The analgesic, anti-inflammatory and calcium antagonist potential ofTanacetum artemisioides

Tanacetum species: Bridging empirical knowledge, phytochemistry, nutritional value, health benefits and clinical evidence

Introduction: The Tanacetum genus consists of 160 accepted flowering species thriving throughout temperate regions, mainly in the Mediterranean Basin, Northern America, and southwestern and eastern Asia. Tanacetum species bear a long-standing record of use in the folk medicine of indigenous tribes and communities worldwide, along with multitudinous applications in traditional cuisines, cosmeceuticals, and agricultural fields. Methods: Up-to-date data related to traditional uses, phytochemistry, biological activities, toxicity and clinical trials of the genus Tanacetum were systematically reviewed from several online scientific engines, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, SciFinder, Wiley Online, Science Direct, and Cochrane library. Results and discussion: Over the past three decades, 241 metabolites have been isolated from nearly twenty species, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, coumarins, fatty acids and alkanes, aldehydes, volatile compounds, and naphthoquinones. Some unique metabolites have also been identified, such as the ceramides tanacetamide (A-D) from T. artemisioides, pyrethrins from T. cinerariifolium, and sesquiterpene lactones from several species. However, these secondary metabolites are still poorly studied despite in vitro clues highlighting their colossal pharmacological properties, especially as hypotensive, neuroprotective, anticancer, and antimicrobial agents. Scientific studies have validated some traditional claims of the plant, such as antidiabetic, anticancer, anthelmintic, insecticide, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective activities, as well as against festering wounds, skin ulcers, urinary tract infections, and sexually transmitted diseases. Other ethnomedicinal uses for arthritis, gout, rheumatism, anemia, and as a litholytic, antivenom and diaphoretic have not yet been supported and would constitute the subject of further research.

Isolation and Identification of Flavones Responsible for the Antibacterial Activities of Tillandsia bergeri Extracts

Plants are an everlasting inspiration source of biologically active compounds. Among these medicinal plants, the biological activity of extracts from some species of the Tillandsia genus has been studied, but the phytochemistry of the hardy species Tillandsia bergeri remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to perform the first phytochemical study of T. bergeri and to identify the compounds responsible for the antibacterial activity of T. bergeri extracts. Soxhlet extraction of predried and grinded leaves was first performed using four increasing polarity solvents. A bio-guided fractionation was performed using agar overlay bioautography as a screening method against 12 Gram-positive, Gram-negative, sensitive, and resistant bacterial strains. The results showed the inhibition of Gram-positive methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 (MSSA), methicillin-resistant S. aureus N-SARM-1 (MRSA), and Staphylococcus caprae ATCC 35538 by the dichloromethane fraction. A phytochemical investigation led to the isolation and identification by high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance of the two flavones penduletin and viscosine, responsible for this antibacterial activity. For viscosine, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value is equal to 128 μg/mL against MSSA and is equal to 256 μg/mL against MRSA and S. caprae. The combination of these compounds with vancomycin and cloxacillin showed a decrease in MICs of the antibiotics. Penduletin showed synergistic activity when combined with vancomycin against MSSA (FICI < 0.258) and S. caprae (FICI < 0.5). Thus, unexplored Tillandsia species may represent a valuable source for potential antibiotics and adjuvants.

Tanacetum vulgare L. (Tansy) as an effective bioresource with promising pharmacological effects from natural arsenal

The Tanacetum genus is a big treasure with the presence of biologically-active compounds and members of this genus are widely used for the treatment of several diseases in traditional medicine system. Considering this fact, we aimed to analyze the extracts from Tanacetum vulgare L. in case of chemical profiles and biological effects. Chemical characterization was performed by using UHPLC-HRMS technique and showed the presence of several phytochemical groups (107 compounds were identified, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, terpenoids and fatty acids. Biological abilities were examined by using antioxidant (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, CUPRAC, metal chelating and phosphomolybdenum assays) and enzyme inhibition (tyrosinase, amylase, glucosidase and cholinesterase) properties. Pharmaco-toxicological investigations were also performed with the aim to identify limits of biocompatibility, anti-oxidant and neuromodulatory effects, in hypothalamic HypoE22 cells. A bioinformatic analysis was also carried to unravel the putative protein-targets for the observed biological effects. Generally, the tested hexane and hydroalcoholic extracts displayed stronger activities in antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory assays, when compared with water. In addition, multivariate analysis was performed to understand the differences in both solvents and plant parts and we clearly observed the separation of these parameters. The extracts (10 μg/mL) also stimulated DAT and inhibited TNFα and BDNF gene expression, in HypoE22 cells. In parallel, the extracts were also able to stimulate norepinephrine release from this cell line. By contrast, in the concentration range 50-100 μg/mL, the extracts reduced the HypoE22 viability, thus demonstrating cytotoxicity at concentrations 5-10 fold higher compared to those effective as neuromodulatory. Our observations manifested that T. vulgare has several beneficial effects and it can be used as a potential natural raw material for designing further health-promoting applications in nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical areas.

Computational and pharmacological investigation of novel 1,5-diaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-one derivatives for analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer potential

Objective(s):

The novel 1,5-diaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-one derivatives were studied for analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer potential to establish their role in pain, inflammatory disorders and cancer.

Materials and Methods:

Two 1,5- diaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-one derivatives: (1E,4E)- 5-(4-fluoro phenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)- 2-methylpenta-1,4-dien-3-one (A2K2A17) and (1E,4E)-5-(4-nitrophenyl)-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-2-ethylhexa-1,4-dien-3-one (A11K3A11) were synthesized and characterized via 1H NMR and 13C NMR techniques. Molecular docking, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anticancer activities were performed using Auto Doc Vina, carrageenan mediated paw edema and formalin induced chronic inflammation, acetic acid induced writhings and hotplate assay and brine-shrimp lethality assay.

Results:

A2K2A17 and A11K3A11 showed high computational affinities (binding energy > -9.0 Kcal/mol) against COX-1, kappa receptor and braf kinase domain. A2K2A17 and A11K3A11 exhibited moderate docking affinities (binding energy > -8.0 Kcal/mol) against COX-2, human capsaicin receptor, tumor necrosis factor, lipoxygenase, colony stimulating factor, delta receptor, cyclin dependent protein kinase-2, mitogen activated kinase, mu receptor and kit kinase domain. A2K2A17 and A11K3A11 possess low docking affinities (binding energy > -7.0 Kcal/mol) against purinoceptor, platelets-derived growth Factor-1 and vascular-endothelial growth factor. In analgesic activity, A2K2A17 (1-30 mg/kg) and A11K3A11 (1-10 mg/kg) decreased acetic acid induced writhes and prolonged the latency time (P<0.01, P<0.001 vs saline group) respectively. A2K2A17 (10-30 mg/kg) and A11K3A11 (1-10 mg/kg) reduced carrageenan as well as formalin mediated edema (P<0.01, P<0.001). A2K2A17 found effective for cytotoxicity assay with LC₅₀ value 1.5 µg/ml.

Conclusion:

The in silico, in vitro and in vivo studies on A2K2A17 and A11K3A11 reports their computational binding affinities against targets as well as the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and the anticancer effects.

A New Cytotoxic Sesquiterpene and Three Anti-inflammatory Flavonoids from Egyptian Tanacetum Santolinoides

A re-investigation of the methanolic extract of the aerial parts of Tanacetum santolinoides has resulted in the isolation of a new sesquiterpene, tanacetonic acid (1), along with three known methoxylated flavonoids. The structure of the isolated compounds was secured based on their IR, UV, 1D and 2D (1H-1H COSY, HSQC and HMBC) NMR spectroscopic and FAB mass spectral characteristics. The new sesquiterpene showed a significant cytotoxic activity when tested using the brine shrimp bioassay, while the three flavonoids demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects in the rat paw oedema test.

In Vitro Cytotoxic and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Tanacetum argenteum (Lam.) Willd. subsp. argenteum Extract

Objectives

The objective of this study was to examine the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic potential of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanolic extracts of Tanacetum argenteum subsp. argenteum.

Materials and Methods

Tanacetum L. is the third largest genus of Asteraceae family and is represented by 60 taxa in Turkish flora. Sesquiterpene lactones and pyrethrins are the main chemical groups of the genus. T. argenteum subsp. argenteum is an endemic taxa that is distributed in the Central and South Anatolia.

Results

In vitro anti-inflammatory activity was assayed using iNOS and NF-κB inhibition tests on RAW264.7 and HeLa cells. The cytotoxic activities were tested against ten cell lines using MTT assays.

Conclusion

As a result, the n-hexane extract was found more active than the positive control parthenolide in iNOS test (IC₅₀: 0.627±0.16 μg/mL) and cytotoxic experiments against PC3 and MPANC-96 cell lines (IC₅₀: 2.85±0.51 μg/mL and 5.35±1.24 μg/mL, respectively).

Sinularin from indigenous soft coral attenuates nociceptive responses and spinal neuroinflammation in carrageenan-induced inflammatory rat model

Three decades ago, the marine-derived compound sinularin was shown to have anti-edematous effects on paw edema induced by carrageenan or adjuvant. To the best of our knowledge, no new studies were conducted to explore the bioactivity of sinularin until we reported the analgesic properties of sinularin based on in vivo experiments. In the present study, we found that sinularin significantly inhibits the upregulation of proinflammatory proteins, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and upregulates the production of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells according to western blot analysis. We found that subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of sinularin (80 mg/kg) 1 h before carrageenan injection significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced nociceptive behaviors, including thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical allodynia, cold allodynia, and hindpaw weight-bearing deficits. Further, s.c. sinularin (80 mg/kg) significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced microglial and astrocyte activation as well as upregulation of iNOS in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord. Moreover, s.c. sinularin (80 mg/kg) inhibited carrageenan-induced tissue inflammatory responses, redness and edema of the paw, and leukocyte infiltration. The results of immunohistochemical studies indicate that s.c. sinularin (80 mg/kg) could upregulate production of TGF-β1 in carrageenan-induced inflamed paw tissue. The present results demonstrate that systemic sinularin exerts analgesic effects at the behavioral and spinal levels, which are associated with both inhibition of leukocyte infiltration and upregulation of TGF-β1.

Anti-inflammatory activities of Sieboldogenin from Smilax china Linn.: experimental and computational studies

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Smilax china Linn. is extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as well as in Pakistan for several medicinal purposes including their use in inflammatory disorders.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The aims of the current study were to validate and assess the folk use of Smilax china Linn. on pharmacological grounds using the isolated compound at molecular, in vivo and computational levels.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seiboldogenin was isolated from ethyl acetate fraction of the plant crude extract. In vitro lipoxygenase and in vivo carrageenan-induced hind paw oedema models were used in experimental studies while molecular docking technique was used to conduct computational study.

RESULTS

Sieboldogenin showed significant lipoxygenase inhibition (IC50: 38 microM). It also exhibited significant inhibition (p<0.05) of carrageenan-induced hind paw oedema at the doses of 10 and 50mg/kg. Computational molecular docking showed its molecular interaction with important amino acid residues in the catalytic site of lipoxygenase, revealing its potential binding mode at molecular level.

CONCLUSIONS

Sieboldogenin seems to be a potential new anti-inflammatory compound responsible for anti-inflammatory activities of Smilax china Linn. Its in vitro and in vivo inflammatory activities are in good agreement with the folk medicinal use of Smilax china Linn. in inflammatory disorders.

Cytotoxicity, Antimicrobial Activity and Composition of Essential Oil from Tanacetum balsamita L. Subsp. Balsamita

The aerial parts of Tanacetum balsamita subsp. balsamita were collected at full flowering stage from Tabriz, Iran. The essential oil was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by combination of capillary GC and GC-MS. Twenty seven components were identified, representing 99.2% of the total oil. Carvone (51.0%), β-thujone (20.8%), 1,8-cineole (4.4%) and α-thujone (3.2%) were the main components. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of T. balsamita subsp. balsamita was studied against eight Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria ( Bacillus subtilis, B. pumulis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and three fungi ( Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger). The results of the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil according to the disc diffusion method and MIC values indicated that the oil exhibited moderate to high antimicrobial activity. The in vitro toxicological study based on the MTT cytotoxicity assay on human fetal skin fibroblast (HFSF) and Monkey kidney (Vero) cell lines showed IC50 values of 2500 and 1250 μg/mL, respectively.