Metabolomic profiling and biological investigation of Tabebuia Aurea (Silva Manso) leaves, family Bignoniaceae

Lipid discovered in American ginseng alleviates doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity by inhibiting cardiomyocyte ferroptosis

Doxorubicin (Dox)-induced cardiotoxicity (DIC) has limited its clinical application. It is crucial to discover more effective substances to treat DIC. In this study, a zebrafish model is used to evaluate the inhibition of DIC in the lipids in American ginseng (AGL) compared with the lipids in soybeans (SOL) and in egg yolks (YOL). A lipidomics approach based on Q Exactive LC-MS/MS is employed to monitor, identify, and analyze the lipid composition of three lipid samples. The H9c2 cell was used to investigate the key lipid in AGL for its effect mechanism in alleviating DIC. The results showed that AGL alleviated DIC on zebrafish by increasing the stroke volume, heart rate, and fractional shortening compared to SOL and YOL. A total of 216 differential lipids were identified among the three types of lipids using lipidomics. Besides, a fatty acid with 18 carbons and four double bonds, FA (18:4) was the dominant proportion in AGL and possessed the highest variable importance of projection (VIP) value. FA (18:4) also showed significant bioactivity to alleviate DIC in zebrafish. Furthermore, FA (18:4) reduced the ferric ions and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, increased GPX4 expression, and relieved mitochondrial damage to inhibit Dox-induced ferroptosis in H9c2 cells. Therefore, the composition characteristic and anti-DIC effect of AGL were revealed; FA (18,4) was identified for the first time to be a novel active component of AGL against DIC by inhibiting ferroptosis. These results provide a new understanding of AG-derived bioactive lipids and their potential benefits for heart health.

Capturing the antimicrobial profile of Paeonia officinalis, Jasminum officinale and Rosa damascene against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus with metabolomics analysis and network pharmacology

In the current study, we evaluated the in vitro antibacterial efficacy of the roots' extracts of Jasminum officinale, Rosa damascene and Paeonia officinalis against MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) by well diffusion technique. The root extract of P. officinalis exerted a potent anti-MRSA with MIC 0.4673 µg/ml, while both J. officinale and R. damascene exhibited very weak activity. Therefore, chemical profiling of the crude extract P. officinalis roots assisted by LC-HR-ESI-MS was performed and led to the dereplication of twenty metabolites of different classes, in which terpenes are the most abundant compounds. On a molecular level, network pharmacology was used to determine the targets of active metabolites to bacterial infections, particularly MRSA. Online databases PubChem, UniProt, STRING, and Swiss Target Prediction were used. In addition to using CYTOSCAPE software to display and analyze the findings, ShinyGO and FunRich tools were used to identify the gene enrichment analysis to the set of recognized genes. The results detected the identified metabolites were annotated by 254 targets. ALB, ACHE, TYMS, PRKCD, PLG, MMP9, MMP2, ERN1, EDNRA, BRD4 were found to be associated with MRSA infection. The top KEGG pathway was the vascular smooth muscle contraction pathway according to enrichment FDR. The present study suggested a possible implication of P. officinalis roots as a potent candidate having a powerful antibacterial activity against MRSA.

Cytotoxic metabolites from Sinularia levi supported by network pharmacology

The in-vitro anti-proliferative evaluation of Sinularia levi total extract against three cell lines revealed its potent effect against Caco-2 cell line with IC50 3.3 μg/mL, followed by MCF-7 and HepG-2 with IC50 6.4 μg/mL and 8.5 μg/mL, respectively, in comparison to doxorubicin. Metabolic profiling of S. levi total extract using liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-HR-ESI-MS) revealed the presence of phytoconstituents clusters consisting mainly of steroids and terpenoids (1-20), together with five metabolites 21-25, which were additionally isolated and identified through the phytochemical investigation of S. levi total extract through various chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. The isolated metabolites included one sesquiterpene, two steroids and two diterpenes, among which compounds prostantherol (21) and 12-hydroperoxylsarcoph-10-ene (25) were reported for the first time in Sinularia genus. The cytotoxic potential evaluation of the isolated compounds revealed variable cytotoxic effects against the three tested cell lines. Compound 25 was the most potent with IC50 value of 2.13 ± 0.09, 3.54 ± 0.07 and 5.67 ± 0.08 μg/mL against HepG-2, MCF-7 and Caco-2, respectively, followed by gorgosterol (23) and sarcophine (24). Additionally, network analysis showed that cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) was encountered in the mechanism of action of the three cancer types. Molecular docking analysis revealed that CDK1 inhibition could possibly be the reason for the cytotoxic potential.

Aureanin: a new iridoid from the leaves of Tabebuia aurea (Silva Manso) Benth. & Hook.f. ex S.Moore

One new iridoid named aureanin (1) was isolated from the leaves of Tabebuia aurea (Silva Manso) Benth. & Hook.f. ex S.Moore, together with eight known compounds, isoquercetin (2), astragalin (3), callicoside B (4), amphipaniculoside E (5), rehmaglutin D (6), quercetin-3-sambubioside (7), rutin (8), kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (9). The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated and confirmed by spectroscopic methods, including 1 D and 2 D NMR experiments, as well as HR-ESI-MS. Compounds 1-9 were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against three human cancer cell lines (A549, HepG2, and MCF-7) and Leishmania major. Compound 4 showed activity against A549 (IC50: 36.8 ± 1.5 μg/mL, etoposide (positive control): 28.1 ± 4.2 μg/mL), however, none of the compounds were active against L. major.

In vitro micropropagation and tiliroside production in Paratecoma peroba (Record) Kuhlm, an endemic and endangered Brazilian tree

In vitro tissue culture can be an alternative method for endangered species propagation, biodiversity conservation and secondary metabolite studies. Paratecoma peroba (Record) Kuhlm. (Bignoniaceae) is an endemic and endangered Brazilian species. This work aimed to establish in vitro morphogenesis and callus induction and to perform a phytochemical analysis of P. peroba callus extract. Higher seed germination (43%) was obtained in Wood Plant Medium culture without activated charcoal (AC). Combination of 5 µM benzyladenine + 10 µM gibberellic acid, without AC, resulted in a higher number of shoots (2 shoots/explant). A callus culture was stabilised from zygotic embryos using 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. A callus methanolic extract was used for phytochemical analysis. The isolated substance was identified as tiliroside (kaempferol 3-O-β-D-(6''-O-E-p-coumaroyl)-glucopyranoside) by NMR and quantified in callus and leaf extracts by HPLC. This study adds to the chemical knowledge of this species and it is the first report of a flavonol in Paratecoma.

Anti-androgenic potential of the fruit extracts of certain Egyptian Sabal species and their genetic variability studies: a metabolomic-molecular modeling approach

This work aimed to evaluate the anti-androgenic activity of S. blackburniana Glazebrook, S. causiarum (O. F. Cook) Becc, and S. palmetto (Walter) Lodd. Ex Schult fruit extracts in rats using Hershberger assay. Furthermore, to annotate secondary metabolites using LC-HRMS technique, to investigate underlying mechanisms responsible for 5-α-reductase inhibitory activity in silico and to compare cytotoxic effects in vitro against human prostatic stromal myofibroblast (WPMY-1) and human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH-1) cell lines using MTT, 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (spectrophotometrically). The results showed significant anti-androgenic implications with varying degrees, markedly decreased sex organ weights, reduction in testosterone and increase in LH and FSH serum levels. Genetic diversity study ensured the correct genotype and revealed outperformance of SCoT compared with CBDP markers to interpret polymorphism among selected species. S. blackburniana exhibited selective cytotoxic activity against BPH-1 compared to finasteride. Molecular docking of 59 dereplicated metabolites belonging to various chemical classes revealed that helasaoussazine, pinoresinol and tetra-O-caffeoylquinic acid are the top inhibitors of 5-α-reductase-2. Our study provides an insight into the anti-androgenic activity of selected species of Egyptian Sabal supported by docking study for the first time, demonstrates safety toward liver and kidney and highlights a new potential therapeutic candidate for anti-androgenic related disease such as benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Cytotoxic and antileishmanial triterpenes of Tabebuia aurea (Silva Manso) leaves

The bioactivity-guided fractionation of the total ethanolic extract of the leaves of Tabebuia aurea revealed the cytotoxic and antileishmanial potency of the ethyl acetate fraction, in which its phytochemical investigation resulted in the isolation of five triterpenes; identified as oleanolic acid (1), ursolic acid (2), pomolic acid (3), tormentic acid (4), 3β,6β,19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (5) in addition to one triterpenoid glucoside, spathodic acid 28-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6). Whereas compound 1 showed cytotoxic activity against three different cell lines; A549, MCF-7 and HepG2 with IC₅₀ values of 31.7 ± 1.2, 27.4 ± 1.8 and 28.8 ± 1.1 μg/mL, respectively (etoposide as a positive control: 28.1 ± 4.2, 22.5 ± 4.5, and 20.4 ± 0.8 μg/mL, respectively), while compounds 1 and 2 showed antileishmanial activity with IC₅₀ values of 10.2 ± 0.9 μg/mL and 5.1 ± 0.4 μg/mL, respectively (miltefosine: 7.7 ± 2.1 μg/mL).

Metabolic profiling of cytotoxic metabolites from five Tabebuia species supported by molecular correlation analysis

Tabebuia is the largest genus among the family Bignoniaceae. Tabebuia species are known for their high ornamental and curative value. Here, the cytotoxic potential of extracts from the leaves and stems of five Tabebuia species was analyzed. The highest activity was observed for T. rosea (Bertol.) DC. stem extract against HepG2 cell line (IC₅₀ 4.7 µg/mL), T. pallida L. stem extract against MCF-7 cell line (IC₅₀ 6.3 µg/mL), and T. pulcherrima stem extract against CACO2 cell line (IC₅₀ 2.6 µg/mL). Metabolic profiling of the ten extracts using liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry for dereplication purposes led to annotation of forty compounds belonging to different chemical classes. Among the annotated compounds, irridoids represent the major class. Principle component analysis (PCA) was applied to test the similarity and variability among the tested species and the score plot showed similar chemical profiling between the leaves and stems of both T. pulcherrima and T. pallida L. and unique chemical profiling among T. rosea (Bertol.) DC., T. argentea Britton, and T. guayacan (Seem.) Hemsl. leaf extracts and the stem extract of T. rosea (Bertol.) DC. Additionally, a molecular correlation analysis was used to annotate the bioactive cytotoxic metabolites in the extracts and correlate between their chemical and biological profiles.