Chemical constituents of the Piper crocatum leaves and their chemotaxonomic significance

Anti-Infection of Oral Microorganisms from Herbal Medicine of Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav

The WHO Global Status Report on Oral Health 2022 reveals that oral diseases caused by infection with oral pathogenic microorganisms affect nearly 3.5 billion people worldwide. Oral health problems are caused by the presence of S. mutans, S. sanguinis, E. faecalis and C. albicans in the oral cavity. Synthetic anti-infective drugs have been widely used to treat oral infections, but have been reported to cause side effects and resistance. Various strategies have been implemented to overcome this problem. Synthetic anti-infective drugs have been widely used to treat oral infections, but they have been reported to cause side effects and resistance. Therefore, it is important to look for safe anti-infective alternatives. Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies suggest that Red Betel leaf (Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav) could be a potential source of oral anti-infectives. This review aims to discuss the pathogenesis mechanism of several microorganisms that play an important role in causing health problems, the mechanism of action of synthetic oral anti-infective drugs in inhibiting microbial growth in the oral cavity, and the potential of red betel leaf (Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav) as an herbal oral anti-infective drug. This study emphasises the importance of researching natural components as an alternative treatment for oral infections that is more effective and can meet global needs.

Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Testing of Golden Rice Cookies With Piper Crocatum Active Extract for Preventing Foot Ulcers in Patients With Diabetes: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) present a formidable challenge to both patients and health care systems. DFUs significantly reduce the quality of life for patients, prolong hospital stays, and are the cause of approximately 70,000 lower limb amputations across the globe annually. Prevention of DFUs primarily involves the optimization of blood sugar levels and the effective management of complications, particularly peripheral neuropathy. Golden Rice has been proven to lower blood sugar levels due to its beta-carotene content, and Piper crocatum (P. crocatum) has been found to be effective in reducing the risk factors of DFUs through biomolecular regulation because of its polyphenol content.

OBJECTIVE

The principal objective of this study is to identify the efficacy of P. crocatum-enriched cookies, with Golden Rice as their primary ingredient, in preventing DFUs. The evaluation will center on their impact on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a pivotal factor in the development of DFUs.

METHODS

This study is an experimental clinical research that follows the randomized controlled trial method and uses a single-blind design. The participants in the study are outpatients from primary health centers in Makassar, Indonesia, who have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. The sample for the study will be randomly selected and subsequently categorized into 2 groups: the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group consumes P. crocatum-enriched Golden Rice cookies, while the control group receives cookies without these additives. The participants from both groups will consume their respective cookies (packaged identically) twice a day for 14 days. The cookies will be prepared according to a modified recipe with an emphasis on low glucose content, resulting in 51 calories per cookie, comprising 1% carbohydrates, 6% fat, 4% cholesterol, and 4% fiber, excluding gluten, sugar, and salt. They will be baked at 158°C for 20 minutes. The process involves the addition of 20% Golden Rice and 10% P. crocatum ethanol extract, both prepared via maceration with 96% ethanol. The dependent variable in this study is the expression of gelatinases matrix metalloproteinase, to be assessed at 2 distinct time points-preintervention (pretest) and postintervention (posttest)-with the evaluation conducted through the western blotting method.

RESULTS

The recruitment and testing phase started in January 2024. The study is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2024. Data analysis will commence in April 2024, and the publication of the results is anticipated in the same year (2024). The study will report on the changes in primary data, encompassing gelatinases matrix metalloproteinase, as well as secondary data, including the ankle-brachial index, neuropathy score, and random blood glucose level.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this trial are expected to significantly impact the selection of strategies by health care practitioners to enhance diabetes self-management, particularly in the domain of therapeutic snacking, for patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Thai Clinical Trials Registry TCTR20230502001; https://www.thaiclinicaltrials.org/show/TCTR20230502001.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/49940.

Testing the role of local plant chemical diversity on plant-herbivore interactions and plant species coexistence

Accumulating evidence suggests that herbivorous insects influence local composition and richness of Neotropical plant species, particularly in species-rich genera. Species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and chemical diversity all influence the ability of insect herbivores to find and utilize their hosts. The relative impact of these components of diversity on species coexistence and plant-herbivore interactions is not well understood. We constructed 60 local communities of up to 13 species of Piper (Piperaceae) in native, mature forest at a lowland wet forest location in Costa Rica. Species composition of each community was chosen such that species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and GCMS-based chemical diversity were varied independently among communities. We predicted that chemical diversity would most strongly affect the communities across time, with smaller effects of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity. Thirteen months after the experimental planting, we assessed survivorship of each cutting, measured total leaf area loss of the survivors, leaf area loss to generalist and specialist herbivorous insect species, and local extinction of species. Generalist and specialist herbivory decreased with increasing levels of species richness and phylogenetic diversity, respectively. Surprisingly, there was no independent effect of chemical diversity on any of the three measures of herbivore damage. Nevertheless, plots with a higher chemical and phylogenetic diversity showed decreased plant mortality and local species extinction. Overall, our results suggest that both chemical and phylogenetic similarity are important factors in the assembly and maintenance of tropical plant communities. The fact that chemical diversity influences plant mortality suggests that leaf herbivores, and possibly other plant natural enemies, could increase plant diversity via selective mortality of similar chemotypes.

Phytochemical Profile of Antibacterial Agents from Red Betel Leaf (Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav) against Bacteria in Dental Caries

Based on data from The Global Burden of Disease Study in 2016, dental and oral health problems, especially dental caries, are a disease experienced by almost half of the world’s population (3.58 billion people). One of the main causes of dental caries is the pathogenesis of Streptococcus mutans. Prevention can be achieved by controlling S. mutans using an antibacterial agent. The most commonly used antibacterial for the treatment of dental caries is chlorhexidine. However, long-term use of chlorhexidine has been reported to cause resistance and some side effects. Therefore, the discovery of a natural antibacterial agent is an urgent need. A natural antibacterial agent that can be used are herbal medicines derived from medicinal plants. Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav has the potential to be used as a natural antibacterial agent for treating dental and oral health problems. Several studies reported that the leaves of P. crocatum Ruiz and Pav contain secondary metabolites such as essential oils, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, tannins, and phenolic compounds that are active against S. mutans. This review summarizes some information about P. crocatum Ruiz and Pav, various isolation methods, bioactivity, S. mutans bacteria that cause dental caries, biofilm formation mechanism, antibacterial properties, and the antibacterial mechanism of secondary metabolites in P. crocatum Ruiz and Pav.

Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav. ameliorates wound healing through p53, E-cadherin and SOD1 pathways on wounded hyperglycemia fibroblasts

INTRODUCTION

Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav (P. crocatum) has been reported to accelerate the diabetic wound healing process empirically. Some studies showed the benefits of P. crocatum in treating various diseases but its mechanisms in diabetic wound healing have never been reported. In the present study we investigated the diabetic wound healing activity of the active fraction of P. crocatum on wounded hyperglycemia fibroblasts (wHFs).

METHODS

Bioassay-guided fractionation was performed to get the most active fraction. The selected active fraction was applied to wHFs within 72 h incubation. Mimicking a diabetic condition was done using basal glucose media containing an additional 17 mMol/L D-glucose. A wound was simulated via the scratch assay. The collagen deposition was measured using Picro-Sirius Red and wound closure was measured using scratch wound assay. Underlying mechanisms through p53, αSMA, SOD1 and E-cadherin were measured using western blotting.

RESULTS

We reported that FIV is the most active fraction of P. crocatum. We confirmed that FIV \(7.81 µg/ml, 15.62 µg/ml, 31.25 µg/ml, 62.5 µg/ml, and 125 µg/ml) induced the collagen deposition and wound closure of wHFs. Furthermore, FIV treatment (7.81 µg/ml, 15.62 µg/ml, 31.25 µg/ml) down-regulated the protein expression level of p53 and up-regulated the protein expression levels of αSMA, E-cadherin, and SOD1.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that ameliorating collagen deposition and wound closure through protein regulation of p53, αSMA, E-cadherin, and SOD1 are some of the mechanisms by which FIV of P. crocatum is involved in diabetic wound healing therapy.

Metabolomics-Driven Discovery of an Introduced Species and Two Malaysian Piper betle L. Variants

The differences in pungency of “sirih” imply the probable occurrence of several variants of Piper betle L. in Malaysia. However, the metabolite profiles underlying the pungency of the different variants remain a subject of further research. The differences in metabolite profiles of selected Malaysian P. betle variants were thus investigated; specifically, the leaf aqueous methanolic extracts and essential oils were analyzed via ¹H-NMR and GC-MS metabolomics, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the ¹H-NMR spectral data showed quantitative differences in the metabolite profiles of “sirih melayu” and “sirih india” and revealed an ambiguous group of samples with low acetic acid content, which was identified as Piper rubro-venosum hort. ex Rodigas based on DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. The finding was supported by PCA of two GC-MS datasets of P. betle samples obtained from several states in Peninsular Malaysia, which displayed clustering of the samples into “sirih melayu” and “sirih india” groups. Higher abundance of chavicol acetate was consistently found to be characteristic of “sirih melayu”. The present research has provided preliminary evidence supporting the notion of occurrence of two P. betle variants in Malaysia based on chemical profiles, which may be related to the different genders of P. betle.