In vivo potential hypoglycemic and in vitro vasorelaxant effects of Cecropia glaziovii standardized extracts

Pharmacognostic Evaluation of Ten Species of Medicinal Importance of Cecropia: Current Knowledge and Therapeutic Perspectives

This work covers a systematic review of literature about the genus Cecropia from 1978 to 2020, emphasizing the analysis of 10 of the most relevant species and their associated biological activities. Cecropia is a neotropical genus, which comprises about 61 native species in the American continent where it is known to be part of the traditional medicine of numerous countries. Secondary metabolites described for this genus showed an elevated structural and functional diversity, where polyphenols have been the most abundant. Based on this diversity, Cecropia phytochemicals represent an important source of potential therapeutic agents yet to be exploited. This review also highlights the effectiveness of combining chemometrics and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry as a novel approach to successfully single out Cecropia species phytochemicals. While the medicinal use of Cecropia species is officially recognized in National Pharmacopoeias and Formularies of several Latin American countries, it is important to recognize that these phytomedicines are complex mixtures requiring a thorough understanding of their chemical composition and their correlation with biological activities to guarantee their quality, safety, and efficacy.

In vivo and in vitro toxicological evaluations of aqueous extract from Cecropia pachystachya leaves

leaves are popularly used to treat asthma and diabetes. Despite the widespread consumption of this plant, there are few scientific studies regarding its toxicological potential. In order to conduct a thorough study concerning the potential adverse effects, the aim of this study was to assess acute and subacute toxicity tests of crude aqueous extract from C. pachystachya leaves (CAE-Cp) using in vivomodel, as well as in vitro cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and antioxidant activity. In addition, genotoxicity, and cytotoxicity of chlorogenic acid (CGA) and cytotoxicity of isoorientin (ISOO) were also evaluated. The antioxidant activity was verified by DPPH, cytotoxicity using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and genotoxicity by comet assay on V79 cells. The phytochemical analysis of CAE-Cp detected flavonoids and tannins, CGA and ISOO as the major compounds utilizing HPLC. The total flavonoid content (6.52 mg/g EQ) and antioxidant activity (EC₅₀ = 62.15 µg/ml) of CAE-Cp were determined. In vitro evaluations with CAE-Cp showed genotoxic effects at 0.31 to 2.5 mg/ml and an expressive cytotoxicity on HT-29 (IC₅₀ = 4.43 µg/ml) cells. CGA was genotoxic against V79 cells at 0.07 mg/ml and cytotoxic against to HT-29 (IC₅₀ = 71.70 µg/ml), OVCAR-3 (IC₅₀ = 80.07 µg/ml), MCF-7 (IC₅₀ = 45.58 µg/ml) and, NCI-H460 (IC₅₀ = 71.89 µg/ml) cancer cell lines. Wistar rats treated with a single dose (2,000 mg/kg) CAE-Cp decreased hemoglobin levels after 14 days, although no significant toxicity was observed in animals after 28 days. In view of the in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity detected, further studies are necessary to establish the safe use of CAE-Cp.

Medicinal plants with concomitant anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive effects as potential sources of dual acting therapies against diabetes and hypertension: A review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Diabetes and hypertension are pathophysiologically related diseases that co-exist with a wider complex of metabolic diseases having similar set of risk factors. There are numerous ethnopharmacological evidences on the anti-diabetic and/or anti-hypertensive properties of medicinal plants from various parts of the world, which are used as therapies to concomitantly manage diabetes and hypertension.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

This article reviewed findings on medicinal plants with both anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive effects reported in same experimental study to facilitate the development of dual-acting therapies against diabetes and hypertension.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A literature search was carried out on different scientific search engines including, but not limited to "PubMed", "Google Scholar", "Scopus" and ScienceDirect to identify published data in which plants in same experimental studies were reported to possess both anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hypertensive effects. Subsequently, the anti-diabetic/anti-hypertensive potency ratio (ψ) of the medicinal plants was computed.

RESULTS

Sixty-four studies with 102 plant species matched the selection criteria. Members of the Fabaceae family were the most investigated plants, while the ψ greatly varied across the plants, with only 11 plants having a ψ ≃ 1. Withania somnifera Dunal was the only plant reported to show blood glucose-lowering and diuretic effects in humans, comparable to daonil. Caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, caftaric acid, cichoric acid, verbascoside, leucosceptoside A, isoacteoside, fucoxanthin and nicotinamide were the reported dual acting anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive compounds identified and/or isolated in the plants.

CONCLUSIONS

This review suggests that medicinal plants possess varied therapeutic dynamics against hypertension and diabetes that could be exploited for the discovery of therapeutic preparation(s) or agent(s) for treating the two diseases.

Association of PLGA Microspheres to Carrier Pellets by Fluid Bed Coating: A Novel Approach towards Improving the Flowability of Microparticles

Micro- and nanoparticles have been vastly studied due to their biopharmaceutical advantages. However, these particles generally display very weak packing and poor mechanical properties. Hereby, a new methodology is proposed to associate poorly flowing particles to macrostructures targeting the improvement of flowability and redispersibility of the particles. Cecropia glaziovii-loaded PLGA microspheres (4.59 ± 0.04 μm) were associated with carrier pellets by film coating in a top-spray fluid bed equipment. Optimal conditions were determined employing a IV-Optimal factorial design and RGB image analysis as 1% (w/v) Kollicoat® Protect as coating polymer (2:1 weight ratio of coating suspension to carrier pellets), containing 5 mg/mL microspheres (loading of 28.07 ± 1.01 mg/g). The method led to an improvement of the overall flowability. No relevant molecular interactions between PLGA microspheres and polymers were found. Microspheres detached rapidly from the surface of the pellets, without agglomeration, when exposed to hydrodynamic forces. In vitro release profiles, prior to and after fluid bed coating, showed no relevant changes in drug release rate and extent. The methodology developed is suitable for further applications when an improvement on the flow properties and redispersibility of the product is desired. We showed an easy-to-implement methodology that can be executed without significant increase in costs.