Planta Medica

Extracellular senile plaques and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles are two devastating brain proteinopathies that are indicative of Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent type of dementia. Currently, no effective medications are available to stop or reverse Alzheimer's disease. Ginkgo biloba extract, commonly referred to as EGb 761, is a natural product made from the leaves of the G. biloba tree. It has long been demonstrated to have therapeutic benefits in Alzheimer's disease. The current study assessed the beneficial effects of EGb 761 against Alzheimer's disease in comparison with memantine, a standard treatment for Alzheimer's disease...

In September 2022, the 3rd International Workshop on pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and related phytotoxins was held on-line, entitled 'Toxins in botanical drugs and plant-derived food and feed - from science to regulation'. The workshop focused on new findings about the occurrence, exposure, toxicity, and risk assessment of PAs. In addition, new scientific results related to the risk assessment of alkenylbenzenes, a distinct class of herbal constituents, were presented. The presence of PAs and alkenylbenzenes in plant-derived food, feed, and herbal medicines has raised health concerns with respect to their acute and chronic toxicity but mainly related to the genotoxic and carcinogenic properties of several congeners...

Silymarin, a widely-used hepatoprotective agent, has shown antitumor properties in both in vitro and animal studies. Currently, there is limited knowledge regarding silymarin's antitelomerase effects on human colorectal cancer (CRC) and hepatocyte carcinoma (HCC) cells. In this study, we investigated the antiproliferative and antitelomerase effects of silymarin on four human CRC and HepG2 HCC cell lines. The cell viability and telomerase activity were assessed using MTT and the TRAP assay, respectively. We also investigated the effects of silymarin on the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and its promoter methylation in HepG2 cells, by real-time RT-PCR and methylation-specific PCR (MSP), respectively...

Triterpenoids, as one of the largest classes of naturally occurring secondary metabolites in higher plants, are of interest due to their high structural diversity and wide range of biological activities. In addition of several promising pharmacological activities such as antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects, a large number of triterpenoids has revealed high potential for cancer therapy through their strong cytotoxicity on cancer cell lines and also low toxicity in normal cells...

Tyrosinase is a target enzyme to be inhibited to reduce excessive melanin production and prevent typical age-related skin disorders. Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile compounds, belonging mainly to monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids, which have been relatively little studied as tyrosinase inhibitors. Among the monoterpenoids, citral (a mixture of neral and geranial) is a fragrance compound in several essential oils, that has shown interesting tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Although citral is listed as an allergen among the 26 fragrances in Annex III of the Cosmetics Directive 2003/15/ EC, it can be safely used for the formulation of topical products in amounts that are not expected to cause skin sensitization, as shown by the various commercially-available products...

Hyperglycemia is a potent risk factor for the development and progression of diabes-induced nephropathy. Dendropanoxide (DPx) is, a natural compound isolated from Dendropanax morbifera (Araliaceae) , that exert various biological effects. However, the role of DPx in hyperglycemia-induced renal tubular cell injury remains unclear. The present study explored the protective mechanism of DPx on high glucose (HG)-induced cytotoxicity in kidney tubular epithelial NRK-52E cells. The cells were cultured with normal glucose (5...

Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Sm. is a herbal plant of tropical and subtropical Asia which is continuously studied for its medicinal properties. The plant has a vast range of traditional uses including treatment of stomach ailments, allergies, appetite improvement, constipation relief, asthma, and skin diseases. This scoping review aimed to systematically search and collate the available scientific evidence on the efficacy of Z. zerumbet and its main phytoconstituents in various formulations; their biological mechanisms, and safety...

To better use the Lecythis pisonis Cambess. biomass, this study investigates whether Sapucaia seed coats present wound-healing properties. We analyzed the antibacterial, antioxidant, and wound healing-promoting potentials, plus cytotoxicity and stimulation of VEGF-A. The chemical composition was analyzed by positive ion-mode electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI(+)FT-ICR MS). A total of 19 compounds were identified, such as proanthocyanidin A1, procyanidin A1, B2, C1, epigallocatechin, kaempferol (p-coumaroyl) glycoside, and kaempferol (p-coumaroyl) glycoside...

Cannabis as a therapeutic agent is increasing in popularity all around the globe, particularly in Western countries, and its potential is now well assessed. On the other hand, each country has its own regulation for the preparation of cannabis macerated oils; in Italy, there are only a few preparation methods allowed. With this work, we aim to perform a stability study of cannabis oils produced with a novel method for the extraction of cannabinoids from cannabis inflorescence. Three different varieties of cannabis were used, with and without the adding of tocopherol acetate as an antioxidant...

In early 2020, a global pandemic was announced due to the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), known to cause COVID-19. Despite worldwide efforts, there are only limited options regarding antiviral drug treatments for COVID-19. Although the vaccines are now available, issues such as declining efficacy against different SARS-CoV-2 variants and aging of vaccine-induced immunity highlight the importance of finding more antiviral drugs as a second line of defense against the disease...

Seborrheic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by Malassezia yeast species that affects the regions of the body where the sebaceous glands are present. The combined use of different essential oils (EOs) can increase their spectrum of action. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the action of EOs alone and in combination with each other on M. furfur , in planktonic and biofilm form, and their anti-inflammatory and mutagenic potential, in addition to the effects on the viability of cells lines...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) has been shown to provide renal protection in various kidney injury models. However, the metabolic profile variation of AS-IV in pathological models in vivo is not well established. This study aims to explore the metabolic pathway of AS-IV in vivo in the classical puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-induced kidney injury in a rat model. Twelve Wistar rats were randomly divided into the AS-IV (CA) and the PAN+AS-IV (PA) treatment groups. PAN was injected by a single tail intravenous (i. v...

Agastache rugosa Kuntze (Lamiaceae; Labiatae), a medicinal and functional herb used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, grows well both on islands and inland areas in South Korea. Thus, we aimed to reveal the morphological and micromorphological differences between A. rugosa grown on island and inland areas and their pharmacological effects on gastritis in an animal model by combining morphological and mass spectrophotometric analyses. Morphological analysis showed that island A. rugosa had slightly smaller plants and leaves than inland plants; however, the density of all types of trichomes on the leaves, petioles, and stems of island A...

Twelve lupanes including three new compounds named alstoscholarilups A-C (1: -3: ) were isolated from the leaves of Alstonia scholaris . Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and ECD calculation. Structurally, compound 1: with a rare A ring-seco skeleton formed lactone and degraded C-3, while 2: with a 28- nor and 3: with a 29- nor -lupane skeleton supported the phytochemical diversity and novelty of the plant. Pharmacologically, compounds 4, 7: , and 10: reduced the serum uric acid (UA) levels of mice significantly...

The development of virus-free, oral vaccines against poliovirus capable of inducing mucosal protective immunity is needed to safely combat this pathogen. In the present study, a carrot cell line expressing the poliovirus VP2 antigen was established at the level of callus and cell suspensions, exploring the effects of culture media (MS and B5), supplementation with urea, phytoregulators (2,4-D : KIN), and light conditions (continuous light, photoperiod, and total darkness). The best callus growth was obtained on B5 medium supplemented with 2 mg/L of 2,4-D + 2 mg/L kinetin and 0...

This study aims to explore the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of sargachromenol in both RAW 264.7 cells and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice, as previous reports have suggested that sargachromenol possesses anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties. Although the precise mechanism behind its anti-inflammatory activity remains unclear, pretreatment with sargachromenol effectively reduced the production of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2 , and interleukin (IL)-1 β in LPS-stimulated RAW 264...

Derris scandens (DS), is widely recognized for its therapeutic properties, specifically its analgesic effects, which significantly alleviate muscle pain. The chemical constituents of DS stem include various isoflavone derivatives. However, there is currently a lack of specified anti-inflammatory chemical markers and analytical methods for quality control. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of DS and its constituents using the RAW 264.7 cell model. The expression of inflammatory genes such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) was examined using quantitative RT-PCR...

Oxystelma esculentum has been used as a folk medicine to treat jaundice, throat infections, and skin problems. In the current study, the bone fracture-healing properties of a flavonoid enriched fraction (Oxy50-60F) of O. esculentum were investigated in Swiss mice using a drill-hole injury model. Oxy50-60F (1 mg/kg/day, 5 mg/kg/day, and 10 mg/kg/day) was administered orally (from the next day) after a 0.6 mm drill-hole injury in mice femur mid diaphysis for 7 days and 14 days. Parathyroid hormone (40 μg/kg; 5 times/week) was given subcutaneously as the positive control...

Glioblastoma is the most frequent primary malignant brain tumor without effective treatment, which makes this work extremely relevant. The study of the bioactive compounds from medicinal plants plays an important role in the discovery of new drugs.This research investigated the constituents of Tapirira guianensis and its antitumor potential ( in vitro and in vivo) in glioblastoma. The T. guianensis extracts were characterized by mass spectrometry. The ethyl acetate partition (01ID) and its fractions 01ID-F2 and 01ID-F4 from T...