Polyphenolic drug composition based on benzenepolycarboxylic acids (BP-C3) increases life span and inhibits spontaneous tumorigenesis in female SHR mice

Effects of a Hydrolyzed Lignin Derivative on Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice

Female C57BL/J mice with pulmonary fibrosis induced by injections of bleomycin (20 mg/kg intraperitoneally, 8 times for 4 weeks) were treated with a lignin derivative-based composition BP-C3 (80 mg/kg, daily intragastric administrations for 4 weeks). Bleomycin treatment increased the severity of pulmonary fibrosis (Ashcroft score increased from 1.43±0.20 to 4.17±0.48) and the percentage of α-SMA+ tissue (from 15.22±1.01 to 33.12±2.30%) and DNA-synthetizing nuclei (from 1.05±0.14 to 3.38±0.375). After treatment with BP-C3, we observed a tendency to a decrease in Ashcroft score (to 3.40±0.51) and a significant decrease in the percentage of α-SMA+ tissue to 24.30±1.70%; the percentage of DNA-synthetizing nuclei decreased to a lesser extent (to 3.03±0.22%). These results suggest that BP-C3 has a moderate antifibrotic activity.

A Use of Tritium-Labeled Peat Fulvic Acids and Polyphenolic Derivatives for Designing Pharmacokinetic Experiments on Mice

Natural products (e.g., polyphenols) have been used as biologically active compounds for centuries. Still, the mechanisms of biological activity of these multicomponent systems are poorly understood due to a lack of appropriate experimental techniques. The method of tritium thermal bombardment allows for non-selective labeling and tracking of all components of complex natural systems. In this study, we applied it to label two well-characterized polyphenolic compounds, peat fulvic acid (FA-Vi18) and oxidized lignin derivative (BP-Cx-1), of predominantly hydrophilic and hydrophobic character, respectively. The identity of the labeled samples was confirmed using size exclusion chromatography. Using ultra-high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT ICR MS), key differences in the molecular composition of BP-Cx-1 and FA-Vi18 were revealed. The labeled samples ([³H]-FA-Vi18 (10 mg/kg) and [³H]-BP-Cx-1 (100 mg/kg)) were administered to female BALB/c mice intravenously (i.v.) and orally. The label distribution was assessed in blood, liver, kidneys, brain, spleen, thymus, ovaries, and heart using liquid scintillation counting. Tritium label was found in all organs studied at different concentrations. For the fulvic acid sample, the largest accumulation was observed in the kidney (C_max 28.5 mg/kg and 5.6 mg/kg, respectively) for both routes. The organs of preferential accumulation of the lignin derivative were the liver (C_max accounted for 396.7 and 16.13 mg/kg for i.v. and p.o. routes, respectively) and kidney (C_max accounted for 343.3 and 17.73 mg/kg for i.v. and p.o. routes, respectively). Our results demonstrate that using the tritium labeling technique enabled successful pharmacokinetic studies on polyphenolic drugs with very different molecular compositions. It proved to be efficient for tissue distribution studies. It was also shown that the dosage of the polyphenolic drug might be lower than 10 mg/kg due to the sensitivity of the ³H detection technique.

Evaluation of the genotoxic and antigenotoxic potential of lignin-derivative BP-C2 in the comet assay in vivo

The genotoxic and antigenotoxic potential of BP-C2, a novel lignin-derived polyphenolic composition with ammonium molybdate, was investigated as a radioprotector/radiomitigator for civil applications and as a medical countermeasure for radiation emergencies. Using the alkaline comet assay and methyl methanesulfonate (MMS, 40 mg/kg) as the DNA-damaging agent, these effects of BP-C2 on liver, bone marrow cells and blood leukocytes in rats were studied. The DNA damage was estimated by the DNA content in the comet tail (TDNA, %) 1, 6 and 18 h post exposure to MMS. BP-C2 at doses of 20, 200 and 2000 mg/kg did not exert genotoxic activity in the tested tissues in rats. BP-C2 administered at doses of 20, 100 and 200 mg/kg 1 h before MMS significantly (p < 0.01) mitigated MMS-induced DNA damage, showing a strong genoprotective effect in the liver. In blood leukocytes and bone marrow samples of animals treated with BP-C2, the TDNA % was slightly higher than in the negative control (vehicle) but significantly lower than in the positive control (MMS). Thus, BP-C2 exerted a genoprotective effect against MMS-induced DNA damage to a greater extent towards liver cells, requiring further evaluation of this substance as a genoprotective agent.

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry for the analysis of molecular composition and batch-to-batch consistency of plant-derived polyphenolic ligands developed for biomedical application

Complex plant-derived polyphenols are promising for biomedical application. Their high complexity prevents the use of conventional pharmacopoeia techniques to perform quality control. The goal of this study was to apply ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry to evaluate the batch-to-batch consistency of the molecular composition of a polyphenolic ligand using appropriate statistical metrics.

METHODS

Polyphenols were obtained by hydrolyzed-lignin oxidation. Manufacturing was performed under a range of reaction conditions: heating cycles, oxygen flows, purification. Direct-injection Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (DI FTICR-MS) was applied to analyze reaction products. For pairwise comparison Jaccard and Tanimoto similarities calculations were proposed. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied for sample grouping based on the molecular class contributions.

RESULTS

FTICR-MS analysis revealed moderate Jaccard similarity of products synthesized under the same conditions, which shared about 50% of the formulae calculated in each sample. The intensity-based Tanimoto index indicated high similarity of major components distribution of samples synthesized under standard conditions, while products obtained with variations in synthetic conditions were significantly different. PCA of molecular class contributions showed similar grouping with a high cumulative score.

CONCLUSIONS

FTICR-MS provides robust metrics for the examination of batch-to-batch consistency of synthetic polyphenol materials. This approach can be proposed for the analysis of reference samples and for development of complementary methods for quality control of medicinal agents based on various biologically active matrices.

The Effect of Polyphenolic Composition BP-C3 on the Efficacy and Hematological Toxicity of Cyclophosphamide in the Chemotherapy of Mice Bearing Soft Tissue Sarcomas Induced by Benzo[a]pyrene

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of lignin-derived polyphenolic composition BP-C3 on the efficacy and hematological toxicity of cyclophosphamide (CPA). Male and female Swiss-H derived mice bearing benzo[a]pyrene-induced soft tissue sarcomas were treated with CPA 300 mg/kg, BP-C3 75 mg/kg, or a combination. Tumor growth inhibition in male mice treated with CPA, BP-C3, or a combination of CPA and BP-C3 was significant and corresponded to 78%, 45%, and 82%, respectively, on day 21 after CPA administration on day 0. In female mice, tumor growth inhibition was 58%, −11%, and 35% when treated with CPA, BP-C3, or a combination of CPA and BP-C3, respectively. CPA administration resulted in significant hematological toxicity evidenced by a decreased white blood cell count on day 4 (2.43 ± 1.77 × 10⁹/L in male mice and 1.19 ± 0.71 × 10⁹/L in female mice) and anemia development on day 7 (6.55 ± 1.74 × 10¹²/L in male mice and 5.89 ± 2.24 × 10¹²/L in female mice). The red blood cell count measured on day 7 in animals treated with the combination of BP-C3 and CPA constituted 7.12 ± 1.17 × 10¹²/L and 7.36 ± 2.07 × 10¹²/L for male and female mice, respectively. The results of our study demonstrate the antitumor activity of BP-C3 in male mice bearing soft tissue sarcomas. Neither the antitumor activity nor the hematological toxicity of CPA were significantly influenced by BP-C3. A less pronounced effect of CPA on RBC count is demonstrated when this agent is given jointly with BP-C3.

Applying parametric models to survival data: tradeoffs between statistical significance, biological plausibility, and common sense

Parametric models for survival data help to differentiate aging from other lifespan determinants. However, such inferences suffer from small sizes of experimental animal samples and variable animals handling by different labs. We analyzed control data from a single laboratory where interventions in murine lifespan were studied over decades. The minimal Gompertz model (GM) was found to perform best with most murine strains. However, when several control datasets related to a particular strain are fitted to GM, strikingly rigid interdependencies between GM parameters emerge, consistent with the Strehler-Mildvan correlation (SMC). SMC emerges even when survival patterns do not conform to GM, as with cancer-prone HER2/neu mice, which die at a log-normally distributed age. Numerical experiments show that SMC includes an artifact whose magnitude depends on dataset deviation from conformance to GM irrespectively of the noisiness of small datasets, another contributor to SMC. Still another contributor to SMC is the compensation effect of mortality (CEM): a real tradeoff between the physiological factors responsible for initial vitality and the rate of its decline. To avoid misinterpretations, we advise checking experimental results against a SMC based on historical controls or on subgroups obtained by randomization of control animals. An apparent acceleration of aging associated with a decrease in the initial mortality is invalid if it is not greater than SMC suggests. This approach applied to published data suggests that the effects of calorie restriction and of drugs believed to mimic it are different. SMC and CEM relevance to human survival patterns is discussed.

Regulation of Immune Function by Polyphenols

Immune dysfunction is caused by various factors, including changes in relevant immune regulators and environmental stress. Immune system imbalance leads to a variety of diseases in humans. Nutrition may play an essential role in immunity by interfering with proinflammatory cytokine synthesis, immune cell regulation, and gene expression. Polyphenols, one of many categories of natural substances, exhibit a range of biological activities. Polyphenols promote immunity to foreign pathogens via various pathways. Different immune cells express multiple types of polyphenol receptors that recognise and allow cellular uptake of polyphenols, which subsequently activate signalling pathways to initiate immune responses. Furthermore, the polyphenols curcumin and epigallocatechin gallate can induce epigenetic changes in cells. In summary, polyphenols can be used to regulate intestinal mucosal immune responses, allergic diseases, and antitumour immunity.

Novel water-soluble lignin derivative BP-Cx-1: identification of components and screening of potential targets in silico and in vitro

Identification of molecular targets and mechanism of action is always a challenge, in particular – for natural compounds due to inherent chemical complexity. BP-Cx-1 is a water-soluble modification of hydrolyzed lignin used as the platform for a portfolio of innovative pharmacological products aimed for therapy and supportive care of oncological patients. The present study describes a new approach, which combines in vitro screening of potential molecular targets for BP-Cx-1 using Diversity Profile - P9 panel by Eurofins Cerep (France) with a search of possible active components in silico in ChEMBL - manually curated chemical database of bioactive molecules with drug-like properties. The results of diversity assay demonstrate that BP-Cx-1 has multiple biological effects on neurotransmitters receptors, ligand-gated ion channels and transporters. Of particular importance is that the major part of identified molecular targets are involved in modulation of inflammation and immune response and might be related to tumorigenesis. Characterization of molecular composition of BP-Cx-1 with Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry and subsequent identification of possible active components by searching for molecular matches in silico in ChEMBL indicated polyphenolic components, nominally, flavonoids, sapogenins, phenanthrenes, as the major carriers of biological activity of BP-Cx-1. In vitro and in silico target screening yielded overlapping lists of proteins: adenosine receptors, dopamine receptor DRD4, glucocorticoid receptor, serotonin receptor 5-HT1, prostaglandin receptors, muscarinic cholinergic receptor, GABAA receptor. The pleiotropic molecular activities of polyphenolic components are beneficial in treatment of multifactorial disorders such as diseases associated with chronic inflammation and cancer.

Effect of the polyphenol composition BP-C3 on haematological and intestinal indicators of 5-fluorouracil toxicity in mice

BP-C3 is a formulation, which comprises lignin-derived polyphenolic composition of benzenepolycarboxylic acids (BP-Cx-1) with iron complex, selenium, ascorbic acid and retinol, and possesses geroprotective activity. The present study examined the effect of BP-C3 (80 mg/kg, administered 18 times in total by gavage) on the development of haematological and intestinal manifestations of toxicity following 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 150 mg/kg, administered once via intravenous injection) administration in outbred male Swiss-H Rappolovo (SHR) mice. The use of BP-C3 on therapeutic and preventative/therapeutic schedules demonstrated that it was protective against the toxic effect of 5-FU exerted on the lymphopoietic organs. Administering ВР-С3 24 h after 5-FU (therapeutic schedule) had an effect on the recovery of leukopoiesis and prevented anaemia in the mice. In the mice that received 5-FU and 5-FU with BP-C3 prior to and following administration of the chemotherapeutic agent (preventative/therapeutic schedule), mild anaemia developed by day 7. Administration of BP-C3 without 5-FU did not affect blood cell differentiation in the mice. Thus, BP-C3, depending on the administration schedule, had different effects on the haematological parameters of haematopoietic organs and peripheral blood in mice exposed to 5-FU. BP-C3 promoted intestinal crypt survival when administered on the preventative/therapeutic and therapeutic schedules, suggesting that the formulation protects the epithelium of the small intestine against damage by 5-FU.