Chemoinformatic Analysis of Selected Cacalolides from Psacalium decompositum (A. Gray) H. Rob. & Brettell and Psacalium peltatum (Kunth) Cass. and Their Effects on FcεRI-Dependent Degranulation in Mast Cells.

Cacalolides are a kind of sesquiterpenoids natural compounds synthesized by Psacalium decompositum (A. Gray) H. Rob. & Brettell or Psacalium peltatum (Kunth) Cass. Antioxidant and hypoglycemic effects have been found for cacalolides such as cacalol, cacalone or maturine, however, their effects on inflammatory processes are still largely unclear. The main aim of this study was to investigate the biological activities of secondary metabolites from P. decompositum and P. peltatum through two approaches: (1) chemoinformatic and toxicoinformatic analysis based on ethnopharmacologic background; and (2) the evaluation of their potential anti-inflammatory/anti-allergic effects in bone marrow-derived mast cells by IgE/antigen complexes. The bioinformatics properties of the compounds: cacalol; cacalone; cacalol acetate and maturin acetate were evaluated through Osiris DataWarrior software and Molinspiration and PROTOX server. In vitro studies were performed to test the ability of these four compounds to inhibit antigen-dependent degranulation and intracellular calcium mobilization, as well as the production of reactive oxygen species in bone marrow-derived mast cells. Our findings showed that cacalol displayed better bioinformatics properties, also exhibited a potent inhibitory activity on IgE/antigen-dependent degranulation and significantly reduced the intracellular calcium mobilization on mast cells. These data suggested that cacalol could reduce the negative effects of the mast cell-dependent inflammatory process.

Chemical characterization and evaluation of the hypoglycemic effect of fructooligosaccharides from Psacalium decompositum.

Psacalium decompositum (Gray) H.E. Rob. & Brett (Asteraceae), popularly known as "matarique," is a medicinal plant used in Mexico for the empirical treatment of diabetes mellitus. Previous studies with P. decompositum roots demonstrated that an aqueous fraction containing carbohydrates (WMP-fraction) exhibited a notable hypoglycemic effect in experimental animals. However, studies to identify these carbohydrates have not yet been performed. The goal of this investigation was to isolate and characterize the principal compounds in the WMP-fraction by spectroscopic and spectrometric analysis. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of these compounds in healthy and alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The results show that the chemical structures of the major compounds in the WMP-fraction correspond with fructan-type oligosaccharides and have a hypoglycemic effect in healthy and diabetic mice.