Anticancer activity of an Artemisia annua L. hydroalcoholic extract on canine osteosarcoma cell lines

Harnessing ferroptosis for enhanced sarcoma treatment: mechanisms, progress and prospects

Sarcoma is a malignant tumor that originates from mesenchymal tissue. The common treatment for sarcoma is surgery supplemented with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, patients have a 5-year survival rate of only approximately 60%, and sarcoma cells are highly resistant to chemotherapy. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent nonapoptotic type of regulated programmed cell death that is closely related to the pathophysiological processes underlying tumorigenesis, neurological diseases and other conditions. Moreover, ferroptosis is mediated via multiple regulatory pathways that may be targets for disease therapy. Recent studies have shown that the induction of ferroptosis is an effective way to kill sarcoma cells and reduce their resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. Moreover, ferroptosis-related genes are related to the immune system, and their expression can be used to predict sarcoma prognosis. In this review, we describe the molecular mechanism underlying ferroptosis in detail, systematically summarize recent research progress with respect to ferroptosis application as a sarcoma treatment in various contexts, and point out gaps in the theoretical research on ferroptosis, challenges to its clinical application, potential resolutions of these challenges to promote ferroptosis as an efficient, reliable and novel method of clinical sarcoma treatment.

Effect of traditional Chinese medicine in osteosarcoma: Cross-interference of signaling pathways and potential therapeutic targets

Osteosarcoma (OS) has a high recurrence rate, disability rate, mortality and metastasis, it brings great economic burden and psychological pressure to patients, and then seriously affects the quality of life of patients. At present, the treatment methods of OS mainly include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgical therapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with limb salvage surgery. These treatment methods can relieve the clinical symptoms of patients to a certain extent, and also effectively reduce the disability rate, mortality and recurrence rate of OS patients. However, because metastasis of tumor cells leads to new complications, and OS cells become resistant with prolonged drug intervention, which reduces the sensitivity of OS cells to drugs, these treatments still have some limitations. More and more studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the characteristics of "multiple targets and multiple pathways," and can play an important role in the development of OS through several key signaling pathways, including PI3K/AKT, Wnt/β-catenin, tyrosine kinase/transcription factor 3 (JAK/STAT3), Notch, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/Smad, nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), Hippo/YAP, OPG/RANK/RANKL, Hedgehog and so on. In this paper, the signaling pathways of cross-interference between active ingredients of TCM and OS were reviewed, and the development status of novel OS treatment was analyzed. The active ingredients in TCM can provide therapeutic benefits to patients by targeting the activity of signaling pathways. In addition, potential strategies for targeted therapy of OS by using ferroptosis were discussed. We hope to provide a unique insight for the in-depth research and clinical application of TCM in the fields of OS growth, metastasis and chemotherapy resistance by understanding the signaling crosstalk between active ingredients in TCM and OS.

Chemical Composition and Larvicidal Properties of Essential Oils from Wild and Cultivated Artemisia campestris L., an Endemic Plant in Morocco

The Asteraceae family is well known for its toxic and repellent activity against mosquitoes. In this study, essential oils (EOs) extracted from the aerial parts of both wild and cultivated Artemisia campestris L. plants were tested for larvicidal activity against Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae), a pest mosquito widely suspected to be the vector responsible for West Nile virus transmission. The research aims at comparing the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of cultivated and wild A. campestris EOs. The EOs were obtained by hydrodistillation from the plant's aerial parts and were analyzed using GC-MS. Furthermore, the larviciding experiment was carried out following the standard WHO protocol. The result showed that wild and cultivated plant EOs differed only quantitatively, while the qualitative profile revealed a nearly identical chemical composition. Camphor (18.98%), car-3-en-5-one (11.25%), thujone (6.36%), chrysanthenone (6.24%), filifolone (4.56%), and borneol (3.56%) dominate the wild plant EO. Camphor (21.01%), car-3-en-5-one (17%), chrysanthenone (10.15%), filifolone (7.90%), borneol (3.38%), and thujone (3.08%) are the major compounds of the cultivated plant. Cultivation did not affect the EO production since the yield of the cultivated plant was 0.5 ± 0.1% and 0.6 ± 0.2% for the wild plant. The cultivated A. campestris EO had the highest insecticidal activity (LC50 = 9.79 µg/ml), and no significant difference was noticed between wild and cultivated A. campestris EO in terms of LC90. These findings could pave the way for a new method of producing biocides to control major disease vectors and offer a potential alternative for pest control.

Phytochemical Composition and In Vitro Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, Anticancer, and Enzyme-Inhibitory Activities of Artemisia nilagirica (C.B. Clarke) Pamp

Plants have been employed in therapeutic applications against various infectious and chronic diseases from ancient times. Various traditional medicines and folk systems have utilized numerous plants and plant products, which act as sources of drug candidates for modern medicine. Artemisia is a genus of the Asteraceae family with more than 500 species; however, many of these species are less explored for their biological efficacy, and several others are lacking scientific explanations for their uses. Artemisia nilagirica is a plant that is widely found in the Western Ghats, Kerala, India and is a prominent member of the genus. In the current study, the phytochemical composition and the antioxidant, enzyme-inhibitory, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities were examined. The results indicated that the ethanol extract of A. nilagirica indicated in vitro DPPH scavenging (23.12 ± 1.28 µg/mL), ABTS scavenging (27.44 ± 1.88 µg/mL), H2O2 scavenging (12.92 ± 1.05 µg/mL), and FRAP (5.42 ± 0.19 µg/mL). The anti-inflammatory effect was also noticed in the Raw 264.7 macrophages, where pretreatment with the extract reduced the LPS-stimulated production of cytokines (p < 0.05). A. nilagirica was also efficient in inhibiting the activities of α-amylase (38.42 ± 2.71 µg/mL), α-glucosidase (55.31 ± 2.16 µg/mL), aldose reductase (17.42 ± 0.87 µg/mL), and sorbitol dehydrogenase (29.57 ± 1.46 µg/mL). It also induced significant inhibition of proliferation in breast (MCF7 IC50 = 41.79 ± 1.07, MDAMB231 IC50 = 55.37 ± 2.11µg/mL) and colon (49.57 ± 1.46 µg/mL) cancer cells. The results of the phytochemical screening indicated a higher level of polyphenols and flavonoids in the extract and the LCMS analysis revealed the presence of various bioactive constituents including artemisinin.