ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The investigation of plant-based therapeutic agents in medicinal plants has revealed their presence in the extracts and provides the vision to formulate novel techniques for drug therapy. Vitex negundo (V. negundo), a perennial herb belonging to the Varbanaceae family, is extensively used in conventional medication. AIM: To determine the existence of therapeutic components in leaf and callus extracts from wild V. negundo plants using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). METHODS: In this study, we conducted GC-MS on wild plant leaf extracts and correlated the presence of constituents with those in callus extracts. Various growth regulators such as 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), α-naphthylacetic acid (NAA), and di-phenylurea (DPU) were added to plant leaves and in-vitro callus and grown on MS medium. RESULTS: The results clearly indicated that the addition of BAP (2.0 mg/L), 2,4-D (0.2 mg/mL), DPU (2.0 mg/L) and 2,4-D (0.2 mg/mL) in MS medium resulted in rapid callus development. The plant profile of Vitex extracts by GC-MS analysis showed that 24, 10, and 14 bioactive constituents were detected in the methanolic extract of leaf, green callus and the methanolic extract of white loose callus, respectively. CONCLUSION: Octadecadienoic acid, hexadecanoic acid and methyl ester were the major constituents in the leaf and callus methanolic extract. Octadecadienoic acid was the most common constituent in all samples. The maximum concentration of octadecadienoic acid in leaves, green callus and white loose callus was 21.93%, 47.79% and 40.38%, respectively. These findings demonstrate that the concentration of octadecadienoic acid doubles in-vitro compared to in-vivo. In addition to octadecadienoic acid; butyric acid, benzene, 1-methoxy-4-(1-propenyl), dospan, tridecanedialdehyde, methylcyclohexenylbutanol, chlorpyrifos, n-secondary terpene diester, anflunine and other important active compounds were also detected. All these components were only available in callus formed in-vitro. This study showed that the callus contained additional botanical characteristics compared with wild plants. Due to the presence of numerous bioactive compounds, the medical use of Vitex for various diseases has been accepted and the plant is considered an important source of therapeutics for research and development.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of chronic pain and disability in the elderly. It involves progressive destruction of articular cartilage as a consequence of various factors including augmented oxidative stress with advancing age which has not yet been controlled. It is conceivable that exogenous vitamin E supplementation ameliorates the modifiable indexes via regulation of free radical production and the consumption of antioxidant reserve. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the therapeutic effect of vitamin E supplementation in ameliorating the altered activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, ceruloplasmin, glutathione peroxidase and catalase), erythrocyte malondialdehyde level (MDA, i.e. marker of lipid peroxidation) and markers of systemic inflammation (plasma C-reactive protein [CRP] and synovial fluid interleukin 6 [IL-6]) in osteoarthritic elderly. METHODS: Antioxidant enzymes status, MDA, IL-6 and CRP levels were estimated by using standard methods in 40 healthy individuals (control group) and in 40 osteoarthritic patients aged 50-70 years before and after 3 months of vitamin E supplementation, i.e. group I (nonsupplemented) and group II (200 mg/day vitamin E supplemented). The obtained values were compared statistically by using Student's t-test. RESULTS: Marked alteration in antioxidant enzymes, MDA and inflammatory markers were observed in group I (p < 0.05) as compared with controls. These levels were ameliorated significantly after vitamin E supplementation (p < 0.05) in group II. However, elevated levels of serum CRP and synovial fluid IL-6 (r = 0.034; p < 0.05) were decreased insignificantly (p < 0.1) after vitamin E supplementation in knee OA patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the protective role of vitamin E supplementation against oxidative stress mediated biomolecular deterioration in OA. However, the anti-inflammatory role of vitamin E remains to be explored.