Efficacy of Rotundic Acid and Its Derivatives as Promising Natural Anticancer Triterpenoids: A Literature-Based Study

Rotundic acid (RA) is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpene with a multitude of pharmacological activities. The primary emphasis of this study is on summarizing the anticancer properties with the underlying mechanisms of RA and its derivatives, as well as the pharmacokinetic features. Data was collected (up to date as of November 10, 2023) from various reliable and authentic literatures by searching in different academic search engines, including PubMed, Springer Link, Scopus, Wiley Online, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The findings imply that RA and its synthetic derivatives possess promising anti-cancer properties against breast, colorectal, liver, and cervical cancers in various preclinical pharmacological test systems. The results also indicate that RA and its derivatives demonstrated anticancer effects via a number of cellular mechanisms, including apoptotic cell death, inhibition of oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory effect, cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest, anti-proliferative effect, anti-angiogenic effect, and inhibition of cancer cell migration and invasion. It has been proposed that RA and its derived compounds have the capability to serve as a hopeful chemotherapeutic agent, so further extensive clinical research is necessary.

Absolute bioavailability, dose proportionality, and tissue distribution of rotundic acid in rats based on validated LC-QqQ-MS/MS method

Rotundic acid (RA), an ursane-type pentacyclic triterpene acid isolated from the dried barks of Ilex rotunda Thunb. (Aquifoliaceae), possesses diverse bioactivities. To further study its pharmacokinetics, a simple and sensitive liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-QqQ-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to quantify RA concentration in rat plasma and tissue using etofesalamide as an internal standard (IS). Plasma and tissue samples were subjected to one-step protein precipitation. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a ZORBAX Eclipse XDB-C₁₈ column (4.6 mm × 50 mm, 5 μm) under gradient conditions with eluents of methanol:acetonitrile (1:1, V/V) and 5 mM ammonium formate:methanol (9:1, V/V) at 0.5 mL/min. Multiple reaction monitoring transitions were performed at m/z 487.30 → 437.30 for RA and m/z 256.10 → 227.10 for IS in the negative mode. The developed LC-QqQ-MS/MS method exhibited good linearity (2–500 ng/mL) and was fully validated in accordance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration bioanalytical guidelines. Dose proportionality and bioavailability in rats were determined by comparing pharmacokinetic data after single oral (10, 20, and 40 mg/kg) and intravenous (10 mg/kg) administration of RA. Tissue distribution was studied following oral administration at 20 mg/kg. The results showed that the absolute bioavailability of RA after administration at different doses ranged from 16.1% to 19.4%. RA showed good dose proportionality over a dose range of 10–40 mg/kg. RA was rapidly absorbed in a dose-dependent manner and highly distributed in the liver. In conclusion, this study is the first to systematically elucidate the absorption and distribution characteristics of RA in rats, which can provide additional information for further development and evaluation of RA in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies.

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A simple, rapid, and sensitive LC-QqQ-MS/MS method was developed and validated for RA quantification in rat plasma and tissue.

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Absolute bioavailability of RA was calculated to range from 16.1% to 19.4%.

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Dose proportionality and tissue distribution of RA were assessed for in rats.

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RA showed good dose proportionality over a dose range of 10–40 mg/kg.

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RA was rapidly and extensively distributed and exhibited the highest concentration in the liver after oral administration.

Synthesis of some new acylhydrazone compounds containing the 1,2,4-triazole structure and their neuritogenic activities in Neuro-2a cells

In the present study, a novel series of acylhydrazone compounds (A0–A10) with the structure of 1,2,4-triazole have been designed and synthesized.

Rotundic acid induces Cas3-MCF-7 cell apoptosis through the p53 pathway

In the present study, the functions and mechanisms of rotundic acid (RA) underlying its induction of apoptosis in caspase-3-transfected MCF-7 human breast cancer cells (Cas3-MCF-7 cells) were investigated. RA induced apoptosis in Cas3-MCF-7 cells more efficiently compared with that in MCF-7 cells transfected with control plasmid. The results from an MTT assay demonstrated that RA effectively inhibited Cas3-MCF-7 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner and induced cell apoptosis via caspase-3 activity within 12 to 48 h. Western blotting and fluorescence-activated cell sorting demonstrated that RA initiated Cas3-MCF-7 cell apoptosis via p53 activation. The silencing of the p53 gene in the Cas3-MCF-7 cell line led to decreased RA-induced Cas3-MCF-7 cell caspase-3 activity and cell apoptosis. Collectively, the results of the present study indicate that caspase-3 serves a critical function in rotundic acid-induced apoptosis, and suggest that caspase-3 deficiency may contribute to the chemotherapy-resistance of breast cancer. Reconstitution of caspase-3 sensitizes MCF-7 breast cancer cells to chemotherapy. RA has the potential for development as a novel drug combined with reconstitution of caspase-3 gene therapy for the treatment of human breast cancer with caspase-3 deficiency.

Study of reactivity of cyanoacetohydrazonoethyl-N-ethyl-N-methyl benzenesulfonamide: preparation of novel anticancer and antimicrobial active heterocyclic benzenesulfonamide derivatives and their molecular docking against dihydrofolate reductase

This article describes the synthesis of some novel heterocyclic sulfonamides having biologically active thiophene 3, 4, 5, 6, coumarin 8, benzocoumarin 9, thiazole 7, piperidine 10, pyrrolidine 11, pyrazole 14 and pyridine 12, 13. Starting with 4-(1-(2-(2-cyanoacetyl)hydrazono)ethyl)-N-ethyl-N-methylbenzenesulfonamide (2), which was prepared from condensation of acetophenone derivative 1 with 2-cyanoacetohydrazide. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR and MS spectral data. All the newly synthesized heterocyclic sulfonamides were evaluated as in-vitro anti-breast cancer cell line (MCF7) and as in-vitro antimicrobial agents. Compounds 8, 5 and 11 were more active than MTX reference drug and compounds 12, 7, 4, 14, 5 and 8 were highly potent against Klebsiella pneumonia. Molecular operating environment performed virtual screening using molecular docking studies of the synthesized compounds. The results indicated that some prepared compounds are suitable inhibitor against dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) enzyme (PDBSD:4DFR) with further modification.