Abstract For the proper utilization of the fruits peel, investigation on their biological potential is needed. The present study was designed to determine the proximate composition and biological activities of the fruit peel extracts of three common fruits namely Citrullus lanatus, Punica protopunica and Pyrus pashia. The methanolic fruit peel extracts (FPEs) were analyzed for phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity in terms of free radical scavenging capacity (FRSC), antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum. The fruit peels were found to be statistically different (p < 0.05) in ash, moisture, crude protein, crude fiber content. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed in ascorbic acid and total phenolic content, and antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activates of the selected FPEs. Each of the FPE showed a concentration-dependent significant linear increase in FRSC. However, the antibacterial and antifungal activity of the FPEs against each of the selected bacterial and fungal strains was found to be a logarithmic function of the extract concentration. The FPE of P. pashia was found to be the best among the selected plants due to comparatively higher values of carbohydrate, crude fiber and ascorbic acid content, FRSC, antibacterial and antifungal activity.

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder affecting a great part of population around the world. It is the fifth leading death causing disease in the world and its cases are increasing day by day. Traditional medicine is thought to have promising future in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. In contrast to synthetic drugs phytochemicals are considered to be free from side effects. As one of the main class of natural products, alkaloids and their derivatives have been widely used as sources of pharmacological agents against a variety of medical problems. Many studies confirmed the role of alkaloids in the management of diabetes and numerous alkaloids isolated from different medicinal plants were found active against diabetes. Like other natural products, alkaloids regulate glucose metabolism either by inhibiting or inducing multiple candidate proteins including AMP-activated protein kinase, glucose transporters, glycogen synthase kinase-3, sterol regulatory element-binding proteins 1, glucokinase, glucose-6-phosphatase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase among the others. A comprehensive review of alkaloids reported in the literature with anti-diabetic activities and their target enzymes is conducted, with the aim to help in exploring the use of alkaloids as anti-diabetic agents. Future work should focus on rigorous clinical studies of the alkaloids, their development and relevant drug targets.

Abstract Anti-androgen therapies, including orchiectomy, are effective at promoting prostate cancer remission, but are followed by progression to the more aggressive castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Castration promotes gland and tumor shrinkage. However, prostate adaptation to androgen deprivation involves striking parallel events, all requiring changes in gene expression. We hypothesized that transcription factors (TF) and other transcription-related genes are needed to orchestrate those changes. In this work, downstream analysis using bioinformatic tools and published microarray data allowed us to identify sixty transcriptional regulators (including 10 TF) and to integrate their function in physiologically relevant networks. Functional associations revealed a connection between Arnt, Bhlhe41 and Dbp circadian rhythm genes with the Ar circuitry and a small gene network centered in Pex14, which might indicate a previously unanticipated metabolic shift. We have also identified human homologs and mapped the corresponding genes to human chromosome regions commonly affected in prostate cancer, with particular attention to the PTEN/HHEX/MXI1 cluster at 10q23-25 (frequently deleted in PCa) and to MAPK1 at 22q11.21 (delete in intermediate risk but not in high risk PCa). Twenty genes were found mutated or with copy number alterations in at least five percent of three cancer cohorts and six of them (PHOX2A, NFYC, EST2, EIF2S1, SSRP1 and PARP1) associated with impacted patient survival. These changes are specific to the adaptation to the hypoandrogen environment and seem important for the progression to CRPC when mutated.