Shakil Ahmmed

Zamzam water (ZW), a naturally occurring alkaline mineral water with a distinctive ionic and trace-element composition, has attracted growing scientific interest due to its reported pharmacological properties and emerging biological effects relevant to cancer research. This review provides a comprehensive mechanistic synthesis that links the physicochemical characteristics of ZW to molecular and cellular processes implicated in cancer biology. Integrating evidence from cancer biology, redox pharmacology, mitochondrial physiology, and cellular signaling, this review examines how the unique mineral composition and mildly alkaline pH of ZW may collectively influence pathways associated with the hallmarks of cancer. Preclinical studies demonstrate context-dependent modulation of cell proliferation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, cell-cycle progression, and signaling pathways, including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and cyclic AMP (cAMP) networks, across multiple cancer models. Beyond its reported antiproliferative activity, ZW also exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and organ-protective effects in non-malignant systems. Importantly, this review proposes a conceptual framework for investigating the relative contributions of mineral ions, ionic homeostasis, redox regulation, and physicochemical properties to the biological effects of ZW, and identifies key mechanistic and methodological gaps. ZW has exhibited cancer-associated biological effects in experimental animals; however, its therapeutic effectiveness has yet to be validated. Future studies integrating standardized physicochemical characterization, molecular validation, multi-omics approaches, and clinical investigations are required to establish its translational relevance in complementary oncology.

Due to the increasing rate of cancer and the undesirable consequences of manufactured drugs, there is a growing interest in the development of natural products as potential remedies. Ferulic acid (FA), a phenolic substance, is found naturally present in the Ferula foetida plant’s cell walls with therapeutic activities. The objective of this study is to determine the botanical sources, pharmacokinetics, and anticancer activity of FA and its derivatives, focusing on the molecular mechanism by using the data obtained from the literature database. The study’s findings suggest that FA demonstrates promising anticancer effects in preclinical pharmacological test methods. The findings of the study exhibit that FA showed promising anticancer activity through underlying mechanisms, including induction of oxidative stress, cytotoxic effect, cell cycle arrest, apoptotic effect, suppression of invasion and migration, antiproliferative effect, autophagy, and genotoxic and mutagenic effect by regulating different molecular pathways like PI3K/AKT, p38/MAPK/ERK, AKT/mTOR, and NF‐ κ B signaling pathways which are involved in cancer development and cell growth. Additionally, this review indicated the pharmacokinetic properties of FA, indicating lower oral bioavailability is affected by the liver’s fast conjugation process; this limitation is overcome by applying a nanoformulation of FA. However, additional clinical investigations are recommended to determine the appropriate therapeutic effectiveness, safety, and human dosage.

This study aims to assess the antidepressant and modulatory activities of citronellal (CIT) on duloxetine (DUX) and its possible underlying mechanisms through in vivo and in silico studies. Hence, the forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), and open field test (OFT) were carried out. Mice were treated with different doses of CIT (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, p.o.), while DUX (15 mg/kg, p.o.) was used as a positive control and a vehicle served as a negative control. Additionally, molecular docking was conducted to evaluate binding interactions. Results demonstrated that CIT dose‐dependently and significantly ( p < 0.05) alleviated immobility time in both the FST and TST. At a dose of 200 mg/kg, CIT showed notable effects with immobility times of 42.17 ± 3.70 and 70.17 ± 2.56 s in the FST and TST, respectively. In combination therapy, CIT (100 mg/kg) modulated the activity of DUX. However, antidepressant activity is confirmed by the OFT test, which reduced the locomotion activity. Further, CIT exhibited a moderate binding affinity (−6.1 kcal/mol) toward both the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake transporters (SRT and NRT) by forming several bonds. In conclusion, CIT demonstrated moderate antidepressant activity, possibly by interacting with SRT and NRT.

Quercetin, a major representative of the favonol subclass found abundantly in almost all edible vegetables and fruits, showed re markable therapeutic properties and was benefcial in numerous degenerative diseases by preventing lipid peroxidation. Quercetin is benefcial in diferent diseases, such as atherosclerosis and chronic infammation. Tis study aims to fnd out the anticancer activities of quercetin and to determine diferent mechanisms and pathways which are responsible for the anticancer efect. It also revealed the biopharmaceutical, toxicological characteristics, and clinical utilization of quercetin to evaluate its suitability for further investigations as a reliable anticancer drug. All of the relevant data concerning this compound with cancer was collected using diferent scientifc search engines, including PubMed, Springer Link, Wiley Online, Web of Science, SciFinder, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Tis review demonstrated that quercetin showed strong anticancer properties, including apoptosis, inhibition of cell proliferation, autophagy, cell cycle arrest, inhibition of angiogenesis, and inhibition of invasion and migration against various types of cancer. Findings also revealed that quercetin could signifcantly moderate and regulate diferent pathways, including PI3K/AKT-mTORC1 pathway, JAK/STATsignaling system, MAPK signaling pathway, MMP signaling pathway, NF-κB pathway, and p-Camk2/p-DRP1 pathway. However, this study found that quercetin showed poor oral bioavailability due to reduced absorption; this limitation is overcome by applying nanotechnology (nanoformulation of quercetin). Moreover, diferent investigations revealed that quercetin expressed no toxic efect in the investigated subjects. Based on the view of these fndings, it is demonstrated that quercetin might be considered a reliable chemotherapeutic drug candidate in the treatment of diferent cancers. However, more clinical studies are suggested to establish the proper therapeutic efcacy, safety, and human dose.

Freshwater lakes are a crucial component of the urban ecology and offer several direct and indirect advantages to its people. Habitat degradation of native insects has happened because of development activities and unscientific natural resource management. As a consequence, many insects of freshwater lakes are now rare and endangered. A research was conducted to find out the abundance, variety and distribution of aquatic insect fauna in an urban freshwater lake, Hatirjheel, Dhaka during November 2015 to February 2016. A total of 3255 individuals of water insects comprising of 11 species and 31 genera under 20 families belonging 5 orders were recorded. The order Hemiptera contained the highest abundance (38.71%) including 7 families and 12 genera containing 5 species, while Trichoptera had the lowest (6.45%) including 2 families and 2 genera. The dominating species in the lake was Micronecta haliploides. The maximum 19 aquatic insect species were reported in the lake's vegetation-rich section near the Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover (Spot 1), whereas a minimum of 5 species were found near the Modhubagh bridge road (Spot 2). Species diversity index (H′ = 2.74), species richness (SR = 8.54), aquatic insect distribution evenness (J′ = 0.80), community dominance (CD = 46.94%), and Simpson’s index (λ = 0.17) were analyzed in this study to determine the diversity, abundance, distribution and dominance of aquatic insect fauna in this lake. Bangladesh J. Zool. 50(3): 363-372, 2022