Ultrasound-assisted aqueous extraction, LC-MS/MS analysis and radiomodulating capability of autochthonous Italian sweet cherry fruits

Phytochemical screening of Prunus avium for its antioxidative and anti-mutagenic potential against DMBA-induced hepatocarcinogenesis

Scope

Prunus avium fruit is the richer source of phenolics known to exert anticancer and anti-invasive activities. The study aimed at elucidating antiproliferative and chemo-preventive potential of sweet cherries (P. avium) against the in vivo hepatocarcinoma model.

Methods and results

The quantification of ultrasound-assisted extract (UAE) of P. avium depicted anthocyanins, ferulic acid, gallic acid, quercetin, syringic acid and p- and m-coumaric acids as major phytochemicals. The hepatocarcinoma (HCC) was induced in rats through intraperitoneal administration of DMBA (20 mg/kg B.W) once a week for the period of eight weeks. The intragastric administration of P. avium UAE, as cotreatment (500 mg/Kg B.W) to treatment group, significantly (p < 0.01) attenuated the raised serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as well as total oxidative stress (TOS) and enhanced total antioxidant capacity TAOC in contrast to diseased rats. Moreover, microscopic examination of hepatic tissues confirmed the pleomorphism, nests of neoplastic hepatocytes and necrosis in HCC-bearing rats as compared to extract-fed rats, where these necrotic changes were suppressed. Besides, qRT-PCR analysis of hepatic tissues demonstrated the higher mRNA expression of CHEK1, CHEK2 and P21/CDKN1α genes, while downexpression of ATM gene in extract fed rats, further denoting the anti-mutagenic potential.

Conclusion

Consequently, the polyphenol-rich sweet cherries UAE exhibited antiproliferative and chemo-preventive potential by reducing tumor biomarkers, serum transaminases and oxidative stress, as well as enhancing antioxidant status. It further upregulated the downstream targets of ATM signaling cascade.

Component Characterization, In Vitro Activities and Molecular Mechanism of Cydonia oblonga Mill. against Diabetic

Cydonia Oblonga Mill. is widely distributed in Turkey, Uzbekistan and China and commonly used by the food industry to produce jam, jelly and candies. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antidiabetic activity and anti-diabetic mechanism of Cydonia Oblonga Mill. fruit (COMF). The chemical compositions were further characterized in COMF by UPLC-Q-Orbitrap/MS and 65 components including 22 flavonoids, 16 organic acids, 11 polyphenols, 5 amino acids, 3 pentacyclic triterpenoids and 8 other compounds were identified. The antioxidant activity by DPPH scavenging method and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity were tested. Furthermore, we detected the effects of COMF extract on the proliferation activity of HUVECs, cell viability of HUVECs under H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress, and NO production. Then, molecular docking activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of seven key flavonoid components selected by bioinformatics analysis and literature in the COMF were studied. Among them, quercetin showed potent inhibitory activity, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, luteolin and apigenin demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity, while rutin and epicatechin exhibited poor inhibitory activity. Subsequently, the effects of quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, leteolin and apigenin on the gene expression levels of AKT1, IL-6 and VEGFA were verified by real-time fluorescence quantification (RT-qPCR). Molecular biology result showed that different active ingredients can significantly recover the levels of AKT1, IL-6 and VEGFA in HUVECs injured by high glucose.

Ready-to-Use Nutraceutical Formulations from Edible and Waste Organs of Algerian Artichokes

Edible, plant-derived foodstuffs are recognized as precious sources of polyphenol compounds, whose consumption has proven to have multiple beneficial effects on human health. However, the awareness that cooking processes are able to induce quali-quantitatively changes in their native occurrence and that their bioavailability after food ingestion is poor led the research to move toward the preparation of nutraceutical supplements aimed at maximizing their content by effective extractive techniques and protecting them from degradation. The present work fits into this context, proposing a green, ready-to-use formulation of capitula, stems, and leaves of Algerian artichokes, in which natural deep eutectic solvents were exploited as extracting solvents but not removed at the end of the process. MTT test on the Caco-2 cell line highlighted that mitochondrial redox activity inhibition was absent below the 50 µg/mL tested dose. Simulated in vitro digestion was used as a predictive model for formulation bioaccessibility, where the joint approach with UHPLC-HRMS techniques allowed to define the release of each polyphenol from the investigated matrices. The capitula-based sample was the richest one in flavonoids, especially luteolin and apigenin glycosides, which survived in the intestinal digesta. On the contrary, simple phenols characterized the stem sample, whose release was mainly in the gastric chyme.

Differential Radiomodulating Action of Olea europaea L. cv. Caiazzana Leaf Extract on Human Normal and Cancer Cells: A Joint Chemical and Radiobiological Approach

The identification of a natural compound with selectively differential radiomodulating activity would arguably represent a valuable asset in the striving quest for widening the therapeutic window in cancer radiotherapy (RT). To this end, we fully characterized the chemical profile of olive tree leaf polyphenols from the Caiazzana cultivar (OLC), autochthonous to the Campania region (Italy), by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-MS). Oleacein was the most abundant molecule in the OLC. Two normal and two cancer cells lines were X-ray-irradiated following 24-h treatment with the same concentration of the obtained crude extract and were assessed for their radioresponse in terms of micronucleus (MN) induction and, for one of the normal cell lines, of premature senescence (PS). Irradiation of pre-treated normal cells in the presence of the OLC reduced the frequency of radiation-induced MN and the onset of PS. Conversely, the genotoxic action of ionising radiation was exacerbated in cancer cells under the same experimental conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the dual action of a polyphenol-rich olive leaf extract on radiation-induced damage. If further confirmed, these findings may be pre-clinically relevant and point to a substance that may potentially counteract cancer radioresistance while reducing RT-associated normal tissue toxicity.

Could Polyphenols Really Be a Good Radioprotective Strategy?

Currently, radiotherapy is one of the most effective strategies to treat cancer. However, deleterious toxicity against normal cells indicate for the need to selectively protect them. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species reinforce ionizing radiation cytotoxicity, and compounds able to scavenge these species or enhance antioxidant enzymes (e.g., superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) should be properly investigated. Antioxidant plant-derived compounds, such as phenols and polyphenols, could represent a valuable alternative to synthetic compounds to be used as radio-protective agents. In fact, their dose-dependent antioxidant/pro-oxidant efficacy could provide a high degree of protection to normal tissues, with little or no protection to tumor cells. The present review provides an update of the current scientific knowledge of polyphenols in pure forms or in plant extracts with good evidence concerning their possible radiomodulating action. Indeed, with few exceptions, to date, the fragmentary data available mostly derive from in vitro studies, which do not find comfort in preclinical and/or clinical studies. On the contrary, when preclinical studies are reported, especially regarding the bioactivity of a plant extract, its chemical composition is not taken into account, avoiding any standardization and compromising data reproducibility.

Use of Polyphenols as Modulators of Food Allergies. From Chemistry to Biological Implications

The multifactorial process of aging predisposes humans to infections and inflammatory disorders, thus affecting their quality of life and longevity. Given this reality, the need to increase the consumption of bioactive compounds, like dietary polyphenols emerges in our daily basis mostly due to their health related effects in slowing-down the incidence of chronic and degenerative diseases and even food allergy, which has been growing rapidly in prevalence currently affecting 5% of adults and 8% of children. Polyphenols embrace a large family of secondary metabolites from plant-derived foods and food wastes and are considerable of interest since they have attracted special attention over the years because of their reported anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties along with their high antioxidant capacity. These compounds are claimed as nutraceuticals with protective effect in offsetting oxidant species over-genesis in normal cells, and with the potential ability to stop or reverse oxidative stress-related diseases. Plant-derived foods represent a substantive portion of human diet containing a significant amount of structurally diverse polyphenols. There is a need to understand the polyphenolic composition of plant-derived foods mainly because of its chemistry, which discloses the bioactivity of a plant extract. However, the lack of standardized methods for analysis and other difficulties associated to the nature and distribution of plant polyphenols leads to a high variability of available data. Furthermore, there is still a gap in the understanding of polyphenols bioavailability and pharmacokinetics, which clearly difficult the settlement of the intake needed to observe health outcomes. Many efforts have been made to provide highly sensitive and selective analytical methods for the extraction (liquid-liquid; solid-liquid; supercritical-fluid), separation (spectrophotometric methods) and structural identification (chromatographic techniques, NMR spectroscopy, MS spectrometry) of phenolic and polyphenolic compounds present in these extracts. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been a fundamental technique in this area of research, not only for the determination of this family of compounds in food matrices, but also for the characterization and identification of new polyphenols classified with nutraceutical interest. This review summarizes the nature, distribution and main sources of polyphenols, analytical methods from extraction to characterization to further evaluate the health effects toward immune reactions to food.

Theobromacacao Criollo var. Beans: Biological Properties and Chemical Profile

Theobroma cacao provides precious products such as polyphenol-rich beans that are useful for nutraceutical purposes. The geographical area may influence the chemical composition of raw cocoa beans in terms of the polyphenols and biological qualities of the products. This work aimed to investigate the biological properties and the chemical composition of two different samples of Criollo var. cocoa raw beans coming from two areas (Indonesia; Peru). Beans underwent biphasic extraction obtaining lipophilic and hydroalcoholic extracts. The extracts were tested for antiradical, antimutagenic, and antigenotoxic effects. Cell viability inhibition toward breast, gastric/esophageal colorectal adenocarcinoma, and hepatoblastoma human cell lines was evaluated. Extracts were chemically investigated through UV-Vis spectroscopy and ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-QqTOF MS/MS). Results showed that the Indonesian bean hydroalcoholic extracts were able to scavenge 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) cation radical better than the Peruvian hydroalcoholic extracts (ECs₅₀: 72.63 vs. 322.20 μg/mL). Extracts showed antimutagenic and antigenotoxic activity. The viability inhibitory effect on breast and hepatic cancer cells was reached only for the Indonesian hydroalcoholic extracts at hundreds of μg/mL. Phenylpropenoyl-L-amino acids, hydroxycinnamoyl aminoacids conjugates, and procyanidin compounds were found mainly in the hydroalcoholic extracts, whereas fatty acids and lyso-phospholipids were found mainly in lipophilic fractions. Fatty acid and (epi)catechins appeared to be affected by different environmental conditions of the geographical areas.

Optimizing the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) leaves and UPLC-MS/MS analysis

To study the application value of sweet cherry leaves before abscission, a supercritical carbon dioxide (SFE-CO2) extraction method was established for sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) leaves. The extraction temperature, pressure and time were optimized with a Box-Behnken design, and the optimal conditions were 43 °C, 30 MPa, and 120 min, resulting in a yield of 2.52 ± 0.261% (w/w), which agrees well with the predicted value. The yield of the sweet cherry leaf extracts obtained by methanol solvent extraction is 2.03% (w/w); the SFE-CO2 extraction method was more efficient and had a higher yield than the methanol solvent extraction method, and the adverse effects of organic solvent residues and high temperatures on the product during traditional solvent extraction were avoided, resulting in a higher quality product. UPLC-MS/MS in negative ion mode provided 56 identifiable chromatographic peaks, including those of 31 acids (13.25%), 5 sugars (15.94%), 2 alcohols (6.19%), and 18 other compounds (3.86%). The fragmentation pathways of the 7 main components in the sweet cherry leaf extract were identified. The carbohydrates and bioactive substances in the extracts obtained from sweet cherry leaves suggested the potential use of sweet cherry leaves in the food and medical industries.

Nutraceutical polyphenols: New analytical challenges and opportunities

Nowadays, the research for secondary metabolites with health promoting effects in countering or slowing-down chronic and degenerative diseases (e.g. cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases) identify phenols and polyphenols, widespread and mostly copious in dietary plant sources, as beneficial for human health. These compounds, as intrinsically antioxidant, are claimed as nutraceuticals with preventive efficacy in offsetting oxidant species over-genesis in normal cells, and with the potential ability to halt or reverse oxidative stress-related diseases. In this context, pure (poly)phenols and/or their herbal/food complexes were found to exert both anti- and pro-oxidant activities, suggesting also a promising chemopreventive efficacy. In fact, different evidence further highlights their ability to induce apoptosis, growth arrest, DNA synthesis inhibition and/or modulation of signal transduction pathways. Indeed, a full understanding of the phenolic and polyphenolic composition of plant species, which still now represent their inestimable and worth exploring source, is an important challenge, which today can and must be favourably pursued in the consciousness that the bioactivity of a plant extract is always in its chemistry. To reach this purpose a number of new and advanced techniques are available for extraction, purification and structural identification purposes, but, taking into account how, when and where (poly)phenols are biosynthesized, their use must be highly rationalized. This is particularly true for mass spectrometry techniques which, although representing one of the most powerful tools and in continuous evolution in this era, often suffer from an automatism that does not give justice to the chemical goodness of a plant species and particularly those of nutraceutical interest. This review will deepen into polyphenol research, focusing on biosynthesis, analytical approaches for a conscious exploitability of nutraceutical plant extracts rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory polyphenols and/or pure isolated polyphenols.