Evaluating Antibiofilm, Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Activities of Scutellaria brevibracteata subsp. brevibracteata Essential Oil.

Essential oils have many important biological properties, including antibacterial and antibiofilm activities. These unique properties make, essential oils good alternatives to synthetic chemical drugs, which have many side effects. In this study, we aimed to determine the chemical composition and biological activity of the essential oil obtained from Scutellaria brevibracteata subsp. brevibracteata. Specifically, its antibiofilm activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 biofilms using XTT assay. Cytotoxic and apoptotic properties of the essential oil were investigated in human lung cancer cells (A540 and H1299) using MTT assay, Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide staining and q-PCR. Thirty-two different compounds were identified from the essential oil, of which elemol (20.42 %), γ-eudesmol (20.12 %) and ß-eudesmol (14.85 %) were the main components. The essential oil was more effective against P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm (79 %) than S. aureus ATCC 29213 biofilm (27 %). The specific activity of the essential oil against P. aeruginosa biofilm may be related to its high terpene contents. In addition, the essential oil showed high cytotoxic activity towards A549 (IC50 9.09 µg/ml) and H1299 (IC50 55.04 µg/ml) cell lines, inducing apoptosis in these cancer cells. These results demonstrate the antibiofilm and anticancer activities of S. brevibracteata subsp. brevibracteata essential oil.

Assessment of Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Effects of Salvia syriaca L. in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cell Line (Caco-2).

This work is aimed to elucidate cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of Salvia syriaca essential oil and its chemical composition by GC-MS. The human colon cancer cells (Caco-2) were treated with different essential oil concentrations for 24 h. Crystal violet test was used to determine cell viability at 630 nm by using an ELISA reader. Apoptotic processes were measured by Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Assay Kit. Germacrene D (21.77%), trans-ß-ocimene (14.66%), ß-pinene (9.07%), α-cadinol (8.19%) and α-pinene (6.50%) were the main components of oil determined by GC-MS. Moreover, we observed that the cytotoxic effect was increased with an increasing dose of essential oil. The EC50 value was calculated as 63.5 µg/mL. An increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells was observed after treatment of Caco-2 cells with S. syriaca essential oil revealed by image-based cytometry. A nearly 6-fold increase was found in annexin-positive cells after treatment. In terms of mRNA levels, RT-PCR analysis indicated that, although Bax and Caspase-3 were increased, Bcl-2 was decreased after oil treatment. According to our results, S. syriaca essential oil has promising phytochemicals that might be useful in cancer treatment due to their relatively cytotoxic and apoptotic activities in Caco-2 cells.

Suppression of Inflammatory Cytokines Expression with Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia) in TNBS-instigated Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of Momordica charantia (MCh), along with a standard drug prednisolone, in a rat model of colitis induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). METHODS: After the induction of the experimental colitis, the animals were treated with MCh (4 g/kg/day) for 14 consecutive days by intragastric gavage. The colonic tissue expression levels of C-C motif chemokine ligand 17 (CCL-17), interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-23, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), were determined at both mRNA and protein levels to estimate the effect of MCh. Besides, colonic specimens were analyzed histopathologically after staining with hematoxylin and eosin. RESULTS: The body weights from TNBS-instigated colitis rats were found to be significantly lower than untreated animals. Also, the IFN-γ, IL-1ß, IL-6, Il-23, TNF-α, CCL-17, and NF-kB mRNA and protein levels were increased significantly from 1.86-4.91-fold and 1.46-5.50-fold, respectively, in the TNBS-instigated colitis group as compared to the control. Both the MCh and prednisolone treatment significantly reduced the bodyweight loss. It also restored the induced colonic tissue levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α to normal levels seen in untreated animals. These results were also supported with the histochemical staining of the colonic tissues from both control and treated animals. CONCLUSION: The presented data strongly suggests that MCh has the anti-inflammatory effect that might be modulated through vitamin D metabolism. It is the right candidate for the treatment of UC as an alternative and complementary therapeutics.

Essential oil composition, antioxidant activity and phenolic content of endemic Teucrium alyssifolium Staph. (Lamiaceae).

The present study was designed to examine the chemical composition of the essential oil, in vitro antioxidant activity and total phenolic and flavonoid content of extracts from plant parts (leaf, flower and stem) of Teucrium alyssifolium. The principle components of the essential oil were trans-ß-caryophyllene (16.87%), ar-curcumene (11.43%) and bisabolene (11.06%), representing 39.36% of the oil. The total phenolic contents ranged between 13.99 and 41.54 mg of GAE/g of extract. The concentrations of flavonoids varied from 16.82 to 49.52 mg of Ru/g of extract. Antioxidant activity was determined in vitro using DPPH reagent and expressed as concentration of each extract required to inhibit radical by 50% (IC50) values that ranged from 13.52 to 132.55 µg/ml. Our results have indicated that water extract of T. alyssifolium (part leaf) with a total content of polyphenols (41.54 mg of GAE/g) and an IC50 of 13.52 µg/ml is more antioxidant.

Life-history strategies affect aphid preference for yellowing leaves.

According to the nutrient-translocation hypothesis, yellowing tree leaves are colonized by aphids at the end of the growing season owing to improved availability of nutrients in the phloem sap after chlorophyll degradation. We measured aphid densities on potted Betula pendula seedlings in a field site where a small proportion of foliage rapidly turned yellow before normal autumn coloration as a consequence of root anoxia. The number of adults and nymphs of the birch-feeding specialist aphids Euceraphis betulae, Betulaphis brevipilosa and Callipterinella tuberculata were counted from leaves on each of the 222 plants. Aphids were detected on 19 per cent of green leaves and on 41 per cent of yellow leaves. There was no indication of aphid avoidance of yellow leaves, and the number of winged (alate) viviparous E. betulae adults and their nymphs were significantly higher on yellow leaves than on green leaves, while the numbers of apterous B. brevipilosa and C. tuberculata did not differ between the leaf colour types. Our result suggests that only aphid species with alate generation during colour change can take advantage of yellowing leaves. This may explain the exceptional abundance of E. betulae compared with other aphid species on birches.

Effectiveness of a naturally derived insecticide, spinosad, against the pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae) under laboratory conditions.

The pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams is a serious pest on pine trees in southwestern Turkey. The efficacy of a naturally derived insecticide, spinosad, on fourth-fifth instar larvae of T. wilkinsoni was studied under laboratory conditions. The product exhibited strong larvicidal activity and at doses above 5 mg litre(-1) caused > 90% mortality in the fourth-fifth larval stages of the species after 72 h. At 72 h the LD50 and LD90 values were 3.26 and 5.69 mg litre(-1) respectively. The results showed that spinosad is highly effective on T. wilkinsoni larvae.