Occupational allergic contact dermatitis from falcarinol

Essential Oils of Ferulago glareosa Kandemir&Hedge Roots and Aerial Parts: PCA and HCA Analyses

Ferulago glareosa Kandemir & Hedge. is an endemic species of the family Apiaceae for Turkey and has interesting morphological characteristics compared to the other members of the genus Ferulago Koch. In this study we investigated the essential oil compositions of the roots and aerial parts of F. glareosa for the first time and compared them with essential oil compositions of the roots and aerial parts of other species of the genus. In our study, major components of the essential oil of the roots were determined to be 2,3,6-trimethylbenzaldehyde (32.2 %), falcarinol (23.7 %), hexadecanoic acid (9.5 %) and 2,5-dimethoxy-p-cymene (5.9 %); and major components of the essential oil of the aerial parts were found to be α-pinene (33.7 %), p-cymene (14.8 %), γ-terpinene (13.2 %), (Z)-β-ocimene (12.4 %) and terpinolene (8.2 %). The essential oil compositions of F. glareosa root compare with essential oils components in the literature differ varies greatly. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was performed with Minitab software, utilizing 8 major components in the published 20 literatures, as well as in this study. Principal Component Analyses (PCA) were used in order to demonstrate chemotaxonomical variations in the composition of the essential oils of Ferulago species.

Pathways Affected by Falcarinol-Type Polyacetylenes and Implications for Their Anti-Inflammatory Function and Potential in Cancer Chemoprevention

Polyacetylene phytochemicals are emerging as potentially responsible for the chemoprotective effects of consuming apiaceous vegetables. There is some evidence suggesting that polyacetylenes (PAs) impact carcinogenesis by influencing a wide variety of signalling pathways, which are important in regulating inflammation, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, etc. Studies have shown a correlation between human dietary intake of PA-rich vegetables with a reduced risk of inflammation and cancer. PA supplementation can influence cell growth, gene expression and immunological responses, and has been shown to reduce the tumour number in rat and mouse models. Cancer chemoprevention by dietary PAs involves several mechanisms, including effects on inflammatory cytokines, the NF-κB pathway, antioxidant response elements, unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, growth factor signalling, cell cycle progression and apoptosis. This review summarises the published research on falcarinol-type PA compounds and their mechanisms of action regarding cancer chemoprevention and also identifies some gaps in our current understanding of the health benefits of these PAs.

Terpenoids, Cannabimimetic Ligands, beyond the Cannabis Plant

Medicinal use of Cannabis sativa L. has an extensive history and it was essential in the discovery of phytocannabinoids, including the Cannabis major psychoactive compound—Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC)—as well as the G-protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors (CBR), named cannabinoid receptor type-1 (CB1R) and cannabinoid receptor type-2 (CB2R), both part of the now known endocannabinoid system (ECS). Cannabinoids is a vast term that defines several compounds that have been characterized in three categories: (i) endogenous, (ii) synthetic, and (iii) phytocannabinoids, and are able to modulate the CBR and ECS. Particularly, phytocannabinoids are natural terpenoids or phenolic compounds derived from Cannabis sativa. However, these terpenoids and phenolic compounds can also be derived from other plants (non-cannabinoids) and still induce cannabinoid-like properties. Cannabimimetic ligands, beyond the Cannabis plant, can act as CBR agonists or antagonists, or ECS enzyme inhibitors, besides being able of playing a role in immune-mediated inflammatory and infectious diseases, neuroinflammatory, neurological, and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as in cancer, and autoimmunity by itself. In this review, we summarize and critically highlight past, present, and future progress on the understanding of the role of cannabinoid-like molecules, mainly terpenes, as prospective therapeutics for different pathological conditions.

Toxic polyacetylenes in the genus Bupleurum (Apiaceae) - Distribution, toxicity, molecular mechanism and analysis

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The genus Bupleurum includes approximately 200 species that are widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, Eurasia and North Africa. Certain species of this genus have long been used as antiphlogistic, antipyretic and analgesic agents in traditional folk medicine. As described in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the roots of Bupleurum chinense DC. and B. scorzonerifolium Willd. are the herbal materials that compose Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri), a well-known TCM herb.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

This review aims to provide up-to-date and comprehensive information regarding the distribution, toxicity, molecular mechanism and relatively new methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of polyacetylenes in different Bupleurum species.

METHOD

The information needed for this paper were sourced from publishing sites such as Elsevier, science Direct, PubMed; electronic search engines such as Scopus and Web of Science, Google scholar; other scientific database sites for chemicals such as ChemSpider, PubChem, SciFinder, and also from on line books.

RESULTS

Polyacetylenes, which are widely distributed in genus Bupleurum of the Apiaceae family, have high toxicity. Among polyacetylenes, bupleurotoxin, acetylbupleurotoxin and oenanthotoxin have strong neurotoxicity. Through previous research, it was found that the toxicity of Bupleurum polyacetylenes manifested as epileptic seizures, with the target of toxicity being the brain. The neurotoxicity of polyacetylenes exhibits a relationship with the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor pathway, and polyacetylenes have been shown to inhibit GABA-induced currents (I_GABA) in a competitive manner.

CONCLUSIONS

The plants of genus Bupleurum have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. However, certain species of this genus are poisonous, and it was attributed to the high content of polyacetylenes. The present review indicates that certain polyacetylenes in the genus Bupleurum have highly neurotoxic effects. The major challenge with regard to toxic polyacetylenes is to test their neurotoxic effects in vivo as well as in further preclinical studies, which will require large amounts of purified polyacetylenes. More reference substances should be prepared, and sophisticated analytical technologies should be developed to comprehensively assess the quality of Radix Bupleuri herbs. These investigations will be helpful for further utilization of the plants of genus Bupleurum.

Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Chaerophyllum Temulum (Apiaceae)

The present study reports the chemical composition on the essential oil obtained from fresh roots, stems, inflorescences and fruits of Chaerophyllum temulum. In all samples, except the roots, the most dominant components were sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. ( Z)-Falcarinol was the principal constituent of the root essential oils (61.7% at the flowering stage and 62.3% at the fruiting stage). The blossom oil was dominated by ( Z,E)-α-farnesene (23.4%), ( E)-β-farnesene (9.0%) and germacrene D-4-ol (9%), whereas the oil from the fruit had germacrene D-4-ol (27.6%) as its main compound, accompanied by ( Z,E)-α-farnesene (13.4%). Germacrene D was the most abundant component of the stem essential oil (38.4% at the flowering stage and 32.5% at the fruiting stage). The obtained results show that the qualitative composition of the oil depends on the part of the plant which is analyzed, while the quantitative composition of the main components depends on the growing stage of the plant.

Post-column sodiation to enhance the detection of polyacetylene glycosides in LC-DAD-MS analyses: an example from Bidens gardneri (Asteraceae)

The use of liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) in dereplication studies of medicinal plants is a common strategy, but the analyses of polyacetylenes by LC-ESI-MS are little explored and require huge efforts, especially if there are low concentrations in the extracts. A post-column sodiation strategy was successfully applied to enhance the detection of polyacetylene glycosides. Their molecular formulae were proposed by HRESI, whereas the polyacetylene chromophores were determined by UV data. The use of acetic acid in the mobile phase was essential to obtain satisfactory chromatographic resolution, and only the addition of sodium chloride solution allowed good mass spectra, internal calibration and undoubtedly the molar mass determination of polyacetylenes. This new approach has allowed the identification of polyacetylene glycosides from Bidens gardneri extract, guiding the isolation procedures, and two new compounds were obtained. The structures of the isolated polyacetylenes have been confirmed by 1D and 2D NMR, HRMS.

Biosynthesis of panaxynol and panaxydol in Panax ginseng

The natural formation of the bioactive C17-polyacetylenes (-)-(R)-panaxynol and panaxydol was analyzed by 13C-labeling experiments. For this purpose, plants of Panax ginseng were supplied with 13CO2 under field conditions or, alternatively, sterile root cultures of P. ginseng were supplemented with [U-13C6]glucose. The polyynes were isolated from the labeled roots or hairy root cultures, respectively, and analyzed by quantitative NMR spectroscopy. The same mixtures of eight doubly 13C-labeled isotopologues and one single labeled isotopologue were observed in the C17-polyacetylenes obtained from the two experiments. The polyketide-type labeling pattern is in line with the biosynthetic origin of the compounds via decarboxylation of fatty acids, probably of crepenynic acid. The 13C-study now provides experimental evidence for the biosynthesis of panaxynol and related polyacetylenes in P. ginseng under in planta conditions as well as in root cultures. The data also show that 13CO2 experiments under field conditions are useful to elucidate the biosynthetic pathways of metabolites, including those from roots.

Bioactive polyacetylenes in food plants of the Apiaceae family: Occurrence, bioactivity and analysis

Many bioactive compounds with known effects on human physiology and disease have been identified through studies of plants used in traditional medicine. Some of these substances occur also in common food plants, and hence could play a significant role in relation to human health. Food plants of the Apiaceae plant family such as carrots, celery and parsley, contain a group of bioactive aliphatic C17-polyacetylenes. These polyacetylenes have shown to be highly toxic towards fungi, bacteria, and mammalian cells, and to display neurotoxic, anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet-aggregatory effects and to be responsible for allergic skin reactions. The effect of these polyacetylenes towards human cancer cells, their human bioavailability and their ability to reduce tumour formation in a mammalian in vivo model indicates that they may also provide benefits for health. The present state of knowledge on the occurrence of polyacetylenes in Apiaceae food plants, their biochemistry and bioactivity is presented in this review as well as relatively new methods for the isolation and quantification of these compounds from plants, plant products and biological fluids.