Protection Effect of Punicalagin Isolated from Pomegranate on Inflammation and Ethanol-induced Gastric Mucosal Injury

Multifaceted Neuroprotective Role of Punicalagin: A Review

Millions of people worldwide are currently afflicted with neurologic conditions like a seizure, depression, stress, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. However, the precise etiopathology of these diseases is still unknown. Substantial studies are being conducted to discover more treatments against these disorders because many patients do not experience the therapeutic benefits that would be expected from using existing pharmaceutical strategies. Herbal medicines which have been used in traditional medicine for millennia to treat various neurological problems are also being investigated and scientifically assessed. Punicalagin is a known polyphenol that has significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-proliferative, and anti-cancer properties. Around the world, traditional use of herbal drugs is gaining wider acceptance as a part of complementary and alternative medicine. The scientific community should pay attention to these many neuroprotective pharmacodynamic activities of Punicalagin to create effective pharmacotherapeutic plans, as evidenced by mounting data in pre-clinical research investigations. The current review describes the recent studies on the pharmacological effects of Punicalagin in a variety of neurological illnesses and paves the way for further study in this field.

Understanding the Seasonal Effect of Metabolite Production in Terminalia catappa L. Leaves through a Concatenated MS- and NMR-Based Metabolomics Approach

Terminalia catappa L. (Combretaceae) is a medicinal plant that is part of the Brazilian biodiversity; this plant is popularly used for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. To better understand the chemical composition of T. catappa in different seasons, we conducted a thorough study using LC-MS and NMR data analysis techniques. The study helped obtain a chemical profile of the plant ethanolic extracts in different seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter). The dereplication of LC-HRMS data allowed the annotation of 90 compounds in the extracts of T. catappa (hydrolyzable tannins, ellagic acid derivatives, and glycosylated flavonoids). Triterpenes and C-glycosyl flavones were the compounds that significantly contributed to differences observed between T. catappa plant samples harvested in autumn/winter and spring, respectively. The variations observed in the compound composition of the plant leaves may be related to processes induced by environmental stress and leaf development. Data fusion applied in the metabolomic profiling study allowed us to identify metabolites with greater confidence, and provided a better understanding regarding the production of specialized metabolites in T. catappa leaves under different environmental conditions, which may be useful to establish appropriate quality criteria for the standardization of this medicinal plant.

Preventive Effect of Anji White Tea Flavonoids on Alcohol-Induced Gastric Injury through Their Antioxidant Effects in Kunming Mice

Anji white tea (Camellia sinensis) is a traditional Chinese tea beverage, which is classified as green tea and contains an abundant amount of flavonoids. In this study, the preventive effect of Anji white tea flavonoids (AJWTFs) on ethanol/hydrochloric acid-induced gastric injury in mice was evaluated. The serum and gastric tissues of mice were analyzed using a biochemical kit and by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Observation of the appearance of the stomach indicated that AJWTFs could effectively reduce the area of gastric injury caused by ethanol/hydrochloric acid, and the inhibition rate of AJWTF on gastric injury increased with an increase in AJWTF concentration. The Anji white tea flavonoids could also reduce the volume and pH of gastric juice in mice with gastric injury. Biochemical results showed that AJWTFs could increase the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) activities, as well as decrease the malondialdehyde (MDA) level, in the serum and liver of mice with gastric injury. Pathological observation confirmed that AJWTFs could inhibit the tissue damage caused by ethanol/hydrochloric acid in the stomach of mice. Further qPCR experiments also showed that AJWTFs could inhibit the decreases in neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn–SOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn–SOD), catalase (CAT), and the increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in the gastric tissue of mice caused by gastric injury. As observed, AJWTFs exerted a good preventive effect on alcohol-induced gastric injury in mice induced by ethanol/hydrochloric acid, and the effect is close to that of ranitidine. Anji white tea flavonoids present good antioxidant effect, which allows them to effectively prevent alcoholic gastric injury and be used as biologically active substances with a broad range of applications.