The crude extract and its derived ethyl acetate fraction of the soft coral Nephthea mollis displayed remarkable in vitro antitrypanosomal activity against Trypanosoma brucei with IC50 values of 6.4 and 3.7 μg/ml, respectively. Consequently, the crude extract was subjected to LC–HR–ESI–MS metabolomics profiling to identify the constituents that may underlie their bioactivities. As a result, 33 secondary metabolites were characterized, among which sesquiterpenes and diterpenes prevailed. In silico molecular modeling revealed the high binding affinity for the ornithine decarboxylase active site, with five dereplicated compounds having docking scores higher than the cocrystallized ligand. These results highlight N. mollis as a rich source of compounds that might help develop therapies for Human African trypanosomiasis.

A new series inspired by combining fragments from nitazoxanide (NTZ) and 4-aminosalicylic acid (4-ASA) was synthesized and screened for in vitro antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities. The majority showed higher antibacterial potency than NTZ against all the screened strains, notably, 5f, 5j, 5n and 5o with MICs of 0.87–9.00 μM. Compounds 5c, 5n and 5o revealed higher potency than ciprofloxacin against K. pneumoniae, while 5i was equipotent. For E. faecalis, 3b, 5j, and 5k showed higher potency than ciprofloxacin. 5j was more potent against P. aeruginosa than ciprofloxacin, while 5n was more potent against S. aureus with an MIC of 0.87 μM. 5f showed equipotency to ciprofloxacin against H. pylori with an MIC of 1.74 μM. Compounds 3a and 3b (4-azidoNTZ, MIC 4.47 μM) are 2 and 5-fold more potent against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb H₃₇Rv) than NTZ (MIC 20.23 μM) and safer. 4-Azidation and/or acetylation of NTZ improve both activities, while introducing 1,2,3-triazoles improves the antibacterial activity. Molecular docking studies within pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR), glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase (G6PS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) active sites were performed to explore the possible molecular mechanisms of actions. Acceptable drug-likeness properties were found. This study may shed light on further rational design of substituted NTZ as broad-spectrum more potent antimicrobial candidates.

After COVID-19 pandemic, Mucormycosis (black fungus) spreads as one of its related complications, due to the decrease in immunity system after administration of COVID-19 treatment drugs. A combination therapy of Itraconazole (ITR) and Terbinafine (TEB) was proved to be effective for treatment of black fungus. A novel electrochemical sensor was designed for estimation of ITR & TEB simultaneously by square wave voltammetric (SWV) technique. The sensor was fabricated using N&S-codoped magnetic quantum dots (N,S-MQDs) and ruthenium nanoparticles (Ru NPs). The fabricated sensor was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscope (SEM), powder X ray diffraction (pXRD), Fourier transform-Infrared (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Full optimization study for various experimental and instrumental parameters, in addition to method validation following International conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines was achieved. A good linearity in the range of 0.5–30 μg mL− 1 with limit of detection (LOD) 0.24 and 0.19 μg mL− 1 for ITR and TEB, respectively were obtained. The sensor was applied for analysis of ITR and TEB simultaneously in human plasma and urine samples without any interferences by applying dispersive magnetic solid phase micro-extraction (dMSPE) technique, where excellent recovery results exceeding 95 % were achieved

The endemicity of the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) infection proved to be transitional only. Spikes are forming again in 2023, and high expectations are returning for reinfections and viral mutations. Molnupiravir (MOL) has been approved as an oral antiviral drug for the treatment of the COVID‐19 causative virion. Therefore, the development of an ultrasensitive, instantaneous, and cost‐effective method for the quantification of MOL in real plasma samples and formulated dosage form are mandatory. The proposed approach is based on the synthesis of a MOL metal‐chelation product. MOL as a ligand was chelated with 1.0 mM zinc(II) in an acetate buffer (pH 5.3). After illumination at 340 nm, the intensity of the MOL fluorescence measured at 386 nm was increased by about 10‐fold. The linearity range was found to be from 60.0 to 800.0 ng mL−1 with limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 28.6 ng mL−1 . Two methods were utilized for measuring the greenness of the proposed method (Green Analytical Procedure Index [GAPI] and analytical greenness metric [AGREE] methods), with results equal to 0.8. The binding stoichiometry of MOL with the zinc(II) ion was found to be 2:1. All the experimental parameters were optimized and validated using International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and United States Food and Drug Administration (US‐ FDA) recommendations. Furthermore, the fluorescent probes were successfully utilized in real human plasma with high percentages of recovery (95.6%–97.1%) without any matrix interferences. The mechanism of fluorescent complex formation was confirmed using 1 H NMR in the presence and absence of Zn(II). The method was further utilized for testing content uniformity of MOL in its marketed capsule dosage forms