A new active compound against kidney deficiency from the fruits of Rubus corchorifolius

Rubus urticifolius Compounds with Antioxidant Activity, and Inhibition Potential against Tyrosinase, Melanin, Hyaluronidase, Elastase, and Collagenase

In our study, using chromatographic techniques, we isolated three bioactive compounds, which were structurally elucidated as (E)-2-(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)acrylamido)-N-methylbenzamide (1), 4-Hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxylic acid (2), and (E)-2-Cyano-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acrylic acid (3), using spectroscopic methods. The anti-melanogenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aging properties were evaluated in vitro by measuring the activity of pharmacological targets including tyrosinase, melanin, NF-κB, hyaluronidase, elastase, collagenase, and Nrf2. Our results show that compound 1 is the most active with IC50 values of 14.19 μM (tyrosinase inhibition), 22.24 μM (melanin inhibition), 9.82-12.72 μM (NF-κB inhibition), 79.71 μM (hyaluronidase inhibition), 80.13 μM (elastase inhibition), 76.59 μM (collagenase inhibition), and 116-385 nM (Nrf2 activation) in the THP-1, HEK001, WS1, and HMCB cells. These findings underscore the promising profiles of the aqueous extract of R. urticifolius at safe cytotoxic concentrations. Additionally, we report, for the first time, the isolation and characterisation of these nitrogenous compounds in the R. urticifolius species. Finally, compound 1, isolated from R. urticifolius, is a promising candidate for the development of more effective and safer compounds for diseases related to skin pigmentation, protection against inflammation, and oxidative stress.

Ethnopharmacology of Rubus idaeus Linnaeus: A critical review on ethnobotany, processing methods, phytochemicals, pharmacology and quality control

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Rubus idaeus Linnaeus (RI) is a Chinese herbal medicine that has been widely used in China for a long time to reinforce the kidney, nourish the liver, improve vision, and arrest polyuria.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This work aims to evaluate the recent progress of the chemical composition, pharmacological activity, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and quality control and of Rubus idaeus, which focuses on the insufficiency of existing research and will shed light on future studies of Rubus idaeus.

METHODS

Literatures about "Rubus idaeus","Red raspberry" and "Fupenzi"are retrieved by browsing the database, such as Web of Science (http://www.webofknowledge.com/wos), Pubmed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), CNKI (http://www.cnki.net/), and Wanfang Data (http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn). In addition, related textbooks and digital documents are interrogated to provide a holistic and critical review of the topic. The period of the literature covered from 1981 to 2022.

RESULTS

Approximately 194 compounds have been isolated from Rubus idaeus, which is rich in phenols, terpenoids, alkaloids, steroids, and fatty acids. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that Rubus idaeus exhibits many pharmacological activities, including hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic, anti-Alzheimer effect, anti-osteoporosis, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, anti-bacteria and skin care, etc. However, it is worth noting that most of the research is not associated with the conventional effect, such as reducing urination and treating opacity of the cornea.

CONCLUSION

The effectiveness of Rubus idaeus has been proved by its long-term clinical application. The research on the pharmacological activity of Rubus idaeus has flourished. In many pharmacological experiments, only the high-dose group can achieve the corresponding efficacy, so the efficacy of Rubus idaeus needs to be further interrogated. Meanwhile, the relationship between pharmacological activity and specific compounds of Rubus idaeus has not been clarified yet. Last but not least, studies involving toxicology and pharmacokinetics are very limited. Knowledge of bioavailability and toxicological behavior of Rubus idaeus can help understand the herb's pharmacodynamic and safety profile.

Sanguiins-Promising Molecules with Broad Biological Potential

Compounds of natural origin, an infinite treasure of bioactive chemical entities, persist as an inexhaustible resource for discovering new medicines. In this review, we summarize the naturally occurring ellagitannins, sanguiins, which are bioactive constituents of various traditional medicinal plants, especially from the Rosaceae family. In-depth studies of sanguiin H-6 as an antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and osteoclastogenesis inhibitory agent have led to potent drug candidates. In addition, recently, virtual screening studies have suggested that sanguiin H-6 might increase resistance toward SARS-CoV-2 in the early stages of infection. Further experimental investigations on ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) supplemented with molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation are still needed to fully understand sanguiins' mechanism of action. In sum, sanguiins appear to be promising compounds for additional studies, especially for their application in therapies for a multitude of common and debilitating ailments.

Rubus chingii Hu: A Review of the Phytochemistry and Pharmacology

Rubus chingii Hu (R. chingii), referred to as "Fu-Pen-Zi" in Chinese, has great medicinal and dietary values since ancient times. The dried fruits of R. chingii have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of kidney enuresis and urinary frequency for centuries. According to current findings, R. chingii has been reported to contain a variety of chemical constituents, mostly triterpenoids, diterpenoids, flavonoids, and organic acids. These compounds have been demonstrated to be the major bioactive components responsible for pharmacological effects such as anticomplementary, anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory functions. Therefore, this review focused on the up-to-date published data of the literature about R. chingii and comprehensively summarized its phytochemistry, pharmacology, quality control, and toxicity to provide a beneficial support to its further investigations and applications in medicines and foods.

Changes of the free and bound volatile compounds in Rubus corchorifolius L. f. fruit during ripening

The changes of free and bound volatile compounds in Rubus corchorifolius fruit during ripening were determined with a headspace SPME-GC-MS method. The results suggest that the free aldehydes, alcohols, esters and phenols increases, while that of free terpenoids decreases, with the ripening of the fruit. The bound aldehydes, alcohols, terpenoids, esters and phenols gradually decreases during ripening because these bound compounds are hydrolyzed to their free form. The characteristic free aroma compounds of ripened red fruit were found to be hexanal, 2-heptanone, ethyl hexanoate, 4-terpineol, geranial and methyleugenol. The free aroma compounds in red and yellow fruits exhibit similar odor profiles, and both of them are much sweeter, more floral and greener than the green fruit. The overall aroma of the fruits all ripening stages are mainly attributed to the free aroma compounds including β-damascenone, hexanal, 2-hexenal and linalool. The formation mechanisms of some volatile compounds were proposed.

Cytotoxicity and pharmacogenomics of medicinal plants from traditional korean medicine

Aim. The present study was designed to investigate the cytotoxicity of a panel of 280 Korean medicinal plants belonging to 73 families and 198 species against human CCRF-CEM leukemia cells. Selected phytochemicals were investigated in more detail for their mode of action. Methods. The resazurin assay was used to determine cytotoxicity of the plant extracts. Microarray-based mRNA expression profiling, COMPARE, and hierarchical cluster analyses were applied to identify which genes correlate with sensitivity or resistance to selected phytochemicals of the Korean plants. Results. The results of the resazurin assay showed that cytotoxicity extracts tested at 10  μ g/mL from 13 samples inhibited proliferation more than 50% (IC50 < 10  μ g/mL) and the most active plants are Sedum middendorffianum (15.33%) and Lycoris radiata (17.61%). Out of 13 selected phytochemicals from these plants, hopeaphenol and deoxynarciclasine were the most cytotoxic ones. Genes from various functional groups (transcriptional or translational regulation, signal transduction, cellular proliferation, intracellular trafficking, RNA metabolism, endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum function, etc.) were significantly correlated with response of tumor cell lines to these two compounds. Conclusion. The results provide evidence on the possible use of selected Korean medicinal plants and chemical constituents derived from them for the treatment of tumors.