Evodiamine as an anticancer agent: a comprehensive review on its therapeutic application, pharmacokinetic, toxicity, and metabolism in various cancers

Metabolic characteristics of evodiamine were associated with its hepatotoxicity via PPAR/PI3K/AKT/NF-кB/tight junction pathway-mediated apoptosis in zebrafish

Evodiae Fructus (EF), an herbal medicine, possesses remarkable anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. It exhibits insecticidal activity as a potent insecticide candidate. However, the toxic characteristics of EF and the underlying mechanisms have not been comprehensively elucidated comprehensively. Thus, we comprehensively explored the toxic components of EF and established the relationship between the therapeutic and toxic effects of EF, encouraging its therapeutic use. We found that evodiamine (EVO), one of the main ingredients of EF, can truly reflect its analgesic properties. In phenotype observation trials, low doses of EVO (< 35 ng/mL) exhibited distinct analgesic activity without any adverse effects in zebrafish. However, EVO dose-dependently led to gross morphological abnormalities in the liver, followed by pericardial edema, and increased myocardial concentrations. Furthermore, the toxic effects of EVO decreased after processing in liver microsomes but increased after administering CYP450 inhibitors in zebrafish, highlighting the prominent effect of CYP450s in EVO-mediated hepatotoxicity. EVO significantly changed the expression of genes enriched in multiple pathways and biological processes, including lipid metabolism, inflammatory response, tight junction damage, and cell apoptosis. Importantly, the PPAR/PI3K/AKT/NF-кB/tight junction-mediated apoptosis pathway was confirmed as a critical functional signaling pathway inducing EVO-mediated hepatotoxicity. This study provided a typical example of the overall systematic evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and its active ingredients with significant therapeutic effects and simultaneous toxicities, especially metabolic toxicities.

Evodiamine encapsulated by hyaluronic acid modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 for tumor targeted therapy

Evodiamine (EVO), a natural bioactive compound extracted from Evodia rutaecarpa, shows therapeutic ability against malignant melanoma. However, the poor solubility and bioavailability of EVO limit its clinical application. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown excellent physical and chemical properties and are widely used as drug delivery systems. Among them, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is a research popular material because of its unique properties, such as hydrothermal stability, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and pH sensitivity. In this study, in order to load EVO, a drug carrier that hyaluronic acid (HA) modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is synthesized. This drug carrier has shown drug loading with 6.2 ± 0.6%, and the nano drugs (EVO@ZIF-8/HA) have good dispersibility. Owing to the decoration HA of EVO@ZIF-8, the potential of the nano drugs is reversed from the positive charge to the negative charge, which is beneficial to blood circulation in vivo. Furthermore, because the CD44-expressing in tumor cells is excessed, the endocytosis and accumulation of nano drugs in tumor cells are beneficial to improvement. Compared with free EVO, EVO@ZIF-8/HA has shown a significantly improved anti-tumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo. In summary, the drug carrier effectively addresses the challenges that are caused by the strong hydrophobicity and low bioavailability of EVO, thereby targeted tumor therapy of EVO can be achieved.

Evodiamine and its nano-based approaches for enhanced cancer therapy: recent advances and challenges

Evodiamine is a bioactive alkaloid extracted from the Evodia rutaecarpa plant. It has various pharmacological effects including anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-obesity, anti-neurodegenerative, anti-depressant, and cardiac protective properties. Evodiamine demonstrates potent anti-cancer activity by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Despite the health-promoting properties of evodiamine, its clinical use is hindered by low water solubility, poor bioavailability, and toxicity. Thus, there is a need to develop alternative drug delivery systems for evodiamine to enhance its solubility, permeability, and stability, as well as to facilitate targeted, prolonged, and controlled drug release. Nanocarriers can increase the therapeutic potential of evodiamine in cancer therapy while reducing adverse side effects. To date, numerous attempts have been made through the development of smart nanocarriers to overcome the drawbacks of evodiamine. This review focuses on the pharmacological applications, anti-cancer mechanisms, and limitations of evodiamine. Various nanocarriers, including lipid-based nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, cyclodextrins, and so forth, have been discussed extensively for evodiamine delivery. Nano-drug delivery systems could increase the solubility, bioavailability, stability, and therapeutic efficacy of evodiamine. This review aims to present a comprehensive and critical evaluation of several nano-formulations of evodiamine for cancer therapy. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Systematic screening of hepatoprotective components from traditional Chinese medicine: Zuojin Pill as an example

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Zuojin Pill (ZJP), composed of Coptis chinensis Franch. and Euodia ruticarpa (A. Juss.) Benth. in a mass ratio of 6:1, is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula recorded in "Danxi's Experiential Therapy", an ancient medical book from the Ming Dynasty of China. It is used to treat liver fire invading the stomach, which is caused by liver stagnation transforming into fire and disharmony between the liver and stomach.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To develop a systematic strategy to screen hepatoprotective components from TCM using ZJP as a model sample.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A CCl4-induced mouse model of acute liver injury was used for the verification of the hepatoprotective effects of ZJP. UPLC-Q-Exactive Plus Orbitrap MS/MS was used for the identification of the components in mouse serum after intragastric administration of ZJP. The hepatoprotective activities of the components found in mouse serum were tested in primary cultured mouse hepatocytes induced by CCl4.

RESULTS

Nine components with significant hepatoprotective activity including berberine, epiberberine, coptisine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, rutaecarpin, dehydroevodiamine, evocarpine and chlorogenic acid were successfully screened out.

CONCLUSIONS

Our developed strategy has the advantages of high efficiency and low cost, and would provide a powerful tool for screening potential hepatoprotective components from TCM.

Natural compounds target programmed cell death (PCD) signaling mechanism to treat ulcerative colitis: a review

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease characterized by abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, weight loss, and colon shortening. However, UC is difficult to cure due to its high drug resistance rate and easy recurrence. Moreover, long-term inflammation and increased disease severity can lead to the development of colon cancer in some patients. Programmed cell death (PCD) is a gene-regulated cell death process that includes apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis. PCD plays a crucial role in maintaining body homeostasis and the development of organs and tissues. Abnormal PCD signaling is observed in the pathological process of UC, such as activating the apoptosis signaling pathway to promote the progression of UC. Targeting PCD may be a therapeutic strategy, and natural compounds have shown great potential in modulating key targets of PCD to treat UC. For instance, baicalin can regulate cell apoptosis to alleviate inflammatory infiltration and pathological damage. This review focuses on the specific expression of PCD and its interaction with multiple signaling pathways, such as NF-κB, Nrf2, MAPK, JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT, NLRP3, GPX4, Bcl-2, etc., to elucidate the role of natural compounds in targeting PCD for the treatment of UC. This review used (ulcerative colitis) (programmed cell death) and (natural products) as keywords to search the related studies in PubMed and the Web of Science, and CNKI database of the past 10 years. This work retrieved 72 studies (65 from the past 5 years and 7 from the past 10 years), which aims to provide new treatment strategies for UC patients and serves as a foundation for the development of new drugs.

Enhancing apoptosis-mediated anticancer activity of evodiamine through protein-based nanoparticles in breast cancer cells

In the cutting-edge era of developing precision therapeutics, nanoparticles have emerged as a potent drug delivery system. Altering the size of poorly water-soluble drugs to nanoscale could confer change in their physical properties, including enhanced water solubility and bioavailability. Evodiamine (EVO), a natural indolequinone alkaloid extract from Evodia rutaecarpa, has shown several important pharmacological applications, anti-cancer being one of them. Protein-based nano-drug delivery systems have gained the interest of researchers due to their better biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-immunogenicity and non-toxicity. In the present study, EVO encapsulated BSA nanoparticles (ENPs) were synthesized and characterized, which were nanoscale-sized (~ 150 nm), monodispersed, spherical shaped, and showed high entrapment efficiency (~ 86%) and controlled drug release. The in-vitro anti-cancer activity of ENPs on human breast cancer cells was dose- and time-dependent. The apoptotic molecular mechanism investigated using FACS, qRT-PCR, and western blotting analysis, revealed increased expression of p53 and Bax and decreased expression of Bcl-2. Biological studies demonstrated comparatively more efficient and targeted delivery of ENPs than pure EVO. The comprehensive physiochemical characterization and in-vitro validation collectively pinpoint ENPs as a promising avenue for harnessing the therapeutic potential of the natural anti-cancer compound EVO. The findings indicate improved cytotoxicity, positioning ENPs as a propitious strategy for advancing breast cancer treatment.

Evodiamine impairs HIF1A histone lactylation to inhibit Sema3A-mediated angiogenesis and PD-L1 by inducing ferroptosis in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is among the most commonly diagnosed solid cancers in male adults. However, most anti-angiogenic therapies and immunotherapies fail to achieve durable remission in advanced PCa. Integrative analysis indicated that Sema3A was negatively correlated with the pathological malignancy and was involved in angiogenesis, cell adhesion, and immune infiltrates in PCa. Sema3A significantly inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA)-induced colony formation, cell proliferation, and PD-L1 expression in PCa cells. Network pharmacological analysis demonstrated that evodiamine, a natural alkaloid compound derived from Evodiae fructus fruits, might regulate Sema3A, lipid metabolism, and monocarboxylic acid transport signaling of PCa. Evodiamine evidently inhibited PCa cell viability in a time-dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, evodiamine impaired angiogenesis by increasing Sema3A expression, and induced ferroptosis by reducing glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression, which could be reversed by the ferroptosis blocker ferrostatin-1. Lactate treatment increased hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α and PD-L1 expressions while restricting Sema3A expression in PCa cells, which could be reversed by silencing monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) expression. Moreover, evodiamine markedly blocked lactate-induced angiogenesis by restricting histone lactylation and expression of HIF1A in PCa cells, further enhancing Sema3A transcription while inhibiting that of PD-L1. In vivo, evodiamine remarkably inhibited PCa xenograft growth in nude mice, repressing expressions of HIF1α, H3K18la, GPX4, PD-L1, and proliferation, while hindering angiogenesis by increasing Sema3A expression. Therefore, Sema3A represents an essential antineoplastic biomarker, while evodiamine may act as a metabolic-epigenetic modulator, as well as a promising agent in either PCa anti-angiogenic therapy or immunotherapy.

An A-ring substituted evodiamine derivative with potent anticancer activity against human non-small cell lung cancer cells by targeting heat shock protein 70

The heat shock protein (HSP) system is essential for the conformational stability and function of several proteins. Therefore, the development of efficacious HSP-targeting anticancer agents with minimal toxicity is required. We previously demonstrated that evodiamine is an anticancer agent that targets HSP70 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. In this study, we synthesized a series of evodiamine derivatives with improved efficacy and limited toxicity. Among the 14 evodiamine derivatives, EV408 (10-hydroxy-14-methyl-8,13,13b,14-tetrahydroindolo [2',3':3,4]pyrido[2,1-b]quinazolin-5(7H)-one) exhibited the most potent inhibitory effects on viability and colony formation under anchorage-dependent and -independent culture conditions in various human NSCLC cells, including those that are chemoresistant, by inducing apoptosis. In addition, EV408 suppressed the cancer stem-like cell (CSC) population of NSCLC cells and the expression of stemness-associated markers. Mechanistically, EV408 inhibited HSP70 function by directly binding and destabilizing the HSP70 protein. Furthermore, EV408 significantly inhibited the growth of NSCLC cell line tumor xenografts without overt toxicity. Additionally, EV408 had a negligible effect on the viability of normal cells. These results suggest the potential of EV408 as an efficacious HSP70-targeting evodiamine derivative with limited toxicity that inhibits both non-CSC and CSC populations in NSCLC.