Inhibition of phospholipases influences the metabolism of wound-induced benzylisoquinoline alkaloids in Papaver somniferum L

Papaver Plants: Current Insights on Phytochemical and Nutritional Composition Along with Biotechnological Applications

The genus Papaver is highly esteemed in the pharmacy industry, in the culinary field, and as ornamental plants. These plants are also valued in traditional medicine. Among all Papaver species, Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is the most important species in supplying phytochemicals for the formulation of drugs, mainly alkaloids like morphine, codeine, rhoeadine, thebaine, and papaverine. In addition, Papaver plants present other types of phytochemicals, which altogether are responsible for its biological activities. Therefore, this review covers the phytochemical composition of Papaver plants, including alkaloids, phenolic compounds, and essential oils. The traditional uses are reviewed along with their pharmacological activities. Moreover, safety aspects are reported to provide a deep overview of the pharmacology potential of this genus. An updated search was carried out in databases such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and PubMed to retrieve the information. Overall, this genus is a rich source of alkaloids of different types and also contains interesting phenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins, flavonols, and the characteristic indole derivatives nudicaulins. Among other pharmacological properties, numerous preclinical studies have been published about the analgesic, anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities of Papaver plants. Although it highlights the significant impact of this genus for the treatment of a variety of diseases and conditions, as a future prospect, characterization works accompanying preclinical studies are required along with clinical and toxicology studies to establish a correlation between the scientific and traditional knowledge.

Selection of the Reference Gene for Expression Normalization in Papaver somniferum L. under Abiotic Stress and Hormone Treatment

Papaver somniferum L. is an important medical plant that produces analgesic drugs used for the pain caused by cancers and surgeries. Recent studies have focused on the expression genes involved in analgesic drugs biosynthesis, and the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) technique is the main strategy. However, no reference genes have been reported for gene expression normalization in P. somniferum. Herein, nine reference genes (actin (ACT), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), cyclophilin 2 (CYP2), elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 2, cytosolic (GAPC2), nuclear cap-binding protein subunit 2 (NCBP2), protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), TIP41-like protein (TIP41), and tubulin beta chain (TUB)) of P. somniferum were selected and analyzed under five different treatments (cold, drought, salt, heavy metal, and hormone stress). Then, BestKeeper, NormFinder, geNorm, and RefFinder were employed to analyze their gene expression stability. The results reveal that NCBP2 is the most stable reference gene under various experimental conditions. The work described here is the first report regarding on reference gene selection in P. somniferum, which could be used for the accurate normalization of the gene expression involved in analgesic drug biosynthesis.

Secoiridoids Metabolism Response to Wounding in Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea Rafn) Leaves

Centaurium erythraea Rafn produces and accumulates various biologically active specialized metabolites, including secoiridoid glucosides (SGs), which help plants to cope with unfavorable environmental conditions. Specialized metabolism is commonly modulated in a way to increase the level of protective metabolites, such as SGs. Here, we report the molecular background of the wounding-induced changes in SGs metabolism for the first time. The mechanical wounding of leaves leads to a coordinated up-regulation of SGs biosynthetic genes and corresponding JA-related transcription factors (TFs) after 24 h, which results in the increase of metabolic flux through the biosynthetic pathway and, finally, leads to the elevated accumulation of SGs 96 h upon injury. The most pronounced increase in relative expression was detected for secologanin synthase (CeSLS), highlighting this enzyme as an important point for the regulation of biosynthetic flux through the SG pathway. A similar expression pattern was observed for CeBIS1, imposing itself as the TF that is prominently involved in wound-induced regulation of SGs biosynthesis genes. The high degree of positive correlations between and among the biosynthetic genes and targeted TFs expressions indicate the transcriptional regulation of SGs biosynthesis in response to wounding with a significant role of CeBIS1, which is a known component of the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway.

Purification and Product Characterization of Lipoxygenase from Opium Poppy Cultures (Papaver somniferum L.)

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is an ancient medicinal plant producing pharmaceutically important benzylisoquinoline alkaloids. In the present work we focused on the study of enzyme lipoxygenase (LOX, EC 1.13.11.12) from opium poppy cultures. LOX is involved in lipid peroxidation and lipoxygenase oxidation products of polyunsaturated fatty acids have a significant role in regulation of growth, development and plant defense responses to biotic or abiotic stress. The purpose of this study was to isolate and characterize LOX enzyme from opium poppy callus cultures. LOX was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and then followed by hydrophobic chromatography using Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B and hydroxyapatite chromatography using HA Ultrogel sorbent. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis and immunoblotting revealed that LOX from opium poppy cultures was a single monomeric protein showing the relative molecular weight of 83 kDa. To investigate the positional specificity of the LOX reaction, purified LOX was incubated with linoleic acid and the products were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography in two steps, firstly with reverse phase (120-5 Nucleosil C18 column) and secondly with normal phase (Zorbax Rx-SIL column). LOX converted linoleic acid primarily to 13-hydroperoxy-(9Z,11E)-octadecadienoic acids (78%) and to a lesser extent 9-hydroperoxy-(10E,12Z)-octadecadienoic acids (22%). Characterization of LOX from opium poppy cultures provided valuable information in understanding LOX involvement in regulation of signaling pathways leading to biosynthesis of secondary metabolites with significant biological activity.

Papaverine adjuvant therapy for microcirculatory disturbance in severe ulcerative colitis complicated with CMV infection: a case report

Ulcerative colitis has hypercoagulable state and high risk of thrombosis; so mucosal disturbance of microcirculation may be mediate and amplify the inflammation of ulcerative colitis. A 56-year-old female patient was admitted in hospital for discontinuously mucous bloody stool for more than 1 year. Ulcerative colitis was determined after colonoscopy and pathologic examination. Mesalazine was effective during the year, but her symptoms recurred three times due to her bad compliance. One month before admission, the patient had severe recurrence after mesalazine withdrawal. At this time, the result of quantitative fluorescence PCR of colonic histic CMV-DNA was 1.6 × 10⁴ copies/mL positive, CMV colitis was accompanied. After 4 weeks of ganciclovir and 6 weeks of mesalazine usage and nutrition support, the symptoms of diarrhea and abdominal cramp did not improve; stool frequency was more than twenty times a day. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy revealed local microcirculation disturbance. Papaverine 90-mg slow drip for at least 10 h a day was added. The symptoms dramatically disappeared after 3 days of papaverine treatment. The patient had yellow mushy stool 2–3 times a day. Pathological findings showed diffuse submucosal hemorrhage and transparent thrombosis in capillaries. Treatment of microcirculatory disturbance in severe UC is a promising adjuvant therapy. Confocal laser endomicroscopy may be an effective method for microcirculation judgment.