Significant Benefits of Environmentally Friendly Hydrosols from Tropaeolum majus L. Seeds with Multiple Biological Activities.

Tropaeolum majus L. is a traditional medicinal plant with a wide range of biological activities due to the degradation products of the glucosinolate glucotropaeolin. Therefore, the goals of this study were to identify volatiles using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS) of the hydrosols (HYs) isolated using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity (MHG). Cytotoxic activity was tested against a cervical cancer cell line (HeLa), human colon cancer cell line (HCT116), human osteosarcoma cell line (U2OS), and healthy cell line (RPE1). The effect on wound healing was investigated using human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT), while the antibacterial activity of the HYs was tested against growth and adhesion to a polystyrene surface of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Antiphytoviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was determined. The GC-MS analysis showed that the two main compounds in the HYs of T. majus are benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) and benzyl cyanide (BCN) using the MAE (62.29% BITC and 15.02% BCN) and MHG (17.89% BITC and 65.33% BCN) extraction techniques. The HYs obtained using MAE showed better cytotoxic activity against the tested cancer cell lines (IC50 value of 472.61-637.07 µg/mL) compared to the HYs obtained using MHG (IC50 value of 719.01-1307.03 µg/mL). Both concentrations (5 and 20 µg/mL) of T. majus HYs using MAE showed a mild but statistically non-significant effect in promoting gap closure compared with untreated cells, whereas the T. majus HY isolated using MHG at a concentration of 15 µg/mL showed a statistically significant negative effect on wound healing. The test showed that the MIC concentration was above 0.5 mg/mL for the HY isolated using MAE, and 2 mg/mL for the HY isolated using MHG. The HY isolated using MHG reduced the adhesion of E. coli at a concentration of 2 mg/mL, while it also reduced the adhesion of S. aureus at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. Both hydrosols showed excellent antiphytoviral activity against TMV, achieving100% inhibition of local lesions on the leaves of infected plants, which is the first time such a result was obtained with a hydrosol treatment. Due to the antiphytoviral activity results, hydrosols of T. majus have a promising future for use in agricultural production.

Protective Effect of Brassica napus L. Hydrosols against Inflammation Response in RAW 264.7 Cells.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the anti-inflammatory activity of Brassica napus L. hydrosols (BNH) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. METHODS: Composition analysis of BNH was conducted via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after BNH were extracted. The nitric oxide (NO) production was measured using the Griess assay. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production was evaluated with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effects of BNH on LPS-induced pro-inflammatory enzymes including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were evaluated using Western blot analysis. Furthermore, phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 were evaluated with Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. RESULTS: Compared with LPS-stimulated cells, BNH markedly decreased the generation of NO and PGE2 in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Moreover, BNH inhibited protein levels of iNOS and COX-2 (P<0.01). Phosphorylation of NF-κB and nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 was significantly inhibited by BNH (P<0.01 or P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The anti-inflammatory activities of BNH were mediated via blockage of the NF-κB signaling pathways in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells.

Synthesis and enhanced antioxidant and membrane-protective activity of curcumin@AlOOH nanoparticles.

The ever increasing demand for nanoantioxidants with minimized toxicity dictates the necessity to develop new biocompatible materials. One promising approach is the immobilization of polyphenols on metal (oxy)hydroxide nanoparticles (NPs) that possess the desired chemical and colloidal stability while also allowing to dispose of the antioxidants more safely and effectively. In this paper we modify sol-gel synthesized γ-AlOOH NPs with curcumin molecules. The prepared colloidal systems are hydrosols, stable in acidic, neutral and slightly basic pH values. UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopies suggest that the mechanism of curcumin binding lies in the H-bonding of its functional groups to hydroxyls of pseudoboemite. Modification of AlOOH nanoparticles shifts its isoelectric point from 9.7 to 9.3 due to the weak acidic centers of the polyphenol. Immobilization of curcumin molecules on pseudoboehmite allows to achieve good solubility of the phenol in water and to reduce the level of its hemolytic activity (indicating good biocompatibility). At the same time, it preserves radical scavenging activity and in some experimental designs even enhances antioxidant and membrane-protective activity (enhancement ≥30%) in vitro on cellular and non-cellular models.