International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry

RENOPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF GINGER EXTRACT ON METHOTREXATE-INDUCED NEPHROTOXICITY IN RATS: MODULATION OF INFLAMMATORY AND INJURY BIOMARKERS KIM-1 AND LCN-2

Farah Kbyeh Razzaq — 2026-06-20

Methotrexate is a medication that is employed to treat a variety of cancers and inflammatory diseases; however, its clinical application is restricted by its significant toxicity. Antioxidant properties and a variety of applications against a variety of maladies are possessed by natural ginger extract. The investigation focused on the protective properties of ginger extract in the context of Methotrexate-induced kidney toxicity in rodents. (25) rats were divided into five groups. The negative control (G1) received distilled water, the positive control (G2) received 25 mg/kg bw of MTX, the third group (G3) received 200 mg/kg for body weight of ginger extract, the fourth group received MTX with ginger extract together at concentration (25 mg /kg + 200mg). In comparison, the fifth group received MTX with ginger extract together at concentration 25 mg/kg bw + 400mg. Methotrexate were administered high doses via intraperitoneally one dose on the third day. After finshing of the treatment period, lipid profiles, oxidant‑antioxidant, and kidney function and IL-6 level, lipocalin 2 (Lcn-2), Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (Kim-1),sod2 gene, and GPx1. G2exhibite significant decreasing in organ weights and antioxidant concentration, while increasing kidney IL-6, Kim-1, Lcn-2 gene expression and oxidative stress, while gene expression of Gpx1 and sod1 gene was low. G5 showed improved these markers compared to G2. Ginger extract demonstrated higher protective efficacy against MTX ‑induced kidney toxicity.

HARNESSING JUSTICIA BETONICA L. FOR HEALTH: ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITIES ACROSS DIFFERENT PLANT PARTS

Jyothsna Lakshman L — 2026-07-13

The growing incidence of antimicrobial resistance and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, has led to an urgent search for novel therapeutic agents from plants. The objective of the present study was to explore the antimicrobial and antidiabetic potential of methanolic extracts of leaf, root and flower of Justicia betonica L., a plant with traditional medicinal use. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was determined against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and fungi by the agar well diffusion method at five different concentrations (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 mg/mL). The results showed significant dose dependent antimicrobial activity with highest inhibition zones of leaf extract especially on Aspergillus niger (28 mm) and Bacillus subtilis (20 mm) at 100 mg/mL. In vitro antidiabetic activity was evaluated for carbohydrate binding capacity, glucose diffusion inhibition and alpha-amylase inhibition assays. The highest positive correlation of the concentration of extract with adsorption of glucose and retardation of glucose diffusion was reported for the root extracts. However, leaf extract showed the highest α-amylase inhibitory activity (IC50= 51.54 mg/mL). The findings suggested that J. betonica could be a valuable source of natural products for managing microbial infections and hyperglycemia and further studies are needed to explore its medicinal or nutraceutical applications.

Removal of Binary Dye Mixtures (Methylene Blue/Congo Red) Using a Plant-Waste Reinforced Hydrogel: Competitive Adsorption and Mechanism Study

Hiba Kais Kmal — 2026-07-30

The discharge of synthetic dyes into aquatic systems is a serious environmental problem, so efficient and low cost adsorbents have been developed. A new plant-waste reinforced (PWR) hydrogel was synthesised from agricultural biomass (rice husk and banana peel cellulose) cross-linked with polyvinyl alcohol and glutaraldehyde for the simultaneous removal of methylene blue (MB) and congo red (CR) from aqueous solutions in single and binary systems. The synthesised hydrogel was well characterised by FTIR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, BET surface area (SBET = 86.42 m2/g, Vpore = 0.534 cm3/g) and zeta potential (pHpzc = 4.8) tests. The influence of solution pH, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration, contact time and temperature on dye removal was thoroughly studied. In single systems, the removal efficiencies of PWR-hydrogel were 97.2% for MB and 95.8% for CR at optimised circumstances (pH 8 for MB, pH 2 for CR, dose 2.5 g/L, 120 min). In the binary system, due to competitive adsorption, the uptake decreased to 38.5 and 35.8 mg/g for MB and CR, respectively, which indicates antagonistic interactions. Adsorption kinetics matched the pseudo-second-order model (R2 > 0.998), and equilibrium data fitted the Langmuir isotherm (qmax = 98.7 mg/g for MB, 100.0 mg/g for CR). The thermodynamic analysis showed that the process was endothermic and spontaneous. Spectroscopic data confirmed that the main adsorption mechanisms were electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonds and pi-pi stacking interactions. The PWR-hydrogel displayed outstanding reusability over five cycles, keeping above 85% removal efficiency, emphasising its promise as a sustainable and inexpensive adsorbent for treating dye-laden wastewater.

Spectrophotometric determination of trifluoperazine hydrochloride drug in pure and pharmaceutical formulations using potassium permanganate

Maha Salah Nasr — 2026-08-10

It is known that creating and documenting an analytical method for analytes of pharmaceutical compounds/drugs is challenging, often time consuming sometimes leads to unexpected problems. Of the several methods, certain spectrophotometric approaches are more helpful in dealing with these challenges. This study continues to develop a simple and rapid visible spectrophotometric method for the determination of trifluoperazine hydrochloride, which is a phenothiazine-derived drug (in its pure form as well as in the pharmaceutical formulation), based on its reaction with potassium permanganate. The ideal circumstances, such as the influence of pH, optimal ion concentration and volume, time, temperature, and addition sequences, have also been systematically studied. The findings showed that the Beer-Lambert law was verified between 5 and 80 μg/mL. In addition, the colored product showed good stability, exhibiting maximum absorbance after 5 min. In particular, the spectrophotometric method used has also demonstrated remarkable specificity with a limit of detection (LOD) equal to 0.125 μg/mL and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) equal to 0.418 μg/mL.

A Vanillin-Derived Chloro-Benzimidazole Schiff Base as a Chromogenic Reagent for Spectrophotometric Determination of Pb (II) and Ciprofloxacin

Walaa Mohammed Najem — 2026-08-23

The Schiff base (Z)-4-(((2-(6-chloro-3a,4-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)phenyl)imino)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol (compound 23, C₂₆H₂₀ClN₅O₃) resulted from condensing 2-amino-6-chloro-1H-benzimidazole with vanillin, and FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR confirmed the expected structure. We then examined whether this compound could detect Pb(II) by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Mixing the reagent with Pb(II) in ethanol-water at pH 6.5 turned the solution reddish-brown (λmax shifting from 425 to 510 nm). Full color development took 15 min at room temperature. Job’s method gave a 1:2 (M:L) ratio. The calibration was linear across 0.5-12.0 µg/mL (ε = 1.85×10⁴ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹, Sandell sensitivity 11.2 ng cm⁻²), with LOD and LOQ of 0.091 and 0.305 µg/mL. The calculated β₂ (1.02×10⁸ M⁻²) and thermodynamic quantities (ΔH = −27.1 kJ/mol, ΔS = +62.4 J/mol·K, ΔG = −45.8 kJ/mol) indicate spontaneous, exothermic complex formation. Spiked tap water and Euphrates river water samples gave Pb(II) recoveries of 98.2-98.3%. Reagent (23) was also applied to ciprofloxacin tablets by an indirect route: adding ciprofloxacin displaced Pb(II) from the compound 23 complex, reducing the 510 nm absorbance in proportion to drug concentration over 0.5-10 µg/mL (LOD = 0.157 µg/mL). Tablet recoveries fell between 98.5 and 98.8%, with no interference from common excipients.

Synthesis, spectroscopic and structural characterisation, DFT study and in vitro biological evaluation of a benzimidazole–azo functionalised 1,3-benzoxazepine-1,5-dione

Rawaa Naeamah Abdullah — 2026-08-24

A novel seven-membered oxygen/nitrogen heterocycle containing benzimidazole, azo, and phenolic pharmacophores was synthesized in four steps and evaluated in vitro. Condensation of o-phenylenediamine with salicylaldehyde afforded 2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)phenol, followed by azo coupling with diazotized 4-aminoacetophenone, condensation with benzocaine, and [2+5] cycloaddition of the resulting ketimine with phthalic anhydride. The target compound, ethyl 4-[3-(4-{[3-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]diazenyl}phenyl)-3-methyl-1,5-dioxo-1,5-dihydro-4H-benzo[e][1,3]oxazepin-4-yl]benzoate (13), was obtained as a red solid in 79% yield (m.p. 280–282 °C). FT-IR and ¹³C NMR data confirmed ring formation, with lactone and lactam carbonyl bands at 1712.67 and 1689.53 cm⁻¹ and three carbonyl resonances at 167.03, 166.36, and 165.78 ppm. Powder X-ray diffraction indicated a predominantly amorphous structure with residual crystalline sodium chloride. B3LYP/6-31G(d)//GFN2-xTB calculations showed 228 real vibrational modes, a HOMO–LUMO gap of 3.592 eV, chemical hardness of 1.796 eV, and electrophilicity of 3.867 eV. The azo bridge contributed substantially to LUMO localization and electronic conjugation, while an intramolecular O–H···N hydrogen bond (1.690 Å) stabilized the structure. In vitro evaluation against HepG2 cells showed 53.4% viability at 400 µg mL⁻¹, whereas WRL-68 cells retained 80.8% viability, indicating preferential cytotoxicity toward hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

ADVANCED NANOMATERIAL SURFACES FOR THE DETECTION AND REMOVAL OF ORGANIC AND MICROBIAL POLLUTANTS IN WATER: A REVIEW

Hawraa Fadhil Najm — 2026-06-21

Water security increasingly depends on confronting two distinct but related problems: organic micropollutants pesticides, dyes, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and microbial contaminants ranging from antibiotic-resistant bacteria to enteric viruses. Both categories are typically present at very low concentrations, both must be reliably measured before they can be treated, and both have historically been handled by separate technologies and instruments. This review takes the surface chemistry of advanced nanomaterials as the unifying thread. We argue that the same features high specific area, accessible donor groups, photoactive band structures and tunable porosity that allow a nanostructured surface to bind, signal or transduce an analyte are very often the features that allow that same surface to degrade, sequester or inactivate the contaminant. We survey the principal material families (semiconductor photocatalysts including TiO₂, ZnO and g-C₃N₄, carbon-based materials, plasmonic metals, MOFs and COFs, magnetic iron oxides and MXenes) and the corresponding analytical approaches: electrochemical sensors, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, fluorescent quantum-dot and carbon-dot probes, and aptamer- and antibody-based bio-recognition platforms. We then turn to adsorptive, photocatalytic and antimicrobial mechanisms including reactive-oxygen-species generation, contact-mediated membrane disruption and oligodynamic ion release and to the emerging class of dual-function “same-surface” platforms that perform detection and remediation in a single step. Practical challenges of selectivity in real matrices, regeneration, biocompatibility and scale-up are highlighted, together with the directions that are most likely to bring laboratory performance into field deployment.

Chemometric Strategies for Simultaneous Quantification of Co-Existing Pollutants in Competitive and Multicomponent Adsorption Systems: A Critical Review

Maha Salah Nasr — 2026-08-28

Adsorption studies are still, in the great majority of cases, reported for a single adsorbate, yet the effluents they claim to treat almost never contain one pollutant. Moving from one solute to two or three changes the experiment in a way that is easy to underestimate, because the analytical step itself becomes the limiting factor: the absorbance recorded at one wavelength can no longer be assigned to one species. This review examines how chemometric tools have been used, and occasionally misused, to recover individual concentrations of co-existing pollutants during competitive adsorption. We first set out the artefacts peculiar to adsorption supernatants: spectral overlap, adsorbent-derived colour, residual turbidity and pH-driven speciation. We then follow the methodological ladder from univariate remedies such as derivative and ratio-spectra techniques and the H-point standard addition method, through first-order multivariate calibration by principal component regression and partial least squares with wavelength selection and net analyte signal theory, up to second-order and multiway approaches such as curve resolution and parallel factor analysis, which retain accuracy in the presence of uncalibrated interferents. Neural networks and machine-learning regressors are discussed separately, since they address a genuinely nonlinear problem but carry their own validation burden. Throughout we insist on a point that most application papers pass over: competition factors, extended Langmuir constants and ideal adsorbed solution predictions inherit the uncertainty of the quantification step, so an unvalidated calibration propagates quietly into the thermodynamic conclusions. A minimum reporting set is proposed to make multicomponent removal data comparable between laboratories.