Comprehensive Review on Herbal Medicine: Emphasis on Current Therapy and Role of Phytoconstituents for Cancer Treatment

INTRODUCTION

Cancer poses a significant public health challenge in both developed and developing nations, with a rising global incidence of patients facing the threat of death due to abnormal cell proliferation.

AIM

Review explores the utilization of different parts of herbal medicinal plants and their active pharmaceutical constituents in the prevention and treatment of various types of cancer.

METHODOLOGY

Various anticancer medicinal plants have been identified, demonstrating their therapeutic effects by inhibiting cancer-stimulating enzymes and hormones, activating DNA repair processes, boosting the synthesis of protective stimulants, reducing the formation of free radicals, and enhancing individual immunity. Data for this study were gathered from diverse online bibliographic and databases, including Google, Google Scholar, Mendeley, Springer Link, Research Gate, and PubMed.

RESULT

Herbal drugs have a huge contribution to the inhibition of the progression of cancer.A large volume of clinical studies has reported the beneficial effects of herbal medicines on the survival, immune modulation, and quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients, when these herbal medicines are used in combination with conventional therapeutics.

CONCLUSION

The latest medicines for the clinical purpose (Above 50 %) are derived from herbal products. Furthermore, combination of these herbs with nanotechnology shows promise in treating specific carcinomas.

Molecular docking of bioactive compounds extracted and purified from selected medicinal plant species against covid-19 proteins and in vitro evaluation

Bioactive compounds are secondary metabolites of plants. They offer diverse pharmacological properties. Peganum harmala is reported to have pharmaceutical effects like insecticidal, antitumor, curing malaria, anti-spasmodic, vasorelaxant, antihistaminic effect. Rosa brunonii has medicinal importance in its flower and fruits effective against different diseases and juice of leaf is reported to be applied externally to cure wounds and cuts. Dryopteris ramosa aqueous leaf extract is used to treat stomach ulcers and stomachaches. Each of these three medicinal plants have been indicated to have anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, cytotoxic and antifungal effects but efficacy of their bioactive compounds remained unexplored. Study was aimed to explore In-vitro and In-silico anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, cytotoxic and antifungal effects of bioactive compounds of above three medicinal plants. DPPH and ABTS assay were applied for assessment of antioxidant properties of compounds. Antibacterial properties of compounds were checked by agar well diffusion method. Brine shrimp lethality assay was performed to check cytotoxic effect of compounds. Molecular docking was conducted to investigate the binding efficacy between isolated compounds and targeted proteins. The compound isomangiferrin and tiliroside presented strong antioxidant potential 78.32% (± 0.213) and 77.77% (± 0.211) respectively in DPPH assay while harmaline showed 80.71% (± 0.072) at 200 µg/mL in ABTS assay. The compound harmine, harmaline and PH-HM 17 exhibited highest zone of inhibition 22 mm, 23 mm, 22 mm respectively against Xanthomonas while Irriflophenone-3-C-β- D-glucopyranoside showed maximum zone of inhibition 34 mm against E. coli. The compound isomangiferrin and vasicine contained strong antibacterial activity 32 mm and 22 mm respectively against S. aureus. The compound mangiferrin, astragalin, tiliroside, quercitin-3-O-rhamnoside showed maximum inhibitory zone 32 mm, 26 mm, 24 mm and 22 mm respectively against Klebsiella pneumoniae. Highest cytotoxic effect was observed by compound tiliroside i.e. 95% with LD50 value 73.59 µg/mL. The compound tiliroside showed the best binding mode of interaction to all targeted proteins presenting maximum hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds. The binding affinity of tiliroside was - 17.9, - 14.9, - 14.6, - 13.8, - 12.8 against different proteins 6VAR, 5C5S, IEA3, 2XV7 and 6LUS respectively. Bioactive compounds are significant natural antioxidants, which could help to prevent the progression of various diseases caused by free radicals. Based on molecular docking we have concluded that phytochemicals can have better anticancer and antiviral potential.

Identification of functional biomarkers of Peganum harmala and Hypericum perforatum using PCA-constructed secondary metabolite maps

Peganum harmala L. (P. harmala), also known as Espand, Harmel, or Syrian rue, and Hypericum perforatum L. (H. perforatum), commonly known as St. John's wort, are two of the widely cultivated industrial crops and used worldwide in antihepatoma-related products. However, their main functional substances are still not clear, thus impeding the efficacy evaluations and quality controls of relative products around the world. In this work, the anti-hepatoma biomarkers of P. harmala and H. perforatum were clarified through the development of principal components analysis (PCA)-HPLC secondary metabolite mapping models. The chemical fingerprints of plant extracts were profiled by HPLC and then mapped to produce the secondary metabolite models using PCA. The models correlated the chemical information with the anti-hepatoma activities of plant extracts, thus indicating the functional inhibitors of P. harmala and H. perforatum against hepatoma cells. The activities of the identified compounds were validated by cytotoxic and apoptotic assays. The major inhibitors of P. harmala and H. perforatum against human hepatoma were determined to be harmine and quercetin, respectively. The IC50 values and the induced apoptotic rate of harmine on HepG2 cells were 20.7 ± 2.8 μM and 46.7 ± 3.5 %, respectively. The IC50 values and the induced apoptotic rate of quercetin on HepG2 cells were 49.5 ± 6.6 μM and 38.7 ± 2.6 %, respectively. In conclusion, the results significantly expanded the understanding of the biochemical foundations of P. harmala and H. perforatum, thus evidently supporting their current applications around the world. Moreover, harmine and quercetin could be used as biomarkers to evaluate the efficacy and quality of related products of industrial crops in therapeutic and health-improving applications.

An Updated Insight into Phytomolecules and Novel Approaches used in the Management of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a widespread condition that kills more women from cancer-related causes than any other type of cancer globally. Women who have estrogen-dependent, initial metastatic breast cancer frequently receive treatment with surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. They may also get more specialized treatments like tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole or letrozole). The World Health Organisation reported in 2012 that by 2030, breast cancer will be more common worldwide. There are several phytochemicals, such as isoflavones, coumestans, lignans, and prenylflavonoides. Isoflavones have been shown in studies to prevent the spread of breast cancer and to trigger apoptosis. Targeting BCs in metastatic breast cancer may be made possible by combining well-formulated phytochemicals in nanoparticles or other novel drug delivery agents with currently accepted endocrine and/or conventional chemotherapies. Cell signaling, regulation of cell cycles, oxidative stress action, and inflammation could be positively impacted by phytoconstituents. They have the ability to alter non-coding RNAs, to prevent the proliferation and regeneration of cancer cells. The availability of novel approaches helps in disease targeting, safety, effectiveness and efficacy. The current literature helps to know the available drugs i.e. phytoconstituents or novel drug delivery like nanoparticle, microsphere, micelles, liposomes and neosomes. The literature has been taken from PubMed, Google Scholar, SciFinder, or other internet sites.

Insights into cryopreservation, recovery and genetic stability of medicinal plant tissues

Several plant secondary metabolites are used in the production of different pharmaceuticals based on their biological activities. The conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants is important for the industrial production of plant-based medicines. Different cryopreservation methods are used for long-term culture preservation, which allows fast regeneration of the preserved plant material with the maintenance of its primary original traits. These methods could ensure the sustainable indefinite supply of plant tissues for theoretically unlimited periods of time, and have gained considerable attention in recent years. It is important to assess the recovery rate and the genetic stability of the recovered plant tissues after cryopreservation because cryopreservation efficiency differs among plant tissues and species. This review lays particular emphasis on the pharmaceutical applications of plant secondary metabolites that are produced through tissue culture approaches, highlighting the methods used for their cryopreservation, as well as their recovery and genetic stability.

Photosensitizing properties and subcellular localisation of 3,4-dihydro-β-carbolines harmaline and harmalol

Harmaline (1) and harmalol (2) represent two 3,4-dihydro-β-carboline (DHβCs) most frequently reported in a vast number of living systems. Fundamental aspects including the photosensitizing properties, cellular uptake, as well as the cyto- and phototoxicity of 1 and 2 were investigated herein. The molecular basis underlying the investigated processes are elucidated. Data reveal that both alkaloids show a distinctive pattern of extracellular DNA photodamage. Compound 1 induces a DNA photodamage profile dominated by oxidised purines and sites of base loss (AP sites), whereas 2 mostly induces single-strand breaks (SSBs) in addition to a small extent of purine oxidative damage. In both cases, DNA oxidative damage would occur through type I mechanism. In addition, a concerted hydrolytic attack is suggested as an extra mechanism accounting for the SSBs formation photoinduced by 2. Subcellular internalisation, cyto- and phototoxicity of 1 and 2 and the corresponding full-aromatic derivatives harmine (3) and harmol (4) also showed quite distinctive patterns in a structure-dependent manner. These results are discussed in the framework of the potential biological, biomedical and/or pharmacological roles reported for these alkaloids.

Graphical abstract

The subtle structural difference (i.e., the exchange of a methoxy group for a hydroxyl substituent at C(7)) between harmaline and harmalol, gives rise to distinctive photosensitizing and subcellular localisation patterns.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Harmirins, Novel Harmine-Coumarin Hybrids as Potential Anticancer Agents

As cancer remains one of the major health burdens worldwide, novel agents, due to the development of resistance, are needed. In this work, we designed and synthesized harmirins, which are hybrid compounds comprising harmine and coumarin scaffolds, evaluated their antiproliferative activity, and conducted cell localization and cell cycle analysis experiments. Harmirins were prepared from the corresponding alkynes and azides under mild reaction conditions using Cu(I) catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition, leading to the formation of the 1H-1,2,3-triazole ring. Antiproliferative activity of harmirins was evaluated in vitro against four human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HCT116, SW620, and HepG2) and one human non-cancer cell line (HEK293T). The most pronounced activities were exerted against MCF-7 and HCT116 cell lines (IC₅₀ in the single-digit micromolar range), while the most selective harmirins were 5b and 12b, substituted at C-3 and O-7 of the β-carboline core and bearing methyl substituent at position 6 of the coumarin ring (SIs > 7.2). Further experiments demonstrated that harmirin 12b is localized exclusively in the cytoplasm. In addition, it induced a strong G1 arrest and reduced the percentage of cells in the S phase, suggesting that it might exert its antiproliferative activity through inhibition of DNA synthesis, rather than DNA damage. In conclusion, harmirin 12b is a novel harmine and coumarin hybrid with significant antiproliferative activity and warrants further evaluation as a potential anticancer agent.

Peganum spp.: A Comprehensive Review on Bioactivities and Health-Enhancing Effects and Their Potential for the Formulation of Functional Foods and Pharmaceutical Drugs

The genus Peganum includes four species widely distributed in warm temperate to subtropical regions from the Mediterranean to Mongolia as well as certain regions in America. Among these species, Peganum harmala L., distributed from the Mediterranean region to Central Asia, has been studied and its phytochemical profile, traditional folk use, and application in pharmacological and clinical trials are well known. The review is aimed at presenting an insight into the botanical features and geographical distribution of Peganum spp. along with traditional folk uses. This manuscript also reviews the phytochemical profile of Peganum spp. and its correlation with biological activities evidenced by the in vitro and in vivo investigations. Moreover, this review gives us an understanding of the bioactive compounds from Peganum as health promoters followed by the safety and adverse effects on human health. In relation to their multipurpose therapeutic properties, various parts of this plant such as seeds, bark, and roots present bioactive compounds promoting health benefits. An updated search (until December 2020) was carried out in databases such as PubMed and ScienceDirect. Chemical studies have presented beta-carboline alkaloids as the most active constituents, with harmalol, harmaline, and harmine being the latest and most studied among these naturally occurring alkaloids. The Peganum spp. extracts have shown neuroprotective, anticancer, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects. The extracts are also found effective in improving respiratory disorders (asthma and cough conditions), dermatoses, and knee osteoarthritis. Bioactivities and health-enhancing effects of Peganum spp. make it a potential candidate for the formulation of functional foods and pharmaceutical drugs. Nevertheless, adverse effects of this plant have also been described, and therefore new bioproducts need to be studied in depth. In fact, the design of new formulations and nanoformulations to control the release of active compounds will be necessary to achieve successful pharmacological and therapeutic treatments.

Nanosponges Encapsulated Phytochemicals for Targeting Cancer: A Review

Cancer is the most ruinous disease globally. Natural products have impressive characteristics, such as exceptional chemical versatility, chemical and biological properties of macromolecular specificity and less toxicity which make them good leads in finding novel drugs. The phytochemicals not only help to prevent but also treat chronic cancerous conditions. The present review attempts to put forth some selected anticancer phytochemicals that had reported omics characteristic and specifically suppressed cancer with in vitro and in vivo activity. Certain issues pertaining to anticancer phytochemicals like delivery to target site in the body and achieving controlled release in order to prevent overdoses have been a major concern for medical researchers worldwide. The most conventional chemotherapy protocols for the treatment of cancer lead to adverse effects that limit biological efficacy and compromise patient outcomes. In order to defeat incompetency of current and upcoming natural anticancer agents and to attain targeted drug delivery with good efficacy and fewer side effects, there is a special focus on novel nanostructured particles and nano approaches consisting of carrier system. Recent studies have led to the discovery of mesoporous and nanoporous drug delivery mechanisms, such as inorganic or organic-based nanosponges. The metal based inorganic systems have exhibited toxicity and non-biodegradable character in vivo. As a result of problems related to inorganic systems, major shift of research from inorganic to organic nanosystems has occurred. About decades ago, researchers developed organic nanosponges to control the limitation of drug delivery and cancer therapies. This review article discusses the development and application of nanosponges encapsulated phytochemicals for cancer therapy.

Phytochemicals as Potential Anticancer Drugs: Time to Ponder Nature's Bounty

Medicinal plants have been used from the beginning of human civilization, which is mostly evident from the ancient script and traditional herbal medicine recipe. Despite the historically enriched demonstration about the use of plant as therapeutics, the pharmaceutical industries lack interest on phytochemical research compared with synthetic drug. Mostly, the absence of information about plant-based medicinal therapeutics is responsible to draw the attention of researchers to think about natural products as potential drug for detrimental diseases, such as cancer. This review will cover about clinically successful plant-based anticancer drugs and underappreciated, but potential, drugs to bridge the information gap between plant biologists and clinical researchers. Additionally, unprecedented advancement of synthetic chemistry, omics study to pin point the target genes/proteins, and efficient drug delivery system have made it easier for researchers to develop a phytochemical as an efficient anticancer drug.

Therapeutic Study of Phytochemicals Against Cancer and Alzheimer's Disease Management

BACKGROUND

Phytochemicals are a significant piece of conventional prescription and have been researched in detail for conceivable consideration in current drug discovery. Medications and plants are firmly identified for traditional prescriptions and ethnomedicines that are basically arranged from plants. Recognizing the medical advantages of phytochemicals is of fundamental advancement in medication and useful sustenance improvement. Secondary metabolites of different plants have been customarily used for the improvement of human wellbeing. The phytochemicals are diets rich, which can upgrade neuroplasticity and protection from neurodegeneration.

RESULTS

Phytochemicals keep on entering clinical preliminaries or provide leads for the synthesis of medicinal agents. Phytochemicals are a great extent cancer prevention agents in nature at lower concentrations and under favorable cell conditions that adequately avoid the oxidation of different molecules that have an ability to produce free radicals and thus protect the body.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this review is to describe the use of phytochemicals against cancer and Alzheimer's disease treatment.

Natural β-carboline alkaloids regulate the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and induce autophagy in insect Sf9 cells

The β-carboline alkaloids are a large group of naturally occurring and synthetic indole alkaloids with remarkable pharmacological properties. Furthermore, these alkaloids have also been reported to be effective agents for controlling many pests and plant pathogenic nematodes. However, studies on these potential insecticidal components are scarce. The previous finding that these bioactive compounds can induce programmed cell death in cancer cell lines provided a new insight for exploration of their toxicological mechanisms on insects. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of five natural harmala alkaloids was measured, and the autophagy-inducing effect was confirmed in the Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cultured cell line. The results demonstrated that these alkaloids inhibited the proliferation of Sf9 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and the unsaturated β-carboline alkaloids, harmine and harmol, exhibited stronger autophagy induction activity based on monodansylcadaverineand LysoTracker Red staining. Many autophagy-related genes were increased after β-carbolines treatment at the RNA level, and the protein expression of Sf-Atg8 was also confirmed to increase after treatment. In addition, the primary autophagic signaling pathway, the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, was altered during the procedure. Furthermore, experiments with special inhibitors and activators were performed to confirm the effect of β-carbolines on this pathway. The results suggested that the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway primarily regulated harmine-induced autophagy in insect cells, and this finding may potentially benefit the application of these promising bioactivity components.

Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Activity of the Novel Harmine Derivative ZC-14 in Sf9 Cells

Harmine, one of the natural β-carboline alkaloids extracted from Peganum harmala L., exhibits broad spectrum but limited insecticidal ability against many pests. So there is an urgent need to synthesize novel derivatives with high efficiency. In the present study, a new synthetic compound, [1-(2-naphthyl)-3-(2-thioxo-1,3,4-oxadiazol-5-yl) β-carboline] (ZC-14), showed a strong proliferation inhibition effect against the Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cell line in a dose-dependent manner. Simultaneously, apoptosis induced by 7.5 μg/mL ZC-14 was confirmed with physiological and biochemical evidence, including typical apoptosis characteristics with shrinkage, apoptotic bodies, nuclear condensation/fragmentation, a clear DNA ladder, and a series of apoptotic rates. In addition, mitochondria were confirmed to be involved in apoptosis induced by ZC-14 accompanied with the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm), the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol and increased expression of cleaved-caspase-3. However, harmine could not induce apoptosis at the same concentration. In summary, these data indicated that compound ZC-14 has a higher cytotoxicity than harmine against Sf9 cells. Besides, it exhibited an anti-proliferative effect in Sf9 cells via inducing apoptosis in which the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway plays a crucial role.

Hemisynthesis, computational and molecular docking studies of novel nitrogen containing steroidal aromatase inhibitors: testolactam and testololactam

Combined DFT and molecular docking studies of synthesized steroidal lactams reveal their potential as aromatase inhibitors.

Synthesis of an unusual quinazoline alkaloid: theoretical and experimental investigations of its structural, electronic, molecular and biological properties

An unusual quinazoline alkaloid (1) was obtained when 2-aminobenzaldehyde was refluxed with pyrrolidine in ethanol for 12 h. The synthesized compound was characterized using spectral data analysis augmented with X-ray and literature precedent. Single crystal analysis depicted four conformations differing slightly in bond angles and bond lengths. Compound 1 crystallizes in a triclinic crystal system with a P1̄ space group having two molecules within the unit cell. The experimentally obtained parameters were compared to those obtained theoretically, which depicted a good agreement. Using the DFT/B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) level of theory, HOMO–LUMO energy gap, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), vibrational (IR) and NMR analyses were carried out. The HOMO–LUMO energy gap allowed the calculation of chemical hardness, chemical inertness, electronegativity and the electrophilicity index of the molecule, which depicted its potential kinetic stability and reactivity. Prediction of activity spectra of the target compound revealed that compound 1 possesses notable antineoplastic activity with P_a = 0.884. The molecule was therefore evaluated against various cancerous cell lines in an in vitro SRB assay which depicted that compound 1 possesses the highest growth inhibition activity against THP-1 cell lines with an IC₅₀ of 7 μM.

A comparative overview of theoretical and experimental studies concerning the electronic, structural and biological domains of the synthesized unusual quinazoline alkaloid is presented.