The Hypoglycemic and Hypocholesterolemic Activity of Dioscorea deltoidea, Tribulus terrestris and Panax japonicus Cell Culture Biomass in Rats with High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity.

Obesity, and its consequences for human health, is a huge and complicated problem that has no simple solution. The constant search for natural and safe compounds with systemic action that can be used for obesity prophylactics and treatment is hampered by the limited availability and variable quality of biomass of wild medicinal plants. Plant cell biotechnology is an alternative approach for the sustainable production of vegetative biomass or individual phytochemicals with high therapeutic potential. In this study, the suspension cell biomass of the medicinal plants, Dioscorea deltoidea Wall., Tribulus terrestris L., and Panax japonicus (T. Nees) C.A. Mey, produced in 20 L and 630 L bioreactors, were tested for therapeutic effects in rat models with alimentary-induced obesity. Three-month intake of water infusions of dry cell biomass (100 mg/g body weight) against the background of a hypercaloric diet reduced weight gain and the proportion of fat mass in the obese animals. In addition, cell biomass preparation reduced the intracellular dehydration and balanced the amounts of intra- and extracellular fluids in the body as determined by bioimpedance spectroscopy. A significant decrease in the glucose and cholesterol levels in the blood was also observed as a result of cell biomass administration for all species. Hypocholesterolemic activity reduced in the line P. japonicus > D. deltoidea > T. terrestris/liraglutide > intact group > control group. By the sum of parameters tested, the cell culture of D. deltoidea was considered the most effective in mitigating diet-induced obesity, with positive effects sometimes exceeding those of the reference drug liraglutide. A safety assessment of D. deltoidea cell phytopreparation showed no toxic effect on the reproductive function of the animals and their offspring. These results support the potential application of the biotechnologically produced cell biomass of medicinal plant species as safe and effective natural remedies for the treatment of obesity and related complications, particularly for the long-term treatment and during pregnancy and lactation periods when conventional treatment is often contraindicated.

Effect of Phytopreparations Based on Bioreactor-Grown Cell Biomass of Dioscorea deltoidea, Tribulus terrestris and Panax japonicus on Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

In the present study, we explored the therapeutic potential of bioreactor-grown cell cultures of the medicinal plant species Dioscorea deltoidea, Tribulus terrestris and Panax japonicus to treat carbohydrate metabolism disorders (CMDs) in laboratory rats. In the adrenaline model of hyperglycemia, aqueous suspensions of cell biomass pre-administered at a dose of 100 mg dry biomass/kg significantly reduced glucose level in animal blood 1-2.5 h (D. deltoidea and T. terrestris) or 1 h (P. japonicus) after adrenaline hydrochloride administration. In a streptozotocin-induced model of type 2 diabetes mellitus, the cell biomass of D. deltoidea and T. terrestris acted towards normalization of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, as evidenced by a significant reduction of daily diuresis (by 39-57%), blood-glucose level (by 46-51%), blood content in urine (by 78-80%) and total cholesterol (25-36%) compared to animals without treatment. Bioactive secondary metabolites identified in the cell cultures and potentially responsible for their actions were deltoside, 25(S)-protodioscin and protodioscin in D. deltoidea; furostanol-type steroidal glycosides and quinic acid derivatives in T. terrestris; and ginsenosides and malonyl-ginsenosides in P. japonicus. These results evidenced for high potential of bioreactor-grown cell suspensions of these species for prevention and treatment of CMD, which requires further investigation.

Profiling of Seed Proteome in Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Lines Characterized with High and Low Responsivity to Combined Inoculation with Nodule Bacteria and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.

Legume crops represent the major source of food protein and contribute to human nutrition and animal feeding. An essential improvement of their productivity can be achieved by symbiosis with beneficial soil microorganisms-rhizobia (Rh) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. The efficiency of these interactions depends on plant genotype. Recently, we have shown that, after simultaneous inoculation with Rh and AM, the productivity gain of pea (Pisum sativum L) line K-8274, characterized by high efficiency of interaction with soil microorganisms (EIBSM), was higher in comparison to a low-EIBSM line K-3358. However, the molecular mechanisms behind this effect are still uncharacterized. Therefore, here, we address the alterations in pea seed proteome, underlying the symbiosis-related productivity gain, and identify 111 differentially expressed proteins in the two lines. The high-EIBSM line K-8274 responded to inoculation by prolongation of seed maturation, manifested by up-regulation of proteins involved in cellular respiration, protein biosynthesis, and down-regulation of late-embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. In contrast, the low-EIBSM line K-3358 demonstrated lower levels of the proteins, related to cell metabolism. Thus, we propose that the EIBSM trait is linked to prolongation of seed filling that needs to be taken into account in pulse crop breeding programs. The raw data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD013479.