Chemical and Biological Study of Flueggea virosa Native to Saudi Arabia

Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of Flueggea virosa (Phyllanthaceae)

Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle, an evergreen shrub and small tree in the Phyllanthaceae family, holds significant potential in garden landscaping and pharmacological applications. However, the lack of genomic data has hindered further scientific understanding of its horticultural and medicinal values. In this study, we have assembled a haplotype-resolved genome of F. virosa for the first time. The two haploid genomes, named haplotype A genome and haplotype B genome, are 487.33 Mb and 477.53 Mb in size, respectively, with contig N50 lengths of 31.45 Mb and 32.81 Mb. More than 99% of the assembled sequences were anchored to 13 pairs of pseudo-chromosomes. Furthermore, 21,587 and 21,533 protein-coding genes were predicted in haplotype A and haplotype B genomes, respectively. The availability of this chromosome-level genome fills the gap in genomic data for F. virosa and provides valuable resources for molecular studies of this species, supporting future research on speciation, functional genomics, and comparative genomics within the Phyllanthaceae family.

In-vitro Cytotoxicity Investigations for Phytoconstituents of Saudi Medicinal Plants With Putative Ocular Effects

BACKGROUND

Metastatic secondary ocular tumors spread from systemic malignancies, including breast cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of extracts from 5 medicinal plants native to Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

For preliminary activity screening, cytotoxicity using the MTT assay and selectivity index determinations were made for medicinal plant extracts against various cancer cell-lines. The most promising extract was subjected to GC-MS analysis to determine the phytochemical composition. Clonogenic assays were performed using the most promising extract to confirm the initial results. Finally, western blot analysis was used to determine the modulation in expression of survivin and P27 suppressor genes in the human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) cell-line to understand the potential mechanistic properties of the active plant extract.

RESULTS

The 5 plant extracts showed various cytotoxic activity levels using IC50. The most active extract was found to be the leaves of Capparis spinosa L. (BEP-07 extract) against the MCF7 breast cancer cell-line (IC50 = 3.61 ± 0.99 μg/ml) and selectivity index of 1.17 compared to the normal human fetal lung fibroblast (MRC5) cells. BEP-07 extract showed a dose dependent clonogenic effect against the MCF7 colonies which was comparable with the effect of doxorubicin. BEP-07 extract caused a significant decrease of survivin and increase in P27 expression compared to control GAPDH at its highest dose (14 µg/ml). The GC-MS chromatogram of Capparis spinosa L. (BEP-07 extract) revealed the existence of 145 compounds, belonging to the diverse classes of phytoconstituents. Fatty acids and their derivatives represent 15.4%, whilst octadecanoic acid, 2,3-dihydroxypropyl ester was the principal component (7.9%) detected.

CONCLUSION

Leaves of Capparis spinosa L. (BEP-07 extract) exhibited a significant cytotoxic effect particularly against breast cancer cells. It exhibited this effect through survivin inhibition and via P27 upregulation. The detected phytoconstituents in the plant extract might be involved in tested cytotoxic activity, while further investigations are required to complete the drug candidate profile.

Phytochemical Characterization and In Vitro Evaluation of the Anti-Sickle Cell Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts of Two Medicinal Plants from Niger: Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle and Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth

Sickle cell anaemia is a hereditary blood disorder that attacks the red blood cells and deforms them, giving them a sickle shape. Sickle cell anaemia is a serious health problem in the West African country of Niger. Moreover, the cost associated with medical care is very high. The main objective of this study is to contribute to the valorisation of Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle (aerial part), Kigelia africana (lam), and Benth (leaves) from Niger were used to treat sickle cell disease using aqueous and ethanolic extracts of phytochemical compounds. To achieve this objective, the evaluation of anti-sickle cell activity was carried out in vitro using the Emmel technique through the normalisation rate. The analyses showed that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts contained various classes of bioactive substances known for their valuable biological activities. The chemical composition rich in bioactive compounds led to very good results in biological assays. Thus, from a dose of 0.05 mg/mL, the ethanolic extracts of the two plants normalised up to 75% of the sickle cells. As the rate of normalisation was shown to be dose-dependent, at a dose of 10 mg/mL, the ethanolic extracts showed the best rates of sickle cell normalisation, with 95% for F. virosa and 93% for K. africana. Phytochemical screening was used to correlate the secondary metabolite and anti-sickle cell activities of the extracts from the two plants. These results may justify the use of these two species in traditional medicine for the treatment of sickle cell disease in Niger. The inclusion of these plants in phytomedicines could provide significant relief to people suffering from sickle cell disease.

Antimalarial Plants Used across Kenyan Communities

Malaria is one of the serious health problems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Its treatment has been met with chronic failure due to pathogenic resistance to the currently available drugs. This review attempts to compile phytotherapeutical information on antimalarial plants in Kenya based on electronic data. A comprehensive web search was conducted in multidisciplinary databases, and a total of 286 plant species from 75 families, distributed among 192 genera, were retrieved. Globally, about 139 (48.6%) of the species have been investigated for antiplasmodial (18%) or antimalarial activities (97.1%) with promising results. However, there is no record on the antimalarial activity of about 51.4% of the species used although they could be potential sources of antimalarial remedies. Analysis of ethnomedicinal recipes indicated that mainly leaves (27.7%) and roots (19.4%) of shrubs (33.2%), trees (30.1%), and herbs (29.7%) are used for preparation of antimalarial decoctions (70.5%) and infusions (5.4%) in Kenya. The study highlighted a rich diversity of indigenous antimalarial plants with equally divergent herbal remedy preparation and use pattern. Further research is required to validate the therapeutic potential of antimalarial compounds from the unstudied claimed species. Although some species were investigated for their antimalarial efficacies, their toxicity and safety aspects need to be further investigated.

Development and validation of UPLC-PDA method for concurrent analysis of bergenin and menisdaurin in aerial parts of Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.)

Bergenin and menisdaurin are biologically active components which are found in plant Flueggea virosa (Phyllanthaceae). Bergenin has pharmacological actions such as chemopreventive and antihepatotoxic while menisdaurin has an anti-viral activity which needs its evaluation by an analytical method (UPLC-PDA method) that can be applied to the quality control of pharmaceutical preparations. The developed UPLC-PDA method was applied for identification and quantification of standards bergenin and menisdaurin in the methanol extract of F. virosa (FVME). The analysis was carried out using Eclipse C18 (4.6 × 100 mm, 3.5 µm) UPLC column. The optimized chromatographic condition was achieved at 0.16 mL/min flow rate using gradient system with acetonitrile and water as mobile phase. Both biomarkers were measured at λ_max 235 nm in PDA detector at ambient temperature. The developed method furnished sharp and intense peaks of menisdaurin and bergenin at Rt = 2.723 and 3.068 min, respectively along with r2 > 0.99 for both. The recoveries of bergenin and menisdaurin were found in the range of 99.37–101.49% and 98.20–100.08%, respectively. With other validation data, including precision, specificity, accuracy, and robustness, this method demonstrated excellent reliability and sensitivity. The separation parameters i.e. retention, separation, and resolution factors for resolved standards (bergenin and menisdaurin) were >1, which showed good separation. The quantity of bergenin and menisdaurin in the FVME sample was found as 15.16 and 3.28% w/w, respectively. The developed UPLC-PDA method could be conveniently adopted for the routine quality control analysis.

Medicinal plants used for management of malaria among the Luhya community of Kakamega East sub-County, Kenya

BACKGROUND

Malaria remains a major health problem worldwide especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, 80% of the population is at risk of contracting the disease. Pregnant mothers and children under five years are the most affected by this disease. Antimalarial drug resistance poses a major threat in the fight against malaria necessitating continuous search for new antimalarial drugs. Due to inadequate and inaccessible health facilities, majority of people living in rural communities heavily depend on traditional medicine which involves the use of medicinal plants for the management of malaria. Most of these indigenous knowledge is undocumented and risks being lost yet such information could be useful in the search of new antimalarial agents.

AIM OF STUDY

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the Luhya community of Kakamega East sub-County, a malaria epidemic region, with the aim of documenting the plants used in the management of malaria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect information from 21 informants who included traditional medicine practitioners and other caregivers who had experience in use of plants in management of malaria. These were drawn from 4 villages located in Kakamega East sub-county, within Kakamega County based on their differences in topography. Information recorded included plant names, parts used, mode of preparation and administration and the sources of plant materials. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and google scholar to identify the reported traditional uses of these plants and studied antiplasmodial activities.

RESULTS

In this study, 57% of the informants were aged above 50 years and a total of 61% had either no formal education or had only attained primary school education. A total of 42 plant species belonging to 24 families were identified. Most plants used in the management of malaria in this community belonged to Lamiaceae (18%), Leguminosae (9%) and Compositae (9%) plant families. Plants mostly used included Melia azedarach L, Aloe spp, Ajuga integrifolia Buch. Ham, Vernonia amygdalina Del., Rotheca myricoides (Hochst.) Steane and Mabb, Fuerstia africana T.C.E.Fr., Zanthoxylum gilletii (De Wild.) P.G.Waterman and Leucas calostachys Oliv. Rumex steudelii Hochst.ex A. Rich and Phyllanthus sepialis Müll. Arg are reported for the first time in the management of malaria. Although Clerodendrum johnstonii Oliv. (Jeruto et al., 2011) and Physalis peruviana L.(Ramadan et al., 2015) are reported in other studies for management of malaria, no studies have been carried out to demonstrate their antiplasmodial activity. The plant parts mostly used were the leaves (36%) and stem barks (26%). Majority of these plants were prepared as decoctions by boiling and allowed to cool before administration (66%) while infusions accounted for 28% of the preparations. The literature mined supports the use of these plants for the management of malaria since most of them have demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo antiplasmodial activities.

CONCLUSION

Most of the reported plant species in this study have been investigated for antiplasmodial activity and are in agreement with the ethnomedical use. Two (2) plants are reported for the first time in the management of malaria. There is need for documentation and preservation of the rich ethnomedical knowledge within this community given that most of the practitioners are advanced in age and less educated. There is also the danger of over-exploitation of plant species as most of them are obtained from the wild, mainly Kakamega forest. Therefore, there is need for determining the economically and medicinally important plants in this community and planning for their preservation.