Phytochemical profile, antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activities of stem bark extract and fractions of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb.: In vitro, in vivo and in silico approaches

Augmented Anticancer Efficacy of Ailanthus Excelsa-Loaded Lipidic Nanocarriers for Breast Cancer Treatment: In-vitro and In-vivo Evaluation

BACKGROUND

One of the most lethal forms of cancer that impacts women worldwide is breast cancer (BC). The treatment results are influenced by multiple factors, such as the phase of diagnosis, hereditary and hormonal influences, medication resistance, and metastases. Ailanthus Excelsa (AE) crude extract is rich in antioxidants and possesses potent anticancer properties, as demonstrated in tests on MCF-7 cells. Additionally, both lavender oil (LO) and tea tree oil (TTO) have potential cytotoxicity against cancer.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to boost the potency and solubility of AE against breast cancer via its loading in lipidic nanocarriers (LNPs) whose structure is based on a mixture of LO and TTO.

METHODS

The particle size, stability, and zeta potential of AE-loaded LNPs were examined over 6 months, and the measurements confirmed the good stability of the newly developed AE-LNPs.

RESULTS

The AE-LNPs have demonstrated a stronger anticancer impact compared to free AE and plain LNPs, where IC50 values were found to be 36.88 ± 3.09, 22.09 ± 2.13, and 7.49 ± 0.67µg/ml for plain NPs, free AE, and AE-LNPs, respectively. Furthermore, the AE-LNPs exhibited more pronounced anticancer effects in the Ehrlich ascites in-vivo tumor model, accompanied by significant antiproliferative and antioxidant properties. The immunohistochemical analysis of BCL-2 in tumor tissue validated the apoptotic activity of AE-LNPs.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to examine the formulation of the newly developed AE-loaded LNPs, demonstrating their efficacy in producing anti-proliferative effects and their considerable promise for BC treatment.

Chemical composition, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and wound healing effects of Trachyspermum roxburghianum (DC.) H. Wolff essential oil: An in vivo and in silico approach

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Trachyspermum roxburghianum (DC.) H. Wolff, commonly known as 'Ajamoda,' is a neglected Indian spice highly used in Ayurveda and folklore remedies as an antimicrobial for chronic wounds and discharges, along with many other disease conditions.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The objective of the study was to explore chemical composition and to investigate the antioxidant, antimicrobial, analgesic, and wound healing activities of T. roxburghianum fruit essential oil from India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The phytochemical characterization of the oil was determined through standard qualitative procedures and the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The in vitro antioxidant aptitude was assessed by scavenging DPPH and ABTS radicals. The antimicrobial potential of the oil was investigated using the disc diffusion method, followed by the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial and fungal strains. The analgesic potential was evaluated using thermal and chemically induced pain models in Swiss albino mice. Wound healing was assessed in vivo, including determining wound contraction rates, histopathology, and hydroxyproline estimation, using the excision wound model in Swiss albino mice.

RESULTS

GC-MS analysis identified 55 compounds with major terpenoids, including thymol (13.8%), limonene (11.5%), and others. Substantial radical-scavenging activity was exhibited by T. roxburghianum fruit essential oil (TREO) (IC50 94.41 ± 2.00 μg/mL in DPPH assay and 91.28 ± 1.94 μg/mL in ABTS assay). Microorganisms were inhibited with low MIC (2 μL/mL for the inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis; 4 μL/mL against Salmonella typhi and 16 μL/mL against Candida albicans). In the cytotoxicity study, no cytotoxicity was observed on the Monkey Normal Kidney Cell line (Vero). Significant antinociceptive effects were observed (25.47 ± 1.10 % of inhibition at 100 mg/kg and 44.31 ± 1.69 % at 200 mg/kg). A remarkable rate of wound closure and epithelization, along with a marked increase in hydroxyproline content, were observed for the oil during wound healing in mice.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that oil could be utilized as a potential source of wound healing therapeutics.

Quality evaluation of Pterocephali Herba through simultaneously quantifying 18 bioactive components by UPLC-TQ-MS/MS analysis

Pterocephali Herba (PH), the dried whole plant of Pterocephalus hookeri, is a Tibetan medicine commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Iridoids, triterpenoids, flavonoids and phenylpropanoids are the major groups of bioactive constituents from PH. However, only ursolic acid and oleanolic acid, two unspecific triterpenoid components, are used as markers for the quality control of PH in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Herein, an UPLC-TQ-MS/MS integrating SIR and MRM mode method for simultaneously quantifying 18 components, i.e., 9 iridoids, 3 triterpenoids, 3 phenylpropanoids, 2 flavonoids and quinic acid, in PH was developed and validated, and was used to evaluate 10 batches of PH samples from different origins. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to show the clustering of PH samples, while spearman correlation analysis was adopted to evaluate the correlation between ursolic acid/oleanolic acid and other quantified components. It was found that the established method was sensitive, precise, and accurate enough for the simultaneous quantification of 18 analytes in PH samples. Significant differences were found among the contents of 18 components in PH samples, no apparent clustering of the quality of PH samples was found to be related to its origins, and the contents of ursolic acid/oleanolic acid were only significantly correlated to the content of sylvestroside I, dipsanoside B, dipsanoside A in PH. Our results suggested that the newly established multi-components quantitative method is an improved approach for quality evaluation of PH samples. Furthermore, the holistic quality was inconsistent among PH samples, and ursolic acid/oleanolic acid alone could not indicate the holistic quality variation trend of PH.