Evaluation of the toxicokinetics and apoptotic potential of ethanol extract from Echinodorus macrophyllus leaves in vivo

Evidence for the efficacy of anti-inflammatory plants used in Brazilian traditional medicine with ethnopharmacological relevance

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

When exacerbated, inflammatory processes can culminate in physical and emotional disorders and, if not stopped, can be lethal. The high prevalence of inflammation has become a public health problem, and the need for new drugs to treat this pathology is imminent. The use of medicinal plants has emerged as an alternative, and a survey of data that corroborates its application in inflammatory diseases is the starting point. Furthermore, Brazil harbors a megadiversity, and the traditional use of plants is relevant and needs to be preserved and carefully explored for the discovery of new medicines.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This review sought to survey the medicinal plants traditionally used in Brazil for the treatment of inflammatory processes and to perform, in an integrative way, a data survey of these species and analysis of their phytochemical, pharmacological, and molecular approaches.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Brazilian plants that are traditionally used for inflammation (ophthalmia, throat inflammation, orchitis, urinary tract inflammation, ear inflammation, and inflammation in general) are listed in the DATAPLAMT database. This database contains information on approximately 3400 native plants used by Brazilians, which were registered in specific documents produced until 1950. These inflammatory disorders were searched in scientific databases (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, Lilacs, Scielo, Virtual Health Library), with standardization of DECS/MESH descriptors for inflammation in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, without chronological limitations. For the inclusion criteria, all articles had to be of the evaluated plant species, without association of synthesized substances, and full articles free available in any of the four languages searched. Duplicated articles and those that were not freely available were excluded.

RESULTS

A total of 126 species were identified, culminating in 6181 articles in the search. After evaluation of the inclusion criteria, 172 articles representing 40 different species and 38 families were included in the study. Comparison of reproducibility in intra-species results became difficult because of the large number of extraction solvents tested and the wide diversity of evaluation models used. Although the number of in vitro and in vivo evaluations was high, only one clinical study was found (Abrus precatorius). In the phytochemical analyses, more than 225 compounds, mostly phenolic compounds, were identified.

CONCLUSION

This review allowed the grouping of preclinical and clinical studies of several Brazilian species traditionally used for the treatment of many types of inflammation, corroborating new searches for their pharmacological properties as a way to aid public health. Furthermore, the large number of plants that have not yet been studied has encouraged new research to revive traditional knowledge.

Hepatoprotective Native Plants Documented in Brazilian Traditional Medicine Literature: Current Knowledge and Prospects

The native flora of Brazil covers a large biodiversity of plants, some of which have important pharmacological properties. Ethnobotanical studies have established that the folk use of plants for hepatobiliary disorders is very common in Brazil. This review aimed to compile, describe and discuss the main native Brazilian medicinal plants used as hepatoprotective agents listed on 25 books by authors from various regions in the country. Based on the 153 species found, a comprehensive analysis of the most relevant scientific studies is presented, including Piper umbellatum, Echinodorus macrophyllus, Fevillea trilobata and Achyrocline satureioides. Some medicinal plants share both a large number of citations and scientific evidence to corroborate their hepatoprotective effects, including Solanum paniculatum, Baccharis crispa and Phyllanthus niruri, which could be of interest to develop new phytomedicines. Additionally, some active ingredients are indicated as being responsible for the liver protective effects described, particularly phenolic compounds (flavonoids, coumestans and lignans).

Plant-Derived Nutraceuticals and Immune System Modulation: An Evidence-Based Overview

Immunomodulators are agents able to affect the immune system, by boosting the immune defences to improve the body reaction against infectious or exogenous injuries, or suppressing the abnormal immune response occurring in immune disorders. Moreover, immunoadjuvants can support immune system acting on nonimmune targets, thus improving the immune response. The modulation of inflammatory pathways and microbiome can also contribute to control the immune function. Some plant-based nutraceuticals have been studied as possible immunomodulating agents due to their multiple and pleiotropic effects. Being usually more tolerable than pharmacological treatments, their adjuvant contribution is approached as a desirable nutraceutical strategy. In the present review, the up to date knowledge about the immunomodulating properties of polysaccharides, fatty acids and labdane diterpenes have been analyzed, in order to give scientific basic and clinical evidence to support their practical use. Since promising evidence in preclinical studies, limited and sometimes confusing results have been highlighted in clinical trials, likely due to low methodological quality and lacking standardization. More investigations of high quality and specificity are required to describe in depth the usefulness of these plant-derived nutraceuticals in the immune system modulation, for health promoting and disease preventing purposes.

Assessment of genetic integrity, splenic phagocytosis and cell death potential of (Z)-4-((1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl) amino)-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid and its effect when combined with commercial chemotherapeutics

The increased incidence of cancer and its high treatment costs have encouraged the search for new compounds to be used in adjuvant therapies for this disease. This study discloses the synthesis of (Z)-4-((1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl) amino)-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid (IR-01) and evaluates not only the action of this compound on genetic integrity, increase in splenic phagocytosis and induction of cell death but also its effects in combination with the commercial chemotherapeutic agents doxorubicin, cisplatin and cyclophosphamide. IR-01 was designed and synthesized based on two multifunctionalyzed structural fragments: 4-aminoantipyrine, an active dipyrone metabolite, described as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent; and the pharmacophore fragment 1,4-dioxo-2-butenyl, a cytotoxic agent. The results indicated that IR-01 is an effective chemoprotector because it can prevent clastogenic and/or aneugenic damage, has good potential to prevent genomic damage, can increase splenic phagocytosis and lymphocyte frequency and induces cell death. However, its use as an adjuvant in combination with chemotherapy is discouraged since IR-01 interferes in the effectiveness of the tested chemotherapeutic agents. This is a pioneer study as it demonstrates the chemopreventive effects of IR-01, which may be associated with the higher antioxidant activity of the precursor structure of 4-aminoantipyrine over the effects of the 1,4-dioxo-2-butenyl fragment.