Browsing by Author "Borquaye, L.S."
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Item In vitro antileishmanial activity and molecular docking studies of lupeol and monostearin, isolated from Parkia biglobosa(Scientific African, 2023) Osafo, T.; Philips, T.J.; Adomako, A.K.; Borquaye, L.S.; Ekuadzi, E.; Appiah-Opong, R.; Dickson, R.A.Parkia biglobosa (Leguminosae) is used traditionally for managing leishmaniasis. However, there are no reports of the antileishmanial constituents from the plant. This study is aimed at isolating antileishmanial compounds, from the stem bark of P. biglobosa, and assessing their mechanism of action using molecular docking studies. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of two known compounds, lupeol and monostearin. Their structures were elucidated using their mass spectra. Using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2- yl)-5-(3-carboxymathoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tretrazolium (MTS) assay, the evaluated antileishmanial effects of lupeol (1) and monostearin (2) showed IC50 values of 164.42 and 151.99 μg/mL respectively. The antileishmanial effects of the crude extract, non-polar, mid-polar and polar fractions were determined to be 64.43, 126.25, 725.65 and 167.52 μg/mL respectively. Molecular docking studies of the two isolates within the active sites of two validated targets in the Leishmania parasite: trypanothione reductase (TR) and pteridine reductase 1 (PTR1), showed that both compounds established important interactions with key amino acid residues in both proteins. Lupeol exhibited binding affinities of -7.1 kcal/mol and -10.2 kcal/mol for TR and PTR1, respectively, better than monostearin in both cases. Our findings back the claim that P. biglobosa stem bark possesses antileishmanial effects. Furthermore, the isolates lupeol and monostearin may be partly responsible for the observed activities.Item Urbanizing with or without nature: pollution effects of human activities on water quality of major rivers that drain the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana(Springer, 2022) Darko, G.; Obiri‑Yeboah, S.; Takyi, S.A.; Amponsah, O.; Borquaye, L.S.; Amponsah, L.O.; Fosu‑Mensah, B.Y.The effects of urbanization such as population upsurge, increased industrialization, urban agriculture, and rural–urban migration of persons exert pressure on the limited water resources in most cities. This study investigated the impact of human activities on the water and sediment quality of the three main rivers (Wiwi, Subin, and Suntre) in Kumasi, the second-largest city in Ghana. The physicochemical parameters and the concentrations of contaminants, including heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticide residues, and microbial loads in the rivers, were linked to the specific human activities at the riverbanks. While all the 37 pesticide residues investigated in river sediments had concentrations below the detection limits (0.005 mg/kg for organochlorines, 0.010 mg/kg for organophos phates, and 0.010 mg/kg for synthetic pyrethroids), the study showed that the sediments are polluted with petrogenic and pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydro carbons. River Subin, the most polluted among the three rivers, recorded benzo[e]pyrene concentrations up to 47,169 µg/kg. The geoaccumulation index and concentration factors show that the rivers are highly contaminated with metals such as cadmium, chromium, mercury, and arsenic and are related to human activities. The microbial quality of the rivers was poor, recording specific microbial loads of 6.8, 4.1, and 1.5× 107 counts/100 mL respectively for Wiwi, Subin, and the Suntre Rivers. The three water bodies are therefore not suitable for recreational and irrigational purposes.