Gynura divaricata Water Extract Presented the Possibility to Enhance Neuronal Regeneration.

Fahsai Kantawong,Phenphichar Wanachantararak,Pirakorn Soeratanapant,Jianming Wu,Chanakarn Saisuwan,Young-Tae Chang,Jiang Nan,Maria Ferraro

doi:10.1155/2021/8818618

Abstract

Gynura divaricata (GD) is an Asian herb widely used as an alternative medicine and functional food for type 2 diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy is considered as an important complication of diabetic patients. This study focused on neuroregenerative effects of GD for use in the prevention of diabetic neuropathy. GD leaves were cut and boiled in water to mimic real-life cooking. The boiled content was filtered through white gauze and lyophilized to preserve as dried powder. Antioxidant assay was performed using DPPH assays. UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS was employed to test for important compounds in the extract of these herbs. MTT assay was used to test for cell viability. The extracts at concentration of 250 μg/mL were tested with human gingival cell to observe the change of gene expression. The DPPH assay showed that GD water extract at the concentration of 5000 μg/mL could inhibit DPPH radical for 39.2%. The results showed that 5000 µg of GD water extract contained total phenolic content equivalent to 310.9 µg standard gallic acid. UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS result found phenolic acids and flavonoids as the main components. Human gingival cells treated with 250 μg/mL of GD water extract for 10 days showed upregulation of some neuronal differentiation markers. Staining with Cdr3 dye confirmed the presentation of neuronal progenitors. The extract at the concentration of 250 μg/mL was also tested with apical papilla cells to screen for change of gene expression by RNA sequencing. The result also showed significant upregulation of alpha-internexin (INA). These results indicated that GD water extract might have an inductive effect for neural regeneration and could be used as functional food and supplementation for the prevention or treatment of diabetic neuropathy. This work provided the basic knowledge for further investigations into the benefits of GD for diabetic neuropathy.

Highlights

Asian people used Gynura divaricata (Bai Bei San Qi in China) as food for a long time, but the medicinal properties that affected global gene expression in primary human cells were not reported
Gynura divaricata (GD) water extract of 11.92 g was obtained when 700 grams of fresh GD was used in the extraction, and % yield was equal to 1.7%
At all concentrations (0.031–1.0 mg/mL), GD extract at 5000 μg/mL showed 39.2% DPPH radical scavenging activity

Summary

Introduction

Asian people used Gynura divaricata (Bai Bei San Qi in China) as food for a long time, but the medicinal properties that affected global gene expression in primary human cells were not reported. In Taiwan, GD was a traditional medicine widely used to treat liver diseases such as hepatitis and liver cancer. GD was a traditional Chinese medicine which could be used to treat bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, whooping cough, sore eyes, toothache, and osteoarthritis [2]. In China, this herb was approved by the Minister of Public Health of the People’s Republic of China in 2010 as a natural medicine used to treat diabetes. GD received a lot of attention as it has been used as a folk medicine to treat diabetes in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Sichuan, southern China. Eating dry powder made from the leaves and stems of GD could lower blood glucose levels in mice via insulin signaling [4].

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