Bakuchiol, main component of root bark of Ulmus davidiana var. japonica, inhibits TGF-β-induced in vitro EMT and in vivo metastasis

Author(s):  
Da-Eun Lee ◽  
Eun Hyang Jang ◽  
Chaeeun Bang ◽  
Gye Lim Kim ◽  
So Young Yoon ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-398
Author(s):  
B.T Yunana ◽  
◽  
B. B Bukar ◽  
J. C Aguiyi ◽  
◽  
...  

The ethanol extracts of root, bark and leaf of Bridelia ferruginea was investigated for antibacterial activity against clinical isolate of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The extracts had significant antibacterial activity in vitro at concentration of 25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, 100 mg/ml and 200 mg/ml and in vivo at dose of 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg. The root extract in vitro had the highest zone of inhibition, followed by the bark extract for both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The concentration of 200 mg/ml had the highest zone of inhibition in vitro. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) showed a decreasing inhibitory effect of the plant extracts for both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli as the concentration decreases with root having 3.125 mg/ml, bark having 6.25 mg/ml and leaf having 25 mg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Likewise, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) showed decreasing bactericide effects with decrease concentration with root having 12.5 mg/ml, bark having 12.5 mg/ml and leaf having 25 mg/ml for Escherichia coli while root had 6.25mg/ml, bark had 12.5mg/ml and leaf had 25mg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus. The in vivo investigation showed that the root and bark extract exhibited antibacterial activity on both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at doses of 100mg/kg and 50mg/kg; the root extract had higher activity than the bark and root/bark combined. The dose of 100 mg/kg had the highest colonies reduction for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in vivo. Preliminary phytochemical screening of root, bark and leaves of Bridelia ferruginea revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, carbohydrates, cardiac glycoside (root, bark and leaves), saponins (root and bark). The presence of tannins, saponins, flavonoid, cardiac glycoside and carbohydrate in the bark and root extracts of the plant indicates that the bark and root extracts were pharmacological importance


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1701200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Diukendjieva ◽  
Merilin Al Sharif ◽  
Petko Alov ◽  
Tania Pencheva ◽  
Ivanka Tsakovska ◽  
...  

Silymarin, the active constituent of Silybum marianum (milk thistle), and its main component, silybin, are products with well-known hepatoprotective, cytoprotective, antioxidant, and chemopreventative properties. Despite substantial in vitro and in vivo investigations of these flavonolignans, their mechanisms of action and potential toxic effects are not fully defined. In this study we explored important ADME/Tox properties and biochemical interactions of selected flavonolignans using in silico methods. A quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) model based on data from a parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) was used to estimate bioavailability after oral administration. Toxic effects and metabolic transformations were predicted using the knowledge-based expert systems Derek Nexus and Meteor Nexus (Lhasa Ltd). Potential estrogenic activity of the studied silybin congeners was outlined. To address further the stereospecificity of this effect the stereoisomeric forms of silybin were docked into the ligand-binding domain of the human estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) (MOE software, CCG). According to our results both stereoisomers can be accommodated into the ERα active site, but different poses and interactions were observed for silybin A and silybin B.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6541
Author(s):  
Dong Wook Choi ◽  
Sang Woo Cho ◽  
Seok-Geun Lee ◽  
Cheol Yong Choi

The root bark of Morus has long been appreciated as an antiphlogistic, diuretic and expectorant drug in Chinese herbal medicine, albeit with barely known targets and mechanisms of action. In the 1970s, the development of analytic chemistry allowed for the discovery of morusin as one of 7 different isoprene flavonoid derivatives in the root bark of Morus. However, the remarkable antioxidant capacity of morusin with the unexpected potential for health benefits over the other flavonoid derivatives has recently sparked scientific interest in the biochemical identification of target proteins and signaling pathways and further clinical relevance. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the understanding of the functional roles of morusin in multiple biological processes such as inflammation, apoptosis, metabolism and autophagy. We also highlight recent in vivo and in vitro evidence on the clinical potential of morusin treatment for multiple human pathologies including inflammatory diseases, neurological disorders, diabetes, cancer and the underlying mechanisms.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1096
Author(s):  
Dritan Hasa ◽  
Simon Žakelj ◽  
Iztok Grabnar ◽  
Francesco Cilurzo ◽  
Stefano Dall’Acqua ◽  
...  

Dodeca-2E,4E,8Z,10E/Z-tetraenoic isobutylamide (tetraene) is the main component of Echinacea angustifolia DC. lipophilic extract, the bioavailability and immunomodulatory effect after oral administration in soft gel capsules in healthy volunteers of which we have already demonstrated. In the present work, we assessed the transdermal administration as an alternative route of administration of such an alkamide. The first step, therefore, encompassed the preparation of a drug-in-adhesive patch with an area of 868 mm2 and containing a dose of 0.64 mg of tetraene. In vitro skin permeation studies in Franz-type diffusion chambers resulted in a tetraene flux of (103 ± 10) ng × cm−2 × h−1 with a very good linearity (r = 0.99). The relatively low lag time of just 13 min indicates low binding and the accumulation of tetraene in the skin. Finally, the patch was administered to six healthy volunteers, and the pharmacokinetic analysis was performed by nonlinear mixed effects modelling with soft gel oral capsules serving as the reference formulation. The in vivo results correlated well with the in vitro permeation and indicated an initial burst tetraene absorption from the patch that was in parallel with the zero-order kinetics of absorption. The rate of the latter process was in good agreement with the one estimated in vitro. The tetraene absorption rate was therefore slow and prolonged with time, resulting in a bioavailability of 39% relative to the soft gel capsules and a very flat plasma concentration profile.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
João M. Monteiro ◽  
Daniela Münch ◽  
Sérgio R. Filipe ◽  
Tanja Schneider ◽  
Hans-Georg Sahl ◽  
...  

AbstractBacterial cells are surrounded by cell wall, whose main component is peptidoglycan (PG), a macromolecule that withstands the internal turgor of the cell. PG composition can vary considerably between species. The Gram-positive pathogenStaphylococcus aureuspossesses highly crosslinked PG due to the presence of cross bridges containing five glycines, which are synthesised by the FemXAB protein family. FemX adds the first glycine of the cross bridge, while FemA and FemB add the second and the third, and the fourth and the fifth glycines, respectively. Of these, FemX was reported to be essential. To investigate the essentiality of FemAB, we constructed a conditionalS. aureusmutant of thefemABoperon. Depletion offemABwas lethal, with cells appearing as pseudomulticellular forms that eventually lyse due to extensive membrane rupture. This deleterious effect was mitigated by drastically increasing the osmolarity of the medium, indicating that pentaglycine crosslinks are required forS. aureuscells to withstand internal turgor. Despite the absence of canonical membrane targeting domains, FemA has been shown to localise at the membrane. To study its mechanism of localisation, we constructed mutants in key residues present in the putative transferase pocket and the α6 helix of FemA, possibly involved in tRNA binding. Mutations in the α6 helix led to a sharp decrease in protein activityin vivoandin vitrobut did not impair correct membrane localisation, indicating that FemA activity is not required for localisation. Our data indicates that, contrarily to what was previously thought,S. aureuscells do not survive in the absence of a pentaglycine cross bridge.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. eaax4520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yesl Jun ◽  
JaeSeo Lee ◽  
Seongkyun Choi ◽  
Ji Hun Yang ◽  
Maike Sander ◽  
...  

Native pancreatic islets interact with neighboring cells by establishing three-dimensional (3D) structures, and are surrounded by perfusion at an interstitial flow level. However, flow effects are generally ignored in islet culture models, although cell perfusion is known to improve the cell microenvironment and to mimic in vivo physiology better than static culture systems. Here, we have developed functional islet spheroids using a microfluidic chip that mimics interstitial flow conditions with reduced shear cell damage. Dynamic culture, compared to static culture, enhanced islet health and maintenance of islet endothelial cells, reconstituting the main component of islet extracellular matrix within spheroids. Optimized flow condition allowed localization of secreted soluble factors near spheroids, facilitating diffusion-mediated paracrine interactions within islets, and enabled long-term maintenance of islet morphology and function for a month. The proposed model can aid islet preconditioning before transplantation and has potential applications as an in vitro model for diabetic drug testing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejen Nureye ◽  
Solomon Assefa ◽  
Teshome Nedi ◽  
Ephrem Engidawork

Background. Evolution of antimalarial drug resistance makes the development of new drugs a necessity. Important source in search of such drugs is medicinal plants.Gardenia ternifoliaplant is used in Ethiopian traditional medicine for the treatment of malaria and is endowed within vitroantimalarial activity. Herein, thein vivoantimalarial activity of the plant was investigated.Methods. Acute toxicity was carried out using a standard procedure. A 4-day suppressive test was employed to evaluate the antimalarial effect of methanolic crude extract and solvent fractions of the plant. The curative and prophylactic effect of crude extract was further tested by Ranes’s test and residual infection procedure, respectively, usingPlasmodium berghei(ANKA strain) in Swiss albino mice.Results. The chemosuppressive effect exerted by the crude extract and fractions ranged between 30-59% and 14-51%, respectively. Curative and prophylactic effects of the crude extract were in the range of 36-63% and 24-37%, respectively. All dose levels of the crude extract prevented loss of weight, reduction in temperature, and anemia on early and established infection. Butanol and chloroform fractions also did reverse reduction in temperature, body weight, and packed cell volume.Conclusions. The results indicated that the plant has a promising antiplasmodial activity and it could be considered as a potential source to develop new antimalarial agents.


Planta Medica ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (09) ◽  
pp. 790-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmy Tuenter ◽  
Sebastiaan Bijttebier ◽  
Kenn Foubert ◽  
Annelies Breynaert ◽  
Sandra Apers ◽  
...  

AbstractHymenocardine is a cyclopeptide alkaloid present in the root bark of Hymenocardia acida. In traditional African medicine, the leaves and roots of this plant are used to treat malaria, and moderate in vitro antiplasmodial activity has been reported for hymenocardine. However, in view of its peptide-like nature, potential metabolisation after oral ingestion has to be taken into account when considering in vivo experiments. In this study, the stability and small intestinal absorption of hymenocardine was assessed using an in vitro gastrointestinal dialysis model. In addition, potential liver metabolisation was investigated in vitro by incubation with a human S9 fraction. Moreover, hymenocardine was administered to rats per os, and blood and urine samples were collected until 48 and 24 h after oral administration, respectively. All samples resulting from these three experiments were analyzed by LC-MS. Analysis of the dialysate and retentate, obtained from the gastrointestinal dialysis model, indicated that hymenocardine is absorbed unchanged from the gastrointestinal tract, at least in part. After S9 metabolisation, several metabolites of hymenocardine could be identified, the major ones being formed by the reduction and/or the loss of an N-methyl group. The in vivo study confirmed that hymenocardine is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract unchanged, since it could be identified in both rat plasma and urine, together with hymenocardinol, its reduction product.


1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
HL Davies ◽  
JL Hill

The metabolism of tritiated formononetin was studied in vivo and in vitro in the sheep and the metabolism of biochanin A studied in vitro.In vivo. Most of the formononetin was metabolized to equol and 81% of the administered radioactivity was excreted in the urine within 48 h, the main component being equol. Little or no daidzein was found in either rumen, plasma or urine samples. Some metabolites appeared on the TLC chromatograms in small amounts (never more than 10%); these were probably desmethylangolensin and O-methylequol, and their role in isoflavone metabolism is unknown.In vitro. The rate of metabolism of formononetin and biochanin A added to rumen samples from sheep varied with diet, being more rapid in samples from sheep fed on lucerne chaff or clover. Formononetin was converted to equol. Biochanin A was converted to genistein in rumen liquor from sheep fed on oaten chaff, but was further metabolized if the sheep had been fed on clover. A metabolite of RF 0.1 was observed which with a longer incubation time was converted to a non-volatile compound at RF 0.9.


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