Lipase inhibitory activity of Lagenaria siceraria fruit as a strategy to treat obesity

Objective:To explore pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity under different extraction conditions in order to track the most potent extract.Methods:The methanolic extract and its fractions in solvents of increasing polarity,ether,chloroform,ethyl acetate,n-butanol and water,were made through cold maceration.Extracts in ethanol,ethyl acetate,acetone and chloroform were similarly prepared.Aqueous extract was prepared through hot decoction method.A reported method was used to determine lipase inhibitory activity of extracts and fractions over wide ranges of concentrations.Results:The extracts and fractions exhibited concentration dependent activity.The IC50(μg/mL)values of methanolic,ethanolic,chloroform,ethyl acetate,acetone,ethyl acetate(after washing with water)and aqueous decoction were 293.40,266.47,157.59,182.12,352.34,257.00,and 190.00,respectively.The activity of chloroform,ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts were close to that of the drug orlistat(IC50 146μg/mL).Out of the fractions of the methanolic extract,the chloroform fraction was most active(IC50 189.6μg/mL).The order of inhibitory activity of the fractions was as follows:chloroform>ether>n-butanolic>aqueous>ethyl acetate.The GC/MS analysis of the most active chloroform faction showed the presence of hexadecanoic acid,methyl hexadecanoate,isopropyl palmitate,methyl 9,12-octadecadienate,and methyl 9,12,15-octadecatrienoate.Conclusions:The study suggests that Lagenaria siceraria has potential to inhibit pancreatic lipase activity,suppressing lipid digestion and thereby diminishing entry of lipids into the body.Regular intake of aqueous decoction of the fruit may therefore be recommended for control of obesity.Fatty acids and their esters may play role as inhibitors of lipase.

Nucleation of Boron-Nitrogen on Transition Metal Surface:A First-Principles Investigation

Boron nitrogen(BN)monolayer has attracted considerable attention because of their suc-cessful incorporation with graphene based nanodevices.However,many important aspects of the growth mechanisms are still not well explored.Using density functional theory(DFT)calculations,we found that Cu(111)surface is more suitable to be used as a substrate to grow BN monolayer compared with Ni(111)surface.Moreover,we explored that one-dimensional(1D)BN chain configuration is dominant to the two-dimensional(2D)BN ring formation from one pair to five BN pairs deposited on Cu(111)surface.Energetically stable structure transformation of BN monolayer from 1D BN chain to 2D BN ring occurs when the number of pairs is n>5.It is suggested that,as the number of BN pairs increases the energetically stable structures achieve.

Antimicrobial activities of methanolic extract of Carissa opaca roots and its fractions and compounds isolated from the most active ethyl acetate fraction

Objective: To study the antibacterial and antifungal activities of methanolic extract of roots of Carissa opaca and its fractions in hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water, and the isolated compounds.Methods: The zones of inhibition of the samples against test microorganisms were determined by agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the samples were determined by agar well dilution method. Test microorganisms included four standard bacteria [Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633(B. subtilis), Escherichia coli ATCC 8739(E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027(P. aeruginosa), and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538], two standard fungi [Candida albicans ATCC 10231(C. albicans)] and Aspergillus niger, and six clinical isolates(B. subtilis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi and Enterobacter cloacae). The most active fraction was investigated to isolate compounds. The chemical compounds isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer, high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer.Results: E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans were the most susceptible. Less polar fractions exhibited stronger efficacy than polar ones, and ethyl acetate fraction proved to be the most potent. Zones of inhibition of hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions, and amoxil against C. albicans were 19.96, 22.01, 23.10 and 19.20 mm, respectively. Ethyl acetate faction was the most toxic to all the test microorganisms, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 8.0, 7.8 and 7.78 μg/m L against P. aeruginosa, C. albicans and B. subtilis, respectively. Isolated compounds, limonene, 2'-hydroxyacetophenone, vanillin, naphthalenone, 2,3,3-trimethyl-2-(3-methylbuta-1,3-dienyl)-6-methylenecyclohexanone, 2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, mono(2-ethylhexyl) ester, β-sitosterol, vitamin E, rutin, quercetin, lupeol, epigallocatechin, showed considerable antimicrobial activities against test microorganisms.Conclusions: The roots of Carissa opaca contain compounds with significant antimicrobial potential.