Exploring the Biosafety Potential of Haberlea rhodopensis Friv. In Vitro Culture Total Ethanol Extract: A Comprehensive Assessment of Genotoxicity, Mitotoxicity, and Cytotoxicity for Therapeutic Applications.

The escalating elderly population worldwide has prompted a surge of interest in longevity medicine. Its goal is to interfere with the speed of ageing by slowing it down or even reversing its accompanying effects. As a field, it is rapidly growing and spreading into different branches. One of these is the use of nutraceuticals as anti-ageing drugs. This field is gaining massive popularity nowadays, as people are shifting towards a more natural approach to life and seeking to use natural products as a source of medicine. The present article focuses on the cellular effect of Haberlea rhodopensis Friv. in vitro culture total ethanol extract (HRT), produced by a sustainable biotechnological approach. The extract showed a similar phytochemical profile to plant leaf extract and was rich in primary bioactive ingredients-caffeoyl phenylethanoid glycosides, myconoside, and paucifloside. This study examined the biosafety potential, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and mitochondrial activity of the extract using in vitro cultures. The results showed high cell survival rates and minimal cytotoxic effects on Lep3 cells, with no induction of reactive oxygen species nor genotoxicity. Additionally, the extract positively influenced mitochondrial activity, indicating potential benefits for cellular health. The results are promising and show the beneficial effect of HRT without the observation of any adverse effects, which sets the foundation for its further testing and potential therapeutic applications.

Insight into the influence of natural deep eutectic solvents on the extraction of phenolic compounds from poplar type propolis: Composition and in vitro biological activity.

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) have been considered promising to replace traditional volatile and toxic organic solvents for the extraction of biologically active substances from natural sources. This work applied an efficient and ethanol-exclusion strategy for extraction of phenolic compounds from poplar type propolis using five known NADESs (lactic acid:1,2-propanediol 1:1, lactic acid:fructose 5:1, choline chloride:1,2-propanediol 1:3, choline chloride:1,2-propanediol:water 1:1:1 and betaine:malic acid:water 1:1:6). The selected NADESs' extractability was evaluated by measuring the concentrations of total phenolics and total flavones and flavonols in the propolis extracts obtained, which qualitative chemical composition was further determined in detail by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. It demonstrated that the chemical profiles of NADES and 70% ethanolic propolis extracts are similar. To expand the knowledge about the role of the applied solvents in the poplar propolis extraction process, the in vitro antimicrobial, cytotoxic and genotoxic activity of both NADESs and liquid NADES extracts were evaluated. The results revealed that the use of the selected NADESs as an extraction media for phenolic compounds from poplar propolis not only delivered a good extraction yield in some cases, but generally led to the preservation of propolis extracts' biological activity and even to the enhancement of their antimicrobial effect in comparison with the hydroethanolic one. Besides, the tested NADESs except for lactic acid:fructose and betaine:malic acid:water exerted low to negligible toxicity against normal cells treated and apart from lactic acid:fructose the remaining solvents demonstrated concentration-dependent moderate to subtle genotoxicity. There is a probability that not the supramolecular structure of the NADESs, but their components, played a key role for the observed biological effects. The present study has demonstrated an alternative approach for extracting the biologically active complex from poplar type propolis using NADESs, which could be useful for further pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical applications.