β-D-galactopyranoside Seco-phytoporphyrin from Atropa Belladonna and Solanum Tuberosum Yellow Leaves Determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The study described the isolation of β-D-galactopyranoside seco-phytoporphyrin from Atropa belladonna and Solanum tuberosum yellow leaves. Column chromatography was applied for its isolation. The UV-Vis, mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy were used for the structure confirmation. The results demonstrate that the two plants that the same chlorophyll catabolite structure.

Clinical and parasitological assessment in mice treated with highly diluted Atropa belladonna

Introduction: The infection by Trypanosoma cruzi is a public health problem and there is no effective treatment currently. Immunomodulatory effects of Atropa belladonna may offer benefits1 Objective: To evaluate the effect of A. belladonna in murine infection by T. cruzi. Methodology: The experiment was blind, controlled and randomized by draw. Eighty five Swiss male mice, at 8 weeks of age, were infected with 1400 blood trypomastigotes of T. cruzi Y strain (via IP) and divided into the following groups: without treatment (CI), treated with the mother tincture of A. belladonna (GTM-HN Cristiano), treated with A. belladonna 5cH (G5cH), treated with A. belladonna 6cH (G6cH), treated with A. belladonna 30cH (G30cH). Cereal alcohol 70 ° GL was used for dilutions as well as water in final preparations (Sigma-SP-Brazil). Oral treatment, diluted with water (1mL/100mL water), offered ad libitum 48 hours before infection, available during 16h. After infection, treatment of 56/56h for 16h, until the 9th day of infection2. Parasitological parameters: Curve of parasitemia, total parasitemia (PT), Maximum Peak of Parasites (PMP), Pre-Patent Period (PPP), Patent Period (PP), and Survival. Clinical parameters: water, food, excreta, weight and temperature. Results: G6cH and G30cH groups displayed better survival rates (1.54 and 1.42 times versus IC), and higher curve of parasitemia - G6cH (p = 0.00), G30cH (p = 0.02) – when compared to CI. PMP was lower in GTM (P = 0.01) and G5cH (p = 0.04) groups; PT was lower in GTM (p = 0.01), G5cH (p = 0.05) and G6cH (p = 0.05) groups when compared to CI. There was no difference in PPP and PP parameters in all groups, with a tendency of a higher PPP in G5cH and G6cH groups and lower PPP in G30cHgroup.The mice weight was higher in GTM (

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of the PYRROLIDINE KETIDE SYNTHASE gene reduces the accumulation of tropane alkaloids in Atropa belladonna hairy roots

Tropane alkaloids, including clinically important hyoscyamine and scopolamine, are produced in the roots of medicinal plant species, such as Atropa belladonna, from the Solanaceae family. Recent molecular and genomic approaches have advanced our understanding of the metabolic enzymes involved in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis. A non-canonical type III polyketide synthase (PKS), pyrrolidine ketide synthase (PYKS), catalyzes a two-step decarboxylative reaction, which involves imine-ketide condensation indispensable to tropane skeleton construction. In this study, we generated pyks mutant A. belladonna hairy roots via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing and analyzed the metabolic consequences of the loss of PYKS activity on tropane alkaloids, providing insights into a crucial role of the scaffold-forming reaction in the biosynthetic pathway.

Metastatic melanoma cells are selective affected in vitro by Atropa belladonna 200 c.

Background: Cancers are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Melanoma is a skin cancer originated from mutations on melanocytes. Transformed melanocytes can migrate and invade tissues in a process called metastasis. When early diagnosed, melanoma is curable by surgical excision. However, when metastatic, cells are refractory to existing therapies and patient survival rates are low. New therapeutic interventions with effective results on melanoma cells that could increase long term patients’ survival rates are needed. Over the past decade our group has been using cell-based models to determine highly diluted solutions effects. Several compounds have been tested on normal and tumor cells with promising results that could indicate the efficacy of homeopathy on selected cases. Aims: To investigate Atropa belladonna 200 c (Bell200c) in vitro antitumor effects on B16-F10 metastatic murine melanoma cells and its toxicity on Balb/3T3 normal murine fibroblasts. Methodology: Atropa belladonna 200c was produced and kindly donated by “Homeoterápica” compounding pharmacy (Curitiba, Brazil). Cells were treated for up to 72 hours. Assays to determine cytotoxicity, as well as functional and molecular cell patterns were carried out following standard protocols. Water treated cells were used as control group. All data were submitted to Shapiro-Wilk normality test followed by either Mann-Whitney or t-test. P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results and discussion: Cancer cells accelerated proliferation rates are often target for chemotherapeutic agents. Bell200c modulated cell cycle, leading to a decreased melanoma cell proliferation (44% less cells then control), and an increase in apoptotic cells number. If unspecific, those effects can lead to undesirable toxicity. Amazingly, no effects on fibroblast proliferation and death were observed. Melanoma cells malignancy was also affected, as the following tumor progression related features were modulated. Melanin production was higher in treated cells. N-cadherin and CD44 expression were statistically decreased. Clonogenic capacity was decreased by 35%. Here we have demonstrated Bell200c selective effects on melanoma cells with remarkable capacity of impairing metastatic melanoma characteristics. Conclusion: Atropa belladonna has a prospective use in metastatic melanoma patients as a potential tumor progression regulator. Keywords: in vitro testing, high dilution, B16-F10, melanoma.

Fatty acid composition, antibacterial and antioxidant potential of Atropa belladonna and Thymus linearis seeds grown in Kashmir

In this study fatty acid composition of petroleum ether (AP and TP) and biological potential (Antioxidant and antibacterial) of chloroform (AC and TC), methanol (AM and TM) extracts of Atropa belladonna L. and Thymus linearis Benth. respectively was obtained by Soxhlet extraction technique from seeds were investigated. Fatty acid profile was obtained by gas chromatography mass spectrometry, antioxidant potential (DPPH-2,2-di-phenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; ABTS-2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and antibacterial activity against (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli and Klebesiella pneumonia) was also performed. Linoleic acid was dominantly found with 74.42% in AP and 84.39% in TP. In antioxidant assays, the dominant inhibition was shown by AM (84.98% and 83.90%) and TM (85.27% and 83.29%) as compared to BHT (93.72% and 90.87%) for DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging respectively at 200 µg/mL. Moreover, AM and TM extracts showed good antibacterial activity. In conclusion, these plants could be selected as an adequate species in agricultural system, in food and pharmaceutical industries. Graphic abstract