Pharmacological evaluation ofVerbesina encelioides

Effects of Prednisolone Derivative and Panaxydol: Biosurfactants on Cell Wall Integrity of Acne-Causing Resistant Bacteria

Acne is one of the most common dermatological skin problem caused due to inflammation of the skin, leading to unfavorable growth of Propionibacterium acnes. It is a slow growing anaerobic, gram-positive bacterium that releases chemotactic factors and leads to the complex pathogenicity of acne. There are several acne treatments/therapies available, but topical therapy is usually the first choice for mild to moderate acne, and as the severity of the acne increases, the treatment modalities fail. There are many acne treatment options available, but topical therapy is best suited for mild - to - moderate skin problems, and then as the seriousness of the acne grows, the therapeutic approaches fall short. Biosurfactants are surfactants produced from plants or animals; Saponins are plant derived non-ionic biosurfactants which have steroidal and triterpenic glycosides distributed largely in plant kingdom. Numerous studies conducted by scientists have established the antimicrobial activity of and are considered more advantageous over synthetic precursors as they are eco-friendly, cheap and non-toxic. The present study was undertaken to investigate the antibacterial activity of saponins (bio-surfactants) characterized using mass spectroscopy against acne-causing bacteria. The discharge of cellular components including protein and UV-sensitive materials in the cell-free supernatant was provoked by saponin, confirming the cellular and membrane disturbances.. Furthermore, various morphological changes on the bacterial cell surface structure by Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed the disruption of the cell integrity leading to death. Results confirmed presence of non-ionic surfactants primarily affecting the disruption and destruction to the bacteria which indicates that saponins are efficient components with great potential applications in various pharmaceutical preparations. Effects of Prednisolone derivative and Panaxydol: Biosurfactants on cell wall integrity of Acne-Causing Resistant Bacteria.

Eudesmane Sesquiterpenes from Verbesina lanata with Inhibitory Activity against Grapevine Downy Mildew

An in-house library of more than 3000 extracts of plant and fungal origin was screened against some major plant pathogens. As one of the hits, an ethyl acetate extract from inflorescences of Verbesina lanata showed significant inhibitory activity in vitro against grapevine downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola), with a MIC₁₀₀ value of 35 μg/mL. An emulsifiable concentrate formulation with 50 mg/g of the extract was developed for in vivo evaluation. A suspension of the formulation containing 1 mg/mL of extract lowered leaf surface infection of grapevine seedling by 82% compared to the nontreated control. With the aid of HPLC-based activity profiling, the antifungal activity was correlated with a series of lipophilic compounds. Preparative isolation by a combination of chromatographic techniques afforded 16 eudesmane sesquiterpenes including eight new congeners. Nine compounds were obtained in sufficient quantities to be tested in vitro and were found to inhibit the zoospore activity of P. viticola with MIC₁₀₀ values ranging from 4 to 50 μg/mL. The two major compounds, 6β-cinnamoyloxy-4β,9β,15-trihydroxyeudesmane (9) and 6β-cinnamoyloxy-1β,15-dihydroxyeudesm-4-en-3-one (13), showed MIC₁₀₀ values of 5 and 31 μg/mL, respectively.

Verbesina encelioides: cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest, and oxidative DNA damage in human liver cancer (HepG2) cell line

BACKGROUND

Cancer is a major health problem and exploiting natural products have been one of the most successful methods to combat this disease. Verbesina encelioides is a notorious weed with various pharmacological properties. The aim of the present investigation was to screen the anticancer potential of V. encelioides extract against human lung cancer (A-549), breast cancer (MCF-7), and liver cancer (HepG2) cell lines.

METHODS

A-549, MCF-7, and HepG2 cells were exposed to various concentrations of (10-1000 μg/ml) of V. encelioides for 24 h. Further, cytotoxic concentrations (250, 500, and 1000 μg/ml) of V. encelioides induced oxidative stress (GSH and LPO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), cell cycle arrest, and DNA damage in HepG2 cells were studied.

RESULTS

The exposure of cells to 10-1000 μg/ml of extract for 24 h, revealed the concentrations 250-1000 μg/ml was cytotoxic against MCF-7 and HepG2 cells, but not against A-549 cells. Moreover, the extract showed higher decrease in the cell viability against HepG2 cells than MCF-7 cells. Therefore, HepG2 cells were selected for further studies viz. oxidative stress (GSH and LPO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), cell cycle arrest, and DNA damage. The results revealed differential anticancer activity of V. encelioides against A-549, MCF-7 and HepG2 cells. A significant induction of oxidative stress, ROS generation, and MMP levels was observed in HepG2 cells. The cell cycle analysis and comet assay showed that V. encelioides significantly induced G2/M arrests and DNA damage.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that V. encelioides possess substantial cytotoxic potential and may warrant further investigation to develop potential anticancer agent.