Curbing environmental pollution of water hyacinth by using it in drug discovery
type: CreativeWork
description: Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an aquatic plant that is also considered the world's worst weed. It grows rapidly by spreading dense mats over water bodies that hinder aquatic life from flourishing, halt fishing activities, and fester mosquito habitats. Its biomass poses a danger to the aquatic ecosystem making it an urgent environmental concern. Even though water hyacinth is considered a nuisance to the environment, its biomass possesses useful properties that are harnessed in phytoremediation and biofuel production. It is also reported to be abundant in phytochemicals with medicinal properties. There are various potential biomedical applications of water hyacinth described in literature, however, the description of its anticancer mechanisms is limited and information on its potential for male contraceptive application is lacking. This study set out to find alternative uses for water hyacinth by exploring gaps in drug discovery and the objective was to; (1) Evaluate the extraction yield of Nigerian water hyacinth extracts (derived from chloroform, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether), determine their antioxidant capacity and bioactive compound profile; (2) Determine the cytotoxic effects of the crude extracts on MCF7 breast cancer cell line’s confluency/proliferation, viability, morphology, ROS levels, and membrane integrity; (3) To evaluate functional changes in cancer cells' antioxidant stress response (ARE) promoter and tumour suppressor (p53 transcription activity) mechanisms, during extract treatment; and (4) Evaluate the effect of extracts and bioactive compounds on male fertility parameters and the effect of the most potent extract on spermatogonia stem cell viability. We describe, for the first time the bioactive compound profile of water hyacinth samples from Adamawa state Nigeria and its antioxidant capacity using GC-MS and ABTS free radical inhibition assay. Using live imaging (IncuCyte) we demonstrated that all the water hyacinth extracts analys…
abstract: Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an aquatic plant that is also considered the world's worst weed. It grows rapidly by spreading dense mats over water bodies that hinder aquatic life from flourishing, halt fishing activities, and fester mosquito habitats. Its biomass poses a danger to the aquatic ecosystem making it an urgent environmental concern. Even though water hyacinth is considered a nuisance to the environment, its biomass possesses useful properties that are harnessed in phytoremediation and biofuel production. It is also reported to be abundant in phytochemicals with medicinal properties. There are various potential biomedical applications of water hyacinth described in literature, however, the description of its anticancer mechanisms is limited and information on its potential for male contraceptive application is lacking. This study set out to find alternative uses for water hyacinth by exploring gaps in drug discovery and the objective was to; (1) Evaluate the extraction yield of Nigerian water hyacinth extracts (derived from chloroform, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether), determine their antioxidant capacity and bioactive compound profile; (2) Determine the cytotoxic effects of the crude extracts on MCF7 breast cancer cell line’s confluency/proliferation, viability, morphology, ROS levels, and membrane integrity; (3) To evaluate functional changes in cancer cells' antioxidant stress response (ARE) promoter and tumour suppressor (p53 transcription activity) mechanisms, during extract treatment; and (4) Evaluate the effect of extracts and bioactive compounds on male fertility parameters and the effect of the most potent extract on spermatogonia stem cell viability. We describe, for the first time the bioactive compound profile of water hyacinth samples from Adamawa state Nigeria and its antioxidant capacity using GC-MS and ABTS free radical inhibition assay. Using live imaging (IncuCyte) we demonstrated that all the water hyacinth extracts analys…
author: Jibrin, Wafiya
language: eng
keywords: Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Bioactive compounds, Nigerian water hyacinth, Phytochemicals, Antioxidant capacity, GC-MS analysis, ABTS assay, MCF7 breast cancer cells, ROS induction, ARE-promoter activity, Nrf2 activation, p53 transcription activity, Spermatogonia stem cells, Male fertility, Sperm motility, Asthenozoospermia, Drug discovery, Anticancer mechanisms, Male contraceptive potential, Phytoremediation, Biofuel production, Traditional medicine, Environmental concern, Live imaging (IncuCyte), Cell viability, Membrane integrity, Cancer cell morphology, Contraceptive research, Medicinal plant applications
date published: 2025-2-25
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:29Z
provider: Abertay University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Abertay University