Profiling of two Lampranthus species using LC-ESI/MS with evidence of their hepatoprotective activity.

Lampranthus glaucus and Lampranthus glaucoides are only reported to have significant cytotoxic activity against certain cancer cell lines with phytochemical investigation of their petroleum ether and the ethyl acetate extracts. Further investigation was suggested concerning their hepatoprotective activity and relating it to the metabolic profile of their defatted methanol extracts using LC-ESI/MS analysis. Hepatoprotective activity was evaluated through assessment of three liver parameters as well as liver histopathological examination in thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity model. Sixty-eight and 26 phytochemicals were tentatively identified in L. glaucoides and L. glaucus, respectively, with phenolic compounds as the major class. Both plants showed significant inhibition of serum GPT and GOT levels, inhibition of tissue IL-1ß and TNF-α levels and inhibition of tissue NF-κß and caspase-3 gene expression proving hepatoprotective action. Liver treated with L. glaucoides showed lesion scoring range between negative to mild, whereas L. glaucus showed a range between mild to moderate.

Phytochemical investigation of Lampranthus glaucus and Lampranthus aurantiacus, family Aizoaceae and evaluation of their cytotoxic activity.

This study aims to shed light on the phytochemical composition and the biological effect of two members of family Aizoaceae, Lampranthus glaucus and Lampranthus aurantiacus. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to investigate the lipoidal matter and the phenolic content, respectively. The MTT assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 (breast cancer), HepG2 (liver cancer) and HCT-116 (colorectal cancer) cell lines. The total phenolic acids and the total flavonoid content of L. glaucus were found to be higher than that of L. aurantiacus. Phytol, hexadecanoic acid, p-coumaric, ferulic and p- hydroxybenzoic acids were the major detected compounds. Both the petroleum ether and the ethyl acetate extracts of the two plants showed significant cytotoxic activity (IC50 ranging from 15to 27 µg/mL) against the tested cell lines compared to 5-fluorouracil used as a reference standard.

LC-ESI-MS/MS Alkaloidal Profiling and Biological Investigation of Cleistocactus winteri Stems.

Cleistocactus winteri is a succulent plant of the Cactaceae family, commonly known as the golden rat tail. Many members of the Cactaceae family are the focus of chemical and biological studies as they contain bioactive compounds, well known for their health-related properties. We aimed to investigate Cleistocactus winteri stems both phytochemically and biologically for the first time including three biological effects. For the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity, Nitric oxide (NO) inhibition on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated Raw murine microphages (RAW 264.7) cell model was used. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated against hepatocarcinoma (HepG2), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116), and colon adenocarcinoma (CACO 2) human cancer cell lines using MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Seven alkaloids were tentatively identified based on Mass bank on line library in addition to the isolation and identification of four known flavonoids and a ß-sitosterol 3- O-glucoside from the studied extract. The stem methanol extract showed a 6% inhibition of NO production (up to 48 µmol/L). Furthermore, the IC50 of the total alkaloid fraction against HepG2, MCF-7, and CACO-2 cell lines was equal to 26.53, 23.8, and 13.07 µg/mL, respectively, while that of the methanol extract against Hep-G2 and HCT-116 was 181 µg/mL and 357 µg/mL, respectively with no effect against MCF-7 cell line. The antioxidant effect of the extract was about one third (112 µg/mL) that of ascorbic acid.