Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 23, Issue 24, 2023

Natural product substances have historically served as the most significant source of new leads for pharmaceutical development. Presently, drug discovery and development have adopted rational approaches to explore herbal resources for treating lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes. For the treatment of diabetes, Curcumin longa has been extensively studied for evaluation of its antidiabetic potential using various in vivo and in vitro models. Literature resources such as PubMed and Google Scholar have been extensively searched to collect documented studies. Various parts of the plant and extracts have proven antidiabetic effects, namely, anti-hyperglycemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory action, through different mechanisms. It is reported that the plant extract or its phytoconstituents regulate glucose and lipid metabolism. The reported study concluded the diversified antidiabetic role of C. longaand its phytoconstituents and, thus, its potential use as an antidiabetic agent.

Background: Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Biosphere Reserve (DSNPBR), Assam, India, is a part of biodiversity hotspots and a store house of many orchid species. This systematic review was conducted to document the medicinal importante of orchids available in DSNPBR and to analyse their importance in drug discovery. Methods: This systematic review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Scientific databases were used to search relevant literature to document ethnomedicinal uses, pharmacological activity and phytochemistry of orchid species available in DSNPBR. Results: We have analysed 84 articles to document relevant information on 52 orchid species available in DSNPBR. Dendrobium (n = 13) is the top genus. Different orchid species available in DSNPBR were used traditionally in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and China to cure gastrointestinal disorders, disease-associated pain and inflammation, skin diseases, wound, arthritis, menstrual pain, tuberculosis etc. The pre-clinical investigations confirmed that extract/fraction/isolated compounds of orchids possess antirheumatic, anticancer, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, nephroprotective and neuroprotective activities through different mechanisms. Biomolecules isolated from orchid species like Dendrobium nobile alkaloids, polysaccharides have shown a potential to be developed as future drug molecules. Many phytochemicals isolated have demonstrated in vitro anticancer activities. The lack of clinical data in support of the therapeutic effectiveness of orchids is a major limitation. Conclusion: Orchids found in DSNPBR hold great significance in traditional culture for their medicinal properties and have been effectively studied for their bioactivities. Nevertheless, to confirm their effectiveness as therapeutics, conducting methodical research, examining their molecular mechanisms, and performing toxicity tests are necessary.

Background: Genus Torilis (Apiaceae) known as hedge parsley, encompasses 11-13 species distributed worldwide and shows potential pharmacological uses. Its phytochemical pattern is highly diversified including many phenolic and terpenic compounds. Objective: This research-review provides new highlighting of structural organizations, structure-activity trends, taxonomical, tissue and geographical distribution of phytocompounds of Torilis genus from extensive statistical analyses of available data. Methods: In extenso, exploration of documented literature and statistical data analyses were applied to update the phytochemical pool of the genus under several aspects including structural diversity, geographical distribution, biological compartmentations and pharmacological activities. Results: Phytoconstituents were classified into homogeneous clusters that revealed to be associated with chemical constitutions (aglycone types, chemical groups) and distributions (through species, tissues, geographical). About bioactivities, terpenes were studied from a pharmacological point of view with relatively high frequencies for antifungal, antibacterial, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activities. Preliminary structure-activity relationships were highlighted implying opposite effects between hydroxylation and methylation in favor of different activities. Crude extracts and isolated compounds have shown several biological activities (antibacterial, anticancer, antiangiogenic, antiproliferative, etc.), thus providing authentic scientific proof for their diverse uses in folk medicines. Conclusion: The phytochemistry of the genus Torilis promises important perspectives in matters of pharmacological activities. These perspectives call for further investments in pharmacology because of (i) unbalance between phenolic and terpenic compounds according to the countries and (ii) more advanced current states of structural elucidations compared to biological evaluations.

Background: Food grains' ability to promote health is widely recognized as a result of their rich nutritional profile and presence of antioxidants. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the antioxidant, antidyslipidemic, and cardiac risk preventive effects of unpolished whole rice extracts of Keteki and Kola Joha of Assam, India, and to profile the polyphenolic compounds present. Methods: Whole unpolished rice samples were extracted with ethanol and the efficacy of the extract of both rice cultivars was evaluated against high-fat and high-sugar induced hyperlipidemia in rats. The effects of extracts on lipid profile, hepatic enzyme, endogenous antioxidants, lipid peroxidation, creatine kinase-NAC, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein and lipoprotein(s) were evaluated. Atherogenic indices were calculated to find the effect of the extract on cardiac risk. HPLC analysis of whole unpolished rice samples was also carried out to profile the polyphenolics present. Results: HPLC analysis revealed the presence of gallic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, sinapic acid, o-coumaric acid, t-coumaric acid, rosamarinic acid, chlorogenic acid, phytic acid in both rice samples. Protocatechuic acid, syringic acid, and p-coumaric acid were detected in keteki joha, and ferulic acid was detected in kola joha only. Ethanol extracts (200 and 400 mg/kg) of both rice varieties for 30 days significantly averted dyslipidemia, preserved the level of endogenous antioxidants, and prevented lipid peroxidation. Levels of creatine kinase-NAC, lactate dehydrogenase, Creactive protein, and lipoprotein (a) were significantly (P < 0.01) less in the extract-treated group compared to the disease-control group. Extract treatment enhanced ApoA1 level while the reduced level of ApoB. ApoB/ApoA1 ratio was found more in the disease control group, which was significantly reduced in the extract-treated group. The atherogenic index, atherogenic coefficient, and cardiac risk ratio were reduced, while the cardioprotective index was enhanced in treatment groups. Conclusion: This paper profiled polyphenolic compounds for the first time. Keteki joha exhibited better results than Kola joha. Observations offer novel insights into the hypothesis for the first time that unpolished Keteki and Kola Joha rice can be beneficial in averting hyperlipidemia and its associated coronary events.