Bioactive terpenoid constituents from Eclipta prostrata

Rare diphenylheptanoid-phenylheptanoid hybrids with α-glucosidase inhibitory effects from the pollen of Typha angustifolia

Two rarely occurring diphenylheptanoid-phenylheptanoid hybrid dimers (1 and 2) and one new oxygenated fatty acid (3), as well as two known fatty acid analogues (4 and 5), were isolated from the 70% EtOH extract of the pollen of Typha angustifolia. Their planar structures were established by interpretation of MS and NMR spectroscopic data, and the absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by Mosher's method and quantum chemical TD-DFT calculations of ECD spectra. An in vitro anti-diabetic evaluation of these isolates revealed that compounds 1 and 2 exhibited promising inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase with IC50 values of 11.85 ± 0.69 and 17.06 ± 3.08 μM, respectively. It is the first report on both diphenylheptanoid constituents and α-glucosidase inhibitors from the title plant, which represents a significant phytochemical progress of this herbal species and may serve as a reference for its future medicinal applications.

Recent progress on triterpenoid derivatives and their anticancer potential

Cancer poses a significant global public health challenge, with commonly used adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy often leading to adverse side effects and drug resistance. Therefore, advancing cancer treatment necessitates the ongoing development of novel anticancer agents with diverse structures and mechanisms of action. Natural products remain crucial in the process of drug discovery, serving as a primary source for pharmaceutical leads and therapeutic advancements. Triterpenoids are particularly compelling due to their complex structures and wide array of biological activities. Recent research has demonstrated that naturally occurring triterpenes and their derivatives have the potential to serve as promising candidates for new drug development. This review aims to comprehensively explore the anticancer properties of triterpenoids and their synthetic analogs, with a focus on recent advancements. Various aspects, such as synthesis, phytochemistry, and molecular simulation for structure-activity relationship analyses, are summarized. It is anticipated that triterpenoid derivatives will emerge as notable anticancer agents following further investigation into their mechanisms of action and in vivo studies.

Acarbose might be associated with reduced risk of gastric cancer in patients with diabetes mellitus: A nationwide population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND

Several epidemiologic studies have revealed a higher risk of cancer in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) relative to the general population. To investigate whether the use of acarbose was associated with higher/lower risk of new-onset cancers.

METHOD

We conducted a retrospective cohort study, using a population-based National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Both inpatients and outpatients with newly onset DM diagnosed between 2000 and 2012 were collected. The Adapted Diabetes Complications Severity Index (aDCSI) was used to adjust the severity of DM. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of disease.

RESULTS

A total of 22 502 patients with newly diagnosed DM were enrolled. The Cox proportional hazards regression model indicating acarbose was neutral for risk for gastroenterological malignancies, when compared to the acarbose non-acarbose users group. However, when gastric cancer was focused, acarbose-user group had significantly lowered HR than non-acarbose users group (p = 0.003). After adjusted for age, sex, cancer-related comorbidity, severity of DM, and co-administered drugs, the HR of gastric cancer risk was 0.43 (95% CI = 0.25-0.74) for acarbose-user patients.

CONCLUSION

This long-term population-based study demonstrated that acarbose might be associated with lowered risk of new-onset gastric cancer in diabetic patients after adjusting the severity of DM.

Structurally Diverse Stilbenoids as Potent α-Glucosidase Inhibitors with Antidiabetic Effect from Morus alba

Fifteen stilbenoid derivatives, including five previously undescribed ones (albaphenols A-E, 1-5) with diverse scaffolds, were obtained from the well-known agricultural economic tree Morus alba. Their structures, including absolute stereochemistries, were fully characterized by detailed interpretation of spectroscopic data and quantum chemical computational analyses of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electric circular dichroism (ECD). Albaphenol A (1) features an unprecedented rearranged carbon skeleton incorporating a novel 2-oxaspiro[bicyclo[3.2.1]octane-6,3'-furan] motif; albaphenol C (3) is likely derived from a cometabolite through an interesting intramolecular transesterification reaction; and albaphenol E (5) bears a cleavage-reconnection scaffold via a dioxane ring. All of the compounds exhibited significant inhibition against the diabetic target α-glucosidase, with low to submicromole IC50 values (0.70-8.27 μM), and the binding modes of selected molecules with the enzyme were further investigated by fluorescence quenching, kinetics, and molecular docking experiments. The antidiabetic effect of the most active and abundant mulberrofuran G (6) was further assessed in vivo in diabetic mice, revealing potent antihyperglycemic activity and comparable antidiabetic efficacy to the clinical drug acarbose.

Natural products with potential hypoglycemic activity in T2DM: 2019-2023

As currently the most common metabolic disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has shown a continuous increase in the number of patients in recent decades. Most anti-T2DM drugs tend to cause some side effects. Given the pathogenesis of T2DM, natural products have emerged as an important source of anti-T2DM drugs. This article reviews natural products with potential hypoglycemic activity from 2019 to 2023. A total of 200 previously natural products were discovered on SciFinder, PubMed and Web of Science. These products were categorized based on their structural frameworks and their biological activities were summarized. Although the mechanisms of action of most compounds are unclear, these compounds could still serve as candidates for the development of lead compounds. Therefore, further structure and activity research of natural products will significantly contribute to the development of potential anti-T2DM drugs.

Bioassay-guided discovery and identification of new potent α-glucosidase inhibitors from Morus alba L. and the interaction mechanism

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Morus alba L. (mulberry) is a well-known medicinal species that has been used by herbalist doctors for the treatment of diabetes for a long history, and modern ethnopharmacological studies have demonstrated the ameliorating effects of different mulberry extracts toward diabetes-related symptoms and identified a number of α-glucosidase inhibitors as hypoglycemic ingredients.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The present study aims to explore new potent α-glucosidase inhibitors from the root bark of M. alba (known as Sang-Bai-Pi in traditional medicine) based on an in vivo antidiabetic evaluation of its extract fractions and further characterize the preliminary mechanism of the new active constituents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

α-Glucosidase inhibitory assay and diabetic mice model were used to locate and evaluate the active fractions from the extract. Diverse separation techniques (e.g. Sephadex LH-20 column chromatograph (CC) and HPLC) and spectroscopic methods (e.g. MS, NMR and ECD) were employed to isolate and structurally characterize the obtained constituents, respectively. Fluorescence quenching, kinetics and molecular docking experiments were conducted to investigate the enzyme inhibitory mechanism of the active compounds.

RESULTS

The 80% ethanol eluate from the macroporous resin CC exerted good antidiabetic effects in the tested mice. Fifty-two flavonoids including 22 new ones were then separated and identified, and most of them showed strong inhibition against α-glucosidase with their structure-activity relationship being also discussed. The four new most active ingredients were further characterized to be mixed type of α-glucosidase inhibitors, and their binding modes with the enzyme were also explored.

CONCLUSIONS

Our current work has demonstrated that the root bark of M. alba is an extremely rich source of flavonoids as potent α-glucosidase inhibitors and potential antidiabetic agents, which makes it a promising candidate species to develop new natural remedies for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

Wedelolactone induces natural killer cell activity and the improvement to bioavailability using polysaccharides from Ligustri Lucidi Fructus

Wedelolactone (WDL) is the major bioactive component in Ecliptae Herba. This present study investigated the effects of WDL on natural killer cell functions and possible underlying mechanisms. It was proved that wedelolactone enhanced the killing ability of NK92-MI by upregulating the expression of perforin and granzyme B through the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Additionally, wedelolactone could induce the migration of NK-92MI cells by promoting CCR7 and CXCR4 expressions. However, the application of WDL is limited due to poor solubility and bioavailability. Accordingly, this study investigated the impact of polysaccharides from Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLFPs) on WDL. The biopharmaceutical properties and pharmacokinetic characteristics were determined to compare WDL individually and in combination with LLFPs. The results showed that LLFPs could benefit the biopharmaceutical properties of WDL. Specifically, stability, solubility, and permeability were increased by 1.19-1.82-fold, 3.22-fold, and 1.08-fold higher than those of WDL alone, respectively. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic study revealed that LLFPs could remarkably improve AUC_(0-t) (150.34 vs. 50.47 ng/mL ∗ h), t_1/2 (40.78 vs. 2.81 h), and MRT_(0-∞) (46.64 vs. 5.05 h) for WDL. In conclusion, WDL would be considered a potential immunopotentiator, and LLFPs could overcome the instability and insolubility, ultimately improving the bioavailability of this plant-derived phenolic coumestan.

Anti-inflammatory labdane diterpenoids from the aerial parts of Leonurus japonicus

Twenty-two labdane-type diterpenoids, including ten pairs of 15-epimers and a pair of 13,15-epimers, were obtained from the aerial parts of a well-known medicinal plant Leonurus japonicus Houtt. While these epimers were separated by chiral HPLC, their structures were established mainly via spectroscopic methods especially NMR, X-ray crystallography and ECD techniques. Among them, seventeen compounds, encompassing three pairs of solvolysis artefacts likely due to the use of ethanol as extracting solvent, were reported for the first time in the current work. Our preliminary anti-inflammatory screening demonstrated that seven diterpenoids displayed noteworthy inhibitory effect on the NO production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. In addition, the release of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, as well as the expression of iNOS and COX-2 proteins, was also suppressed by the unreported 15,16-epoxy-6β-hydroxy-15α-methoxy-7,16-dioxolabd-8,13-diene. Further investigation into the preliminary anti-inflammatory mechanism of this compound indicated that it could block the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway.

Sesquiterpenoids from the Inflorescence of Ambrosia artemisiifolia

The successful invasion of Ambrosia artemisiifolia is largely due to allelopathy. As an invasive alien plant, A. artemisiifolia has spread rapidly in Asia and Europe. Studies have shown that sesquiterpenoids play an important role in plant allelopathy. However, it is unclear whether the inflorescence of A. artemisiifolia also contains allelopathic components. In this paper, our phytochemical research focuses on the inflorescence of A. artemisiifolia. Twenty sesquiterpenoids, including four new ones (1–4) were isolated through successive chromatographic columns and identified by spectroscopic methods. At a concentration of 200 μg/mL, all the compounds tested were evaluated for their allelopathic activities on seedling growth of wheat. Our results indicate that nine compounds inhibited both the root and shoot growth of seedlings. Compounds 14, 15, 17, and 20 significantly inhibited root length, which was more than 50% shorter than the control. This study identified the chemical profile of the sesquiterpenoids occurring in the inflorescence of A. artemisiifolia. The bioactivity screening results provide further understanding of the chemical basis of allelopathy in A. artemisiifolia.

Anti-Inflammatory Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh—A Pharmacological Evaluation

Inflammatory diseases are considered major threats to human health worldwide. In Bangladesh, a number of medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine from time immemorial in the treatment of diverse diseases, including inflammatory disorders. This assignment aims at providing the status of the medicinal plants of Bangladesh which are traditionally used in the management of inflammatory disorders and are investigated for their anti-inflammatory prospects using different preclinical studies and future research directions. The information of medicinal plants assembled in this review was obtained from a literature search of electronic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect up to December, 2020 from publications on plants investigated for their anti-inflammatory activities, in which the place of plant sample collection was identified as Bangladesh. Keywords for primary searches were “anti-inflammatory,” “Bangladeshi,” and “medicinal plants.” Criteria followed to include plant species were plants that showed significant anti-inflammatory activities in 1) two or more sets of experiments in a single report, 2) same or different sets of experiments in two or more reports, and, 3) plants which are traditionally used in the treatment of inflammation and inflammatory disorders. In this study, 48 species of medicinal plants have been reviewed which have been used in traditional healing practices to manage inflammatory disorders in Bangladesh. The mechanistic pathways of the in vivo and in vitro study models used for the evaluation of anti-inflammatory properties of plant samples have been discussed. Selected plants were described in further detail for their habitat, anti-inflammatory studies conducted in countries other than Bangladesh, and anti-inflammatory active constituents isolated from these plants if any. Medicinal plants of Bangladesh have immense significance for anti-inflammatory activity and have potential to contribute toward the discovery and development of novel therapeutic approaches to combat diseases associated with inflammation. However, the plants reviewed in this article had chiefly undergone preliminary screening and require substantial investigations including identification of active molecules, understanding the mechanism of action, and evaluation for safety and efficacy to be followed by the formulation of safe and effective drug products.

Bioactive pentacyclic triterpenoids from the whole plants of Pterocephalus hookeri

Eight undescribed triterpenoids (pterohoonoids A-H) including four oleananes, one nor-oleanane and three nor-ursanes, along with seven known analogues, were isolated from the whole plants of Pterocephalus hookeri (Dipsacaceae). The structures with relative stereochemistries of these molecules were elucidated mainly by spectroscopic analyses, and the absolute configurations of the undescribed ones were assigned by a variety of methods, including time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) based electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation, Rh₂(OCOCF₃)₄-induced ECD experiment and chemical transformation. The inhibitory effects toward the diabetes target α-glucosidase of all the isolates were assessed, and four of them exhibited pronounced activity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 6.8 to 55.8 μM. In addition, four compounds also showed inhibition against the nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in RAW264.7 macrophage cells (IC₅₀ = 12.4-63.7 μM). Further assays demonstrated that the most active compound pterohoonoid A inhibited the release of two key pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner.

Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. (Asteraceae): Ethnomedicinal Uses, Chemical Constituents, and Biological Activities

Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. (Syn.: Eclipta alba (L.) Hassak, Family: Asteraceae) is an important medicinal plant in the tropical and subtropical regions. It is widely used in treating various diseases of skin, liver and stomach in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and other countries. The main aim of this review was to collect and analyze the available information on traditional uses, phytoconstituents, and biological activities of E. prostrata. The scientific information was collected from the online bibliographic databases such as Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed, Google Scholar, SciFinder, etc. and books and proceedings. The active phytochemicals were coumestan derivatives, phenolic acid derivatives, flavonoids, triterpenoid and steroid saponins, substituted thiophenes, etc. Various extracts and isolated compounds of E. prostrata showed a wide range of biological activities such as antimicrobial, anticancer, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and hair growth promoting activities. Relatively a few studies have been performed to reveal the exact phytoconstituents responsible for their corresponding pharmacological activities. Future studies should focus on detailed mechanism based studies using animal models and clinical studies.

Thiophene enantiomers from the aerial parts of Eclipta prostrata

Ten thiophene derivatives (1-10), including two previously undescribed ones (1 and 2), have been obtained and structurally characterized from the aerial parts of a traditional Chinese herb Eclipta prostrata. Six of them with one chiral center were identified to be scalemic mixtures, and the pure enantiomers of two isolates (1 and 3) were successfully separated via chemical derivatization and chiral HPLC, with the absolute configurations being established by analysis of optical rotations. All the thiophenes were subjected to a series of assays and compounds 9 and 10 exhibited mild antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus.[Formula: see text].

Lignans with NO inhibitory activity from Tinospora sinensis

Two new lignan glucosides, tinsinlignans A and B (1 and 2), two new oxyneolignans, tinsinlignans C and D (3 and 4), along with one known analogue (5), were isolated from the stems of Tinospora sinensis. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated based on analysis of spectroscopic data, and the absolute configuration of 1 was determined through electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). Compounds 1-4 were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine RAW264.7 macrophage cells and compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate inhibitory activities with IC₅₀ values of 18.5 ± 2.0 and 28.8 ± 1.2 μmol·L^-1, respectively.

Cucurbitacin IIa: A review of phytochemistry and pharmacology

Cucurbitacin IIa was first found in plants and it belongs to tetracyclo triterpenoids. It is one of the most important active components in cucurbitaceae plants. Studies have found that cucurbitacin IIa has a variety of pharmacological effects, such as antitumor, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antihepatitis B virus, inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus replication, and antidepressant effect. However, the underlying mechanisms, intracellular targets, and structure-activity relationships of cucurbitacin IIa remain to be completely elucidated. This review summarizes the current advances concerning the phytochemistry and pharmacology of cucurbitacin IIa. Electronic databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and CNKI were used to find relevant information about cucurbitacin IIa using keywords such as "Cucurbitacin IIa," "Pharmacology," and "Phytochemistry." These pharmacological effects involve the actin cytoskeleton aggregation, the regulation of JAK2/STAT3, ERBB-MAPK, CaMKII α/CREB/BDNF signal pathways, as well as the regulation of survivin, caspases, and other cell cycles, apoptosis, autophagy-related cytokines, and kinases. It has high development and use value.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Improve Tolerance of the Medicinal Plant Eclipta prostrata (L.) and Induce Major Changes in Polyphenol Profiles Under Salt Stresses

Eclipta prostrata (L.) is an important and well-known medicinal plant due to its valuable bioactive compounds. Microorganisms, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and salinity could directly impact plant metabolome, thus influencing their secondary metabolites and the efficacy of herbal medicine. In this study, the role of different single AMF species (Funneliformis mosseae, Septoglomus deserticola, Acaulospora lacunosa) and a mixture of six AMF species in plant growth and physio-biochemical characteristics of E. prostrata under non-saline conditions was investigated. Next, the most suitable AM treatment was chosen to examine the impact of AMF on physio-biochemical features and polyphenol profiles of E. prostrata under saline conditions (100 and 200 mM NaCl). The findings indicated that AMF mixture application resulted in more effective promotion on the aboveground part of non-saline plants than single AMF species. AM mixture application improved growth and salt tolerance of E. prostrata through increasing the activity of catalase, peroxidase (at 4 weeks), proline, and total phenolic content (at 8 weeks). Such benefits were not observed under high salinity, except for a higher total phenolic concentration in mycorrhizal plants at 8 weeks. Through high-performance liquid chromatography, 14 individual phenolic compounds were analyzed, with wedelolactone and/or 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid abundant in all treatments. Salinity and mycorrhizal inoculation sharply altered the polyphenol profiles of E. prostrata. Moderate salinity boosted phenolic compound production in non-AM plants at 4 weeks, while at 8 weeks, the decline in the content of phenolic compounds occurred in uncolonized plants subjected to both saline conditions. Mycorrhization augmented polyphenol concentration and yield under non-saline and saline conditions, depending on the growth stages and salt stress severity. Plant age influenced polyphenol profiles with usually a higher content of phenolic compounds in older plants and changed the production of individual polyphenols of both non-AM and AM plants under non-stress and salt stress conditions. A better understanding of factors (involving mycorrhiza and salinity) affecting the phenolic compounds of E. prostrata facilitates the optimization of individual polyphenol production in this medicinal plant.

Bioactive sesquiterpenoids from the flower buds of Tussilago farfara

Eleven new compounds including five bisabolane (1-5) and three oplopane (6-8) sesquiterpenoids, a pair of benzopyran enantiomers (9 & 10) and a benzofuran derivative (11), along with six known sesquiterpenoid co-metabolites (12-17), have been obtained from the flower buds of Tussilago farfara. Their structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses and comparison with structurally related known analogues. The absolute configurations of all the compounds except 11 were unequivocally assigned by various techniques, including Mosher's method and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) based calculations of ¹³C NMR and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. The C-8 absolute configuration on the sidechain of this group of bisabolane sesquiterpenoids was assigned for the first time. Our bioassays have established that compounds 3, 4, 13 and 14 showed significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activities, while 6, 8 and 14 displayed moderate antiproliferative effects against two human tumor cell lines A549 and MDA-MB-231. Further flow cytometric analysis revealed that 14 effectively induced cell apoptosis and arrested cell cycle at the S/G2 phases in A549 cells, in a dose-dependent manner.