Investigation into the biological properties, secondary metabolites composition, and toxicity of aerial and root parts of Capparis spinosa L.: An important medicinal food plant.

Capparis spinose L. also known as Caper is of great significance as a traditional medicinal food plant. The present work was targeted on the determination of chemical composition, pharmacological properties, and in-vitro toxicity of methanol and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts of different parts of C. spinosa. Chemical composition was established by determining total bioactive contents and via UHPLC-MS secondary metabolites profiling. For determination of biological activities, antioxidant capacity was determined through DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC, FRAP, phosphomolybdenum, and metal chelating assays while enzyme inhibition against cholinesterase, tyrosinase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase were also tested. All the extracts were also tested for toxicity against two breast cell lines. The methanolic extracts were found to contain highest total phenolic and flavonoids which is correlated with their significant radical scavenging, cholinesterase, tyrosinase and glucosidase inhibition potential. Whereas DCM extracts showed significant activity for reducing power, phosphomolybdenum, metal chelation, tyrosinase, and α-amylase inhibition activities. The secondary metabolites profiling of both methanolic extracts exposed the presence of 21 different secondary metabolites belonging to glucosinolate, alkaloid, flavonoid, phenol, triterpene, and alkaloid derivatives. The present results tend to validate folklore uses of C. spinose and indicate this plant to be used as a potent source of designing novel bioactive compounds.

Metabolomics assisted fingerprint of Hypericum perforatum chemotypes and assessment of their cytotoxic activity.

Hypericum perforatum is known as an important medicinal plant, used for the treatment of several diseases, while its pharmacological properties are attributed to the presence of a wide range of secondary metabolites. Due to the great chemotypic variability of Hypericum species in the nature, and the demand for standardized herbal products, a detailed phytochemical investigation was carried out on different parts (herba, leaf, flowers) from wild collected and cultivated populations, using advanced chromatographic tools. Liquid Chromatographic analysis (LC-MS/MS MRM) revealed significant variability in the secondary metabolites content of the examined methanolic extracts. The most common derivatives belong to 9 groups i.e. benzoic acids, phenylpropanoids, coumarins, flavones, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, phloroglucinols and naphtodianthrones. The main polyphenolic compounds were catechin, epicatechin, quercetin, quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, neochlorogenic acid, proanthocyanidins (A and B series) and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside. In addition, the content of the characteristic compounds hypericin and hyperforin in herba crude extracts ranged between 0.5 and 1.7 mg/g and 0.6-3.3 mg/g respectively. The cytotoxic activity of the crude extracts was assessed at concentrations ranged between 0.01 and 100 µg/mL, on Caco-2 intestinal cancer cell cultures, and a cytotoxic behavior was shown only at the highest concentration of 100 µg/mL.

In-vivo laxative and toxicological evaluation and in-vitro antitumour effects of Mitracarpus frigidus aerial parts.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the in-vitro antitumour properties, and the in-vivo laxative and toxicological effects of the methanolic extract of the aerial parts of Mitracarpus frigidus (MFM). METHODS: The in-vitro antitumour activity of MFM was evaluated against three human tumour cell lines: Jurkat, HL60 and MCF-7. The laxative activity and the effect of MFM on intestinal motility were evaluated in rats at the doses of 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg. Acute oral toxicity was performed at 10, 100, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg and subchronic toxicity was evaluated at 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg of MFM during a 42-day period. After subchronic administration of MFM the biochemical, haematological and histopathological parameters were analysed. Also, the total content of anthraquinones was determined. KEY FINDINGS: MFM was cytotoxic only against HL60 and Jurkat cells with 89 and 83% growth inhibition, respectively. The laxative activity of MFM was similar to bisacodyl. Regarding the effect on intestinal motility, MFM showed a significant increase in the pathway of charcoal compared with the group treated with saline. Furthermore, MFM showed no in-vivo toxicity at the doses tested. Free and anthraquinone C- and O-glycosides were detected in MFM. CONCLUSIONS: MFM showed significant antitumour activity for leukaemic cells. Moreover, it presented laxative potential and no in-vivo toxicity.

3 Beta-(3,4-dihydroxycinnamoyl)-erythrodiol, a cytotoxic constituent of Zygophyllum geslini collected in the Algerian Sahara.

3beta-(3,4-Dihydroxycinnamoyl)-erythrodiol was isolated as the cytotoxic constituent of the roots of Zygophyllum geslini.

A new sesquiterpene hydroperoxide from the aerial parts of Aster oharai.

Phytochemical works on the aerial parts of Aster oharai (Compositae) led to the isolation of a new sesquiterpene hydroperoxide, 7alpha-hydroperoxy-3,11-eudesmadiene (2) and seven known compounds, teucdiol B (1), alpha-spinasterol (3), oleanolic acid (4), alpha-spinasterol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (5), methyl 3,5-di-O-caffeoyl quinate (6), 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (7), 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (8). The chemical structures of 1-8 were established by chemical and spectroscopic methods. Compound 2 showed cytotoxicity against cultured human tumor cell lines in vitro, SK-OV-3 (ovarian), SK-MEL-2 (skin melanoma), and HCT15 (colon) with ED50 values ranging from 3.86-17.21 microg/mL.

Phytochemical constituents of Cirsium setidens Nakai and their cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines.

Five terpenes (1-5), three fatty acids (6-8), two sterols (9 and 11), and a monogalactosyldiacyl glycerol (10) were isolated from the methylene chloride extract of the aerial part of Cirsium setidens. Their chemical structures were determined to be alpha-tocopherol (1), 25-hydroperoxycycloart-23-en-3beta-ol (2), 24-hydroperoxycycloart-25-en-3beta-ol (3), mokko lactone (4), transphytol (5), 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid (6), 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (7), hexadecanoic acid (8), acylglycosyl beta-sitosterol (9), (2R)-1,2-O-(9z,12z,15z-dioctadecatrienoyl)-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl glycerol (10) and beta-sitosterol glucoside (11) by spectral evidences. Compound 3 exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against five human cancer cell lines with its ED50 values ranging from 2.66 to 11.25 microM.

Brine shrimp lethality of the compounds from Phryma leptostachya L.

Brine shrimp assay-guided fractionation and isolation of the EtOAc soluble fraction of Phryma leptostachya L. (Phrymacaceae) gave two active compounds, phrymarolin II (1) and ursolic acid (2), which were identified by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. Compound 1 exhibited potent lethality with LD50 value of 0.0013 microg/ml, whereas 2 showed moderate lethality with LD50 value of 27.0 microg/ml against brine shrimp. The cytotoxic activities of 1 and 2 were also evaluated against one murine and five human cancer cell lines employing the sulforhodamin B (SRB) method. Compound 2 exhibited cytotoxic activity against L1210 and SK-MEL-2 cells with ED50 values of 3.70 and 9.27 mg/ml, respectively, whereas 1 was devoid of any cytotoxic activity against all cancer cells tested.