Medicinal Properties of Lilium candidum L. and Its Phytochemicals.

Michele Zaccai,Ludmila Yarmolinsky,Shimon Ben-Shabat,Boris Khalfin,Jonathan Gorelick,Arik Dahan,Arie Budovsky

doi:10.3390/plants9080959

Michele Zaccai, Ludmila Yarmolinsky + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9080959

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Abstract

Lilium candidum L., known as Madonna, meadow, or white lily, is a bulbous plant from the Liliaceae family, originating in the Middle East. L. candidum has been abundantly used in folk medicine since ancient times to relieve a variety of ailments, including age-related diseases, burns, ulcers, and coughs. The aim of this article is to investigate the anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic activities of L. candidum extracts and its active phytochemicals. Some active volatile phytochemicals were identified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Significant (p < 0.001) anti-diabetic properties of the extracts kaempferol, linalool, citronellal, and humulene were demonstrated by an elevation in glucose uptake by adipocytes. The significant (p < 0.01) effect of the plant extracts kaempferol, citronellal, and humulene on the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) was demonstrated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Altogether, L. candidum and its rich collection of phytochemicals hold promising medicinal potential, and further investigations of its therapeutic prospects are encouraged.

Highlights

The prevalence of age-related diseases (ARDs) including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide [1]
Genotoxic stress, which is a component of a wide variety of pathological conditions, causes extensive DNA damage and activates pathways leading to chronic inflammation and transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, interleukin 6 (IL-6)), chemokines (interleukin 8 (IL-8)), adhesion molecules (VCAM-1, ICAM-1, P, E-selectin), and other pro-inflammatory enzymes including iNOS and COX-2 [5]
We identified the presence of many novel volatile compounds using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, which, to the best of our knowledge, were not mentioned in the literature

Summary

Introduction

The prevalence of age-related diseases (ARDs) including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide [1]. Genotoxic stress, which is a component of a wide variety of pathological conditions, causes extensive DNA damage and activates pathways leading to chronic inflammation (the ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK pathways) and transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, interleukin 6 (IL-6)), chemokines (interleukin 8 (IL-8)), adhesion molecules (VCAM-1, ICAM-1, P-, E-selectin), and other pro-inflammatory enzymes including iNOS and COX-2 [5]. This in turn leads to an elevated pro-inflammatory status that is likely to set the stage for increased vulnerability to many ARDs [6]. Many medicinal plants are able to cope with inducers and/or consequences of stress such as thermal or oxidative insults, ionizing radiation, DNA damage, Plants 2020, 9, 959; doi:10.3390/plants9080959 www.mdpi.com/journal/plants

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