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Journal of Ethnopharmacology Jun 2024Lablab Semen Album (lablab), the white and dried mature fruit of Lablab purpureus in the Lablab genus of the Fabaceae family, is a renowned traditional medicinal herb... (Review)
Review
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
Lablab Semen Album (lablab), the white and dried mature fruit of Lablab purpureus in the Lablab genus of the Fabaceae family, is a renowned traditional medicinal herb with a long history of use in China. In Chinese medicine, lablab is often combined with other drugs to treat conditions such as weak spleen and stomach, loss of appetite, loose stools, excessive leucorrhoea, summer dampness and diarrhea, chest tightness, and abdominal distension.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Comprehensive information on lablab was gathered from databases including Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Springer, PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang, and ancient materia medica.
RESULTS
Lablab, a member of the lentil family, thrives in warm and humid climates, and is distributed across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Traditionally, lablab is used to treat various ailments, such as spleen and stomach weakness, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. Phytochemical analyses reveal that lablab is a rich source of triterpenoid saponins, glucosides, volatile oils, polysaccharides, and amino acids. Lablab extracts exhibit diverse biological activities, including hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antitumoral, antiviral properties, and more. Besides its medicinal applications, lablab is extensively used in the food industry due to its high nutrient content. Additionally, the quality of lablab can be regulated by determining the levels of key chemical components pivotal to its medicinal effects, ensuring the herb's overall quality.
CONCLUSION
Lablab is a promising medicinal and edible plant ingredient with diverse pharmacological effects, making it a valuable ingredient for food, pharmaceuticals, and animal husbandry. However, it has inherent toxicity if not properly prepared. Additionally, some traditional uses and pharmacological activities lack scientific validation due to incomplete methods, unclear results, and insufficient clinical data. Thus, further in vivo and in vitro studies on its pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology, along with clinical efficacy evaluations, are needed to ensure lablab's safety and effectiveness. As an important traditional Chinese medicine, lablab deserves more attention.
PubMed: 38945467
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2024.118507 -
International Journal of Biological... Jun 2024The development of efficient, safe, environmentally friendly, and user-friendly hemostatic dressings remains a great challenge for researchers. A variety of clay...
The development of efficient, safe, environmentally friendly, and user-friendly hemostatic dressings remains a great challenge for researchers. A variety of clay minerals and plant extracts have garnered considerable attention due to their outstanding hemostatic efficacy and favorable biosafety. In this study, a facile solution casting strategy was employed to prepare nanocomposite films by incorporating natural nanorod-like palygorskite (Pal) and herb-derived hemostat dencichine (DC) based on chitosan and polyvinylpyrrolidone. The dynamic blood clotting index demonstrated that the nanocomposite film with a DC addition of 1.0 wt% exhibited significantly superior hemostatic properties compared to both pure DC powder or commercial hemostatic agent Yunnan Baiyao. This improvement was primarily attributed to proper blood affinity, increased porosity, enhanced adhesion of platelets and erythrocytes, as well as the accelerated activation of coagulation factors and platelets. Under the synergistic effect of Pal and DC, the nanocomposite film displayed suitable tensile strength (20.58 MPa) and elongation at break (47.29 %), which may be due to the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction between Pal/DC and macropolymers. Notably, the nanocomposite film exhibited remarkable antibacterial effectiveness and desirable cytocompatibility, as well as the capability of promoting wound healing in vitro. Taken together, the nanocomposite film synergized with Pal and DC is expected to be an efficacious and suitable wound dressing.
PubMed: 38945323
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133399 -
Chemosphere Jun 2024Arsenic (As) levels in particulate matter (PM) are routinely monitored in cities of developed countries. Despite advances in the knowledge of its inorganic species in PM...
Seasonal variation of arsenic in PM and PM in an urban park: The influence of vegetation-related biomethylation on the distribution of its organic species and air quality.
Arsenic (As) levels in particulate matter (PM) are routinely monitored in cities of developed countries. Despite advances in the knowledge of its inorganic species in PM in urban areas, organic species are often overlooked with no information on their behaviour in urban parks - areas with increased potential for As biomethylation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize As distribution, bioaccessibility, seasonal variation and speciation (As, As, MMA, DMA and TMAO) in PM-PM of an urban park. Two sites with different distance from the road were selected for winter and summer sampling. From the PM samples, we gravimetrically determined PM concentrations in the air and via ICP-MS the total As content there. To assess the portion of bioaccessible As, water extractable As content was analysed. Simultaneously, the As species in PM water extracts were analysed via coupling of HPLC with ICP-MS method. There was no seasonal difference in PM concentration in the park, probably due to the increased summer PM load related to recreational activities in the park and park design. Spatial distribution of total As in PM and As fractional distribution in PM suggested that As mostly didn't originate from traffic although highest As content was observed in the fine fraction (PM) related to combustion processes. However, significant winter increase of As (determined by As and As) despite the unchanged concentration of PM indicated a decisive influence of household heating-related combustion and possibly influence of reduced vegetation density. As present in the PM was mostly in bioaccessible form. Seasonal influence of As biomethylation was clearly demonstrated on the TMAO specie during the summer campaign. Except the significant summer TMAO increase, the results also indicated the biomethylation influence on DMA. Therefore, an increased risk of exposure to organic As species in urban parks can be expected during summer.
PubMed: 38945226
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142721 -
Mymensingh Medical Journal : MMJ Jul 2024Antibiotics' usefulness is threatened by multi-drugs resistance in harmful microorganisms because of abuse and regulatory problems. Emerging microbes, resistance...
Antibiotics' usefulness is threatened by multi-drugs resistance in harmful microorganisms because of abuse and regulatory problems. Emerging microbes, resistance mechanisms and antimicrobial drugs all require extensive investigation. Evaluation of the in vitro antibacterial activity of Methanolic extracts isolated from Black pepper seeds (Piper nigrum L.) against two infection causing pathogens, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. From July 2022 and June 2023, this experimental study was conducted at the Mymensingh Medical College's Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in conjunction with the Department of Microbiology. The solvents Methanol and 10.0% Di-Methyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) were used to make the extract. Using the disc diffusion and broth dilution methods, the antibacterial activity of methanolic extract of black pepper seeds (MBPE) was evaluated at various doses. Using the broth dilution procedure, the conventional antibiotic Ciprofloxacin was utilized, and the outcome was contrasted with that of Methanol extracts. Methanolic extract of black pepper seeds (MBPE) at seven distinct concentrations (100, 80, 60, 40, 20, 10 and 5mg/ml) were utilized, then later in chosen concentrations as needed to confirm the extracts' more precise margin of antimicrobial sensitivity. At 80mg/ml and above doses of the MBPE, it had an inhibitory impact against the aforementioned microorganisms. For Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa the MIC were 60 and 70mg/ml in MBPE respectively. As of the MIC of Ciprofloxacin was 1μg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus and 1.5μg/ml for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In comparison to MICs of MBPE for the test organisms, the MIC of Ciprofloxacin was the lowest. This study clearly shows that Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are sensitive to the methanolic extract of black pepper seeds' antibacterial properties.
Topics: Piper nigrum; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Plant Extracts; Staphylococcus aureus; Seeds; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Methanol
PubMed: 38944702
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Ethnopharmacology Jun 2024African wormwood (Artemisia afra Jacq. ex Willd.) has been used traditionally in southern Africa to treat illnesses causing fever and was recently shown to possess...
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
African wormwood (Artemisia afra Jacq. ex Willd.) has been used traditionally in southern Africa to treat illnesses causing fever and was recently shown to possess anti-tuberculosis activity. As tuberculosis is an endemic cause of fever in southern Africa, this suggests that the anti-tubercular activity of A. afra may have contributed to its traditional medicinal use.
AIM OF THE STUDY
Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is a deadly and debilitating disease globally affecting millions annually. Emerging drug-resistant Mtb strains endanger the efficacy of the current therapies employed to treat tuberculosis; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs to combat this disease. Given the reported activity of A. afra against Mtb, we sought to determine the mechanisms by which A. afra inhibits and kills this bacterium.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We used transcriptomics to investigate the impact of Artemisia spp. extracts on Mtb physiology. We then used chromatographic fractionation and biochemometric analyses to identify a bioactive fractions of A. afra extracts and identify an active compound.
RESULTS
Transcriptomic analysis revealed that A. afra exerts different effects on Mtb compared to A. annua or artemisinin, suggesting that A. afra possesses other phytochemicals with unique modes of action. A biochemometric study of A. afra resulted in the isolation of an O-methylflavone (1), 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one, which displayed considerable activity against Mtb strain mc6230 in both log phase growth and metabolically downshifted hypoxic cultures.
CONCLUSIONS
The present study demonstrated that an O-methylflavone constituent of Artemisia afra explains part of the activity of this plant against Mtb. This result contributes to a mechanistic understanding of the reported anti-tubercular activity of A. afra and highlights the need for further study of this traditional medicinal plant and its active compounds.
PubMed: 38944359
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2024.118500 -
The Veterinary Quarterly Dec 2024Mistletoe is an herb that grows on duku plants (Lancium demosticum) and is known as benalu duku (BD) in Indonesia. It is predicted to have benefits such as anticancer...
Mistletoe is an herb that grows on duku plants (Lancium demosticum) and is known as benalu duku (BD) in Indonesia. It is predicted to have benefits such as anticancer or antiviral properties, and it is also thought to have anti-diabetic pharmacological activity. Quercetin-like compounds (QLCs) are secondary metabolites with antidiabetic activity that are expected to lower blood sugar levels in animals after oral administration. This study aimed to analyze the ability of QLCs to reduce random blood sugar levels using experimental animals as clinical models. The research method used was exploratory, which used a before-after test model, and observations were made on the random blood sugar levels after treatment. Secondary metabolites were extracted from BD leaves, which were then screened. Diabetes was induced in 30 rats (Rattus norvegicus) by the administration of streptozotocin at 0.045 mg/g body weight daily for 2 days. The antidiabetic effects of the secondary metabolite at doses of 0.5 mg/kg body weight (twice a day) when administered orally for up to 5 days were tested in diabetic rats. The random sugar levels (mg/dL) were measured using a One Touch Ultra Plus medical device for observation of randomized blood sugar levels. Results and novelty: The results revealed that the secondary metabolite, as an analyte from the BD leaf extract, can significantly reduce random blood sugar levels. The secondary metabolite extracted from BD, could be used to treat diabetes in rats.
Topics: Animals; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Rats; Hypoglycemic Agents; Quercetin; Blood Glucose; Male; Plant Extracts; Mistletoe; Administration, Oral; Plant Leaves
PubMed: 38943615
DOI: 10.1080/01652176.2024.2372090 -
Chemistry & Biodiversity Jun 2024This work aims to describe the morpho-anatomy and determine the mineral composition of H. muticus L. subsp. falezlez seed, and investigate the influence of extraction...
This work aims to describe the morpho-anatomy and determine the mineral composition of H. muticus L. subsp. falezlez seed, and investigate the influence of extraction solvents (hexane, petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol) on contents of total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) and the antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS, reducing power and phenanthroline). The mineral content analysis revealed the presence of different elements. The results indicated that the seed extract obtained by methanol exhibited the highest yield and TPC (82.07%, 27.14 ± 2.2 µg GAE/mg), while the chloroform extract had the maximum TFC (24.63 ± 0.4 µg QE/mg). In addition, all seed extracts showed excellent performances on DPPH scavenging activity. However, methanolic extract was the most effective extraction solvent for scavenging ABTS free radicals (IC50 <12.5 µg/mL). Chloroform and petroleum ether extracts were the most potent in phenanthroline activity. GC-MS analysis identified 27 phytochemical compounds in all extracts and 16 compounds were identified by HPLC/DAD analysis of the methanolic extract. The multivariate analysis results highlighted the influence of solvents on the phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of seed extracts. The results suggest that H. muticus L. seeds can be a promising source enriched with bioactive constituents for application in the pharmaceutical industry.
PubMed: 38943603
DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.202401026 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024Viscum album L. (VA) is a unique plant with regard to its biological content. It is rich in many different metabolites with high potential in various spheres of human...
Viscum album L. (VA) is a unique plant with regard to its biological content. It is rich in many different metabolites with high potential in various spheres of human activity. We conducted a pilot study with 5 VA aqueous extracts of different host-tree species for pre-sowing treatment of Cucurbita maxima 'Hokkaido orange' seeds. We set the following objectives consisting of hypotheses (1) H01 is based on different effects of tested VA extracts depending on host trees and time of pre-treatment; (2) H02 focuses on the allopathic properties of the tested extracts affecting the plant growth and development by dose-response relationship; (3) A01 considers highly biologically active compounds of VA extracts also containing allelochemicals that can be used to regulate plant growth processes and create eco-friendly and resilient cities. The analysis of the stimulatory allelopathy index for 7 parameters demonstrates the direct effect of VA extracts in 62.3% of cases. The variability of the broad spectrum of effects of VA extracts of different host trees on the ontogenesis of C. maxima plants shows the presence of potential allelochemicals, resulting from the vital products of the host-parasite relationship. These effects are not fully explained by total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity as in previous studies of other mistletoe species. The authors consider this work a pilot study that expands the areas of application of VA extracts and knowledge about potential sources of allelochemicals.
Topics: Cucurbita; Plant Extracts; Viscum album; Allelopathy; Pilot Projects; Pheromones; Seeds
PubMed: 38942921
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65918-0 -
Medicine Jun 2024Rosacea is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory skin disease affecting the center of the face that causes burning and itching sensations and changes in aesthetics. Liang...
Rosacea is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory skin disease affecting the center of the face that causes burning and itching sensations and changes in aesthetics. Liang Xue Wu Hua Tang (LXWHT) is a classic herbal formulation that is efficacious and has been widely used in the clinical treatment of rosacea; however, the pharmacological mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanism of action of LXWHT using network pharmacology and molecular docking. The Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology database was searched to identify the active ingredients and pharmacological targets of LXWHT, and the GeneCard, Disgenet, and Gene Expression Omnibus databases were applied to screen rosacea-related targets. Cytoscape software was used to visualize the protein-protein interaction network, and network topology analysis was used to identify core targets. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were performed for the core targets. Molecular docking simulations and visualization were performed using Maestro and PyMOL, respectively. A total of 43 active compounds and 28 potential targets for LXWHT treatment of rosacea were selected for analysis. The Gene Ontology/Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes results indicated that LXWHT may exert therapeutic effects on rosacea by intervening in immune pathways including tumor necrosis factor pathway, interleukin-17 pathways, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathways. Chemokine ligand 2, interferon-γ, interleukin-1ß, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, and matrix metallopeptidase 9 may be the core therapeutic target. Quercetin, stigmasterol, kaempferol, beta-sitosterol, luteolin, beta-carotene, baicalein, acetin, and isorhamnetin were predicted to be the key active ingredients. LXWHT may exert therapeutic effects in the treatment of rosacea by modulating immunity and angiogenesis, laying the foundation for further research.
Topics: Rosacea; Molecular Docking Simulation; Humans; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Network Pharmacology; Protein Interaction Maps; Medicine, Chinese Traditional
PubMed: 38941423
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000038705 -
Medicine Jun 2024Chaihu-Shugan-San (CSS), a Traditional Chinese Medicine formula, has been widely used for treating depression since the Ming Dynasty, as recorded in Jingyue Quanshu, but... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Chaihu-Shugan-San (CSS), a Traditional Chinese Medicine formula, has been widely used for treating depression since the Ming Dynasty, as recorded in Jingyue Quanshu, but its effectiveness and safety lack comprehensive and objective evaluation. Based on our meta-analysis, we aimed to adequately evaluate the efficacy and risk of CSS by considering the latest clinical literature.
METHODS
Multiple databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SinoMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP, and Wanfang, were used to collect clinical data. The quality of the included clinical studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, and the data were meta-analyzed using Review Manager 5.0 and Stata 17. The data were obtained from a genome-wide association study, and Mendelian randomization (MR) was performed using R Software 4.3.2 with the TwoSampleMR and MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier packages.
RESULTS
A total of 15 studies with 1034 patients and 6 antidepressant drugs were included in this work. Meta-analyses revealed that drug combinations of CSS and antidepressants significantly improved depressive symptoms (weighted mean difference = -4.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.62--2.81), increased the effective rate (odds ratio [OR] = 3.82; 95% CI: 2.44-6.83), and reduced side effects (OR = -3.55; 95% CI: -5.66--1.43) compared with antidepressant monotherapy. Additionally, compared with antidepressant monotherapy, CSS alone exhibited fewer side effects (95% CI:-9.25--6.95). Like antidepressants, CSS also improved depressive symptoms (weighted mean difference = -0.05; 95% CI: -0.63--0.52) and increased the effective rate (OR = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.52-2.20). Additionally, MR was used to evaluate the safety of traditional antidepressants, as there was a causal association between amitriptyline and body mass index.
CONCLUSION
This analysis demonstrated that compared with traditional antidepressants, CSS combined with antidepressants was more effective and safer for treating depressed patients. MR showed that a causal relationship may exist between amitriptyline and body mass index. Therefore, clinicians should carefully consider the advantages and potential drawbacks of Traditional Chinese Medicine and classic drugs to serve patients better.
Topics: Humans; Antidepressive Agents; Depression; Plant Extracts; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 38941409
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000038668