Ginseng nonsaponins: New insights into their pharmacological potentials in inflammasome-driven inflammation and immunopathology

Barleria, a large genus of the Acanthaceae family, comprises more than 300 species with diverse taxonomy, cytogenetics, phytochemistry and pharmacological potential. Therefore, the aim of this review is to critically assess the research on Barleria and provide guidance for future investigations. The data were obtained from different sources, such as books, theses, journals and some of the websites and internet-based searches, published from 1901 to 2020. Data obtained from PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, online electronic journals, SpringerLink, Wiley, etc. have also been used. The species of this genus exhibit considerable medicinal properties. Cytogenetical data are scantily available with chromosome counts available for only 24 species. The most common chromosome number is 2n = 2x = 40. So far, 187 compounds are reported from Barleria species. The active principles, their uses, toxicity and pharmacological effects are discussed. Essential oils, flavones, flavonoids, glycosides, terpenes and terpenoids form the major compounds. It is highly recommended that the pharmacological and economic potential of Barleria species should be exploited and more detailed studies and attention be geared towards its utilization and conservation. In addition, to ensure maximum pharmacological benefits and sustainable use, it is necessary to have empirical information explaining its ethnobotanical values as well as commercial potential.

Novel toxic metabolites from marine cyanobacteria have been thoroughly explored. Biologically active and chemically diverse compounds that could be hepatotoxic, neurotoxic or cytotoxic, such as cyclic peptides, lipopeptides, fatty acid amides, alkaloids and saccharides, have been produced from marine cyanobacteria. Many reports have revealed that biosynthesis of active metabolites is predominant during cyanobacterial bloom formation. Marine cyanobacterial toxic metabolites exhibit important biological properties, such as interfering in signal transduction either by activation or blockage of sodium channels or by targeting signaling proteins; inducing apoptosis by disrupting cytoskeletal proteins; and inhibiting membrane transporters, receptors, serine proteases and topoisomerases. The pharmacological importance of these metabolites resides in their proliferation and growth-controlling abilities towards cancer cell lines and disease-causing potent microbial agents (bacteria, virus, fungi and protozoa). Besides their toxic and pharmacological potentials, the present review discusses structural and functional resemblance of marine cyanobacterial metabolites to marine algae, sponges and mollusks.

Phytochemicals are versatile plant secondary metabolites with therapeutic properties. In this review, we explore lemongrass’s phytochemistry and pharmacological potential (Cymbopogon) as well as its impact on gut microbiota. Lemongrass is well-known for its antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, anti-mutagenicity, anxiolytic properties, and for its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities. Therefore, it is widely used in pharmaceuticals, food, feed, and the cosmetics industry. Lemongrass contains phenolic metabolites (including phenolic acids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans), terpenoids, and alkaloids, which are potent bioactive ingredients. Lemongrass is a precious medicinal plant. Furthermore, lemongrass phytochemicals are considered potential agents to improve health by establishing a balanced gut ecosystem. Lemongrass is considered a quintessential food and feed additive at the industrial level, since there are no issues with residue or toxins. Lemongrass powder and essential oils are used to modulate the gut ecosystem by generating anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant responses, increasing the optimum nutrient absorption in the gut system. This review will further explore lemongrass’s phytochemical, pharmacological, and therapeutic potential.

Background Euphorbia granulata is herb of family Euphorbiaceae having several traditional uses. The aim of the study is to summarize reported nutritional and medicinal value along with ethnomedical records. Methods The papers on nutritional and medicinal value of E. granulata are collected from electronic search engines (Google Scholar, PubMed). Synonyms are confirmed from "The plant List." Results Pharmacological studies suggest that the extracts of E. granulata possess antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, diuretic, antiulcerative colitis and spasmolytic properties. Moreover, it is rich with nutritive components such as carbohydrates, lipid contents (saturated and unsaturated fatty acids), minerals and protein (amino acids). Toxicological data of E. granulata showed that it may be poisonous and toxic at higher doses. Conclusion Research studies suggest that E. granulata has sufficient pharmacological potential against several diseases including infections, gastric ulcers, anuria, oliguria and spasmodic disorders; however, more research is required to confirm its pharmacological potential. Moreover, dose fixation studies should be carried out to avoid its toxicity.

Myrica esculenta is an important ethnomedicinal plant used in the traditional system of medicine and as an important nutraceutical. Several studies on the plant justify its use in alternative systems of medicine and establish a scientific rationale for its possible therapeutic application. The plant contains a range of biologically active classes of compounds, particularly diarylheptanoids, flavonoids, terpenes, tannins, and glycosides. The nutraceutical potential of the plant can be particularly attributed to its fruit, and several studies have demonstrated the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber content, and minerals like sodium, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, and zinc, in it. The current review aims to provide complete insight into the phytochemistry, pharmacological potential, and nutritional potential of the plant, which would not only serve as a comprehensive source of information but also will highlight the scope of isolation and evaluation of these molecules for various disease conditions.

Obtaining extracts rich in antioxidant polysaccharides from the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus using binary system with hot water and supercritical CO2.

Many human diseases including cancer, degenerative and autoimmune disorders, diabetes and others are multifactorial. Pharmaceutical agents acting on a single target do not provide their efficient curation. Multitargeted drugs exhibiting pleiotropic pharmacological effects have certain advantages due to the normalization of the complex pathological processes of different etiology. Extracts of medicinal plants (EMP) containing multiple phytocomponents are widely used in traditional medicines for multifactorial disorders' treatment. Experimental studies of pharmacological potential for multicomponent compositions are quite expensive and time-consuming. In silico evaluation of EMP the pharmacological potential may provide the basis for selecting the most promising directions of testing and for identifying potential additive/synergistic effects. Multiphytoadaptogen (MPhA) containing 70 major phytocomponents of different chemical classes from 40 medicinal plant extracts has been studied in vitro, in vivo and in clinical researches. Antiproliferative and anti-tumor activities have been shown against some tumors as well as evidence-based therapeutic effects against age-related pathologies. In addition, the neuroprotective, antioxidant, antimutagenic, radioprotective, and immunomodulatory effects of MPhA were confirmed. Analysis of the PASS profiles of the biological activity of MPhA phytocomponents showed that most of the predicted anti-tumor and anti-metastatic effects were consistent with the results of laboratory and clinical studies. Antimutagenic, immunomodulatory, radioprotective, neuroprotective and anti-Parkinsonian effects were also predicted for most of the phytocomponents. Effects associated with positive effects on the male and female reproductive systems have been identified too. Thus, PASS and PharmaExpert can be used to evaluate the pharmacological potential of complex pharmaceutical compositions containing natural products.

The genus Alchornea Sw. belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. Alchornea species are commonly used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation; infectious, gastrointestinal, respiratory, musculoskeletal, and dermatological disorders; as well as other diseases. This comprehensive review provides an overview of recent scientific findings on the taxonomy, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological potential, and toxicology of the Alchornea species. The literature was searched using SciFindern, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The taxonomy of all reported plants was authenticated using “Plants of the World Online”. Studies were examined and categorized according to the genus’s taxonomic classification, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological potential, and toxicity. Phytochemical studies have identified 396 bioactive compounds, primarily triterpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, and phenolics. Pharmacological studies have reported significant antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-plasmodial, and cytotoxic effects. Nevertheless, toxicological statistics are limited and vary among species and extracts. The genus Alchornea exhibits significant pharmacological potential, as evidenced by its traditional uses. In comparison, the genus remains underexplored in terms of detailed mechanistic pharmacological evaluation. Studies of chemical constituents and biological activities have been conducted for only approximately 17 species. To translate the pharmacological potential of the genus Alchornea into clinical practice, a strategic focus on modern plant valorization is required. Future research should focus on the valorization of Alchornea species by developing standardized oral formulations and topical preparations that harness their validated anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects beyond traditional uses. However, these findings suggest that further research is needed to assess the efficacy and safety of the largely unexplored genus Alchornea.

Protein Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Disease: The Promise and the Problems.- General Aspects of PKs Inhibition.- New Design Strategies for Ligands That Target Protein Kinase-Mediated Protein-Protein Interactions.- Pharmacological Potential and Inhibitors of Individual Classes of Protein Kinases.- The Paullones: A Family of Pharmacological Inhibitors of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases and Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3.- Pharmacological Potential of p38 MAPK Inhibitors.- Inhibitors of PKA and Related Protein Kinases.- Inhibitors of Protein Kinase CK2: Structural Aspects.- Aminoglycoside Kinases and Antibiotic Resistance.- Pharmacological Potential and Inhibitors of Individual Classes of Protein Phosphatases.- Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases as Therapeutic Targets.- Structure-Based Design of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Inhibitors.- Biological Validation of the CD45 Tyrosine Phosphatase as a Pharmaceutical Target.- Serine/Threonine Protein Phosphatase Inhibitors with Antitumor Activity.- Inhibitors in Clinical Use or Advanced Clinical Trials.- Clinical Immunosuppression using the Calcineurin-Inhibitors Ciclosporin and Tacrolimus.- Targeted Therapy with Imatinib: An Exception or a Rule?.- Clinical Aspects of Imatinib Therapy.- Isoquinolinesulfonamide: A Specific Inhibitor of Rho-Kinase and the Clinical Aspect of Anti-Rho-Kinase Therapy.- Discovery and Development of Iressa: The First in a New Class of Drugs Targeted at the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase.

Pharmacological Preventive Potential Among Attenders at Vascular Screening: Findings from the VIVA Trial

The Fridericia chica is a shrub widely distributed throughout the Brazilian territory. In traditional knowledge, it is used for various pathologies. It is a plant of interest in phytotherapy as it is part of the National List of Medicinal Plants of Interest to the Brazilian Unified Health System – RENISUS. Among the scientific studies conducted, the potential antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, healing, gastroprotective, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antiviral, antitumor, antiangiogenic, photoprotective, diuretic, and hepatoprotective properties have been demonstrated. Furthermore, the assays report the low toxicity of the extracts. Therefore, Fridericia chica is a plant with pharmacological potential for the development of new medications. This article contributes to the dissemination of the species' pharmacological potential and the imminent observation of traditional knowledge.

Antarctic benthic communities are regulated by abundant interactions of different types among organisms, such as predation, competition, etc. Predators are usually sea stars, with omnivorous habits, as well as other invertebrates. Against this strong predation pressure, many organisms have developed all sorts of defensive strategies, including chemical defenses. Natural products are thus quite common in Antarctic organisms with an important ecological and pharmacological potential. In this paper, the chemical defenses of the Antarctic organisms studied during the ECOQUIM and ACTIQUIM projects, as well as their pharmacological potential, are reviewed. For the ecological defenses, predation against the sea star Odontaster validus is analyzed and evaluated along depth gradients as well as considering the lifestyle of the organisms. For the pharmacological activity, the anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities tested are evaluated here. Very often, only crude extracts or fractions have been tested so far, and therefore, the natural products responsible for such activities remain yet to be identified. Even if the sampling efforts are not uniform along depth, most ecologically active organisms are found between 200 and 500 m depth. Also, from the samples studied, about four times more sessile organisms possess chemical defenses against the sea star than the vagile ones; these represent 50 % of sessile organisms and 35 % of the vagile ones, out of the total tested, being active. Pharmacological activity has not been tested uniformly in all groups, but the results show that relevant activity is found in different phyla, especially in Porifera, Cnidaria, Bryozoa, and Tunicata, but also in others. No relationship between depth and pharmacological activity can be established with the samples tested so far. More studies are needed in order to better understand the ecological relationships among Antarctic invertebrates mediated by natural products and to fully explore their pharmacological potential.

Antagonistic Streptomyces spp. AJ8 was isolated and identified from the Kovalam solar salt works in India. The antimicrobial NRPS cluster gene was characterized by PCR, sequencing and predict the secondary structure analysis. The secondary metabolites will be extracted from different organic solvent extraction and studied the antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anticancer activities. In vitro antagonistic activity results revealed that, Streptomyces spp. AJ8 was highly antagonistic against Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila WPD1 and Candida albicans. The genomic level identification revealed that, the strain was confirmed as Streptomyces spp. AJ8 and submitted the NCBI database (KC603899). The NRPS gene was generated a single gene fragment of 781 bp length (KR491940) and the database analysis revealed that, the closely related to Streptomyces spp. SAUK6068 and S. coeruleoprunus NBRC15400. The secondary metabolites extracted with ethyl acetate was effectively inhibited the bacterial and fungal growth at the ranged between 7 and 19.2 mm of zone of inhibition. The antiviral activity results revealed that, the metabolite was significantly (P < 0.001) controlled the killer shrimp virus white spot syndrome virus at the level of 85 %. The metabolite also suppressed the L929 fibroblast cancer cells at 35.7 % viability in 1000 µg treatment.

This study evaluates the pharmacological potential of cis-jasmone (CJ) in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio; aZF). Initially, aZF (n = 6/group) were pretreated (20 µL; p. o.) with CJ (0.1 or 0.3 or 1.0 mg/mL) or vehicle (0.5% Tween 80). The animals were submitted to acute toxicity and locomotion tests, pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure, carrageenan-induced abdominal edema, and cinnamaldehyde-, capsaicin-, menthol-, glutamate-, and acid saline-induced orofacial nociception. The possible mechanisms of anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, and antinociceptive action were evaluated. The involvement of central afferent fibers sensitive to cinnamaldehyde and capsaicin and the effect of CJ on the relative gene expression of TRPA1 and TRPV1 in the brain of aZF were also analyzed, in addition to the study of molecular docking between CJ and TRPA1, TRPV1 channels, and GABAA receptors. CJ did not alter the locomotor behavior and showed pharmacological potential in all tested models with no toxicity. The anticonvulsant effect of CJ was prevented by flumazenil (GABAergic antagonist). The anxiolytic-like effect of CJ was prevented by flumazenil and serotonergic antagonists. The antinociceptive effect was prevented by TRPA1 and TRPV1 antagonists. Chemical ablation with capsaicin and cinnamaldehyde prevented the orofacial antinociceptive effect of CJ. Molecular docking studies indicate that CJ interacted with TRPA1, TRPV1, and GABAA receptors. CJ inhibited the relative gene expression of TRPA1 and TRPV1. CJ has pharmacological potential for the treatment of seizures, anxiety, inflammation, and acute orofacial nociception. These effects are obtained by modulating the GABAergic and serotonergic systems, as well as the TRPs and ASIC channels.

This review article delves into the innovative field of phytosome technology, focusing on its preparation methods, pharmacological potential, and physicochemical profiling within drug delivery systems. The study examines various preparation techniques, including solvent evaporation, coacervation, and supercritical fluid technology, and their impact on encapsulation efficiency and formulation stability. Highlighting the pharmacological benefits, the review underscores the superior bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of phytosomes in applications such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer treatments. The importance of physicochemical profiling, including parameters like particle size, zeta potential, and drug-loading capacity, is emphasized to optimize phytosome formulations. This comprehensive review presents phytosome technology as a promising avenue for enhancing the bioactive potential of plant-derived compounds, positioning it as a significant innovation in modern drug delivery systems. By integrating advanced preparation methods and thorough physicochemical analysis, phytosomes offer a robust platform for improving the delivery and efficacy of bioactive compounds, paving the way for more effective and targeted therapeutic interventions.