Antimicrobial and antiproliferative activity of Peucedanum nebrodense (Guss.) Strohl

Aerial Parts of Peucedanum chenur Have Anti-Cancer Properties through the Induction of Apoptosis and Inhibition of Invasion in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells

Background:

The Peucedanum species have many pharmacological effects due to the presence of coumarins, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and essential fatty acids in these species. In this study, for the first time, the anticancer activity of Peucedanum chenur methanolic extract via the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of invasion in HCT-116 human colon cancer cells was investigated.

Methods:

P. chenur methanolic extract effect on HCT-116 cells viability and antioxidant activity were evaluated using MTT assay, DPPH, and iron chelating tests, respectively. Changes in mRNA expression level in a panel of relevant genes were assessed by the quantitative real-time PCR. Also, apoptosis was assessed by cell cycle analysis and Annexin V/PI method, and the effect on cell migration was tested using scratch test.

Results:

P. chenur methanolic extract increased significantly the expression of BAX while decreased the expression of BCL-2, AKT1, FAK, RhoA, and MMP genes compared to the control group. BAX/BCL-2 ratio and apoptosis elevated, whereas cell migration reduced significantly. Besides, our extract showed an appropriate antioxidant activity.

Conclusion:

P. chenur may be introduced as a new chemopreventive agent in medicine due to its notable power in terms of induction of apoptosis and inhibition of invasion.

Catalyst-free microwave-assisted arylglyoxal-based multicomponent reactions for the synthesis of fused pyrans

A simple and straight forward method has been reported for the synthesis of fused pyrans from the three component reactions of arylglyoxals, cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyls and malononitrile under microwave and catalyst free conditions.

Traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological properties of the genus Peucedanum: a review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The genus Peucedanum (Apiaceae) comprising more than 120 species is widely distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa. The ethnopharmacologial history of this genus indicated that some extracts of aerial and underground parts of several Peucedanum species have been used in folk medicine for treatment of various conditions, such as cough, cramps, pain, rheumatism, asthma and angina. This review focuses on ethnopharmacological uses of Peucedanum species, as well as the phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological studies on this genus. Through this review, I intend to highlight the known and potential effects of the Peucedanum species or their isolated compounds and show which traditional medicine uses have been supported by pharmacological investigations.

METHODS

Information on the Peucedanum species was collected from scientific journals, books, thesis and reports via a library and electronic search (using Google Scholar, Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect). This review covers the available literature from 1970 to the end of September 2013.

RESULTS

Although, there are about 120 species in this genus, so far many species have received no or little attention and most of pharmacological studies were performed on just about 20 species. Many phytochemical investigations on this genus confirmed that Peucedanum species are rich in essential oils and coumarins. The present review article shows that Peucedanum species have a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities and the most reported activities of Peucedanum plants come back to the presence of coumarins, flavonoids, phenolics and essential oils.

CONCLUSIONS

The present review confirms that some Peucedanum species have emerged as a good source of the traditional medicine for treatment of inflammation, microbial infections, cardiopulmonary diseases and provides new insights for further investigations on isolated compounds, especially on praeruptorins, to find novel therapeutics and aid drug discovery. However, for using Peucedanum species to prevent and treat various diseases, additional pharmacological studies to find the mechanism of action, safety and efficacy of them before starting clinical trials are required.

Antihyperlipidemic effect of peucedanum pastinacifolium extract in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

INTRODUCTION

Dyslipidemia is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus, significantly contributing to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Peucedanum pastinacifolium Boiss. & Hausskn. is commonly used as an antihyperlipidemic vegetable in Iranian folk medicine.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In this study, we examined a hydroalcoholic extract of the aerial parts of Peucedanum pastinacifolium to determine its lipid-lowering activity in normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Experimental diabetes mellitus was induced by a single intraperitoneal administration of streptozotocin. Normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were separated into four groups. The groups were fed with 0, 125, 250 or 500 mg/kg body weight of Peucedanum Pastinacifolium hydroalcoholic Extract (PPE) in aqueous solution for 30 days.

RESULTS

The results show that there were significant (P < 0.05) increases in total serum cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and a decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Treatment of diabetic rats with PPE over a period of a month returned these levels close to control levels.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that PPE has hypolipidemic effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.