Promising Antioxidant Activity of Erythrina Genus: An Alternative Treatment for Inflammatory Pain?

Erythrina velutina Willd.: A review of its traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Erythrina velutina Willd., commonly known as "mulungu" in Brazil, is a leguminous tree with various traditional medicinal uses. These uses include treating insomnia, central nervous system disorders, convulsions, nervous cough, and inflammation.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

This review aims to comprehensively summarize the ethnomedicinal uses, chemical constituents, pharmacology, and toxicology of E. velutina to explore its potential as a source for new therapeutic agents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Information was collected from scientific databases, dissertations, and books. Chemical structures were generated using ChemDraw. To ensure the accuracy of the plant names, "World Flora Online" (www.worldfloraonline.org) was consulted for the accepted names of plants.

RESULTS

E. velutina is indigenous to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Hispaniola. Approximately 244 compounds, mainly alkaloids and flavonoids, have been isolated from it. The plant and its extracts have exhibited various bioactivities, such as anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, neuroprotective, analgesic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant effects, validating some of its traditional medicinal uses. Erythrina velutina shows promising therapeutic potential for conditions like convulsion, central nervous disorders, anxiety, insomnia, and inflammation, primarily due to its alkaloid and flavonoid content.

CONCLUSION

The traditional medicinal uses of the plant, combined with modern scientific research, underscore its pharmacological potential. This makes it a significant candidate for drug development. Further research should focus on conducting toxicological studies, clinical trials, and mechanistic investigations. These efforts will enable a comprehensive exploration of its pharmacological properties and potential applications in drug development.

Pharmacology activity, toxicity, and clinical trials of Erythrina genus plants (Fabaceae): an evidence-based review

The concept of using plants to alleviate diseases is always challenging. In West Java, Indonesia, a local plant, named dadap serep has been traditionally used to reduce blood glucose, fever, and edema, by pounding the leaves and applying them on the inflamed skin, or boiled and consumed as herbal tea. This plant belongs to the Erythrina genus, which covers approximately 120 species. The scope of this review (1943-2023) is related to the Global Development Goals, in particular Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, by focusing on the pharmacology activity, toxicity, and clinical trials of Erythrina genus plants and their metabolites, e.g., pterocarpans, alkaloids, and flavonoids. Articles were searched on PubMed and ScienceDirect databases, using "Erythrina" AND "pharmacology activity" keywords, and only original articles written in English and open access were included. In vitro and in vivo studies reveal promising results, particularly for antibacterial and anticancer activities. The toxicity and clinical studies of Erythrina genus plants are limitedly reported. Considering that extensive caution should be taken when prescribing botanical drugs for patients parallelly taking a narrow therapeutic window drug, it is confirmed that no interactions of the Erythrina genus were recorded, indicating the safety of the studied plants. We, therefore, concluded that Erythrina genus plants are promising to be further explored for their effects in various signaling pathways as future plant-based drug candidates.

Involvement of Oxidative Stress and Nutrition in the Anatomy of Orofacial Pain

Pain is a very important problem of our existence, and the attempt to understand it is one the oldest challenges in the history of medicine. In this review, we summarize what has been known about pain, its pathophysiology, and neuronal transmission. We focus on orofacial pain and its classification and features, knowing that is sometimes purely subjective and not well defined. We consider the physiology of orofacial pain, evaluating the findings on the main neurotransmitters; in particular, we describe the roles of glutamate as approximately 30-80% of total peripheric neurons associated with the trigeminal ganglia are glutamatergic. Moreover, we describe the important role of oxidative stress and its association with inflammation in the etiogenesis and modulation of pain in orofacial regions. We also explore the warning and protective function of orofacial pain and the possible action of antioxidant molecules, such as melatonin, and the potential influence of nutrition and diet on its pathophysiology. Hopefully, this will provide a solid background for future studies that would allow better treatment of noxious stimuli and for opening new avenues in the management of pain.

From Plants to Psycho-Neurology: Unravelling the Therapeutic Benefits of Bioactive Compounds in Brain Disorders

The brain's sensitivity to oxidative stress and neuronal cell death requires effective pharmacotherapy approaches. Current pharmacological therapies are frequently ineffective and display negative side effects. Bioactive chemicals found in plants may provide a potential alternative due to their antioxidant and neuroprotective properties and can be used in therapy and the management of a variety of neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurodegenerative illnesses. Several natural products, including vitamin C, Cammelia sinensis polyphenols, Hypericum perforatum, and Crocus sativus have shown promise in lowering oxidative stress and treating symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). Similarly, bioactive compounds such as curcumin, luteolin, resveratrol, quercetin, and plants like Acorus gramineus, Rhodiola rosea, and Ginkgo biloba are associated with neuroprotective effects and symptom improvement in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, in neurodegenerative diseases, natural compounds from Rhodiola rosea, Morinda lucida, and Glutinous rehmannia provide neurological improvement. Further study in clinical samples is required to thoroughly investigate the therapeutic advantages of these bioactive substances for persons suffering from these illnesses.

Health Effects of Natural Antioxidants

Free radicals are produced during metabolic processes in the human body and can lead to oxidative stress, cellular aging, and the development of various diseases [...].

Knockdown of PAC1 improved inflammatory pain in mice by regulating the RAGE/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway

The development of inflammatory pain seriously affects the activities and general functions of patients in daily life. At present, the research on the mechanism of pain relief is still insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the influence of PAC1 on the progression of inflammatory pain and its molecular mechanism. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce BV2 microglia activation to establish an inflammation model, and CFA injection was used to establish a mouse inflammatory pain model. The results showed that PAC1 was highly expressed in BV2 microglia induced by LPS. Knockdown of PAC1 significantly reduced LPS-induced inflammation and apoptosis in BV2 cells, and RAGE/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway was involved in the regulation of BV2 cells by PAC1. What's more, knockdown of PAC1 alleviated CFA-induced mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia in mice, as well as reduced the development of inflammatory pain to a certain extent. Therefore, Knockdown of PAC1 relieved inflammatory pain in mice by inhibiting the RAGE/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. Targeting PAC1 may be a new direction for the treatment of inflammatory pain.