Antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of phenolic constituents from the stem extracts of Spatholobus parviflorus

Anticancer therapeutic potential of benzofuran scaffolds

Benzofuran moiety is the main component of many biologically active natural and synthetic heterocycles. These heterocycles have unique therapeutic potentials and are involved in various clinical drugs. The reported results confirmed the extraordinary inhibitory potency of such benzofurans against a panel of human cancer cell lines compared with a wide array of reference anticancer drugs. Several publications about the anticancer potencies of benzofuran-based heterocycles were encountered. The recent developments of anticancer activities of both natural and synthetic benzofuran scaffolds during 2019-2022 are thoroughly covered. Many of the described benzofurans are promising candidates for development as anticancer agents based on their outstanding inhibitory potency against a panel of human cancer cells compared with reference anticancer drugs. These findings encourage medicinal chemists to explore new areas to improve human health and reduce suffering.

Genus Spatholobus: a comprehensive review on ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology

Edible medicinal plants are important sources for the development of health beneficial products and drugs. Several species of the genus Spatholobus are considered as medicinal and food homologous plants in various Asian countries for the treatment of menstrual pain, anemia, paralysis, arthralgia, etc. Regarding this genus, mounting investigations on different aspects have been conducted; however, a comprehensive review about these findings is yet to be compiled. Herein, we reviewed the up-to-date information on the botanical description, distribution, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of the Spatholobus species for the first time to support their development potential. Thus far, 175 phytochemicals have been isolated, and flavonoids are the predominant constituents. Furthermore, 141 compounds show the ideal characteristic behavior of a drug-like molecule. Besides, the compounds and crude extracts of this genus have been demonstrated to exert a wide range of in vitro and in vivo bioactivities, such as antitumor activity, antioxidant activity, antiinflammatory activity, antiischemic activity, antimicrobial activity, and neuroprotective activity. Toxicity studies have revealed that Spatholobus species seem to have no apparent toxic effects. Even so, the need for in-depth studies to reveal the scientific connotation of the widely documented traditional actions, the structure-activity relationship of the bioactive compounds, and the systematic toxic reactions are warranted, and also to provide essential evidence for the beneficial use of Spatholobus plants and developing novel health care products and therapeutic drug from this genus.

Lessons from Exploring Chemical Space and Chemical Diversity of Propolis Components

Propolis is a natural resinous material produced by bees and has been used in folk medicines since ancient times. Due to it possessing a broad spectrum of biological activities, it has gained significant scientific and commercial interest over the last two decades. As a result of searching 122 publications reported up to the end of 2019, we assembled a unique compound database consisting of 578 components isolated from both honey bee propolis and stingless bee propolis, and analyzed the chemical space and chemical diversity of these compounds. The results demonstrated that both honey bee propolis and stingless bee propolis are valuable sources for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical development.

Natural source, bioactivity and synthesis of benzofuran derivatives

Benzofuran compounds are a class of compounds that are ubiquitous in nature. Numerous studies have shown that most benzofuran compounds have strong biological activities such as anti-tumor, antibacterial, anti-oxidative, and anti-viral activities. Owing to these biological activities and potential applications in many aspects, benzofuran compounds have attracted more and more attention of chemical and pharmaceutical researchers worldwide, making these substances potential natural drug lead compounds. For example, the recently discovered novel macrocyclic benzofuran compound has anti-hepatitis C virus activity and is expected to be an effective therapeutic drug for hepatitis C disease; novel scaffold compounds of benzothiophene and benzofuran have been developed and utilized as anticancer agents. Novel methods for constructing benzofuran rings have been discovered in recent years. A complex benzofuran derivative is constructed by a unique free radical cyclization cascade, which is an excellent method for the synthesis of a series of difficult-to-prepare polycyclic benzofuran compounds. Another benzofuran ring constructed by proton quantum tunneling has not only fewer side reactions, but also high yield, which is conducive to the construction of complex benzofuran ring systems. This review summarizes the recent studies on the various aspects of benzofuran derivatives including their important natural product sources, biological activities and drug prospects, and chemical synthesis, as well as the relationship between the bioactivities and structures.

Development of a Novel Ex-vivo 3D Model to Screen Amoebicidal Activity on Infected Tissue

Amoebiasis is a parasitic disease that causes thousands of deaths every year, its adverse effects and resistance to conventional treatments have led to the search of new treatment options, as well as the development of novel screening methods. In this work, we implemented a 3D model of intestine and liver slices from hamsters that were infected ex vivo with virulent E. histolytica trophozoites. Results show preserved histology in both uninfected tissues as well as ulcerations, destruction of the epithelial cells, and inflammatory reaction in intestine slices and formation of micro abscesses, and the presence of amoebae in the sinusoidal spaces and in the interior of central veins in liver slices. The three chemically synthetized compounds T-001, T-011, and T-016, which act as amoebicides in vitro, were active in both infected tissues, as they decreased the number of trophozoites, and provoked death by disintegration of the amoeba, similar to metronidazole. However, compound T-011 induced signs of cytotoxicity to liver slices. Our results suggest that ex vivo cultures of precision-cut intestinal and liver slices represent a reliable 3D approach to evaluate novel amoebicidal compounds, and to simultaneously detect their toxicity, while reducing the number of experimental animals commonly required by other model systems.

Metabolites of Medicarpin and Their Distributions in Rats

Medicarpin is a bioactive pterocarpan that has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. However, its metabolic fate in vivo is still unknown. To clarify its metabolism and the distribution of its metabolites in rats after oral administration, the HPLC-ESI-IT-TOF-MSⁿ technique was used. A total of 165 new metabolites (13 phase I and 152 phase II metabolites) were tentatively identified, and 104, 29, 38, 41, 74, 28, 24, 15, 42, 8, 10, 3, and 17 metabolites were identified in urine, feces, plasma, the colon, intestine, stomach, liver, spleen, kidney, lung, heart, brain, and thymus, respectively. Metabolic reactions included demethylation, hydrogenation, hydroxylation, glucuronidation, sulfation, methylation, glycosylation, and vitamin C conjugation. M1 (medicarpin glucuronide), M5 (vestitol-1'-O-glucuronide) were distributed to 10 organs, and M1 was the most abundant metabolite in seven organs. Moreover, we found that isomerization of medicarpin must occur in vivo. At least 93 metabolites were regarded as potential new compounds by retrieving information from the Scifinder database. This is the first detailed report on the metabolism of ptercarpans in animals, which will help to deepen the understanding of the metabolism characteristics of medicarpin in vivo and provide a solid basis for further studies on the metabolism of other pterocarpans in animals.