Real-time monitoring of inflammation status in 3T3-L1 adipocytes possessing a secretory Gaussia luciferase gene under the control of nuclear factor-kappa B response element

Rosemary: Unrevealing an old aromatic crop as a new source of promising functional food additive-A review

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is one of the most famous spice plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family as a remarkably beautiful horticultural plant and economically agricultural crop. The essential oil of rosemary has been enthusiastically welcome in the whole world for hundreds of years. Now, it is wildly prevailing as a promising functional food additive for human health. More importantly, due to its significant aroma, food, and nutritional value, rosemary also plays an essential role in the food/feed additive and food packaging industries. Modern industrial development and fundamental scientific research have extensively revealed its unique phytochemical constituents with biologically meaningful activities, which closely related to diverse human health functions. In this review, we provide a comprehensively systematic perspective on rosemary by summarizing the structures of various pharmacological and nutritional components, biologically functional activities and their molecular regulatory networks required in food developments, and the recent advances in their applications in the food industry. Finally, the temporary limitations and future research trends regarding the development of rosemary components are also discussed and prospected. Hence, the review covering the fundamental research advances and developing prospects of rosemary is a desirable demand to facilitate their better understanding, and it will also serve as a reference to provide many insights for the future promotion of the research and development of functional foods related to rosemary.

Potential Therapeutic Use of the Rosemary Diterpene Carnosic Acid for Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and Long-COVID through NRF2 Activation to Counteract the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis [family Lamiaceae]), an herb of economic and gustatory repute, is employed in traditional medicines in many countries. Rosemary contains carnosic acid (CA) and carnosol (CS), abietane-type phenolic diterpenes, which account for most of its biological and pharmacological actions, although claims have also been made for contributions of another constituent, rosmarinic acid. This review focuses on the potential applications of CA and CS for Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in part via inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome. CA exerts antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects via phase 2 enzyme induction initiated by activation of the KEAP1/NRF2 transcriptional pathway, which in turn attenuates NLRP3 activation. In addition, we propose that CA-related compounds may serve as therapeutics against the brain-related after-effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, termed "long-COVID." One factor that contributes to COVID-19 is cytokine storm emanating from macrophages as a result of unregulated inflammation in and around lung epithelial and endovascular cells. Additionally, neurological aftereffects such as anxiety and "brain fog" are becoming a major issue for both the pandemic and post-pandemic period. Many reports hold that unregulated NLRP3 inflammasome activation may potentially contribute to the severity of COVID-19 and its aftermath. It is therefore possible that suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome activity may prove efficacious against both acute lung disease and chronic neurological after-effects. Because CA has been shown to not only act systemically but also to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain parenchyma to exert neuroprotective effects, we discuss the evidence that CA or rosemary extracts containing CA may represent an effective countermeasure against both acute and chronic pathological events initiated by SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as other chronic neurodegenerative diseases including AD and PD.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) as a potential therapeutic plant in metabolic syndrome: a review

Metabolic syndrome is defined by a constellation of complex coexisting cardiometabolic risk factors such as hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, inflammation, abdominal obesity, coagulopathies, and hypertension that raise the risk of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the use of herbs and natural compounds in prevention and treatment of diseases and a large number of published articles have focused on this issue. Rosmarinus officinalis L. or rosemary (Lamiaceae) is a rich source of phenolic phytochemicals having significant anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, hypotensive, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-thrombotic, hepatoprotective, and hypocholesterolemic effects. The purpose of this review is to highlight the interesting pharmacological effects of rosemary, and its active compounds, and the related mechanisms in the management of metabolic syndrome that are documented in in vitro and in vivo studies.

Carnosic Acid-combined Arsenic Trioxide Antileukaemia Cells in the Establishment of NB4/SCID Mouse Model

Despite great improvement in the treatment outcome of APL, treatment failure still sometimes occurs due to the toxicity of arsenic trioxide (ATO). Damage to the heart and liver often occurs even when the dose is lower than the therapeutic dose. Based on the results of cell experiments in vitro in this study, we investigated the synergistic activity of carnosic acid (CA) combined with ATO in the SCID mouse model of human promyelocytic leukaemia in vivo. A NB4/SCID mouse model was established in this study. The NB4/SCID mice were randomly divided into three treatment groups (CA alone, ATO alone and CA combined with ATO) and a control group based on factorial design. The evaluation indicators of the curative effect of the drugs included expressions of cleaved caspase-3, PTEN, p27 gene mRNA and proteins by immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. The survival time was compared between the four groups. The results indicated that verification of the NB4/SCID mouse model was confirmed by histopathological examination. Compared with mice treated by CA or ATO alone, the mice in the combination of CA and ATO group had a higher rate of apoptosis, which was linked with expressions of cleaved caspase-3, PTEN, p27 gene mRNA and proteins. Also, the mice with the longest survival time were those treated with the combination of CA and ATO. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that CA and ATO in combination have strong synergistic antileukaemic effects on cell activity.

Carnosic acid inhibits TLR4-MyD88 signaling pathway in LPS-stimulated 3T3-L1 adipocytes

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Carnosic acid (CA), found in rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) leaves, is known to exhibit anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory activities. However, whether its anti-inflammatory potency can contribute to the amelioration of obesity has not been elucidated. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of CA on Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathways in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

MATERIALS/METHODS

3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with CA (0-20 µM) for 1 h, followed by treatment with LPS for 30 min; mRNA expression of adipokines and protein expression of TLR4-related molecules were then measured.

RESULTS

LPS-stimulated 3T3-L1 adipocytes showed elevated mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and CA significantly inhibited the expression of these adipokine genes. LPS-induced up regulation of TLR4, myeloid differentiation factor 88, TNF receptor-associated factor 6, and nuclear factor-κB, as well as phosphorylated extracellular receptor-activated kinase were also suppressed by pre-treatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with CA.

CONCLUSIONS

Results of this study suggest that CA directly inhibits TLR4-MyD88-dependent signaling pathways and decreases the inflammatory response in adipocytes.