Review On Documented Medicinal Plants Used For The Treatment Of Cancer

Background:

Cancer is a frightful disease and it is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Naturally derived compounds are gaining interest of research workers as they have less toxic side effects as compared to currently used treatments such as chemotherapy. Plants are the pool of chemical compounds which provides a promising future for research on cancer.

Objective:

This review paper provides updated information gathered on medicinal plants and isolated phytoconstituents used as anticancer agents and summarises the plant extracts and their isolated chemical constituents exhibiting anticancer potential on clinical trials.

Methods:

An extensive bibliographic investigation was carried out by analysing worldwide established scientific databases like SCOPUS, PUBMED, SCIELO, ScienceDirect, Springerlink, Web of Science, Wiley, SciFinder and Google Scholar etc. In next few decades, herbal medicine may become a new epoch of medical system.

Results:

Many researches are going on medicinal plants for the treatment of cancer but it is a time to increase further experimental studies on plant extracts and their chemical constituents to find out their mechanism of action at molecular level.

Conclusion:

The article may help many researchers to start off further experimentation that might lead to the drugs for the cancer treatment.

Ethyl acetate fraction from Nymphaea hybrida Peck modulates inflammatory responses in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and acute inflammation murine models

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Nymphaea hybrida Peck is used as a traditional medicinal herb for treating pain and inflammatory diseases, and known for its ornamental value and as a hot drink. However, the effects of N. hybrida polar fractions on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced in vitro inflammation model and acute inflammation murine models have yet to be evaluated.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study was to elucidate the anti-inflammatory effects of N. hybrida ethanol extract (NHE) and its polar fractions: petroleum ether (PE), methylene chloride (MC), ethyl acetate (EA), methanol (ME), and water (WA). The underlying molecular mechanisms of active fraction in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages were further investigated.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Fractions with potential anti-inflammatory effects were screened using direct nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibition assays in vitro. The anti-inflammatory properties of potential fraction were evaluated in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, xylene-induced ear edema, carrageenan-induced paw edema and xylene-induced Evans blue exudation of acute inflammation murine models. The regulation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways were investigated using western blotting and immunofluorescence.

RESULTS

Compared to other polar fractions, NHE-EA displayed higher phenol and flavonoid content, and exerted greater activity in direct NO radical scavenging and COX-2 inhibition assay in vitro. NHE-EA markedly decreased the levels of inflammatory mediators, NO and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), by suppressing the over-expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and COX-2 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. The NHE-EA fraction dose-dependently alleviated over-elevation of LPS-associated intracellular calcium and decreased the abnormal secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). The combination with NHE-EA effectively attenuated the activation and nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65, and the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), and p38 kinases of MAPK pathways. NHE-EA could significantly ameliorate the degree of swelling of the mice ear and paw, the skin exudation of Evans blue and the excessive secretion of inflammatory cytokines.

CONCLUSION

Our results demonstrated that NHE-EA was the most active polar fraction of N. hybrida extracts. It inhibited the LPS-associated inflammatory response by blocking the activation of NF-κB and MAPKs pathways in RAW264.7 cells. It also effectively alleviated the inflammatory response of acute inflammation. These results indicated the role of NHE-EA as adjuvants and their potential role in alternative strategy for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Isolation of secondary metabolites from the Iranian medicinal plant Eremurus persicus

Eremurus persicus (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss. belonging to Xanthorrhoeaceae family is an endemic medicinal plant widely distributed in Iran. Its leaves have been traditionally used as a food and also as medicinal plant. Regarding the widespread application of E. persicus in Iranian folk medicine, and the insignificant investigation of its components, this study aimed at the isolation and identification of major secondary metabolites of this plant. By applying various chromatographic techniques, corchoionoside A (1), 4-amino-4-carboxychroman-2-one (2), isoorientin (3), ziganein 5-methyl ether (4), auraptene (5), and imperatorin (6) were isolated from the EtOAc and CHCl₃ fractions of the crude extract. Except isoorientin (3), all the identified phytoconstituents were reported for the first time from Eremurus genus.

Comparative assessment of solvents and lignocellulolytic enzymes affiliated extraction of polyphenols from the various lignocellulosic agro-residues: identification and their antioxidant properties

The present investigation was aimed to utilize lignocellulosic agro-residues and compare the extraction of polyphenols utilizing lignocellulolytic enzymes secreted by Sphingobacterium sp. ksn and with that of the solvents (ethanol, methanol) affiliated methods. The maximum amount of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins were 94.29, 11.36, and 79.21 g 100 g^-1 respectively, found in the extracts obtained by enzymes affiliated extraction of coffee cherry husk (CCH). The phenolics namely, gallic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, 1-hydroxybenzoic acid, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde were commonly found whereas syringic acid, quercetin, kaempferol, and epicatechin were hardly found in the extracts of agro-residues. The extracts of CCH shown maximum antioxidant properties for DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP. The present study reports that the affiliation of enzymes for the extraction of polyphenols from agro-residues is more efficient than that of the solvents affiliation and CCH as the good source of polyphenols.

Nutrient values and bioactivities of the extracts from three fern species in China: a comparative assessment

Pteridium aquilinum, Osmunda cinnamomea Linn, and Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching are three fern species widely consumed as potherbs and traditional medicinal herbs in China. Nevertheless, no detailed comparative assessments of their nutrient values and bioactivities have been reported. In this paper, we examined the nutrient content of these ferns and the bioactivities of their extracts with a comparative method. The results indicated that they were nutrient dense for proteins, carbohydrates, fat and minerals. Compared with Pteridium aquilinum and Osmunda cinnamomea Linn, the extract from Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching was found to possess the strongest antioxidant activity, protective effects on biomolecules, cellular antioxidant activity, and antiproliferative effects owing to its highest total phenolic (476.52 ± 11.26 mg GAE per g extract) and total flavonoid (924.81 ± 4.25 mg RNE per g extract) contents. Further, Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching can lead to caspase-3 activation, poly ADP-ribose polymerase cleavage, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) reduction and inhibition of wound-healing in a dose-dependent manner in HepG2 cells. These results demonstrate the remarkable potential of Pteridium aquilinum, Osmunda cinnamomea Linn, and Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching as valuable sources of nutrients and natural antioxidants, and among which Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching has potential anticancer properties.

Influence of reactive species on the modification of biomolecules generated from the soft plasma

Plasma medicine is an upcoming research area that has attracted the scientists to explore more deeply the utility of plasma. So, apart from the treating biomaterials and tissues with plasma, we have studied the effect of soft plasma with different feeding gases such as Air, N2 and Ar on modification of biomolecules. Hence, in this work we have used the soft plasma on biomolecules such as proteins ((Hemoglobin (Hb) and Myoglobin (Mb)), calf thymus DNA and amino acids. The structural changes or structural modification of proteins and DNA have been studied using circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy, protein oxidation test, gel electrophoresis, UV-vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and 1D NMR, while Liquid Chromatograph/Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometer (LC/CE-MS) based on qualitative and quantitative bio-analysis have been used to study the modification of amino acids. Further, the thermal analysis of the protein has been studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and CD. Additionally, we have performed docking studies of H2O2 with Hb and Mb, which reveals that H2O2 molecules preferably attack the amino acids near heme group. We have also shown that N2 gas plasma has strong deformation action on biomolecules and compared to other gases plasma.