A validated HPTLC method for the quantification of podophyllotoxin in Podophyllum hexandrum and etoposide in marketed formulation

Application of eco‐friendly disposable pencil graphite sensor for electrochemical evaluation and determination of podophyllotoxin using in cancer treatment

A sensitive, simple and selective voltammetric method was developed for the quantification of plant‐derived podophyllotoxin, which is included in antineoplastic drugs, using a disposable pencil graphite electrode. Using the square‐wave voltammetry technique, podophyllotoxin gave a very good voltammetric response at +1.24 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) potential (at 0.0 V and after 60 s pre‐concentration) in Britton Robinson (pH 4.0) media. This procedure was used to detection the compound in the concentration range of 12.4–299.5 nM with a limit of detection to 2.62 nM (1.08 μg L−1). The proposed method has been successfully applied to human urine samples.

Ethnopharmacologically important highly subsidized Indian medicinal plants: Systematic review on their traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, quality control, conservation status and future prospective

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

India has an extensive reservoir of traditional wisdom and a diverse range of medicinal plants that enrich its heritage. Plants have actively been used for healthcare practices globally since the time immemorial. Medicinal uses of plants have been well recognized in India, evident from plant species documented in different traditional medicinal systems such as Ayurveda (1400-1800 species), Siddha (500-900 species), Unani (400-700 species), Homeopathy (about 372 species), and Sowa-Rigpa (about 250 species), etc. AIM OF THE STUDY: The primary purpose of this review is to provide systematic updated information on thirteen medicinal plants prioritized by the Indian government (providing75 % subsidy on cultivation cost) based on the availability and market demand of these plants. Updated information regarding the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, quality control, and conservation status of these plants will help in understanding their pharmacological and commercial importance. This will also help in developing new strategies for their conservation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Online databases such as SciFinder, Web of Science, Pubmed, and Google Scholar were used to collect the electronically available literature on targeted thirteen plants. Also, different Indian government official websites such as AYUSH (https://www.ayush.gov.in); NMPB (National Medicinal Plants Board) (https://nmpb.nic.in); e.charak (https://echarak.in) were used for collecting information related to the amount of subsidy, trade and price related information of these plants.

RESULTS

To promote medicinal plant cultivation, the Indian government provides subsidies for cultivating some traditionally important medicinal plants. These plants are divided into three categories according to the subsidy provided to farmers, i.e., 30%, 50%, and 75% of the cost of cultivation. Thirteen medicinal plants which are provided 75% subsidy are Aconitum ferox Wall., Aconitum heterophyllum Wall., Aquilaria agallocha Roxb., Berberis aristata DC., Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari, Nardostachys jatamansi (D.Don) DC., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Benth. ex Kurz, Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth., Podophyllum hexandrum Royle, Pterocarpus santalinus L.f., Santalum Album L., Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipsch., and Swertia chirayita (Roxb.) H.Karst. The literature survey reveals the enormous traditional medicinal importance, wide geographical distribution, diverse range of natural products, and broad spectrum of pharmacological activities of these plants.

CONCLUSION

A comprehensive literature survey revealed that although remarkable progress has been made in isolation, bioactivity evaluation, quality assessment, and conservation, there is still a lot of scope for further scientific interventions. Scientific validation of traditionally claimed medicinal potential is lacking for various bioactivities. Some of the bioactivities are performed just on extracts/fractions, so there is a need for proper phytochemical studies to identify active constituents responsible for the specific bioactivity. Further, quality assessment methods using both targeted and non-targeted tools are required to evaluate the quality of these highly-priced medicinal plants and their adulterants. Ultimately, to encourage the cultivation of these endangered medicinal plant species, it is imperative to implement proper legislation and employ in-situ and ex-situ conservation tools.

Eco-friendly fluorimetric approaches for the simultaneous estimation of the co-administered ternary mixture: etoposide, moxifloxacin and nalbuphine

Antineoplastic drugs, etoposide (ETO), are widely used in leukaemia. A patient with leukaemia has a relative infection with pneumonia treated by fluoroquinolones as moxifloxacin HCL (MOX). Because opioid analgesic as nalbuphine HCL (NAL) does not have a ceiling dose, it is used to manage the distasteful sensory in leukaemia. Consequently, green methods for synchronous spectrofluorimetric quantification of a ternary mixture of ETO, MOX and NAL were developed. The first approach relies simply on the estimation of MOX at 371 nm by conventional synchronous fluorimetric technique (Δλ of 60 nm). The second approach depends on applying the first derivative synchronous fluorimetric technique (Δλ of 60 nm) for simultaneous estimation of ETO and NAL at 257 and 273 nm, respectively. A good linear correlation was obtained in the ranges of 0.04-0.40, 0.10-1.00 and 0.50-5.00 µg ml-1 for MOX, ETO and NAL, respectively. Moreover, the proposed approaches were successfully applied for the estimation of the studied drugs in the pharmaceutical dosage forms. Additionally, the synchronous assessment of ETO, MOX and NAL in the spiked human urine was successfully attained by the facile protein precipitation technique. The mean % recoveries in spiked human urine were 99.49, 98.07 and 98.48 for MOX, ETO and NAL, respectively.

Mass propagation of Juniperus procera Hoechst. Ex Endl. From seedling and screening of bioactive compounds in shoot and callus extract

BACKGROUND

Juniperus procera Hoechst. ex Endl. is a medicinal tree in Saudi Arabia, primarily in the Enemas region, but it is locally threatened due to die-back disease and difficulties regarding seed reproduction (seed dormancy and underdeveloped embryonic anatomy, and germination rate < 40%). Hence, the alternative methods for reproduction of Juniperus procera are really needed for conservation and getting mass propagation for pharmaceutical uses.

RESULTS

In this manuscript, we articulated the successful in vitro shoot multiplication and callus induction of J. procera by using young seedling as explants and detected an important antibacterial and antitumor product. Explants were grown on different types of media with the supplement of different combinations of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) at different concentrations. The best media for shoot multiplication was Woody Plant Media (WPM) supplemented with PGRs (0.5 μM of IAA and 0.5 μM BAP or 0.5 μM IBA and 0.5 μM BAP). Whereas for callus induction and formation Woody Plant Media (WPM) with the addition of PGRs (0.5 μM 2,4-D and 0.5 μM BAP) was better than the Chu Basal Salt Mixture (N6), Gamborg's B-5 Basal Medium (B5), and Murashige and Skoog media. The possibility of multiplication of J. procera in vitro creates significant advantages to overcome the difficulties of seeds dormancy for the reproduction of plants, conservation of trees, and getting mass propagation material for pharmaceutical studies. The shoot and callus extract of J. procera was detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and revealed more than 20 compounds related to secondary metabolites, which contained antibacterial and antitumor agents, such as ferruginol, Retinol, and Quinolone as well as confirmed by Direct Analysis in Real Time, Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (DART-ToF-MS). Podophyllotoxin (PTOX) was detected in callus material by HPLC with sigma standard and confirmed by DART-ToF-MS and UV spectra.

CONCLUSION

We successfully conducted in vitro shoot multiplication and callus induction from J. procera seedlings using WPM and a different combination of PGRs and, detected an important antibacterial and antitumor product such as ferruginol and podophyllotoxin. According to our findings, J. procera has become a new natural source of novel bioactive compounds.

Improving the production of podophyllotoxin in hairy roots of Hyptis suaveolens induced from regenerated plantlets

Ten Hyptis suaveolens hairy root lines were established by infecting nodal explants with K599+pGus-GFP+ and ATCC15834+pTDT strains from Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Genetic transformation was confirmed by epifluorescence and plagiotropic hairy root growth in absence of growth regulators. Cytotoxicity was determined using the sulforhodamine B method, and the production of podophyllotoxin (PTOX) was measured by high performance thin layer chromatography scanning. Through these methodologies, HsTD10 was identified as the hairy root line with the highest cytotoxicity and PTOX production, which was corroborated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and micrOTOF-Q II. A suspension culture of HsTD10 was established in which PTOX and carbohydrate consumption during growth kinetics were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Procedures to increase the production and retrieval of PTOX in the HsTD10 line included selection of culture medium, addition of thiamine, and modification of the PTOX extraction method. The best combination of these variables was MS medium at 75% of its components with the addition of 2 mg L^-1 of thiamine, extraction with methanol-dichloromethane, and sonication at 40 ± 5°C. During kinetics, growth-associated PTOX accumulation was observed. The specific growth rate (μ) was 0.11 d^-1. The highest concentration of PTOX obtained with HsTD10 (5.6 mg g^-1 DW) was 100 times higher than that reported for roots of wild plants and 56 times higher than that for in vitro nontransformed roots of H. suaveolens.

Validated HPTLC Method for Dihydrokaempferol-4'-O-glucopyranoside Quantitative Determination in Alcea Species

Dihydrokaempferol-4'-O-glucopyranoside, a flavanonol glucoside, is the major compound in the flower of Alcea rosea L. which possesses significant antioxidant and anticancer activity against HepG-2 cell line and thus can be considered a marker compound for A. rosea L. We attempted to establish a new simple, validated high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for the quantitation of dihydrokaempferol-4'-O-glucopyranoside to help in the standardization of the hydroalcoholic extracts of A. rosea L. flowers and to evaluate the best method for its extraction from the plant material. The separation was carried out on an HPTLC aluminum plate pre-coated with silica gel 60F-254, eluted with ethyl acetate-methanol-water-acetic acid (30:5:4:0.15 v/v). Densitometric scanning was performed using a Camag TLC scanner III, at 295 nm. A linear relationship was obtained between the concentrations (0.9-3.6 mg) and peak areas with the correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9971 ± 0.0002. The percentage relative standard deviations of intra-day and inter-day precisions were 0.22-1.45 and 0.49-1.66, respectively. The percentage w/w of dihydrokaempferol-4'-O-glucopyranoside in the flowers of A. rosea L. after maceration and sonication for 15 min was found to be 0.733 g/100 g and 0.928 g/100 g, respectively.