Salvia libanotica improves glycemia and serum lipid profile in rats fed a high fat diet.

BACKGROUND: Salvia libanotica (S. Libanotica) is a commonly used herb in folk medicine in Lebanon and the Middle East. The present study aimed to assess the scientific basis for the therapeutic use of S. libanotica in glycemia and to evaluate its effects on lipemia and abdominal fat. METHODS: Animals were fed a high-fat diet and allocated into a control and three experimental groups (GI, GII and GIII) receiving incremental doses of the plant water extract in drinking water (50, 150 and 450 mg/Kg body weight respectively) for six weeks. RESULTS: The intake of S. libanotica extract was associated with a significant decrease in fasting serum glucose (102.9 ± 10.8 in GII and 87.5 ± 6.4 in GIII vs. 152.1 ± 7.9 mg/dl in controls) and a two fold increase in fasting serum insulin (GIII) and liver glycogen content (GII and GIII). Group III also had better glucose tolerance following intraperitoneal glucose challenges. Additionally, the plant extract intake produced a significant improvement in serum HDL (34.4 ± 2.4 in GIII vs. 27.2 ± 1.9 mg/dl in controls) and HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio (2.79 ± 0.32 in GII and 3.02 ± 0.31 in GIII vs. 1.74 ± 0.18 in controls), as well as a decrease in abdominal fat. CONCLUSION: The current study is the first to demonstrate that the chronic intake of S. libanotica infusion helps in the prevention of high fat-induced hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. This supports the plant use as a remedy for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Wild carrot oil extract is selectively cytotoxic to human acute myeloid leukemia cells.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we used Daucus carota oil extract (DCOE) to target acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. All the AML cell lines tested were sensitive to the extract while peripheral mononuclear cells were not. Analysis of mechanism of cell death showed an increase in cells positive for annexinV and for active caspases, indicating that DCOE induces apoptotic cell death in AML. Inhibition of the MAPK pathway decreased sensitivity of AML cells to DCOE, indicating that cytotoxicity may be dependent on its activity. In conclusion, DCOE induces selective apoptosis in AML cells, possibly through a MAPK-dependent mechanism.

Daucus carota pentane-based fractions arrest the cell cycle and increase apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Daucus carota L.ssp.carota (wild carrot), an herb used in folk medicine worldwide, was recently demonstrated to exhibit anticancer activity. In this study we examined the anticancer effect of Daucus carota oil extract (DCOE) fractions on the human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 and clarified the mechanism of action. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the WST assay, the pentane fraction (F1) and 1:1 pentane:diethyl ether fraction (F2) were shown to possess the highest cytotoxicity against both cell lines. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that both fractions induced the accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 phase, increase in apoptotic cell death and chromatin condensation. The increase in apoptosis in response to treatment was also apparent in the increase in BAX and the decrease in Bcl-2 levels as well as the proteolytic cleavage of both caspase-3 and PARP as revealed by Western blot. Furthermore, treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with either fraction significantly reduced the level of phosphorylated Erk but did not show any effect on phosphorylated Akt. The combined treatment with a potent PI3K inhibitor (wortmannin) and F1 or F2 fraction had a synergistic inhibitory effect on cell survival which shows that these two drugs work on different pathways. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the pentane-based fractions of DCOE possess potential anti-cancer activity that is mainly mediated through the Erk pathway.