Islamudin Ahmad

Pharmacognostic and Antimicrobial Studies of Garcinia latissima Miq. Leaves (Clusiaceae)

Introduction: Garcinia latissima Miq known as Dolo magota (Maluku), is a medicinal plant belonging to the family Clusiaceae. The purpose of the research was to explore the phyto constituents present, pharmacognostic details, and their antimicrobial efficacy. Methods: The preliminary phytochemical components were qualitatively examined using the standard method systems. The antimicrobial screening was carried out using the good diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using dilution method. Results: The phytochemical screening of different extract of G. latissima Miq leaves revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, and alkaloids and the results were tabulated. The ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts from its leaves showed antimicrobial activity especially for Bacillus subtilis, a positive bacteria; the hexane extract did not show any activity against the selected microba. Conclusion: The results of the phytochemical and bio-efficacy study revealed most valuable information and also support the continued sustainable use of this leaves in the traditional system of medicine.

Review of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory assay: Rapid method in drug discovery of herbal plants

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is a signaling pathway which responsible in the blood pressure regulation. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is one of the key elements responsible for the hypertensive mechanism. It converts angiotensin-I to angiotensin-II. The discovery history of the ACE inhibitory activity assay method has been through a long stage for decades and development continues until today. The ACE inhibitory activity has become an effective screening method in the search for new antihypertensive agents from herbal plants. Some of in vitro assay methods were used to examine the activity of ACE inhibitors based on the substrate usage, such as; Cushman and Cheung Method using a substrate hippuryl-histidyl-leucine (HHL), Holmquist method using a substrate furanacryloyl-tripeptide, Elbl and Wagner method using a substrate benzoil-[l-14C] glicyl-L-histidine-L-leucine, Carmel and Yaron method using a substrate o-aminobenzoylglycyl-p-nitrophenylalanilproline, and Lam method using 3-hydroxybutyrylglycyl-glycyl-glycine as substrate. Several different methods to measure the results of enzymatic reactions or separating substrate with products, including spectrophotometric, fluorometric, high-performance liquid chromatography, electrophoresis, and radiochemistry. Application of the test method for screening the ACE inhibitors activity and investigation of active compounds from natural products can be done easily with this method, it is very helpful in research because the results obtained are simple, accurate, and rapid.

Application of Ionic Liquid as a Green Solvent for Polyphenolics Content Extraction of Peperomia pellucida (L) Kunth Herb

Background: Inhibition of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of inflammatory pulmonary disorders i.e. asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the treatment with PDE4 inhibitors is not definitive due to the side effects such as nausea and vomiting which are associated with the non-selective inhibitors. Objective: To identify selective PDE4B inhibitors that are expected to be potential drug candidates for the treatment of inflammatory pulmonary disorders. Methods: A shared feature pharmacophore model for both ligand and structure-based pharmacophore models for PDE4B inhibitors was developed and used as a query in the virtual screening of Maybridge and SPECS databases. The hits were filtered based on Lipinski’s rule of five and pharmacophore fit score. Finally, the hits were docked into the active site of PDE4B and PDE4D to test their affinity and selectivity. Results: Based on the virtual screening results, nine compounds were identified as final hits, where four compounds showed the highest affinity and selectivity for PDE4B over PDE4D according to the protein-ligand interactions analysis. Conclusion: Selective PDE4B inhibitors have been identified using a combination of pharmacophore-based virtual screening and molecular docking. Those inhibitors are promising candidates for pre-clinical evaluation to justify their affinity and selectivity for PDE4B and test their anti-inflammatory activity. Key words: Asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Molecular docking, Phosphodiesterase 4B, Virtual screening.Objectives: To find out the effect of mild heat shock on osteoblast proliferation and mineralisation following treatment with bisphosphonates. Materials and Methods: Cell culture of MC3T3 cells was performed in alpha minimum essential medium supplemented with 10% Foetal Calf Serum (FCS), 2 mmol L-glutamine and 100U/ml each of penicillin/streptomycin and were incubated at 37°C in humidified 5% CO2. The selected bisphosphonate drugs were administered, following which heat therapy was given by placing the flasks in a temperature-regulated water bath. The proliferation of osteoblast progenitors was measured using the methylene blue staining technique. Results: The results showed that mild heat-shock for 2 min at 42°C can stimulate proliferation of osteoblast progenitors, as well as bone nodule formation. In addition, mild heat-shock can reverse the action of bisphosphonate by stimulation of osteoblast proliferation and mineralisation. Conclusion: Mild heat-shock enhances cell differentiation and osteoblasts mineralisation following bisphosphonate treatment. Key words: Bisphosphonates, Heat-shock, Osteoblast, Osteoclast.

Antioxidant Activity of Some Selected East Borneo Plants

Received Jan 02, 2015 Revised Feb 02, 2015 Accepted Feb 22, 2015 The native plants of East Borneo the Costus specious (Koening) J.E. Smith stem, Lagerstroemaspesiosa Pers leaf, Cerberamangans L leaf, Vitistrifolia L fruit., Scurrulaatropurpurea (Blume) Danser root, Bruceajavanica (L.) Merr. leaf, Lygodiummicrophyllum, Bidens Chinensis Willd., Sonneratiacaseolaris L. peel, Sonneratiacaseolaris L. stem is almost underexplored for their potensial benefits. They were extracted by the solvents of increasing polarity (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol) were tested for their free radical activity against DPPH (2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). The ethyl acetate extract of Costusspesiosus (Koening) J. E. Smith antioxidant were screnned concentration of 68 ppm, similarly athyl acetate extract of Vitistrivolia L., showed antioxidant activity at 64.30 ppm. As the ethyl acetate extract of Scurrullaatropurpurea (Blume), Bruceajavanica (L.) Merr, Lygodiummicrophyllum and Sonneratiacaseolaris L. stem, showed antioxidant activity at 273.52 ppm, 91.12 ppm, 17.39 ppm and 7.03 ppm. Nbutanol extract of Lagerstroemaspesiosa Pers, Cerberamangans L, BidenschinensisWilld, and Sonneratiacaseolaris L. peel showed 8.37 ppm, 128.59 ppm, 18.17 ppm and 54.29 ppm antioxidant activity using DPPH model systems. Owing to the property, the studies can be further extended to exploit them for their possible application for preservation of food products as well as their use as health supplements. Keyword: