Hypericum perforatum L. extract exerts insulinotropic effects and inhibits gluconeogenesis in diabetic rats by regulating AMPK expression and PKCε concentration

The potential role of Hypericum perforatum in wound healing: A literature review on the phytochemicals, pharmacological approaches, and mechanistic perspectives

St. John's Wort, commonly known as Hypericum perforatum L., is a flowering plant in the Clusiaceae family that traditionally been employed for treating anxiety, depression, wounds, burns, sunburn, irritation, and stomach ailments. This review provides a synopsis of H. perforatum L. phytoconstituents and their biological effects, highlighting its beneficial therapeutic properties for dermatological indications, as well as its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-angiogenic activity in various applications including wound healing and skin conditions such as eczema, sun burn and minor burns also spastic paralysis, stiff neck and mood disorders as anti-depressant and nerve pains such as neuralgia. The data were collected from several databases as Web of Science PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar using the terms: "H. perforatum L.", "H. perforatum L. /phytochemistry," and "H. perforatum extracts/wound healing" collected from 1994 to 2023. The findings suggest H. perforatum L. acts through various mechanisms and plays a role in each phase of the wound healing process, including re-epithelialization, angiogenesis, wound contraction, and connective tissue regeneration. H. perforatum L. enhances collagen deposition, decreases inflammation, inhibits fibroblast migration, and promotes epithelialization by increasing the number of fibroblasts with polygonal shape and the number of collagen fibers within fibroblasts. H. Perforatum L. extracts modulate the immune response and reduce inflammation were found to accelerate the wound healing process via inhibition of inflammatory mediators' production like interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression, and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Thus, H. perforatum L. represents a potential remedy for a wide range of dermatological problems, owing to its constituents with beneficial therapeutic properties. H. perforatum L. could be utilized in the development of novel wound healing therapies.

Hyperatins A-D, highly oxidized polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols from Hypericum perforatum L. with hypoglycemic potential in liver cells

Hyperatins A-D (1-4), four previously undescribed polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols, were isolated from Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's wort). Compound 1 possessed a unique octahydroindeno[1,7a-b]oxirene ring system with a rare 2,7-dioxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane fragment. Compounds 2-4 had an uncommon decahydrospiro[furan-3,7'-indeno[7,1-bc]furan] ring system. Their structures were established by spectroscopic analyses and X-ray crystallography. Plausible biosynthetic pathways of 1-4 were also proposed. Compounds 1 and 2 exerted promising hypoglycemic activity by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3 expression in liver cells.

Hypericum foliosum Quality Botanical and Chemical Markers and In Vitro Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities

Hypericum foliosum Aiton is an endemic Azorean Hypericum species. Even though the aerial parts of Hypericum foliosum are not described in any official pharmacopoeia, they are utilized in local traditional medicine due to their diuretic, hepatoprotective, and antihypertensive properties. This plant has previously been the subject of phytochemical characterization and has been studied for its antidepressant activity, showing significant results in animal models. The lack of a description of the main characteristics of the aerial parts, which would be necessary to properly identify this medicinal plant species, contributes to the possibility of misidentification events. We performed macroscopic and microscopic analyses that identified specific differential characteristics, such as the absence of dark glands, the dimensions of the secretory pockets in the leaf, and the presence of translucent glands in the powder. To continue our previous work on the biological activity of Hypericum foliosum, ethanol, dichloromethane/ethanol, and water extracts were prepared and studied for their antioxidant and cytotoxic activity. Extracts showed in vitro selective cytotoxic activity in human lung cancer cell line A549, colon cancer cell line HCT 8, and breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231, with dichloromethane/ethanol showing higher activity against all cell lines (IC₅₀ values of 71.49, 27.31, and 9.51 µg/mL, respectively). All extracts also showed significant antioxidant activity.

Effects of plant growth regulators on the contents of rutin, hyperoside and quercetin in Hypericum attenuatum Choisy

To explore the accumulation of rutin, hyperoside and quercetin in Hypericum attenuatum Choisy under treatment with different plant growth regulators, 100 mg/L, 200 mg/L and 300 mg/L cycocel, 100 mg/L, 200 mg/L and 300 mg/L mepiquat chloride and 1 mg/L, 2 mg/L and 3 mg/L naphthalene acetic acid were foliage sprayed on Hypericum attenuatum Choisy plants at the early growth stage. We sampled and determined the important flavonoid contents at the flowering stage. The results showed that the three plant growth regulators had different effects on the accumulation of rutin, hyperoside and quercetin in the leaves, stems and flowers of Hypericum attenuatum Choisy at the flowering stage. After spraying 1 mg/L naphthalene acetic acid at the early growth stage, the rutin contents in the leaves, stems and flowers increased by approximately 60.33%, 223.85% and 192.02%, respectively (P < 0.05). Spraying 100 mg/L mepiquat chloride increased the hyperoside contents in the leaves and flowers by approximately 7.77% and 12.87%, respectively (P < 0.05). Spraying 2 mg/L naphthalene acetic acid significantly increased the quercetin contents in the flowers and leaves by approximately 95.62% and 47.85%, respectively (P < 0.05). Therefore, at the early growth stage, spraying 1 mg/L naphthalene acetic acid significantly increased rutin content, spraying 100 mg/L mepiquat chloride significantly increased hyperoside content, and spraying 2 mg/L naphthalene acetic acid significantly increased quercetin content in Hypericum attenuatum Choisy. In conclusion, the accumulation of flavonoids in Hypericum attenuatum Choisy was regulated by plant growth regulators.