A Novel Antiplatelet Aggregation Target of Justicidin B Obtained From Rostellularia Procumbens (L.) Nees

Ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological relevance of Justicia procumbens (Oriental Water Willow) - A promising traditional plant

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Justicia procumbens L. (JP) (Oriental Water Willow, Shrimp plant, Acanthaceae) is a herbaceous plant that is commonly found in India, Taiwan, Australia, Southern China, Vietnam, and Korea. The plant has been primarily used to treat fever, asthma, edema, cough, jaundice, urinary tract infection, and sore throat, as well as for snake bites and as a fish-killer. In the present review, the reported phyto-chemical, ethno-pharmacological, biological, and toxicological studies on J. procumbens were summarized. Special focus had been given to its reported lignans, regarding their isolation, characterization, quantitative estimation, and biosynthesis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A survey of the literature was done using assorted databases and publishers; Scopus, Sci-Finder, Web of Science, PubMed, GoogleScholar, ScienceDirect, Wiley, Taylors&Francis, Bentham, Thieme, and Springer.

RESULTS

Currently, 95 metabolites have been separated fromJ. procumbens. Lignans and their glycosides were reported as main phyto-constituents of J. procumbens. Various methods are mentioned for quantitative estimation of these lignans. These phyto-constituents possessed wide pharmacological effectiveness, such as antiplatelet aggregation, antimicrobial, antitumor, and antiviral.

CONCLUSIONS

Many of the stated effects are harmonious with the reported traditional uses of this plant. This data could further support J. procumbens's utilization as a herbal remedy and drug lead. However, further study of J. procumbens toxicity, as well as preclinical and clinical investigation is required to ensure the safe usage of J. procumbens.

Reveals of candidate active ingredients in Justicia and its anti-thrombotic action of mechanism based on network pharmacology approach and experimental validation

Thrombotic diseases seriously threaten human life. Justicia, as a common Chinese medicine, is usually used for anti-inflammatory treatment, and further studies have found that it has an inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation. Therefore, it can be inferred that Justicia can be used as a therapeutic drug for thrombosis. This work aims to reveal the pharmacological mechanism of the anti-thrombotic effect of Justicia through network pharmacology combined with wet experimental verification. During the analysis, 461 compound targets were predicted from various databases and 881 thrombus-related targets were collected. Then, herb-compound-target network and protein-protein interaction network of disease and prediction targets were constructed and cluster analysis was applied to further explore the connection between the targets. In addition, Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway (KEGG) enrichment were used to further determine the association between target proteins and diseases. Finally, the expression of hub target proteins of the core component and the anti-thrombotic effect of Justicia's core compounds were verified by experiments. In conclusion, the core bioactive components, especially justicidin D, can reduce thrombosis by regulating F2, MMP9, CXCL12, MET, RAC1, PDE5A, and ABCB1. The combination of network pharmacology and the experimental research strategies proposed in this paper provides a comprehensive method for systematically exploring the therapeutic mechanism of multi-component medicine.

Extract from Rostellularia procumbens (L.) Nees Inhibits Thrombosis and Platelet Aggregation by Regulating Integrin β3 and MAPK Pathways

AIM OF STUDY

The main objective of this study was to investigate the antithrombotic and antiplatelet effect of the extract from Rostellularia procumbenss (L.) Nees and understand the mechanisms by which it exerts its antithrombotic and antiplatelet mechanisms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The antithrombotic effective parts (RPE) were isolated using D101 macroporous adsorption resin and potential active ingredients (JAC) were isolated using the preparative liquid-phase method. The lactate dehydrogenase kit was used to determine the toxicity of RPE and JAC to platelets. The antiadhesion effect of RPE and JAC on platelets was observed by fluorescence microscopy with rhodamine phalloidin. Antithrombotic efficacy of RPE and JAC in vivo was evaluated by establishing a rat tail thrombosis model. Contents of p-selectin, TXB₂, and 6-keto-PGF_1α in rat serum were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay, and the rat black tail rate was measured to prove the protective effect of RPE and JAC on the tail thrombus rat model. Western blot was used for detection of serum-related proteins in the tail thrombus rat model.

RESULTS

The results showed that RPE had antithrombotic and antiplatelet effects. RPE and JAC have no toxicity to platelets. In vitro experiments showed that RPE and JAC had antiadhesion effects on platelets. In vivo experiments showed that RPE significantly inhibited the increase of p-selectin and TXB₂ and significantly increased the content of 6-keto-PGF_1α in the serum of rats. Western blot results demonstrated that RPE and JDB significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of the MAPK protein family in the platelets of rats, and RPE also significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of β₃ protein.

CONCLUSIONS

RPE has antithrombotic and antiplatelet activity in vivo and vitro. Its mechanism may be via preventing integrin α_IIbβ₃ activation, which in turn leads to the inhibition of the phosphorylation of the MAPK family and further suppresses TXA₂, which leads to the antithrombotic and antiplatelet effects.

Study of Components and Mechanism of Juechuang Against Platelet Aggregation Based on Network Pharmacology

Juechuang, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, is originated from Rostellularia procumbens (L.) Nees. Many studies have shown that the ethyl acetate extract from Juechaung may inhibit platelet aggregation. However, the antiplatelet aggregation mechanism of Juechuang requires more systematic research. In this article, network pharmacology was used to explore the antiplatelet aggregation components and its antiplatelet aggregation mechanism. Different components were evaluated and screened by pharmacokinetic characteristics. The potential targets of active ingredients were predicted by a reverse pharmacophore matching method, and the targets were screened according to targets related to antiplatelet aggregation in the GeneCards database. Thus, an interaction network of component-target-pathway of Juechuang was generated using Cytoscape 3.2.1. software. Furthermore, the binding energy of relevant active components with key targets was calculated using a Lamarck genetic algorithm in the molecular docking calculations. Finally, the study identified 28 potentially active ingredients in Juechuang, providing further evidence that the active ingredients act on 277 targets, and 38 protein targets related to antiplatelet aggregation were screened. Through the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genome pathway enrichment analysis, we found that the mechanism of antiplatelet aggregation may be related to the Ras signaling pathway, platelet activation signaling pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, etc. Via molecular docking of 2 targets, non-receptor tyrosine kinases(SRC) and MAPK were selected for molecular docking. By comparing the molecular docking results of Chinensinaphthol, Taiwanin E, Tuberculatin, Cycloeucalenol, and Justicidin B to the control drug, we found that those test molecules combined with targets and lead to high binding activity. These molecular docking results were also consistent with the literature values, and they helped identify the active ingredients and assured the reliability of the network analysis. This study may further provide a reference for the systematic study of the pharmacodynamic effect and the antiplatelet aggregation mechanism of Juechuang.