Assay for lipid peroxides in animal tissues by thiobarbituric acid reaction

Coumarin (2H-1-benzopyran-2-one) is a plant-derived natural product known for its pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, antihypertensive, antitubercular, anticonvulsant, antiadipogenic, antihyperglycemic, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties. Dietary exposure to benzopyrones is significant as these compounds are found in vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, coffee, tea, and wine. In view of the established low toxicity, relative cheapness, presence in the diet, and occurrence in various herbal remedies of coumarins, it appears prudent to evaluate their properties and applications further.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2013/963248.pdf

Review on natural coumarin lead compounds for their pharmacological activity

Plectranthus : A review of ethnobotanical uses

3beta-Hydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid (betulinic acid) is a pentacyclic lupane-type triterpene that is widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom. A variety of biological activities have been ascribed to betulinic acid including anti-inflammatory and in vitro antimalarial effects. However, betulinic acid is most highly regarded for its anti-HIV-1 activity and specific cytotoxicity against a variety of tumor cell lines. Interest in developing even more potent anti-HIV agents based on betulinic acid has led to the discovery of a host of highly active derivatives exhibiting greater potencies and better therapeutic indices than some current clinical anti-HIV agents. While its mechanism of action has not been fully determined, it has been shown that some betulinic acid analogs disrupt viral fusion to the cell in a post-binding step through interaction with the viral glycoprotein gp41 whereas others disrupt assembly and budding of the HIV-1 virus. With regard to its anticancer properties, betulinic acid was previously reported to exhibit selective cytotoxicity against several melanoma-derived cell lines. However, more recent work has demonstrated that betulinic acid is cytotoxic against other non-melanoma (neuroectodermal and malignant brain tumor) human tumor varieties. Betulinic acid appears to function by means of inducing apoptosis in cells irrespective of their p53 status. Because of its selective cytotoxicity against tumor cells and favorable therapeutic index, even at doses up to 500 mg/kg body weight, betulinic acid is a very promising new chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of HIV infection and cancer.

Chemistry, biological activity, and chemotherapeutic potential of betulinic acid for the prevention and treatment of cancer and HIV infection

The dietary flavonoids, especially their glycosides, are the most vital phytochemicals in diets and are of great general interest due to their diverse bioactivity. The natural flavonoids almost all exist as their O-glycoside or C-glycoside forms in plants. In this review, we summarized the existing knowledge on the different biological benefits and pharmacokinetic behaviors between flavonoid aglycones and their glycosides. Due to various conclusions from different flavonoid types and health/disease conditions, it is very difficult to draw general or universally applicable comments regarding the impact of glycosylation on the biological benefits of flavonoids. It seems as though O-glycosylation generally reduces the bioactivity of these compounds - this has been observed for diverse properties including antioxidant activity, antidiabetes activity, anti-inflammation activity, antibacterial, antifungal activity, antitumor activity, anticoagulant activity, antiplatelet activity, antidegranulating activity, antitrypanosomal activity, influenza virus neuraminidase inhibition, aldehyde oxidase inhibition, immunomodulatory, and antitubercular activity. However, O-glycosylation can enhance certain types of biological benefits including anti-HIV activity, tyrosinase inhibition, antirotavirus activity, antistress activity, antiobesity activity, anticholinesterase potential, antiadipogenic activity, and antiallergic activity. However, there is a lack of data for most flavonoids, and their structures vary widely. There is also a profound lack of data on the impact of C-glycosylation on flavonoid biological benefits, although it has been demonstrated that in at least some cases C-glycosylation has positive effects on properties that may be useful in human healthcare such as antioxidant and antidiabetes activity. Furthermore, there is a lack of in vivo data that would make it possible to make broad generalizations concerning the influence of glycosylation on the benefits of flavonoids for human health. It is possible that the effects of glycosylation on flavonoid bioactivity in vitro may differ from that seen in vivo. With in vivo (oral) treatment, flavonoid glycosides showed similar or even higher antidiabetes, anti-inflammatory, antidegranulating, antistress, and antiallergic activity than their flavonoid aglycones. Flavonoid glycosides keep higher plasma levels and have a longer mean residence time than those of aglycones. We should pay more attention to in vivo benefits of flavonoid glycosides, especially C-glycosides.

Dietary flavonoid aglycones and their glycosides: Which show better biological significance?

To investigate the anti-oxidant properties of esculetin (6,7-dihydro-xycoumarin) against H2O2-induced Chinese hamster lung fibroblast (V79-4) damage. The radical scavenging activity was assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, hydroxyl radical, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, lipid peroxidation was assayed by the measure of related substances which react with thiobarbituric acid. The amount of carbonyl formation in protein was determined using a protein carbonyl ELISA kit. As well, cellular DNA damage was detected by Western blot and immuno-fluorescence image. Cell viability was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Esculetin exhibited DPPH radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, and intracellular ROS scavenging activities. The radical scavenging activity of esculetin resulted in the protection of cells from lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl, and DNA damage induced by H2O2. Therefore, esculetin recovered cell viability exposed to H2O2. Esculetin efficiently attenuated the oxidative stress induced cell damage via its anti-oxidant properties. As a result, esculetin may be useful in the development of functional food and raw materials of medicine.

/pdf/protective-effect-of-esculetin-against-oxidative-stress-6aw00cynv3.pdf

Protective effect of esculetin against oxidative stress-induced cell damage via scavenging reactive oxygen species

A cytotoxic coumestan derivative, psoralidin (1), was isolated from the seed of Psoralea corylifolia. The IC50 values of 1 against SNU-1 and SNU-16 carcinoma cell lines were 53 and 203 micrograms/ml, respectively, indicating cytotoxic activity against stomach carcinoma cell lines.

The Cytotoxicity of Psoralidin from Psoralea corylifolia

The anti-oxidant activities of decursinol angelate (1) and decursin (2) isolated from Angelica gigas were investigated These two coumarins exhibited decrease in serum transaminase activities elevated by hepatic damage induced by in rats They also showed increase in anti-oxidant enzyme such as hepatic cytosolic superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) in rats These results suggest that decursinol angelate (1) and decursin (2) from A gigas possess not only the anti-oxidant, but also the hepatoprotective activities in rats

Antioxidant Activities of Decursinol Angelate and Decursin from Angelica gigas Roots

From the dried flower-buds of Syzygium aromaticum Merr. et Perry (Myrtaceae), seven compounds, i.e., eugenol (1), oleanolic acid (2), kaempferol 7-O-metylether (3), 3,3',4-tri-O-methylellagic acid (4), maslinic acid (5), (6), and isorhamnetin 3-O-glucoside (7) were isolated. Compound 1 showed cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitory activity.

Sam-Sik Kang

Papers

Protective effect of esculetin against oxidative stress-induced cell damage via scavenging reactive oxygen species

The Cytotoxicity of Psoralidin from Psoralea corylifolia

Antioxidant Activities of Decursinol Angelate and Decursin from Angelica gigas Roots

Constituents from Syzygium aromaticum Merr. et Perry

A Review of Research on Plants for Fertility Regulation in Korea