Cancer has become a major cause of death globally, and it has created chaos among the public as the death rate is increasing day by day. Traditional medicine proved to be a source for developing many anticancer agents. It is, therefore, evident that there is a great demand and needs to search for novel drugs that can prevent, treat and manage cancer without having any serious side effects. Medicinal plants have been a source of various ailments in the lives of people across Oman and also hold a significant role in the management of healthcare-related complications. One such Omani species, Caralluma arabica, native to Ibri specifically, have not yet been explored, nor its claims of its traditional uses have been yet evidenced. This research study could provide and establish the scientific basis for the traditional use of Omani Caralluma arabica (C. arabica) and for the further development of anticancer chemotherapy.
Major Objectives: (i) To explore structure-based pharmacophore modelling and virtual screening to recognize novel secondary plant metabolites (ii) To quantify the total phenolic and total flavonoid contents in the plant extracts (iii) To determine the antioxidant activity of the plant extracts by suitable in-vitro methods (iv) To determine anti-inflammatory activity by cyclooxygenase inhibitory assay kit.
Research Team:
Dr. Abdul Salam Nazmi (PI),
Dr. Shah Alam Khan (Co-PI),
Dr. Dhanalekshmi UM,
Dr. Majed Abukhader,
Dr. Nida’a AlWadi,
Dr. Khalid Al Balushi and
Dr. Yahya Tamimi