New Activities for Isolated Compounds fromConvolvulus austro-aegyptiacusas Anti-ulcerogenic, Anti-Helicobacter pyloriand Their Mimic Synthesis Using Bio-guided Fractionation

From lab to nature: Recent advancements in the journey of gastroprotective agents from medicinal chemistry to phytotherapy

Peptic ulcer, affecting 10 % of the global population, results from imbalances in gastric juice pH and diminished mucosal defences. Key underlying factors are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and Helicobacter pylori infection, undermining mucosal resistance. Traditional treatments like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine-2 (H2) receptor antagonists exhibit drawbacks such as adverse effects, relapses, and drug interactions. This review extensively explores the ethnomedicinal, synthetic and pharmacological facets of various potential peptic ulcer treatments. Rigorous methodologies involving electronic databases, and chemical structure verification via 'PubChem' and 'SciFinder' enhance the review's credibility. The provided information, spanning medicinal insights to intricate pharmacological mechanisms, establishes a robust groundwork for future research and the development of plant-derived or synthetic molecules for peptic ulcers, offering a promising alternative to conventional therapies.

Eco-sustainable coatings based on chitosan, pectin, and lemon essential oil nanoemulsion and their effect on strawberry preservation

Films and coatings manufactured with bio-based renewable materials, such as biopolymers and essential oils, could be a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative for protecting and preserving agricultural products. In this work, we developed films and coatings from pectin and chitosan to protect strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) from spoilage and microbial contamination. We developed three coatings containing equal amounts of glycerol and Sicilian lemon essential oil (LEO) nanoemulsion. We identified seventeen chemicals from LEO by GC-MS chromatogram, including d-limonene, α-Pinene, β-Pinene, and γ-Terpinene. The pectin and chitosan coatings were further characterized using different physicochemical, mechanical, and biological methods. The films demonstrated satisfactory results in strength and elongation at the perforation as fruit packaging. In addition, the coatings did not influence the weight and firmness of the strawberry pulps. We observed that 100 % essential oil was released in 1440 min resulting from the erosion process. Also, the oil preserved the chemical stability of the films. Antioxidant activity (AA), measured by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), showed that the coatings loaded with 2 % LEO nanoemulsion (PC + oil) showed that almost 50 % of AA from LEO nanoemulsion was preserved. The chitosan and the pectin-chitosan coatings (PC + oil) inhibited filamentous fungi and yeast contaminations in strawberries for at least 14 days, showing a relationship between the AA and antimicrobial results.

A review on the structures and biological activities of anti-Helicobacter pylori agents

Helicobacter pylori is one of the main causal risk factor in the generation of chronic gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric carcinoma. Thus, the eradication of H. pylori infection is an important way for preventing and managing the gastric diseases. Multiple-therapy with several antibacterial agents is used for the eradication of H. pylori infections; however the increase of resistance to H. pylori strains has resulted in unsatisfactory eradication and unsuccessful treatment. Furthermore, the combination therapy with high dosing leads to the disruption of intestinal microbial flora and undesired side effects. Therefore, the search for new therapeutic agents with high selectivity against H. pylori is a field of current interest. In recent years, diverse compounds originating from natural sources or synthetic drug design programs were evaluated and tried to optimize for applying against H. pylori. In this review, we have described various classes of anti-H. pylori compounds, their structure-activity relationship studies, and mechanism of actions, which could be useful for the development of new drugs for the treatment of H. pylori infections.

Artemisia scoparia and Metabolic Health: Untapped Potential of an Ancient Remedy for Modern Use

Botanicals have a long history of medicinal use for a multitude of ailments, and many modern pharmaceuticals were originally isolated from plants or derived from phytochemicals. Among these, artemisinin, first isolated from Artemisia annua, is the foundation for standard anti-malarial therapies. Plants of the genus Artemisia are among the most common herbal remedies across Asia and Central Europe. The species Artemisia scoparia (SCOPA) is widely used in traditional folk medicine for various liver diseases and inflammatory conditions, as well as for infections, fever, pain, cancer, and diabetes. Modern in vivo and in vitro studies have now investigated SCOPA's effects on these pathologies and its ability to mitigate hepatotoxicity, oxidative stress, obesity, diabetes, and other disease states. This review focuses on the effects of SCOPA that are particularly relevant to metabolic health. Indeed, in recent years, an ethanolic extract of SCOPA has been shown to enhance differentiation of cultured adipocytes and to share some properties of thiazolidinediones (TZDs), a class of insulin-sensitizing agonists of the adipogenic transcription factor PPARγ. In a mouse model of diet-induced obesity, SCOPA diet supplementation lowered fasting insulin and glucose levels, while inducing metabolically favorable changes in adipose tissue and liver. These observations are consistent with many lines of evidence from various tissues and cell types known to contribute to metabolic homeostasis, including immune cells, hepatocytes, and pancreatic beta-cells. Compounds belonging to several classes of phytochemicals have been implicated in these effects, and we provide an overview of these bioactives. The ongoing global epidemics of obesity and metabolic disease clearly require novel therapeutic approaches. While the mechanisms involved in SCOPA's effects on metabolic, anti-inflammatory, and oxidative stress pathways are not fully characterized, current data support further investigation of this plant and its bioactives as potential therapeutic agents in obesity-related metabolic dysfunction and many other conditions.

Medicinal Plants in the Treatment of Peptic Ulcer Disease: A Review

Peptic Ulcer Disease (PUD) is the most common disorder of the stomach and duodenum, which is associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. PUD occurs due to an imbalance between offensive and defensive factors and Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI), Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and antibiotics are frequently used for the treatment. Recently, medicinal plants have emerged as efficacious, safe and widely available alternative therapies for PUD. The aim of this review was to study the medicinal plants and phytochemicals, which have been used for PUD treatment to evaluate the potential role of natural compounds to develop herbal remedies for PUD. Information was obtained using a literature search of electronic databases, such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Sci Finder, Reaxys and Cochrane. Common and scientific names of the plants and keywords such as 'peptic ulcer', 'gastric ulcer', 'stomach ulcer' and 'duodenal ulcer' were used for search. Eventually, 279 plants from 89 families were identified and information on the plant families, part of the plant used, chemical constituents, extracts, ulcer model used and dosage were abstracted. The results indicated that most of the anti-PUD plants were from Asteraceae (7.1%) and Fabaceae (6.8%) families while flavonoids (49%), tannins (13%), saponins (10%) and alkaloids (9%) were the most common natural compounds in plants with anti-PUD activity.

Bioassay-guided isolation and identification of anti-ulcer ecdysteroids from the seeds of Sphenocentrum jollyanum Pierre (Menispermaceae)

Sphenocentrum jollyanum seeds (MeOH extract and n butanol fraction) exhibited urease inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ 40.0 ± 0.92, 28.6 ± 0.41). The Ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction gave significant antacid activity with an increase in the baseline pH value of 1.2 to 1.61 ± 0.00 and 1.53 ± 0.00 at 50 and 100 mg, respectively, compared to the antacid activity of sodium bicarbonate (1.53 ± 0.00, 1.47 ± 0.00). Five known ecdysteroid compounds isolated from S. jollyanum ethyl acetate and n butanol fractions are Pinnatasterone (1), Polypodine B (2), 20-hydroxyecdysone (3), 20, 26-dihydroxyecdysone, (4) and Atrotosterone A (5). The compounds' structures were determined using extensive 1D and 2D NMR experiments, and the molecular mass for each of the compounds was confirmed by FAB-MS. Compounds 1-5 were evaluated for their urease inhibitory and antacid activities. Fractions were active in comparison with the standard drug acetohydroxamic acid, and sodium bicarbonate, respectively. Compounds 2, 3 and 1 showed significant urease inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ 7.0 ± 0.56, 13.8 ± 0.49 and 14.1 ± 0.59), respectively. The activity of compounds 4 and 5 were moderate compared to that of acetohydroxamic acid (IC₅₀ value 20.3 ± 0.43). Very few compounds have been isolated from this plant despite the numerous biological activities reported for it. The antacid and urease inhibitory activities of this plant and isolated compounds are described for the first time.

Development and Validation of a Rapid and Efficient Method for Simultaneous Determination of Scopolin and Scopoletin in Convolvulus Species by Ultra- high-performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Background:

Convolvulus species are extensively used in traditional medicines for the treatment of peptic ulcer diseases primarily associated with the presence of many bioactive compounds, such as coumarins.

Methods:

A validation and improvement of a rapid, sensitive and simple technique for bioactive compounds analysis of scopolin and scopoletin in Convolvulus pilosellifolius (CP) and Convolvulus austroaegyptiacus (CA) plant extracts using UHPLC-MS/MS were performed. Both plants extracts were subjected to high-resolution DART-ToF-MS technique for fast profiling of their constituents.

Results:

DART-ToF-MS spectra proved the presence of experimental mass at 193.05137 and 355.10371 m/z in the extract of CA plant and at 193.05084 and 355.10365 m/z in CP plant extract for scopolin and scopoletin compounds, respectively. The total chromatographic analysis time was less than 10 min with excellent resolution and negligible matrix effect. The validated parameter showed good linearity (R2 ≥0.998) over a wide concentration range of 0.05-10.0 μg mL-1 for both scopolin and scopoletin, detection limits of scopolin and scopoletin were 0.03 and 0.01 μg mL-1, respectively. The method also showed good intraday and interday precisions (RSD<4.33%). The recovery percentage values were between 97.04 and 99.97% at three added concentration limits. The highest content of scopolin (3.485 mg g-1) and scopoletin (0.795 mg g-1) was detected in CA ethanolic extract. The studied plants were finally compared with all previous reports in terms of scopolin and scopoletin content.

Conclusion:

The results indicate that the suggested method can be used for regular analysis of active compounds in medicinal plant extracts.

In Silico and In Vitro Anti-Helicobacter Pylori Effects of Combinations of Phytochemicals and Antibiotics

Helicobacter pylori infection is a WHO class 1 carcinogenic factor of gastric adenocarcinoma. In the past decades, many studies have demonstrated the increasing trend of antibiotic resistance and pointed out the necessity of new effective treatment. This study was aimed at identifying phytochemicals that can inhibit H. pylori and possibly serve as adjuvant treatments. Here, in silico molecular docking and drug-like properties analyses were performed to identify potential inhibitors of urease, shikimate kinase and aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase. These three enzymes are targets of the treatment of H. pylori. Susceptibility and synergistic testing were performed on the selected phytochemicals and the positive control antibiotic, amoxicillin. The in-silico study revealed that oroxindin, rosmarinic acid and verbascoside are inhibitors of urease, shikimate kinase and aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, respectively, in which, oroxindin has the highest potency against H. pylori, indicated by a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 50 μg/mL. A combination of oroxindin and amoxicillin demonstrated additive effects against H. pylori, as indicated by a fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) value of 0.75. This study identified phytochemicals that deserve further investigation for the development of adjuvant therapeutic agents to current antibiotics against H. pylori.

Evaluation of anti-ulcer and ulcerative colitis of Sonchus oleraceus L

Sonchus oleraceus L. was evaluated for its gastro antiulcerogenic and anti-ulcerative colitis activities Different extracts and fractions from Sonchus oleraceus aerial parts and roots were evaluated at different dose; total alcohol extracts of aerial parts SA and roots SR were evaluated doses 250 & 500 mg/kg, While Successive extracts (SAL, SRL, CSA, CSR, BSA & BSR) were evaluated at dose of 150 mg/kg. Absolute ethanol-induced ulcer model was used for evaluation of the anti-ulcerogenic activity. The root extract showed promising antiulcerogenic activity as the total alcohol extract of the root SR (500 mg/kg) produced 88.5% protection from control ulcer which is significantly more effective than the standard drug omeprazole (20 mg/kg), in addition, the butanol fraction of the root extract BSR also produced 76.66% protection from control ulcer. On the other hand, the aerial parts total extract SA showed low antiulcerogenic activity in both tested doses (250 & 500 mg/kg) as it produced 25% & 28.33% protection from control ulcer respectively. Only the butanol fraction of the aerial parts extract BSA showed promising activity 54.16%. In the acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis model, among the investigated extracts of Sonchus oleraceus; only the total extract of the aerial parts (SA) at dose 500 mg/kg showed strong anti-ulcerative colitis activity and this activity is followed by the activity of the butanol and chloroform fractions of the aerial parts, they produced 77.28%, 57.4% & 47.68% protection from control colitis respectively. The standard drug dexamethasone produced 63.36% protection from control colitis. The total alcohol extracts SR & SA showed no alteration on liver and kidney functions and these extracts are safe up to 5000 mg/kg. Phytochemical screening of the investigated extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, tannins, unsaturated sterols, proteins and lactones which could be responsible for the activities.

Phytochemicals in Helicobacter pylori Infections: What Are We Doing Now?

In this critical review, plant sources used as effective antibacterial agents against Helicobacter pylori infections are carefully described. The main intrinsic bioactive molecules, responsible for the observed effects are also underlined and their corresponding modes of action specifically highlighted. In addition to traditional uses as herbal remedies, in vitro and in vivo studies focusing on plant extracts and isolated bioactive compounds with anti-H. pylori activity are also critically discussed. Lastly, special attention was also given to plant extracts with urease inhibitory effects, with emphasis on involved modes of action.

Anticancer effect of Cenchrus ciliaris L

Cenchrus ciliaris L total alcohol and successive extracts of both aerial and root parts were tested for their anticancer activities against lung (A-549), intestinal (CACO), colon (HCT-116), cervical (Hela), hepatocellular (HepG-2), and breast (MCF-7) (PC3) cell lines and compared with the standard drug vinblastine sulphate. The obtained results exhibited direct cytotoxic effect with variable inhibiting effect on the growth of the listed cell lines comparing to vinblastine sulphate as reference standard drug, these effects showed different IC₅₀ ranged from 11.1 ± 0.3 to 267 ± µg/ml.

All root extracts showed the best activities against most of the tested cell lines specially HepG-2 (Hepatocellular carcinoma) (9 ± 2.1 µg/ml) which was somewhat closely related to the effect of vinblastine sulphate (2.93 ± 0.3 µg/ml).

The highest anticancer effect of Cenchrus ciliaris L aerial parts and root extracts were recorded on HepG-2 (Hepatocellular carcinoma) their IC₅₀ were 12 ± 0.8 & 9 ± 2.1 respectively, CACO (colorectal carcinoma) their IC₅₀ were 27.2 ± 1.6 & 20.5 ± 0.6 respectively, A-549 (Lung carcinoma) their IC₅₀ were 14.5 ± 0.7& 11.1 ± 0.3 respectively which were better than the standard drug especially in case the anticancer effect on CACO (colorectal carcinoma) and A-549 (Lung carcinoma). Chloroform extracts of both aerial and roots achieved the best anticancer activities on all of the cell lines especially with colorectal (CACO) and Lung carcinoma (A-549). Cenchrus ciliaris could be a promising source of new chemical moieties used to target cancer cells.

In - Vitro activity of Desmostachya bipinnata (L.) Stapf successive extracts against Helicobacter pylori clinical isolates

Helicobacter pylori are well acknowledged as a major cause of gastrointestinal ailments and gastric cancers. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the potential in vitro activity of Desmostachya bipinnata against H. pylori, focusing on the determination of the most active extract responsible for the anti-helicobacter activity to produce new active drug from natural source. Desmostachya bipinnata total alcohol and successive extracts were in vitro tested against H. pylori. All extracts showed promising anti Helicobacter pylori activities. The most effective extract was diethyl ether extract, it showed 75% growth inhibition of the clinical Isolates bacterial Helicobacter pylori, in addition it showed high count reduction on the selected organisms in the different concentrations used (2xMIC, MIC & ½ MIC) compared with the untreated controls as well as the other extracts (chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol). The oral median lethal dose (LD50) of the alcohol extract of the plant by doses up to 5000 mg/kg didn't showed any mortality or morbidity, in addition no side effects were recorded on both liver and kidney functions this means that the extract was safe for use.

Isolation, characterization, and in silico, in vitro and in vivo antiulcer studies of isoimperatorin crystallized from Ostericum koreanum

CONTEXT

Ostericum koreanum (Maxim.) Kitagawa (Apiaceae) roots are traditionally used as an analgesic and antiulcer agent. However, the antiulcer potential of isoimperatorin isolated from O. koreanum has not yet been explored.

AIM

To evaluate the antiulcer activity of isoimperatorin isolated from the roots of O. koreanum.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Isoimperatorin was isolated as cubic crystals by repeated column chromatography of the ethyl acetate fraction and structure was verified with ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS-FAB). The crystals obtained were analyzed with the single crystal X-ray method. The MTT assay was used to determine its cytotoxicity against chondrocytes at different concentrations (0.0-737.74 μM, 24 h). The in vivo antiulcer activity of isoimperatorin (40 mg/kg) was determined against ethanol-, indomethacin- and pyloric ligation-induced ulcers in Sprague-Dawley rats. Furthermore, the effect of isoimperatorin (0.0-737.74 μM, 24 h) on the expression of type II collagen in chondrocytes was determined using western blot method. The in vitro urease inhibitory activity of isoimperatorin (0-80 μM) and molecular docking was also performed against urease.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Isoimperatorin demonstrated significant inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ 36.43 μM) against urease as compared to the standard drug thiourea (IC₅₀ 33.57 μM) without cytotoxic effects. It provided 70.9%, 67.65% and 54.25% protection in ulcer models induced by ethanol, indomethacin and pyloric ligation, respectively. Isoimperatorin showed the highest expression level of type II collagen at 368.87 μM. The docking results confirmed strong binding affinity with the target protein.

CONCLUSION

Isoimperatorin may be used to develop antiulcer drugs with decreased side effects.

Antibacterial, Antioxidant Activity of Ethanolic Plant Extracts of Some Convolvulus Species and Their DART-ToF-MS Profiling

Convolvulus austroaegyptiacus Abdallah & Sa'ad (CA) and Convolvulus pilosellifolius Desr. (CP) are commonly used in the Saudi Arabia folk medicine. They are potent in treating the ulcers and skin diseases. The lack of information about their biological activities led us to investigate the possible biological activities by determination of antibacterial and antioxidant activities of total ethanolic extracts and various fractions. Total flavonoid contents of the plants were determined by colorimetric method while total phenols were determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu method. In vitro antibacterial activity was studied against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and B. subtilis, and the total antioxidant capacity was evaluated by radical scavenging method. IC₅₀ were found to be 21.81, 17.62, and 3.31 μg/mL for CA, CP, and vitamin C, respectively, while the lowest MIC value of 0.25 mg/mL was recorded with CP extract against B. subtilis. Around 21 compounds are tentatively elucidated from both plants using rapid, simple, and high-resolution analytical technique for chemical profiling of natural compounds by direct analysis in real-time of flight-mass spectrometry, of which 17 were not isolated or reported previously.