Anti-proliferative activity of Artemisia marschalliana on cancerous cell lines.

BACKGROUND: The genus Artemisia of the Asteraceae family has different species that are used in the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including cancers due to the presence of valuable compounds and important medicinal properties. Various studies on the anti-tumor effect of different species of Artemisia have proven the cytotoxic properties of these plants in cancer treatment, and several anti-cancer compounds of this genus have been purified. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the cytotoxicity and related mortality mechanisms of Artemisia marschalliana essential oil and extracts. METHODS: The essential oil and various extracts of Artemisia marschalliana were elicited using a Soxhlet extractor. Anti-cancer to anti-proliferative activity as MTT assay is measuring cancerous and non-cancerous cell viability. In the next step, the strongest extract fractions were obtained by using the vacuum liquid chromatography method. Flow cytometry was applied to identify the mechanism of cell death, and a Real-time polymerase chain reaction test of apoptosis genes, which encode apoptosis-regulating proteins, was measured to confirm the flow cytometry results. RESULTS: The strongest extract belonged to dichloromethane extract 60% fraction of the extract on breast cancer cells and 80% fraction on liposarcoma cancer cells showed the most cytotoxicity within 48 h, while, the fractions did not notable cytotoxicity of non-cancerous cells cell. Flow cytometry analysis illustrated the mentioned extract and its fractions kill cancer cell lines through the apoptosis mechanism. Our findings confirmed the flow cytometry results. In addition, the essential oil of Artemisia marschalliana showed a considerable cytotoxic property. CONCLUSION: Dichloromethane extract of Artemisia marschalliana shoot and its 60 and 80% fraction selectively inhibited the growth of cancer cells by inducing the apoptosis mechanism. Regarding obtained results, 60 and 80% fractions of dichloromethane extract can be a good candidate for future studies in the field of identification and separation of pure cytotoxic compounds.

Pharmacological effects and therapeutic potential of natural compounds in neuropsychiatric disorders: An update.

Neuropsychiatric diseases are a group of disorders that cause significant morbidity and disability. The symptoms of psychiatric disorders include anxiety, depression, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. Various medicinal plants are frequently used as therapeutics in traditional medicine in different parts of the world. Nowadays, using medicinal plants as an alternative medication has been considered due to their biological safety. Despite the wide range of medications, many patients are unable to tolerate the side effects and eventually lose their response. By considering the therapeutic advantages of medicinal plants in the case of side effects, patients may prefer to use them instead of chemical drugs. Today, the use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine is diverse and increasing, and these plants are a precious heritage for humanity. Investigation about traditional medicine continues, and several studies have indicated the basic pharmacology and clinical efficacy of herbal medicine. In this article, we discuss five of the most important and common psychiatric illnesses investigated in various studies along with conventional therapies and their pharmacological therapies. For this comprehensive review, data were obtained from electronic databases such as MedLine/PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, EMBASE, DynaMed Plus, ScienceDirect, and TRIP database. Preclinical pharmacology studies have confirmed that some bioactive compounds may have beneficial therapeutic effects in some common psychiatric disorders. The mechanisms of action of the analyzed biocompounds are presented in detail. The bioactive compounds analyzed in this review are promising phytochemicals for adjuvant and complementary drug candidates in the pharmacotherapy of neuropsychiatric diseases. Although comparative studies have been carefully reviewed in the preclinical pharmacology field, no clinical studies have been found to confirm the efficacy of herbal medicines compared to FDA-approved medicines for the treatment of mental disorders. Therefore, future clinical studies are needed to accelerate the potential use of natural compounds in the management of these diseases.

Evaluation of anti-proliferative activity of Eryngium caucasicum on melanoma cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: The genus Eryngium is a member of the Apiaceae family that has shown different pharmacological effects mainly including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-cancer, hepatoprotective, and anti-oxidant. Previous research on the anti-cancer activity of Eryngium in some cancer cell lines has led us to explore the anti-proliferative activity of E. caucasicum in the B16F10 cell line. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the antiproliferative activity of E. caucasicum on melanoma cancer cells (B16F10) and non-cancerous cells (HFFF2) were evaluated in vitro. METHODS: The dried plant sample of E. caucasicum was extracted by Soxhlet apparatus with n-Hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol solvents. The effects of cytotoxicity of the extracts by the MTT method on melanoma cancer cells (B16F10) and noncancerous cells (HFFF2) was investigated for 24 and 48 hours. Then, the cytotoxicity of different fractions of the strong extract against normal and cancer cells was evaluated by this method. Annexin V/PI assay was used to study the induction apoptosis via the fractions in cancer cells. FINDINGS: According to the results of the MTT test, n-Hexane extract is the most effective extract against the B16F10 cell line and is a candidate for fractionation with VLC. Among the fractions, 40 and 60% VLC fractions of n-Hexan extract inhibited the growth of B16F10 cells at 24 and 48 hours while, these fractions at IC50 concentration had no cytotoxic effects on normal cells. Treatment of cancer cells with effective extract caused apoptosis and necrosis and 40 and 60% more fractions induced apoptosis in these cells. CONCLUSION: The n-Hexane extract of E. caucasicum and its 40 and 60% fractions showed the highest cytotoxic effect against the B16F10 cell line compared to other extracts and control groups. This inhibition was made through induction of apoptosis.

Curcumin nanoformulations: Beneficial nanomedicine against cancer.

Curcumin is a phytochemical achieved from the plant turmeric. It is extensively utilized for the treatment of several types of diseases such as cancers. Nevertheless, its efficiency has been limited because of rapid metabolism, low bioavailability, poor water solubility, and systemic elimination. Scientists have tried to solve these problems by exploring novel drug delivery systems such as lipid-based nanoparticles (NPs) (e.g., solid lipid NPs, nanostructured lipid carriers, and liposomes), polymeric NPs, micelles, nanogels, cyclodextrin, gold, and mesoporous silica NPs. Among these, liposomes have been the most expansively studied. This review mainly focuses on the different curcumin nanoformulations and their use in cancer therapy in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies. Despite the development of curcumin-containing NPs for the treatment of cancer, potentially serious side effects, including interactions with other drugs, some toxicity aspects of NPs may occur that require more high-quality investigations to firmly establish the clinical efficacy.