Aims: The study is intended to compare the freshly collected henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) and the market henna in term of microscopical key elements and heavy metals contamination. Moreover, this study is aimed to investigate the effect of henna and its oily additives on kidney histology in female mice. Study Design: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tripoli and Animals House, Biotechnology Research Center in 2010. Methodology: The powders of collected and market henna have been subjected to a microscopical study with magnification of 5x then 40 x to investigate the henna key elements, which are calcium oxalate clusters, anomocytic stomata, starch grains and fibers. Three elements: arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pd) were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAs) for the collected and market henna. For histopathological study, an aqueous extracts of L. inermis leaves and L. inermis leaves-oils were prepared by maceration. Eighteen female Albino Wister mice (3-4-months, 20-25 gm) were injected with the prepared extracts subcutaneously by dose 50 ml/kg/day for 5 days. Kidneys were collected and subjected to histopathological study. Results: From this study, the microscopical investigation exhibited the presence of some elements which are never mentioned as the henna key elements. Both market and collected henna were contaminated with a high level of heavy metals specially lead (Pd). The histopathological findings implied that there are many histological changes on the kidney tissues such as aggregation of round cells and congestion of blood vessels. Conclusion: The market henna might be adulterated with other types of plant. The presence of a high concentration of lead (Pd) in the collected henna as well as the market henna might be considered as the cause of some L. inermis adverse effects. L. inermis leaves and L. inermis leaves-oils aqueous extracts implied many abnormalities in the kidney tissues. arabic 17 English 102
Sakina S. Saadawi, Hanin N. Mughrbi, Mukhtar R. Haman, Surur A. Ahmed, Laila A. Ghashout, Elsayed R. Elattar(5-2020)

ABSTRACT Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima D.) is an angiosperm belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family generally characterized by climbing herbaceous vine with tendrils. The fruits vary in size, colour, shape and weight and have a moderately hard rind, with a thick edible flesh, and numerous seeds in the fruit which are either plump and tan or soft white.Preliminary phytochemical evaluation on different extracts of seed and fruit of C.maxima reveals the presence of proteins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, coumerins, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, and glycosides. A C.maximum contains antioxidants (such as: tocopherols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, carotenoids or ascorbic acid) which are molecule that are capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. They may protect cells from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves.Free radical scavenging or antioxidant activity of the extract was determined on the basis of their scavenging activity of the stable 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical. Antibacterial activity of the crude extract was determined by Cup-cut agar diffusion method.The pulp and seed extracts showed significant antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner with good IC50 values. For the pulp IC50(s) were 4.25 ± 0.05, 3.84 ± 1.18 and 4.12 ± 0.32 for petroleum ether, chloroform and Methanol extracts, respectively. In addition the the seed IC50(s) were 9.22 ± 0.20, 14.5 ± 0.14 and 5.97 ± 1.70 for petroleum ether, chloroform and Methanol extracts, respectively. C.maxima extracts contains antioxidants that prevent the oxidative damage to DNA in presence of DNA damaging agent (Sybr Gold) at a high concentration. The percentage of hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of C. maxima determines the ability of antioxidant to scavenge the hydroxyl radicals. The antioxidant activity of C. maxima extracts has high scavenging activity (thermodynamic property) and relatively high reaction rate (kinetic property); therefore, the second order rate constant (ks) of the H-atom transfer from antioxidant to the hydroxyl radical was seen. The seed extract showed antibacterial properties on both Gram- positive and Gram-negative bacteria used in this study. This means that C. maxima are useful as potential antibacterial agents. It was also observed from this study, the variations in the antibacterial activities of the C. maxima may be due to the differences in their bioactive compositions or concentrations. In conclusion, the physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical evaluation of fruit and seeds of C.maxima provide valuable information regarding their identification, authentication and chemical constituents which may be useful for the standardization and preparation of medicinal plants. The constituents of fruit and seeds of C. maxima may have several medicinal properties and can be utilized for the treatment of various diseases. Further research on this species in Libya may help in the isolation of therapeutically potent compounds which can be finally be subjected to pharmacological activities, thus leading to opening up new avenues in the use of natural products for therapeutic purpose.
إيناس عبدالله السعداوي (2016)

Abstract: Ciprofloxacin is a second-generation of fluoroquinolone, broad-spectrum antibiotic with bactericidal activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms. It is one of the most widely used antibiotics, because of its efficacy, safety, and relatively low cost. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is water-soluble monosaccharide antioxidant; it is essentially required by the body for its various biochemical and physiological processes. S. aureus is Gram-positive cocci; widely distributed in the environment, it is a member of the normal flora of the body. S. aureus is not always pathogenic; it is a common cause of skin infections including abscesses, respiratory infections such as sinusitis, and food poisoning. E. coli is Gram-negative bacteria, found in the environment, foods, and intestines. Most E. coli strains are harmless; it is part of the normal microbiota of the gut. However, some serotypes of E. coli cause serious food poisoning in their hosts; it can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses. Method: Cup cut diffusion method was applied. Experiment I: is carried out to choose the concentration of vitamin C to be used in experiment II. The negative control is normal saline, added in cup in each plate, vitamin C (100 mg/mL, 200 mg/mL, 400 mg/mL) was added, the volume in each cup was 100 μL. Experiment II: Eight groups of treatments were applied. The first is the negative control (1% normal saline), the second group is the positive control of vitamin C (200 mg/mL). The third, fourth and fifth groups are ciprofloxacin with different concentrations (10 mg/mL, 20 mg/mL, 40 mg/mL); the sixth, seventh and eighth are the combination of vitamin C with each concentration of ciprofloxacin (10 mg/mL, 20 mg/mL, 40 mg/mL). Each group includes six petri dishes. Bacterial plates were incubated at 37 o C for 24 h and 48 h. Zone of inhibition is measured in mm. Results and conclusion: Ciprofloxacin produces dose dependent increase in zone of inhibition of S. aureus and E. coli growth, after 24 and 48 hours incubation. While vitamin C in the concentration used produced inhibitory effect on the growth of S. aureus and E. coli, after 24 hours incubation, vitamin C effect was not changed after 48 hours incubation. After 24 hours incubation, vitamin C potentiated the effect of ciprofloxacin at low concentration (10 mg/mL); while vitamin C antagonized the effect of ciprofloxacin at higher concentrations (20 and 40 mg/mL) on S. aureus growth. In the same time, ciprofloxacin antagonized the inhibitory effect of vitamin C on S. aureus growth. After 48 hours incubation, S. aureus produced resistance against ciprofloxacin alone, and that combined with vitamin C compared to zone of inhibition after 24 hours. Ciprofloxacin produced dose dependent inhibition of E. coli growth after incubation for 24 and 48 hours. Vitamin C potentiated the inhibitory effect induced by ciprofloxacin (additive effect). The inhibitory effect of ciprofloxacin, vitamin C and the combination was not changed after 48 hours compared to 24 hours.
Bassma M. Doro, Suhera M. Aburawi(7-2019)