Neolignans from Nectandra megapotamica (Lauraceae) Display in vitro Cytotoxic Activity and Induce Apoptosis in Leukemia Cells

Galgravin Isolated from Piper kadsura Ameliorates Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Endotoxemia in Mice

Sepsis results from uncontrolled inflammation, characterized by cytokine storm and immunoparalysis. To assess whether galgravin, a natural lignan isolated from Piper kadsura, can be used to treat sepsis, models of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages and LPS-induced endotoxemia mice were used. Galgravin suppressed NF-κB activation in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages without causing significant cytotoxicity, in which proinflammatory molecules like TNF-α, IL-6, iNOS, and COX-2 were downregulated. In addition, the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 was also suppressed by galgravin in LPS-activated murine bone marrow-derived macrophages. Moreover, galgravin significantly downregulated the mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and iNOS in the lungs and decreased TNF-α and IL-6 in the serum and IL-6 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of LPS-challenged mice. The COX-2 expression in tissues, including the lung, liver, and kidney, as well as the lung alveolar hemorrhage, was also reduced by galgravin. The present study reveals the anti-inflammatory effects of galgravin in mouse models and implies its potential application in inflammation diseases.

Latex derived from Ficus carica L. inhibited the growth of NSCLC by regulating the caspase/gasdermin/AKT signaling pathway

Previous studies reported the latex from the fruit of Ficus carica L. (fig) has anti-tumor and antioxidant activities in animal models. However, its active constituents, mechanism of action, and safety remain unknown. The alcohol-precipitated fraction of fig fruit latex (AFFL) was purified and prepared for testing against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). UPLC-TOF-MS/MS was used to examined the components of AFFL. We validated efficacy by researching antitumor phenotypes in vitro and constructing subcutaneous grafts of nude mice with NSCLC, as well as showing the underlying mechanism at the protein level. The results showed that 11 components of AFFL were screened. AFFL significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion, and clonogenesis of NSCLC cells, promoted cell apoptosis, inhibited tumor growth in A549 xenograft mice, but induced no obvious damage to normal mouse tissues (liver or kidney). Molecular mechanism studies revealed that AFFL could increase Caspase-1 expression in cancer cells by activating the cleavage of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9, inhibiting the activity of Bcl-2, and promoting tumor cell apoptosis. These processes cause gasdermin proteins (GSDMD and GSDME) to be cleaved, releasing N-terminal domain proteins to accumulate and perforate the cell membrane, and promoting tumor cell pyroptosis. In conclusion, our findings suggested that AFFL may promote tumor cell apoptosis and pyroptosis via the Caspase/Gasdermin/AKT signaling pathway and inhibit NSCLC growth in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating that fig latex can be developed as a functional food and drug with anti-NSCLC properties.

Neolignans isolated from Saururus cernuus L. (Saururaceae) exhibit efficacy against Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease caused by the blood fluke of the genus Schistosoma, affects over 230 million people, especially in developing countries. Despite the significant economic and public health consequences, only one drug is currently available for treatment of schistosomiasis, praziquantel. Thus, there is an urgent demand for new anthelmintic agents. Based on our continuous studies involving the chemical prospection of floristic biodiversity aiming to discover new bioactive compounds, this work reports the in vitro antiparasitic activity against Schistosoma mansoni adult worms of neolignans threo-austrobailignan-6 and verrucosin, both isolated from Saururus cernuus L. (Saururaceae). These neolignans showed a significant in vitro schistosomicidal activity, with EC₅₀ values of 12.6-28.1 µM. Further analysis revealed a pronounced reduction in the number of S. mansoni eggs. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed morphological alterations when schistosomes were exposed to either threo-austrobailignan-6 or verrucosin. These relevant antischistosomal properties were accompanied by low cytotoxicity potential against the animal (Vero) and human (HaCaT) cell lines, resulting in a high selectivity index. Considering the promising chemical and biological properties of threo-austrobailignan-6 and verrucosin, this research should be of interest to those in the area of neglected diseases and in particular antischistosomal drug discovery.

Toxic Potential of Cerrado Plants on Different Organisms

Cerrado has many compounds that have been used as biopesticides, herbicides, medicines, and others due to their highly toxic potential. Thus, this review aims to present information about the toxicity of Cerrado plants. For this purpose, a review was performed using PubMed, Science Direct, and Web Of Science databases. After applying exclusion criteria, 187 articles published in the last 20 years were selected and analyzed. Detailed information about the extract preparation, part of the plant used, dose/concentration tested, model system, and employed assay was provided for different toxic activities described in the literature, namely cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, insecticidal, antiparasitic, and molluscicidal activities. In addition, the steps to execute research on plant toxicity and the more common methods employed were discussed. This review synthesized and organized the available research on the toxic effects of Cerrado plants, which could contribute to the future design of new environmentally safe products.

Pharmacokinetic and Bioavailability Studies of Galgravin after Oral and Intravenous Administration to Rats Using HPLC-MS/MS Method

This paper presents a new high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method with a rapid analysis of 6 min to determine the concentration of galgravin in rat plasma so as to study its pharmacokinetic features and bioavailability in vivo. Schisandrin was selected as the internal standard (IS). After extracting the analyte from plasma samples with ethyl acetate, methanol-H2O (0.1% formic acid) (85 : 15, v/v) was used as mobile phase to achieve chromatographic separation on a C18 reversed phase column. The MS detection was performed in positive ion mode using electrospray ionization (ESI) source. This method showed good linearity over the range of 1~500 ng/mL (R 2 > 0.999), and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 1.0 ng/mL. The intraday precision and interday precision were both within 8.5%, whereas the accuracies were in the range of -2.6%-6.0%. The average recoveries of galgravin in rat plasma were between 92.3% and 99.3%. Moreover, galgravin was stable throughout storage and processing with all RSDs below 12.1%. After the successful application of this optimized method, the oral bioavailability of galgravin was determined to be 8.5%. This study will be helpful to the future research and development of galgravin.

Antileishmanial activity and ultrastructural changes of related tetrahydrofuran dineolignans isolated from Saururus cernuus L. (Saururaceae)

Objective

This work describes the isolation of anti-Leishmania amazonensis metabolites from Saururus cernuus (Saururaceae). Additionally, ultrastructural changes in promastigotes were evidenced by electron microscopy.

Methods

The MeOH extract from the leaves of S. cernuus was subjected to bioactivity-guided fractionation. Anti-L. amazonensis activity of purified compounds was performed in vitro against promastigote and amastigote forms.

Key findings

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the MeOH extract from the leaves of S. cernuus afforded two related tetrahydrofuran dineolignans: threo,threo-manassantin A (1) and threo,erythro-manassantin A (2). Compounds 1 and 2 displayed activity against promastigotes (EC50 of 35.4 ± 7.7 and 17.6 ± 4.2 μm, respectively) and amastigotes (EC50 of 20.4 ± 1.9 and 16.0 ± 1.1 μm, respectively), superior to that determined for the positive control miltefosine (EC50 of 28.7 ± 3.5 μm). Reduced cytotoxicity for host cells was observed for both compounds. Additionally, ultrastructural changes in promastigotes leading to an alteration of structural morphology were observed, as evidenced by electron microscopy. Furthermore, these compounds altered the morphology and physiology of the plasmatic membrane of L. amazonensis.

Conclusions

The obtained results indicated that dineolignans 1 and 2 could be considered as a scaffold for the design of novel and selective drug candidates for the treatment of leishmaniasis.

Biological properties and chemical composition of essential oil from Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.) Mez. leaves (Lauraceae)

Nectandra megapotamica is a tree species that naturally occurs in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. This paper aims to investigate the chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial, antileishmanial and antiproliferative activities of essential oil from N. megapotamica leaves (NM-EO). It displayed high antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans, S. sobrinus, Prevotella nigrescens and Bacteroides fragilis. NM-EO also exhibited high antileishmanial activity against promastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis. Its antiproliferative activity was evaluated against the following cells: GM07429A (normal cell), MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), HeLa (human cervical adenocarcinoma) and M059J (human glioblastoma). Its major components, which were determined by GC-FID and GC-MS, were α-bisabolol (13.7%), bicyclogermacrene (10.9%), (E,E)-farnesene (10.6%), Z-caryophyllene (9.5%) and (E)-β-farnesene (7.0%). These results suggest that N. megapotamica, a Brazilian plant, shows initial evidence of a new and alternative source of substances of medicinal interest.

Influence of Monoterpenes in Biological Activities of Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.) Mez Essential Oils

Investigating the influence of seasonal variations on biological activities is important for pharmacological studies and metabolic engineering. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the variation of the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from Nectandra megapotamica leaves, collected at different stages of plant development, as well as its influence on the biological activities. A total of 38 compounds were identified that accounted for 97–99.2% of the chemical composition of the oils. Major differences were observed in the monoterpenic fraction, representing 5.1% of the compounds identified in the productive rest phase to 37.1% in the blooming phase. Bicyclogermacrene and germacrene D were the predominant compounds identified in the oil of all collections. Furthermore, limonene, β-pinene, and spathulenol were identified predominantly in the samples of blooming and fruiting phases. The oils exhibited significant antichemotactic activity and different effects in scavenging the radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. Variations were also observed in the antifungal activity, with the minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 125 to 500 μg/mL. These results demonstrate the influence of monoterpenes, primarily limonene, α-pinene, and β-pinene, on the bioactivities of the oil. Studies investigating the variations in the chemical composition of essential oil may offer a strategy to produce a compound or a group of compounds of interest to industries with a specific pharmacological focus.

Effective cytotoxic activity of OSW-1 on colon cancer by inducing apoptosis in vitro and in vivo

As a natural compound, Ornithogalum caudatum Ait is primarily used as an anti-inflammatory and antitumor agent in Chinese folk medicine. In 1992, OSW-1 was isolated from this compound, which is a new member of cholestane saponin family. In numerous recent studies, OSW-1 has been shown to have powerful cytotoxic anticancer effects against various malignant cells. However, the therapeutic efficacy of OSW-1 on colon cancer and the underlying mechanism are not understood. To explore the mechanism underlying OSW-1 in antitumor therapy, a therapeutic function analysis of OSW-1 on colon cancer was performed in vitro and in vivo. It was shown that with low toxicity on normal colonic cells, OSW-1 suppresses colon cancer cells in vitro and this inhibition was via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, which increased cellular calcium, changed mitochondrial membrane potential, disrupted mitochondrial morphology, and led to the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase-3. Furthermore, in a nude mouse model, OSW-1 had a powerful effect on suppressing colon tumor proliferation without significant side effects through the apoptosis pathway. Taken together, these results demonstrate that OSW-1 is a potential drug for colon cancer treatment.

Chemical Profile and in vitro Biological Activities of Essential Oils of Nectandra puberula and N. cuspidata from the Amazon

Essential oils (EO) from leaves and branches of Nectandra puberula Schott (Nees) and from leaves of N. cuspidata Nees & Mart. were obtained by hydrodistillation and their chemical compositions determined by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main compounds identified from N. puberula EO were apiole (22.2%), β-caryophyllene (15.1%), β-pinene (13.3%), germacrene D (8.3%), pogostol (6.6%) and bicyclogermacrene (6.4%) in the leaves; and apiole (28.1%), pogostol (19.8%) and guaiol (11.2%) in the branches. The EO of N. cuspidata leaves showed β-caryophyllene (26.9%), bicyclogermacrene (16.0%) and spathulenol (5.2%) as the main compounds. The EOs were subjected to antibacterial screening and displayed promising activity against Escherichia coli (MIC = 19.5 μg.mL−1). In addition, the EOs were tested for cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 breast tumor cells and the IC50 values were 64.5 ± 1.6 and 117.1 ± 11.9 μg.mL−1 for the leaf EOs of N. puberula and N. cuspidata, respectively.