in dry, arid zones in Indian subcontinent throughout the year. The results of this study suggest the utility of milkweed as potential technology for control of mosquito larvae.