Muhammad Ali Hashmi

Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of Olea europaea (Olive)

Aim of the Review. To grasp the fragmented information available on the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of Olea europaea to explore its therapeutic potential and future research opportunities. Material and Methods. All the available information on O. europaea was collected via electronic search (using Pubmed, Scirus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) and a library search. Results. Ethnomedical uses of O. europaea are recorded throughout the world where it has been used to treat various ailments. Phytochemical research had led to the isolation of flavonoids, secoiridoids, iridoids, flavanones, biophenols, triterpenes, benzoic acid derivatives, isochromans, and other classes of secondary metabolites from O. europaea. The plant materials and isolated components have shown a wide spectrum of in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities like antidiabetic, anticonvulsant, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, antiviral, antihypertensive, anticancer, antihyperglycemic, antinociceptive, gastroprotective, and wound healing activities. Conclusions. O. europaea emerged as a good source of traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The outcomes of phytochemical and pharmacological studies reported in this review will further expand its existing therapeutic potential and provide a convincing support to its future clinical use in modern medicine.

Copper Complexes of Bioactive Ligands with Superoxide Dismutase Activity

Free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly toxic and their damaging effects result in a variety of detrimental health issues such as neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and age-related diseases. Human body has evolved an effective defense system including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase against the toxicity of these free radicals. SOD is a metalloenzyme and it acts as an excellent antioxidant to protect the body from superoxide radicals that are generated in the biological system. However, the clinical use of SOD is limited due to its short in vivo life span, and its large size that hampered its penetration across the cell membranes. Pharmaceuticals that provide ROS scavenging systems are the most effective when the production of ROS exceeds the scavenging capacity of endogenous SOD as a result of aging or pathological processes. Inspired by the Nature, scientists have designed metal-based mimics of the superoxide dismutase. This review focuses on different copper complexes that are developed from bioactive ligands and mimic the protecting action of the SOD.

A new rosane-type diterpenoid from Stachys parviflora and its density functional theory studies

A new rosane-type diterpenoid (1) has been isolated from the chloroform fraction of Stachys parviflora. Structure of 1 was proposed based on 1D and 2D NMR techniques including correlation spectroscopy, heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence, heteronuclear multiple bond correlation and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy. A theoretical model for the electronic and spectroscopic properties of compound 1 is also developed. The geometries and electronic properties were modelled at B3LYP/6-31G* and the theoretical scaled spectroscopic data correlate nicely with the experimental data.

Chaetomium endophytes: a repository of pharmacologically active metabolites

Fungal endophytes are group of fungi that grow within the plant tissues without causing immediate signs of disease and are abundant and diverse producers of bioactive secondary metabolites. The Chaetomium genus of kingdom fungi is considered to be a rich source of unique bioactive metabolites. These metabolites belong to chemically diverse classes, i.e., chaetoglobosins, xanthones, anthraquinones, chromones, depsidones, terpenoids and steroids. Cheatomium through production of diverse metabolites can be considered as a potential source of antitumor, cytotoxic, antimalarial, antibiotic and enzyme inhibitory lead molecules for drug discovery. This review covers isolation of Cheatomium endophytes, extraction and isolation of metabolites and their biological activities.

Structure of Echivulgarine, a Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Isolated from the Pollen of Echium vulgare

1,2-Dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids are common toxic metabolites isolated from plants within the Boraginaceae, in particular from the genera Heliotropium and Echium. Previous studies have deduced the structures of these often potent bioactives based upon mass spectrometric evidence, but these identifications have not established conclusive connectivity and configurational data. Herein, we describe the isolation and full structural characterization of echivulgarine, occurring in the pollen of Echium vulgare and correct the structure previously ascribed to the compound, using a comprehensive combination of both experimental and calculated nuclear magnetic resonance and electronic circular dichroism spectroscopic data.

Alkaloids as Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors in Anticancer Drug Discovery

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide and anticancer drug discovery is a very hot area of research at present. There are various factors which control and affect cancer, out of which enzymes like cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) play a vital role in the growth of tumor cells. Inhibition of this enzyme is a very useful target for the prevention of various types of cancers. Alkaloids are a diverse group of naturally occurring compounds which have shown great COX-2 inhibitory activity both in vitro and in vivo. In this mini-review, we have discussed different alkaloids with COX-2 inhibitory activities and anticancer potential which may act as leads in modern anticancer drug discovery. Different classes of alkaloids including isoquinoline alkaloids, indole alkaloids, piperidine alkaloids, quinazoline alkaloids, and various miscellaneous alkaloids obtained from natural sources have been discussed in detail in this review.

A new secoiridoid glycosidic lignan ester from the leaves of Olea ferruginea

Inthecourseofourcontinuingsearchforsecondarymetabolitesof biological significance from indigenous medicinal plants, weinvestigated the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the leaves of O.ferruginea. In the present paper, we report the isolation and struc-turalelucidationofnewsecoiridoidglycosidiclignanester(1)(Fig.1)isolated from this plant, using different spectroscopic methods. 1Dand 2D NMR techniques, including

Transition metal doping: a new and effective approach for remarkably high nonlinear optical response in aluminum nitride nanocages

The exohedral doping of a first row transition metal atom (M) on Al12N12 nanocages was performed for assessing the geometric, thermodynamic, electronic and nonlinear optical properties of the doped materials. The transition metals were doped at different positions on the Al12N12 nanocages to yield M@x-Al12N12 (where M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and x = b64, b66, r6, and r4). The doped nanocages carried transition metal atoms located over the Al–N bond (b64/b66 sites) or above the six (r6) and four membered ring (r4). A spin-polarized DFT study revealed that the most stable spin was monotonically increased to a sextet for Mn@x-Al12N12, and then decreased gradually to a singlet for Zn@x-Al12N12. The transition metals atoms were chemisorbed on the Al12N12 nanocages, as revealed from the very high binding enthalpies (−16 to −64 kcal mol−1). The NBO charges and bond orders were analyzed to rationalize the strength and nature of the bonding between the transition metal and nanocage. It was found that, regardless of the doping position and atomic number, the transition metal atoms could significantly lower the HOMO–LUMO gap (EH–L), by up to 40% of that of pure Al12N12. By applying the long-range separated method, the first hyperpolarizability (β0) values were calculated. The NLO response of the transition-metal-doped nanocages was comparable to those of their alkali-metal-doped analogs, which is quite remarkable because alkali metal atoms are one of the best inducers of the NLO response. The best NLO response (β0 = 1.85 × 104 a.u.) was calculated for Cu@r6-Al12N12. These remarkable outcomes promote transition-metal-atom-doped Al12N12 nanocages as potential applicants for the design of high-performance NLO materials.