Hippophae rhamnoides L. leaf and twig extracts as rich sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity.

Plants have served for centuries as sources of compounds useful for human health such as antioxidant, anti-diabetic and antitumor agents. They are also rich in nutrients that improve the human diet. Growing demands for these compounds make it important to seek new sources for them. Hippophae rhamnoides L. is known as a plant with health-promoting properties. In this study we investigated the chemical composition and biological properties of bioactive components of ethanol extracts from leaves and twigs of H. rhamnoides L. Chemical components such as the total content of phenolic compounds, vitamins and amino acids and the antioxidant activities of these compounds in cellular and cell-free systems were assessed. The results suggest that the studied extracts are rich in bioactive compounds with potent antioxidant properties. Cytotoxicity and hemotoxicity assays showed that the extracts had low toxicity on human cells over the range of concentrations tested. Interaction with human serum albumin was investigated and conformational changes were observed. Our results indicate that leaf and twig extracts of H. rhamnoides L. should be considered as a non-toxic source of bioactive compounds which may be of interest to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Cooperative antiproliferative and differentiation-enhancing activity of medicinal plant extracts in acute myeloid leukemia cells.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematopoietic malignancy with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) berries, dog rose (Rosa canina) rosehips, and garden sage (Salvia officinalis) and oregano (Origanum vulgare) aerial parts are widely used in traditional medicine and exhibit antitumor effects in preclinical models. However, these plants remain scarcely tested for antileukemic activity. Here, we show that their water-ethanol leaf extracts reduced the growth and viability of AML cells and, at non-cytotoxic doses, potentiated cell differentiation induced by a low concentration of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, the hormonal form of vitamin D, in a cell type-dependent manner. The latter effect was accompanied by upregulation of the vitamin D receptor protein components and its transcriptional activity. Furthermore, at minimally effective doses the extracts cooperated with one another to produce marked cytostatic effects associated with a partial S-phase arrest and a modest induction of apoptosis. In contrast, these combinations only slightly affected the growth and viability of proliferating normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In addition, the extracts strongly inhibited microsomal lipid peroxidation and protected normal erythrocytes against hypoosmotic shock. Our results suggest that further exploration of the enhanced antileukemic effects of the combinations tested here may lead to the development of alternative therapeutic and preventive approaches against AML.