In-vitro cytotoxic potential of aerial parts of Leutea avicennae Mozaff. in different Human cancer cell lines.

Medicinal plants such as Leutea avicennae Mozaff. (Apiaceae) have been shown some biological potential for preventing and treating diseases. Fractions and isolated compounds were tested on colon carcinoma (HT-29), cervical carcinoma (HeLa), breast carcinoma (MCF-7), and mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH/3T3) cell lines. The BSLT method was used for the assessment of the general toxicity of the petroleum ether (PET), chloroform (CHCl3), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and methanol (MeOH) fractions obtained from the aerial parts of L. avicennae. 1H-NMR and 13 C-NMR spectroscopy were used for structure elucidation. Five compounds, including two coumarins, osthole and umbelliferone, a diterpene phytol, ß-sitosterol, and lauric acid, were isolated for the first time from L. avicennae. Osthole showed potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HT-29 cell lines with IC50 values of 4.23 ± 0.26 and 12.11 ± 0.13 µg/mL, respectively. Phytol demonstrated potent cytotoxic activity towards MCF-7 and HeLa cell lines with IC50 values of 6.80 ± 0.08 and 12.27 ± 0.18 µg/mL, respectively.

Paliurus spina-christi Mill fruit extracts improve glucose uptake and activate the insulin signaling pathways in HepG2 insulin-resistant cells.

BACKGROUND: Paliurus spina-christi Mill. (PSC) fruit is frequently used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Mediterranean regions. Here, we investigated the effects of various PSC fruit extracts (PSC-FEs) on glucose consumption and some key mediators of insulin signaling pathways in high glucose and high insulin-induced insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. METHODS: The effects of methanolic, chloroform and total extracts on cell proliferation were assessed by the MTT assay. The potential of non-toxic extracts on glucose utilization in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells was checked using a glucose oxidase assay. AKT and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway activation and mRNA expression levels of insulin receptor (INSR), glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), and glucose transporters 4 (GLUT4) were determined by western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. RESULTS: We found that high concentrations of methanolic and both low and high concentrations of total extracts were able to enhance glucose uptake in an insulin-resistant cell line model. Moreover, AKT and AMPK phosphorylation were significantly increased by the high strength of methanolic extract, while total extract raised AMPK activation at low and high concentrations. Also, GLUT 1, GLUT 4, and INSR were elevated by both methanolic and total extracts. CONCLUSIONS: Ultimately, our results shed new light on methanolic and total PSC-FEs as sources of potential anti-diabetic medications, restoring glucose consumption and uptake in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. These could be at least in part due to re-activating AKT and AMPK signaling pathways and also increased expression of INSR, GLUT1, and GLUT4. Overall, active constituents present in methanolic and total extracts of PCS are appropriate anti-diabetic agents and explain the use of these PSC fruits in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes.

Pharmacological effects and therapeutic potential of natural compounds in neuropsychiatric disorders: An update.

Neuropsychiatric diseases are a group of disorders that cause significant morbidity and disability. The symptoms of psychiatric disorders include anxiety, depression, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. Various medicinal plants are frequently used as therapeutics in traditional medicine in different parts of the world. Nowadays, using medicinal plants as an alternative medication has been considered due to their biological safety. Despite the wide range of medications, many patients are unable to tolerate the side effects and eventually lose their response. By considering the therapeutic advantages of medicinal plants in the case of side effects, patients may prefer to use them instead of chemical drugs. Today, the use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine is diverse and increasing, and these plants are a precious heritage for humanity. Investigation about traditional medicine continues, and several studies have indicated the basic pharmacology and clinical efficacy of herbal medicine. In this article, we discuss five of the most important and common psychiatric illnesses investigated in various studies along with conventional therapies and their pharmacological therapies. For this comprehensive review, data were obtained from electronic databases such as MedLine/PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, EMBASE, DynaMed Plus, ScienceDirect, and TRIP database. Preclinical pharmacology studies have confirmed that some bioactive compounds may have beneficial therapeutic effects in some common psychiatric disorders. The mechanisms of action of the analyzed biocompounds are presented in detail. The bioactive compounds analyzed in this review are promising phytochemicals for adjuvant and complementary drug candidates in the pharmacotherapy of neuropsychiatric diseases. Although comparative studies have been carefully reviewed in the preclinical pharmacology field, no clinical studies have been found to confirm the efficacy of herbal medicines compared to FDA-approved medicines for the treatment of mental disorders. Therefore, future clinical studies are needed to accelerate the potential use of natural compounds in the management of these diseases.

A review of potential suggested drugs for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment.

The latest pandemic, coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), is associated with high prevalence and easy transmission, which is expanding globally with no conventional treatment or vaccine. The new virus revealed 79% and 50% genomic similarities with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), respectively. Accordingly, since the disease resists testing and adopting new therapeutics, repositioning pre-existing drugs may present a fast and attractive strategy with known safety, characteristics, and dosage used. However, they are not specific and targeted. Therefore, several drugs have been investigated for their efficacy and safety in the treatment of COVID-19; most of them are undergoing clinical trials. This article summarizes clinical investigations of potential therapeutic drugs used as COVID-19 therapy. Subsequently, it prepares a pattern of results and therapeutic targets to help further experiment designs. We have investigated drugs as classified in the following three groups; 1) The drugs which computationally showed effectiveness (in silico) but needed further lab confirmations; 2) Emetine, Teicoplanin, and Nelfinavir have shown effectiveness in vitro; 3) The drugs currently under clinical trial.

Biological Evaluation of the Isolated Compounds from Methanol Fraction of Leutea avicennia Mozaff.

Leutea avicennia Mozaff. That belongs to Apiaceae family is an endemic species distributed in the west of Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity and acetylcholinestrase (AChE) inhibition of the crude extract, fractions, and isolated compounds from methanol fraction of L. avicenniae. Five compounds were detected from methanol fraction; three phenolic compounds as p-coumric acid, caffeic acid, salicylic acid and also, two flavonoids as quercetin and astragalin. These structures were identified by spectroscopic techniques such as 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and UV. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by the free radical scavenging assay using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl- hydrazyl (DPPH) method. Ellman colorimetric method was used to determine acetylcholinestrase (AChE) inhibition. In the DPPH assay, Quercetin exerted the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 10.24 ± 1.3 µg/mL). Caffeic acid inhibited AChE with IC50 = 12.06 ± 2.01µg/mL which were comparable to Galanthamine as positive control (IC50 = 62.44 ± 2.2µg/mL). In conclusion, methanol extract of L. avicenniae contains bioactive components with antioxidant and AChE inhibitory effects.