Naila Riaz

Pesticides are vital for boosting agricultural yields and ensuring global food security, yet they have far-reaching ecological consequences that impact diverse species across trophic levels. Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a prevalent but controversial organophosphate pesticide that acts as an endocrine disruptor, oxidative stress inducer, and hepatotoxic agent. This research was designed to examine the potential of green tea extract to reverse the functional and structural alterations induced by CPF in male albino mice and to evaluate any related hepatotoxicity associated with green tea extract. The experimental protocol lasted for 28 days, with adult male mice (N = 40) assigned to one of four experimental cohorts (n = 10 per group): (i) Control (untreated): standard diet and water; (ii) Green Tea: 20 mg/kg/day sole GT extract; (iii) CPF: 25 mg/kg/day CPF (dissolved in corn oil); (iv) CPF + GT: 25 mg/kg/day CPF in corn oil and 20 mg/kg/day GT extract, with 2-hour gap. Results demonstrated that CPF administration induced hepatomegaly (p < 0.01) and reduced the body weight significantly (p < 0.05). Histological analysis revealed an increase in binucleated hepatocytes (p < 0.05), tissue loosening, portal vein necrosis and enlarged mononucleated hepatocytes and nuclear diameter (p < 0.001). Serum Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) were elevated (p < 0.01), while a significant decrease in albumin levels was observed (p < 0.05). Conversely, co-administration of green tea mitigated these effects, restoring liver weight and hepatocyte count, promoting hepatic tissue regeneration, and improving serum liver enzyme and protein levels.

Cadmium (Cd) and other dense metals are highly toxic and reported to induce infertility through testicular apoptosis and free radicals production. Cd is a widespread pollutant in the atmosphere due to the combustion of automobiles and industries. Cd → ROS ↑ → Damage. This study assessed the harmful impacts of Cd on the reproductive health of humans and all other animals. Combined and individual ameliorative influence of Zinc (Zn) and Prunus amygdalus (almonds) on Cd-administered testicular toxicity in male albino Wistar rats was also reported in this research. Rats were divided into five groups: standard, Cd, Cd + Zn + P. amygdalus, Cd + Zn, and Cd + P. amygdalus groups. Rats were treated with 50 mg/kg of CdCl₂ once in a week for 28 days; 17 mg/kg/day ZnCl₂ and 400 mg/kg/day P. amygdalus were given as a protective measure after 2 h of Cd dosage. Cd toxicity caused a considerable decrease (P < 0.001) in body weight, testicular weight, level of testosterone, sperm count, sperm motility, count of testicular germ cells, Leydig’s cells, and average cross-sectional area (ACSA) of germinal tubules and lumen of germinal tubules. On the other hand, Cd + Zn + P. amygdalus rats significantly improved (P < 0.001) the testicular parameters. Cd + Zn partially improved (P < 0.001) the fertility of rats, and Cd + P. amygdalus slightly improved (P < 0.05) the gonadal health of male rats. Zn and P. amygdalus have a synergistic effect over Cd-intoxication of testes. Out of Zn and P. amygdalus, Zn is more effective in mitigating the toxicity of Cd, while combined supplementation is much more effective than individual dosages of protective measures. Zn + Almond → Antioxidants ↑ → Repair.

Plants are vital for life due to their various constituents, comprised of various parts like roots, stems, and leaves. Herbal medicines have been known to man for centuries. The study was designed to check and compare the antibacterial activity of onion (Allium cepa L.), neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.), and bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) methanolic extracts against four bacterial strains, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. All bacterial strains were cultured on nutritional agar plates. Three parameters were used in this research: concentrations, pH, and temperature. The five concentrations, 50 mg/mL, 70 mg/mL, 90 mg/mL, 110 mg/mL, and 130mg/mL were applied to all bacterial strains. At 110mg/mL, the methanolic extract of neem and bitter gourd applied to E.coli and S. aureus showed the largest zone of inhibition of 1.8 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for Bacillus subtilis was 50 mg/mL when onion methanolic extract was applied. Onion and neem extract was found effective at 100 0C against E.coli and B. subtilis, while bitter gourd controls the growth of E.coli at 60 0C. The results of variable pH revealed that onion and bitter gourd were effective at pH 7 against B. subtilis, while neem was effective against S. aureus at pH 2. The results of the present study suggest that all onion, neem, and bitter gourd extracts have compounds containing antibacterial properties that can potentially be useful to control food-borne pathogens. By comparing the extracts of selected plants, neem was found to be more effective than onion and bitter gourd.

Heavy metal contaminated food crops are one of the major public health concerns these days. The present study evaluates the Cd uptake in some promising wheat varieties subjected to soils amended with different types of organic fertilizers/matter. For this purpose, both pot and field experiments were conducted at the same time in Sargodha, Pakistan. Cadmium uptake in soil and different wheat plant parts were higher in the pot experiment than that in the field experiment. In both experiments, Cd ranged from 0.075 to 0.030 mg/kg in soil, 0.64 to 1.01 mg/kg in root, 0.63 to1.00 mg/kg in shoot and 0.65 to 1.01 mg/kg in grains. Among all soil amendments, farm-yard manure was found to be very effective in mitigating the uptake of Cd in wheat plants. Of all wheat varieties, Gold-16 and Ihsan-16 showed maximum Cd uptake, whereas the minimum Cd uptake was displayed by cv. DHharabi-11. In both experiments, all different indices showed values lower than 1 except the bio-concentration factor. Overall, Cd absorption observed in the present soil-wheat system was lower than the standard Cd absorption values. This study recommends that farmers may use organic soil amendments in this area to increase the fertility of soil. But regular examination practices must be carried out in this area, to limit the exposure to Cd hazards of public being provided Cd contaminated grains.

Heavy metals pollution is a major concern on a global scale. The present work evaluated the cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) concentrations in water, soil, forages (Avena sativa, Brassica campestris, Medicago sativa, Pennisetum glaucum and Trifolium alexandrinum), milk and hair samples of cows. The samples taken according to trophic levels of the food chain were collected from selected arid regions of Khushab, Punjab, Pakistan and analyzed by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Cd and Cu were found in the range of 0.041-0.065 mg/L, 0.585-1.341 mg/L in water; 0.223-2.600 mg/kg, 11.550-15.853 mg/kg in soil; 0.0037-0.682 mg/kg, 3.0917-8.208 mg/kg in fodder; 0.0457-0.137 mg/kg, 0.0167-0.690 mg/L in milk and 0.043-0.112 mg/kg, 0.0427-0.497 mg/kg in hair, respectively. The Cd and Cu concentrations in water, soil, forage, milk and hair were safer compared to standard limits. Bioconcentration factor (BCF), Enrichment factor (EF), Daily Intake of Metal (DIM), and Health Risk Index (HRI) were found less than 1 in Cd and Cu whereas PLI1 in Cu that indicates copper pollution in soil. So, regular monitoring of heavy metals was required to appraise contamination levels in the environment.

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is the primary challenge for health worldwide. The widespread of food poisoning due to use of stored food items increasing day by day. The present study was designed to research the protective effect of Eucalyptus camaldulensis methanolic extract again selected strains of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus). The treatment was used for several concentrations and then characterized on the basis of temperature and pH variations. Results were observed by MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) against these strains. It was noted that maximum inhibition of E. camaldulensis against E.coli (5.6mm) was observed at 250 mg/mL while it was 3.6mm against B. cereus at 200 mg/mL, Staph. aureus showed maximum (3.1mm) zone at 250 mg/mL. at variable temperature of E. camaldulensis extract, it was observed that MIC of B. cereus was 6.4mm at 80 °C. For other strains the results revealed that the maximum zone against B. subtilis was 5.7mm at 121 °C and for Staph. aureus it was 6.6mm at 80 °C. By observing the results by changing pH it was observed that MIC produced against B. cereus was 6.2mm at 7pH, against B. subtilis zone of inhibition was 7.2mm at 5pH, for E.coli it was 5.4mm at 3pH. Means of all the variable results of different (concentration, pH and temperature) were compared by using one way ANOVA. The current study suggested that the methanolic extract of E. camaldulensis was found effective in control of antibiotic resistant strains and this study strengthens the fact of using herbal solutions for control of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.

Scorpion venom contains a variety of neurotoxins which interact with ion channels and affect their activities. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential of scorpion venom as acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor by using Aedes aegypti as model organism. Venoms of two species, Hottentota tamulus (Fabricus, 1798) and Androctonus finitimus (Pocock, 1897) were selected for this study. Two peptides (36 kDa from H. tamulus and 54 kDa from A. finitimus) were separated from scorpion venom by using HPLC. Selected peptides caused significantly higher mortality in larvae and adults of Aedes aegypti than control (no mortalities were observed in control groups). Significant acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory potential of both peptides was recorded by spectrophotometer. The peptide of A. finitimus caused significantly higher mortality (95±1.53% in larvae and 100% in adults) than the peptide of H. tamulus (84.33±2.33% in larvae and 95.37±1.45% in adults). While H. tamulus peptide was more efficient in reducing AChE activity (0.029±0.012 in larvae and 0.03±0.003 in adults) than the peptide of A. finitimus (0.049±0.005 in larvae and 0.047±0.001 in adults). It was concluded that H. tamulus venom peptide was more efficiently reducing AChE activity, thus it could be a potential bio-insecticide which can be synthesized at industrial scale for the control of harmful insects.

The present study evaluated AChE inhibitory effect of three plants (Calotropis procera, Eucalyptus globulus and Mentha spicata) extract using Aedes aegypti and Musca domestica as model insects. The effect caused by plants was also compared with commonly used insecticides i.e., Chlorpyrifos. The WHO-recommended protocol was used for conducting bioassay tests against selected insects. Three different doses of plants extract were used. The mortality rate was assessed after 24 hours post-treatment. Using Ellman's assay, the AChE activity was determined by spectrophotometry at 412nm wavelength. There was a marked decline in the enzyme activity of treated groups compared to the control group. M. spicata treated groups proved to have high AChE inhibition power among three plants extract. While C. procera extract effectively control both Ae. aegypti and M. domestica. It is concluded that plants extract not only inhibits the AChE activity of insects but also controls them very proficiently.