A quest for staunch effects of flavonoids: Utopian protection against hepatic ailments

Optimization and Spectrum-Effect Analysis of Ultrasonically Extracted Antioxidant Flavonoids from Persicae Ramulus

The objectives of this study were to optimize the ultrasonic-assisted flavonoid extraction process from PR and to establish fingerprints in order to analyze the spectrum-effect relationship of antioxidant activity. The ultrasonic-assisted flavonoid extraction process from PR was optimized using RSM, and the fingerprints of twenty-eight batches of flavonoids from PR were established using UHPLC. Meanwhile, the in vitro antioxidant activity of PR was evaluated in DPPH and ABTS free radical-scavenging experiments. Then, the peaks of the effective antioxidant components were screened using the spectrum-effect relationships. The results show that the optimal extraction yield of flavonoids from PR was 3.24 ± 0.01 mg/g when using 53% ethanol, a 1:26 (g/mL) solid-liquid ratio, and 60 min of ultrasonic extraction. Additionally, the clearance of two antioxidant indices by the flavonoids extracted from PR had different degrees of correlation and showed concentration dependence. Simultaneously, the similarity of the UHPLC fingerprints of twenty-eight batches of PR samples ranged from 0.801 to 0.949, and four characteristic peaks, namely peaks 4, 12, 21, and 24, were screened as the peaks of the components responsible for the antioxidant effect of PR using a GRA, a Pearson correlation analysis, and a PLS-DA. In this study, characteristic peaks of the antioxidant effects of PR were screened in an investigation of the spectrum-effect relationship to provide a scientific basis for the study of pharmacodynamic substances and the elucidation of the mechanism of action of the antioxidant effect of PR.

Flavonoid Myricetin as Potent Anticancer Agent: A Possibility towards Development of Potential Anticancer Nutraceuticals

Good nutrition plays a crucial role in maintaining a balanced lifestyle. The beneficial effects of nutrition have been found to counteract nutritional disturbances with the expanded use of nutraceuticals to treat and manage cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and other developmental defects over the last decade. Flavonoids are found abundantly in plant-derived foods such as fruits, vegetables, tea, cocoa, and wine. Fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals like flavonoids, phenolics, alkaloids, saponins, and terpenoids. Flavonoids can act as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-microbial (antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral) antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-diarrheal agents. Flavonoids are also reported to upregulate apoptotic activity in several cancers such as hepatic, pancreatic, breast, esophageal, and colon. Myricetin is a flavonol which is naturally present in fruits and vegetables and has shown possible nutraceutical value. Myricetin has been portrayed as a potent nutraceutical that may protect against cancer. The focus of the present review is to present an updated account of studies demonstrating the anticancer potential of myricetin and the molecular mechanisms involved therein. A better understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) underlying its anticancer activity would eventually help in its development as a novel anticancer nutraceutical having minimal side effects.

An Up-to-Date Review on Citrus Flavonoids: Chemistry and Benefits in Health and Diseases

Flavonoids, the main class of polyphenols, are characterized by the presence of 2-phenyl-benzo-pyrane nucleus. They are found in rich quantities in citrus fruits. Citrus flavonoids are classified into flavanones, flavones, flavonols, polymethoxyflavones and anthocyanins (found only in blood oranges). Flavanones are the most abundant flavonoids in citrus fruits. In many situations, there are structure-function relationships. Due to their especial structures and presence of many hydroxyls, polymethoxies and glycoside moiety, the flavonoids have an array of multiple biological and pharmacological activities. This article provides an updated overview of the differences in chemical structures of the classes and members of citrus flavonoids and their benefits in health and diseases. The review article also sheds light on the mechanisms of actions of citrus flavonoids in the treatment of different diseases, including arthritis, diabetes mellitus, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders as well as liver, kidney and heart diseases. The accumulated and updated knowledge in this review may provide useful information and ideas in the discovery of new strategies for the use of citrus flavonoids in the protection, prevention and therapy of diseases.

Metabolic profiling and in vivo hepatoprotective activity of Malpighia glabra L. leaves

Although Malpighia glabra Linn. fruits are well studied for their nutritional and medicinal prominence; little attention has been given to the leaves. Our study intends to investigate the leaves metabolic profile using Q-TOF LC/MS/MS (Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight-Liquid-Chromatography-Mass-Spectrometry), and to explore their in vivo hepatoprotective activity in rats using CCL₄ -induced hepatic damage model and silymarin as standard. Fifty metabolites were characterized, belonging to different classes; coumarins (capensine, daphnoretin, and scopoletin), flavonoids (mainly quercetin and apigenin glycosides), phenolic acids (cinnamic acid and quinic acid derivatives) and amino acids (adenosine, homoisoleucine, and phenylalanine).These compounds are detected in the leaves for the first time. The hepatoprotective activity at three doses (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg) was investigated. The dose of 800 mg/Kg showed the highest hepatoprotective effect as it reduced the elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, NO, and TNF-α liver content by 26, 24, 23, and 42%, respectively, it also remarkably increased the serum level of catalase by 102%. All the tested doses showed higher reduction in serum level of TNF-α compared to silymarin which suggests their strong anti-inflammatory potential. M. glabra leaves are revealed to be a rich source of secondary metabolites and proved to possess significant hepatoprotective potential. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The performed analyses in this study shows the richness of Malpighia glabra Linn. leaves in a plethora of beneficial and safe phytochemicals which are well-known to have a pivotal role in protection against different diseases including liver disorders. The carried-out investigations were done using Q-TOF LC/MS/MS analysis which is a reliable technique for the determination, characterization and identification of bioactive metabolites; in addition to evaluation of the hepatoprotective effect of the leaves. Therefore, this study may emphasize that Malpighia glabra Linn. leaves may have the same nutritional and medicinal importance as its fruits, and they could be incorporated into pharmaceuticals and foods instead of discarding them.

Coupling Ultrasound with Heat-Reflux to Improve the Extraction of Quercetin, Kaempferol, Ginkgetin and Sciadopitysin from Mairei Yew Leaves

The coupling of ultrasound and heat–reflux extraction (UHRE) was developed for separation for quercetin (QU), kaempferol (KA), ginkgetin (GI) and sciadopitysin (SC) from Mairei Yew leaves. The Box–Behnken design was used to optimize the UHRE conditions for obtaining the maximum yield of flavonoids. The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: boiling 80% methanol (V/V) for extraction solvent, 20 min for the extraction time, 200 W for the ultrasonic power and 26 mL/g for the liquid–solid ratio. By UHRE, the yields of QU, KA, GI and SC were, respectively, 0.109, 0.406, 0.031 and 0.355 mg/g, and total yield of four flavonoids was 0.901 mg/g, which were, respectively, 1.25-fold and 1.23-fold higher than those by using ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) and heating reflux extraction (HRE). Moreover, the extraction time for the equilibrium yields of flavonoids using UHRE was 83.3% and 27.8%, respectively, less than the corresponding time using UAE and HRE. Compared with HRE and UAE, UHRE showed the increase of cell disruption degree as observed by scanning electron microscopy, which may be the reason for high yield and rapid extraction of target compounds.

Comparison of Salt Tolerance in Soja Based on Metabolomics of Seedling Roots

Soybean is an important economic crop that is continually threatened by abiotic stresses, especially salt stress. Wild soybean is an important germplasm resource for the breeding of cultivated soybean. The root system plays a very important role in plant salt tolerance. To explore the salt tolerance-related mechanisms among Soja, we have demonstrated the seedling roots' growth and metabolomics in wild soybean, semi-wild soybean, and cultivated soybean under two types of salt stress by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We characterized 47 kinds of differential metabolites under neutral salt stress, and isoleucine, serine, l-allothreonine, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, asparagines, aspartic acid, pentadecanoic acid, lignoceric acid, oleic acid, galactose, tagatose, d-arabitol, dihydroxyacetone, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, and glucuronic acid increased significantly in the roots of wild soybean seedlings. However, these metabolites were suppressed in semi-wild and cultivated soybeans. Amino acid, fatty acid, sugars, and organic acid synthesis and the secondary metabolism of antioxidants increased significantly in the roots of wild soybean seedling. Under alkaline salt stress, wild soybean contained significantly higher amounts of proline, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, l-allothreonine, isoleucine, serine, alanine, arachidic acid, oleic acid, cis-gondoic acid, fumaric acid, l-malic acid, citric acid, malonic acid, gluconic acid, 5-methoxytryptamine, salicylic acid, and fluorene than semi-wild and cultivated soybeans. Our study demonstrated that carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and receiver operating characteristics (especially the metabolism of phenolic substances) of the seedling roots were important to resisting salt stress and showed a regular decreasing trend from wild soybean to cultivated soybean. The metabolomics's changes were critical factors in the evolution of salt tolerance among Soja. This study provides new insights into salt tolerance in soybean, and presents quantitative parameters for a salt tolerant soybean breeding system, which is conducive to the rational use and protection of wild soybean resources.

Review of anticancer mechanisms of isoquercitin

This review was based on a literature search of PubMed and Scielo databases using the keywords “quercetin, rutin, isoquercitrin, isoquercitin (IQ), quercetin-3-glucoside, bioavailability, flavonols and favonoids, and cancer” and combinations of all the words. We collected relevant scientific publications from 1990 to 2015 about the absorption, bioavailability, chemoprevention activity, and treatment effects as well as the underlying anticancer mechanisms of isoquercitin. Flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic compounds widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom. The subclass of flavonols receives special attention owing to their health benefits. The main components of this class are quercetin, rutin, and IQ, which is a flavonoid and although mostly found as a glycoside, is an aglycone (lacks a glycoside side chain). This compound presents similar therapeutic profiles to quercetin but with superior bioavailability, resulting in increased efficacy compared to the aglycone form. IQ has therapeutic applications owing to its wide range of pharmacological effects including antioxidant, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, and anti-diabetic. The protective effects of IQ in cancer may be due to actions on lipid peroxidation. In addition, the antitumor effect of IQ and its underlying mechanism are related to interactions with Wnt signaling pathway, mixed-lineage protein kinase 3, mitogen-activated protein kinase, apoptotic pathways, as well proinflammatory protein signaling. This review contributed to clarifying the mechanisms of absorption, metabolism, and actions of IQ and isoquercitrin in cancer.