Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 17, Issue 13, 2016

Physalis pubescens L. (P. pubescens) is an edible plant used in folk medicine in China. There is traditional, but not scientific, evidence for the anti-tumour effects of P. pubescens. This study aimed to identify whether, or not, antioxidants rich in phenols and flavonoids from fruits and calyxes of P. pubescens can be the candidates for further development of an anti-hepatoma fraction, and if such biological effects coupled with reactive oxygen species (ROS) changes, can provide a direction for subsequent biological action. The effects of calyx-origin (or fruit-origin) total phenol and flavonoid (CTPF or FTPF) from P. pubescens on Malhavu cell viability were evaluated by using a counting-kit-8 (CCK-8) method. Morphological characterisation of cells was undertaken and the structures were photographed (200 × magnification) using Hoechst 3348 staining after exposure to different concentrations of CTPF or FTPF. Induced-apoptosis activity was determined using flow cytometry (FC) after Annexin VFITC/ PI staining. The corresponding ROS changes in Malhavu cells were observed and quantified by the uploading of 2’, 7’-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA). Anti-oxidation was evaluated by a cellular oxidation-stress model and chemical assessments for DPPH, hydroxyl radial, super-oxide radicals, and reducing power. Result shows that CTPF led to significant anti-proliferation in a time- and dosedependent manner. However, FTPF promoted cell viability at 100-1000 μg/mL with a dose-response manner in 24 h. With the extension of exposure time to 48 h, the cell viability did not increase with the growth of FTPF. Morphological characterisation and FC assay both demonstrated that CTPF, and not FTPF possessed induced-apoptotic activity. CTPF potentially induced cell apoptosis by promoting oxidative stress. FTPF indicated pro-oxidation at a concentration of 10 μg/mL and anti-oxidation capabilities at higher concentrations. ROS scavenging assay by oxidation-stress model indicated that CTPF (10 - 400 μg/mL) had ROS inhibitory capacity (R2 = 0.5156, p < 0.0001). FTPF (10 - 100 μg/mL) boosted the level of ROS (p < 0.0001) and inhibited the generation of ROS at 100-400 μg/mL (R2 = 0.5951, p < 0.0001). CTPF is a potential candidate requiring further exploration for the development of antihepatoma ingredients. The down-regulation of cell viability was related to production and reduction of cellular ROS.

Castor cake is the residue in castor oil production in which many active components exist and the major one among them is ricinine. In this study, optimization of extraction of ricinine from castor cake using ultrasonic-microwave synergistic extraction (UMSE) was investigated to obtain high yield and purity by Box-Behnken design (BBD) response surface design. The optimal conditions of extraction were: ultrasound power 342 W, extracting time 5 min, microwave power 395 W, and non-significant factor of liquid/solid ratio 1:10. The crude extraction was recrystallized from ethanol. As a result, the maximum yield of ricinine was approximately 67.52%. The purity of ricinine was 99.39% which was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Additionally, the structure of purified ricinine was identified by fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to characterize the prismatic crystals morphology of ricinine. Results demonstrated that the present method combined the advantages of ultrasonic extraction and microwave extraction, which is time-saving with high extraction yield. Our results offer a suitable method for large-scale isolation of ricinine.

Cassia is a large tropical genus with about 600 species that have been widely used as folk medicines in China and India. This genus has been known to possess various biological activities, e.g. antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-malarial, anti-mutagenic activity, and anti-fertility etc. Flavonoids, for its broad spectrum of pharmacological activity and low toxicity, have attracted more interest in the development and utilization of natural medicines. The structure and biological activity research of flavonoids extracted from Cassia genus is the first step in the search for new drugs from those plants. This review summarizes the isolation and characterization of flavonoids from various Cassia species, such as Cassia absus, Cassia alata, Cassia fistula, etc. Flavonoids can be extracted from different parts of the plants, such as seed, leaf, stem and pod. Chemical structure research of these flavonoids in extracts has revealed many different types of compounds, which show the complication of the metabolism of Cassia genus. The antidiabetic activities can be found in many Cassia species. The efficiency of extraction method and action mode have been widely investigated. The extract not only can reduce the blood glucose level, but also improve glycogen content. Research show that the methanolic extract is effective in inducing hypoglycemic effects in both type I and II diabetes. Because flavonoids have complex structures, various function points, and unknown pertinence and selectivity for different health conditions, there are still many research areas waiting to be explored, such as to reveal the metabolic pathways of flavonoids in the Cassia genus, and to illustrate the structure-activity relationship between flavonoids and protein. That above-mentioned research will provide the basis for further medicinal development on this genus.

Anorexia cancer cachexia syndrome is prevalent in advanced cancer patients, which is featured by anorexia, decreased dietary intake, body weight loss (skeletal muscle mass loss), and is unable to be reversed by routine nutritional support therapy. Up to now, the main mechanisms involved in cancer cachexia include excessive systemic inflammation, which is represented by increased plasma levels of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha, tumor-induced factors, such as PIF and LMF. These factors eventually act on orexigenic and anorexigenicneurons located in the hypothalamus or protein and lipid metabolism of peripheral tissues, which lead to anorexia, decreased dietary intake, enhanced basic metabolism rate and hypercatabolism. The treatment modality includes early nutritional intervention, physical activity and drug treatment. However, studies about drugs used to treat cachexia are always controversial or merely effective in stimulating appetite and increasing body weight, though not lean body mass. The main target of pharmaceutical treatment is to improve appetite, decrease systemic inflammation and promote anabolic metabolism. Nevertheless, the treatment effectiveness of chemical drugs are not reaching consensus by existing cachexia guidelines. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is recently known as a promising treatment to improve cachaxia status and quality of life of cancer patients. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural herbal medicines have been used in the treatment of cancer for thousands of years worldwide, particularly in China. More and more research show that traditional Hanfang (Chinese medicines) and some natural herbs with less side reactions, have the effects of antagonizing pro-inflammatory cytokines, enhancing immune system, inhibiting protein catabolism, boosting the appetite and body weight, which maybe a promising treatment strategy and development tendency for anorexia cancer cachexia syndrome.

In the study, we investigated the antibacterial activity and mechanism of gallic acid against Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas sobria. Gallic acid showed strong antimicrobial activity against the two bacteria. Furthermore, the antibacterial mechanism of gallic acid (0, 3, 6, 12 mM) was performed by membrane integrity assay and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) assay. The results showed that gallic acid notably increased the released material absorption value at 260, 280 nm and electric conductivity in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the SEM assay showed that gallic acid induced severe shrink of bacterial intima and irregular morphology in a dose-dependent manner. The SDS-PAGE profiles further confirmed that gallic acid could damage bacterial cells. These results indicated gallic acid exhibited antibacterial effect by destroying membrane integrity of A. hydrophila and A. sobria. Hence, gallic acid has great potential as a new natural food preservative in food fresh-keeping and storage.

Intra- and/or inter-individual variability in drug response is mainly a result of either subtherapeutic or supratherapeutic plasma levels of the active drugs and their metabolites, with this variability mainly being influenced by differences in the rate of drug metabolism. Indeed, drug metabolism is largely determined by genetic polymorphism in the CYP enzymes, which are responsible for approximately 85% of the drug metabolism process. However, this genetic heterogeneity can accurately predict actual drug metabolizing capacity (oxidation phenotype) for some individuals: poor metabolizers (PMs), who cannot produce the drug metabolizing enzymes, and 20% of ultra-rapid metabolizers. According to EMA recommendations, phenotyping procedures for drug interaction studies and clinical research are therefore required to obtain actual data on the main CYP enzymes. With this purpose, cocktail phenotyping approaches give information on the activity of different CYPs in just one experiment. In this review, the issues related to the phenotyping of the main CYP enzymes are reviewed, and the current in vivo phenotyping cocktails are analysed: the sampling procedures, probe drugs utilized, analytical techniques and main applications are also discussed. Based on this analysis, a fully validated cocktail approach to measure the metabolic activity of the main CYP enzymes and drug transporters is still required. This novel approach should fulfil certain conditions: a faster and simpler analytical methodology to obtain information on several CYPs in one experiment, minimal sample amounts, and minimal doses of optimal probe drugs.

Background: The root bark of Ulmus davidiana Nakai (Ulmaceae), a traditional Korean medicinal plant, is used for treating inflammatory diseases. Objective: We investigated the Nrf2-activating effect of U. davidiana and identified a novel Nrf2 activator from its constituent compounds. Methods: Cytotoxicity was measured by MTT assay, and the Nrf2 activity was examined by luciferasereporter assay and western blot analysis. The expression of Nrf2-dependent antioxidant genes was estimated by RT-PCR. The signal pathway related to Nrf2 activation was analyzed by treating specific signaling inhibitors. Anti-inflammatory effects were determined using an NO assay and western blot analysis. Results: Ulmus davidiana and its constituent compounds, including catechin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, α-nigerose, n-butyl α-D-fructofuranoside (NBF), and procyanidin B3, enhanced the transcriptional activity of Nrf2. Of these compounds, only NBF possessed a distinctive structure and exhibited ROS-independent Nrf2 activation. In addition, NBF significantly increased the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and the expression of Nrf2-dependent detoxifying enzymes, including HO-1 and NQO-1, in dose-dependent manner. The Nrf2 activation induced by NBF was mediated by the phosphorylation of JNK. Consequently, pretreatment with NBF inhibited the LPS-induced expression of pro-inflammatory genes. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report on the Nrf2-activating effect of U. davidiana and NBF. Given the importance of Nrf2 as a negative regulator in various inflammatory diseases, NBF could be considered as a novel candidate for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic widely used against infections caused by Gram-negative microorganisms. Nephrotoxicity is the main limitation to its therapeutic use. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential protective effect of astaxanthin on the renal damage generated by gentamicin in rats, in an attempt to understand its mechanism of action, which may pave the way for possible therapeutic applications. The daily oral administration of the astaxanthin at a concentration of 50 mg/kg for 15 days to gentamicin (80 mg/kg.b.w) treated rats showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in plasma creatinine, urea, TNF-α as well as plasma and renal MDA and HP. The treatment also resulted in a significant increase in hemoglobin, plasma sodium, potassium and TAS as well as renal total protein, GSH, Pr-SHs, G6PD, SOD, GPx, CAT and GR levels. The histological examinations of renal tissues in this study revealed damage and glomerular infiltration in gentamicin treated rats. The presented data suggest that astaxanthin has a significant prophylactic action against gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. The effect was more pronounced in case of astaxanthin pre-treatment compared with administration of astaxanthin post-treatment. Taken together, astaxanthin has a potential as a protective and therapeutic agent for nephrotoxicity and deserves clinical trial in the near future as an adjuvant therapy in patients treated with gentamicin.