PUBLICATIONS

🔬 Background: Justicia gendarussa Burm. f., commonly known as sallow-leaved justicia, is a medicinal shrub native to the forests of India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. Traditionally, it has been used to treat ailments such as asthma, rheumatism, eczema, colics in children, and even HIV. Despite its widespread use, comprehensive studies on its phytochemical constituents and pharmacological effects are limited.

🎯 Objective: To investigate the pharmacological potential of Justicia gendarussa leaf extract, isolate its active secondary metabolites, and assess their biological activities through both experimental and computational approaches.

🧪 Methods: Crude leaf extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening, leading to the isolation of three major compounds: lupeol, β-sitosterol, and 1-monostearin, confirmed via ¹H NMR and literature comparison. These compounds underwent molecular docking against glutathione reductase (3GRS), COX-2, mu-opioid receptor (MOR), kappa-opioid receptor (KOR), glucose transporter 3 (GLUT 3), and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). In vivo pharmacological assays included DPPH antioxidant testing, central and peripheral analgesic activity, antidiarrheal and hypoglycemic activity assessments.

📊 Key Findings:

• ✅ The ethyl acetate-soluble fraction showed significant antioxidant activity (IC₅₀ = 24.207 µg/mL), comparable to BHT (IC₅₀ = 23.159 µg/mL).

• 💊 Central analgesic effects peaked at 233.47% elongation time at 600 mg/kg body weight after 90 minutes.

• 🩺 Peripheral analgesic activity reached 61.96% at the same dose.

• 💧 Both 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg doses exhibited considerable hypoglycemic and antidiarrheal effects over time.

• 🧬 Molecular docking revealed strong binding affinities for the isolated compounds with 3GRS, MOR, KOR, and GLUT 3, though weak interactions were noted with COX-2 and DHFR.

🧩 Conclusion: The study highlights the promising pharmacological and therapeutic potential of Justicia gendarussa through both in vivo and in silico approaches. Particularly, its phenolic compounds demonstrated notable antioxidant, analgesic, hypoglycemic, and antidiarrheal activities. Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore their clinical implications.

🔬 Background: Growing attention has been directed toward the immune system’s role in the development of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). While inflammatory cytokines are known to contribute to neuropsychiatric conditions, limited research has explored the involvement of adhesion molecules like soluble L-selectin and serine proteases such as PCSK9 in GAD—particularly within Bangladeshi populations.

🎯 Objective: To examine the serum levels of PCSK9 and L-selectin in individuals diagnosed with GAD compared to healthy controls (HCs), and assess their potential as diagnostic and severity markers for GAD.

🧪 Methods: A total of 88 GAD patients and 88 age- and gender-matched HCs were recruited. GAD was clinically diagnosed by a psychiatrist, and symptom severity was measured using the GAD-7 scale. Serum concentrations of PCSK9 and L-selectin were quantified via commercial ELISA kits.

📊 Key Findings:

• 📉 L-selectin levels were significantly decreased in GAD patients (0.51 ± 0.07 μg/ml) compared to HCs (1.52 ± 0.18 μg/ml).

• 🔄 L-selectin negatively correlated with GAD severity (r = -0.359, p = 0.001).

• 📈 ROC analysis for L-selectin showed strong diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.718), with 64.3% sensitivity and 76.5% specificity at a cutoff of 0.60 μg/ml.

• ➕ PCSK9 levels were marginally higher in GAD patients (116.18 ± 7.66 ng/ml) than in HCs (112.64 ± 9.43 ng/ml),

• ❌ but showed no significant correlation with GAD-7 scores (r = 0.164, p = 0.127), indicating limited diagnostic relevance.

🧩 Conclusion: This study reveals that reduced serum L-selectin may serve as a potential biomarker for GAD diagnosis and severity assessment. In contrast, PCSK9 appears to have no substantial association with GAD pathophysiology. Larger-scale and mechanistic studies are needed to validate the clinical utility of L-selectin in psychiatric diagnostics.

🔬 Background: Recent research has drawn attention to the role of immune system imbalance in mental health, particularly in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). While pro-inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in GAD, studies exploring anti-inflammatory markers remain limited — especially among the Bangladeshi population. Notably, very few studies have systematically examined the role of cytokines such as IL-12 and C-reactive protein (CRP) in GAD.

🎯 Objective: To compare serum levels of IL-12 and CRP between individuals with GAD and healthy controls (HCs), and evaluate their potential as diagnostic biomarkers for GAD.

🧪 Methods: A total of 52 GAD patients and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled, matched by age and gender. GAD diagnosis and symptom severity were confirmed by a psychiatrist using the GAD-7 scale. Blood samples were analyzed using ELISA kits to determine the levels of IL-12 and CRP.

📊 Key Findings:

• ✅ IL-12 levels were significantly elevated in GAD patients (7.60±1.53 pg/ml) compared to HCs (3.73±0.42 pg/ml).

• 🔁 IL-12 also showed a positive correlation with GAD severity (r = 0.377, p < 0.01).

• 📈 ROC analysis demonstrated a strong diagnostic performance for IL-12 (AUC = 0.828), with 81.6% sensitivity and 77.8% specificity at a threshold of 3.56 μg/ml.

• ❌ No significant difference was observed in CRP levels between the two groups, nor did it correlate with anxiety severity (p = 0.881).

🧩 Conclusion: The findings suggest that IL-12 may serve as a potential biomarker for identifying GAD and assessing its severity, whereas CRP does not appear to be associated with GAD pathophysiology. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is essential to confirm its diagnostic value.

🔬 Background: Breast cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. Estrogen Receptor alpha (ERα), particularly its mutated form in the ligand-binding domain, plays a crucial role in therapy-resistant breast cancer. Current aromatase inhibitors used to manage ERα activity are often limited by efficacy and resistance, highlighting the urgent need for novel therapeutic agents with better safety and effectiveness profiles.

🎯 Objective: To identify potent microbial inhibitors of mutant ERα from the Natural Product Atlas (NPAtlas) that could serve as effective alternatives to existing aromatase inhibitors in treating therapy-resistant breast cancer.

🧪 Methods: A total of 36,395 microbially derived natural compounds were screened using an integrated cheminformatics approach including molecular docking, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, ADMET and QSAR analyses, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, MM-GBSA free energy calculations, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Dynamic Cross-Correlation Matrix (DCCM) analysis. The target protein was the ERα nuclear receptor (PDB ID: 6chz), and Anastrozole (CID: 2187) was used as the control drug.

📊 Key Findings:

• ✅ Two top candidates—CID: 146683470 (Fendleryl E) and CID: 132580954 (3-Phenylethyl-2'-deoxyuridine)—exhibited strong binding affinities of -9.39 and -10.26 kcal/mol, respectively.

• 🔁 These compounds interacted with critical ERα residues via hydrophobic interactions at shared binding sites, similar to the control. 

• 📈 MM-GBSA analysis revealed highly favorable binding free energies of -66.51 and -45.28 kcal/mol for Fendleryl E and 3-Phenylethyl-2'-deoxyuridine, respectively.

• ✅ Both compounds showed favorable pharmacokinetic and toxicity profiles.

• 🔬 MD simulations confirmed the structural stability of the complexes, with DCCM and PCA indicating stable dynamic behavior. PCA revealed that the 6chz_132580954 complex had the highest structural variance, suggesting enhanced binding stability.

🧩 Conclusion: The study identified 3-Phenylethyl-2'-deoxyuridine—originating from marine cyanobacteria such as Moorea producens—as a promising candidate for targeted ERα inhibition in resistant breast cancer. Its strong binding affinity, dynamic stability, and favorable pharmacological properties warrant further investigation as a potential therapeutic agent.

🔬 Background: Mental health challenges and eating disorders are growing public health concerns among adolescents, particularly in urban educational settings. While these issues are often studied independently, their interrelationship remains underexplored in the Bangladeshi context, especially among school and college-going students.

🎯 Objective: To investigate the association between mental health conditions—specifically depression, anxiety, and stress—and the risk of developing eating disorders among students in selected schools and colleges in Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

🧪 Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 1,185 randomly selected students from high schools and colleges in Dhaka in 2024. Data were collected using three instruments: a demographic questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), which includes subscales for eating habits, desire to eat, and oral control. Statistical analysis involved Pearson's Chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, and both univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

📊 Key Findings:

• ✅ A significant association was found between mental health issues (depression, anxiety, and stress) and eating disorders (p < 0.001).

• 📉 Approximately 35.2% of students were identified to be at risk of eating disorders.

• 📊 Logistic regression analysis revealed that factors such as age, gender, level and field of study, parental education, family size, BMI, and all three mental health variables were significantly associated with increased risk of disordered eating behavior.

🧩 Conclusion: The results underscore a strong interrelation between poor mental health and disordered eating patterns among adolescents. Targeted mental health promotion and eating disorder prevention programs in schools and colleges are urgently needed to address these co-occurring issues effectively.