Lutea Root Research Articles

Spasmolytic Activity of Gentiana lutea L. Root Extracts on the Rat Ileum: Underlying Mechanisms of Action

The roots of Gentiana lutea L. are utilized in the preparation of various beverages and herbal remedies, serving as a traditional remedy for gastrointestinal ailments. The spasmolytic activity that could substantiate the traditional use of G. lutea root had not been investigated. The main objective goal of the study was to determine the validity of its use as a traditional remedy. The extraction of G. lutea root was performed using a 50% hydroethanolic solvent with three different extraction techniques: ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), heat-assisted extraction, and percolation. The spasmolytic activity was tested on isolated rat ileum. The mechanism of action was monitored using the models of spontaneous contractions and acetylcholine-, histamine-, CaCl2-, Bay K8644-, L-NAME-, ODQ-, apamin-, BaCl2-, charybdotoxin-, glibenclamide-, TRAM-34-, and quinine-modified contractions. UAE, having the best bioactivity, was further subjected to a liquid–liquid extraction fractionation. HPLC phytochemical analysis was performed for all tested extracts and fractions. Gentian root extracts were rich in secoiridoids, xanthones, and flavonoids. The UAE has shown better results on spontaneous contractions in comparison to its fractions, leading to the more detailed testing of its spasmolytic mechanism of activity. The extract’s activity is primarily mediated through intermediate conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels, ATP-sensitive K+ channels, voltage-sensitive K+ channels, and mechanisms that activate Ca2+ channels. Overall, the G. lutea root shows great potential in the treatment of spasmodic gastrointestinal ailments.

High-throughput isolation of gentiopicroside from Gentiana lutea and the study on its anticancer properties in vitro

The study aims at the isolation of gentiopicroside (GPC) from Gentiana lutea L. root extracts. GPC is a bioactive glycosylated secoiridoid from Gentiana spp. (Gentianaceae) proved to exhibit broad pharmaceutical activities, including anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective and spasmolytic action. Due to its marked potential, an efficient recovery method of high purity GPC from G. lutea roots was elaborated using the combination of Centrifugal Partition Extraction (CPE) that offers the advantage of industrial scalability, and Preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatography (prep-HPLC) techniques. For this purpose the root hydroalcoholic extract of G. lutea was initially fractionated in a 0.3 L volume CPE column using the biphasic solvent system that was composed of heptane: ethyl acetate: ethanol: water 1:8:3:5 (v/v/v/v) in elution-extrusion mode. As a result, 2.2 g of GPC (purity > 90%) and 0.77 g of GPC-enriched fractions (purity > 80%) were obtained from 31.5 g of the extract within 6 h (5 consecutive CPE fractionations). The following prep-HPLC based purification step increased the quantity and purity of the finally isolated secoiridoid to 2.21 g of > 96% pure GPC. The successful recovery of large amounts of pure GPC enabled the study on the anti-proliferative activity against the following cancer and normal cell lines: lung (A549, NCI-H1299), breast (MCF7, MDA-MB-468), glioblastoma (T98G), rhabdomyosarcoma (TE671), colon (HT-29, DLD-1) cancer cells and normal colon epithelial cells (CCD 841 CoTr). The MTT assay enabled the evaluation of the dose-dependent growth inhibition effect that was evident in all analyzed cancer cell lines, however, TE671 cells were the most sensitive (IC50 = 0.078 mg/mL) and MDA-MB-468 cells were the least sensitive (IC50 = 0.208 mg/mL) to the GPC treatment. The tested compound showed only a weak cytotoxic effect against normal cells (CCD 841 CoTr).

Carpolobia lutea Root Extract Improved Steroidogenic Activity in Male Wistar Rats Exposed to Cadmium

Cadmium (Cd) is known to affect reproductive functions adversely. Carpolobia lutea is a protective herbal derivative due to its antioxidant potential. This study investigates the steroidogenic activities of methanol extract of Carpolobia lutea root on cadmium-induced reproductive toxicity in male Wistar rats. Carpolobia lutea root was obtained in Ijare via Akure. The plant was authenticated at the herbarium of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan, Nigeria, with FHI number 109784. The methanol extract Carpolobia lutea root (MCL) was obtained by Soxhlet extraction. Thirty male Wistar rats (150-170g) were used in this study (n=5) and treated as follows: Control, Cd (2 mg/kg), Cd+MCL (2 mg/kg+100 mg/kg), Cd+MCL (2 mg/kg+200 mg/kg), MCL (100 mg/kg), and MCL (200 mg/kg). The extract was administered orally for eight weeks, and a single dose of 2 mg/kg Cd was given intraperitoneally. Serum Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone levels, testicular hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (HSDs) activities and Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory protein (StAR) expression were evaluated. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analysed using ANOVA at p<0.05. Serum FSH, LH, testosterone levels, 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD activities and StAR expression were significantly reduced (p<0.05) in Cd group. The co-administration of Cd with MCL (200mg/kg) significantly increased (p<0.05) serum FSH, LH, testosterone levels, 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD activities and StAR expression when compared with Cd group. Carpolobia lutea root extract improved steroidogenic activity in male Wistar rats exposed to cadmium.

Carpolobia lutea Root Extract Improved Steroidogenic Activity in Male Wistar Rats Exposed to Cadmium

Cadmium (Cd) is known to affect reproductive functions adversely. Carpolobia lutea is a protective herbal derivative due to its antioxidant potential. This study investigates the steroidogenic activities of methanol extract of Carpolobia lutea root on cadmium-induced reproductive toxicity in male Wistar rats. Carpolobia lutea root was obtained in Ijare via Akure. The plant was authenticated at the herbarium of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan, Nigeria, with FHI number 109784. The methanol extract Carpolobia lutea root (MCL) was obtained by Soxhlet extraction. Thirty male Wistar rats (150-170g) were used in this study (n=5) and treated as follows: Control, Cd (2 mg/kg), Cd+MCL (2 mg/kg+100 mg/kg), Cd+MCL (2 mg/kg+200 mg/kg), MCL (100 mg/kg), and MCL (200 mg/kg). The extract was administered orally for eight weeks, and a single dose of 2 mg/kg Cd was given intraperitoneally. Serum Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone levels, testicular hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (HSDs) activities and Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory protein (StAR) expression were evaluated. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analysed using ANOVA at p<0.05. Serum FSH, LH, testosterone levels, 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD activities and StAR expression were significantly reduced (p<0.05) in Cd group. The co-administration of Cd with MCL (200mg/kg) significantly increased (p<0.05) serum FSH, LH, testosterone levels, 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD activities and StAR expression when compared with Cd group. Carpolobia lutea root extract improved steroidogenic activity in male Wistar rats exposed to cadmium.

Optimization and modelling of gentiopicroside, isogentisin and total phenolics extraction from Gentiana lutea L. roots

Perennial plant Gentiana lutea L. is used worldwide for the preparation of pharmaceutical and food products. Health benefits of G. lutea roots are associated with the presence of major bitter-tasting secoiridoid gentiopicroside and xanthone isogentisin. The aim was to optimize the heat-assisted extraction of gentipicroside (GP), isogentisin (ISG) and total phenolics (TP) from G. lutea roots and develop models with high accuracy and prediction capacity by response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANN). Extracts were prepared according to central composite design. Significant independent variables which were previously identified by Plackett-Burman screening design were varied at five levels - temperature (20−80 °C), time (8−180 min), solid-to-solvent ratio (1:10−1:50) and ethanol concentration (10–70 %). Contents of GP, ISG (by HPLC-DAD) and TP (by Folin–Ciocalteu method) were analyzed. The optimal conditions for the extraction were temperature of 65 °C, time of 129.08 min, solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:40, and ethanol concentration 49.33 %. Under these conditions, experimentally obtained results for GP (18.03 mg/g dw), ISG (8.15 mg/g dw) and TP (17.46 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g dw) content were in agreement with the values predicted by RSM and ANN. Comparison of models through the coefficient of determination (R2) and the root mean square error (RMSE) showed that ANN approach was superior to RSM in predicting and modelling GP, ISG and TP content, simultaneously. Effective heat-assisted extraction method for the extraction of GP, ISG and TP from the roots of G. lutea was designed, and models with high accuracy and good prediction capacity were developed.

Comparison of the Total Phenol, Flavonoid Contents and Antioxidant Activity of Methanolic Roots Extracts of Asphodelus microcarpus and Asphodeline lutea Growing in Syria

Medicinal plants are a source for a wide variety of natural antioxidants. In the study reported here, we have conducted a comparative study between two medicinal plants roots having the same geographic origin and growing in the same natural conditions. The present study is designed to evaluate the radical scavenging activity, total phenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of the MeOH roots extracts of Asphodelus microcarpus and Asphodeline lutea. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was examined by DPPH method. Total phenol and total flavonoid quantities of the samples were determined spectrophotometrically using Folin-Ciocalteu and AlCl3 reagents respectively. The roots in both plants exhibited the free radical scavenging property (IC50= 0.30, 0.54 mg/ml) for A. microcarpus and A. lutea, respectively compared to that of the positive control BHT (IC50= 0.017 mg/ml). As assumed, the amount of total phenolics was (17.90, 13.02 mg GAE/ g dry weight for A. microcarpus and A. lutea root extracts, respectively. Roots extract of Asphodelus microcarpus were the richest in total phenolic compounds and also it has been found to be rich in flavonoids (14.60 mg rutinoside/g dry weight). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the antioxidant activity of A. microcarpus and A. lutea root from Syrian origin and our findings suggest the possibility of using the roots as a novel source of natural antioxidant agent for the food and pharmaceutical industries

Comparative Analysis of the Volatile Profiles from Wild, Cultivated, and Commercial Roots of Gentiana lutea L. by Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction (HS–SPME) Coupled to Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS)

The root of Gentiana lutea L. is famous for its bitter properties and often used in alcoholic bitter beverages, food products, and traditional medicine to stimulate the appetite and improve digestion. This study presents the first report of an accurate, simple, fast, and reliable headspace solid phase microextraction (HS–SPME) method coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) for the analysis of the volatile profile of G. lutea roots. The developed method proved to be reliable to perform comparative analysis of the volatiles constituents from different populations of cultivated, wild, and commercial roots of G. lutea. HS–SPME/GC–MS analysis of 22 samples led to identification of 154 compounds belonging to terpenoids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, alkanes, fatty acid derivatives, benzene derivatives, and others. The results proved that the composition of the volatile fraction of cultivated G. lutea is mostly similar to that of the wild samples but quite different with respect to commercial roots, and this was confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA).

HPLC–DAD analysis of phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties of Asphodeline lutea roots from Bulgaria and Turkey

Asphodeline lutea (L.) Rchb. is a wild edible plant, traditionally consumed in the Mediterranean diet, but there are limited literature data about its medicinal properties. Methanol extracts of A. lutea roots from Bulgarian (ALB) and Turkish (ALT) origin were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using various in vitro models: phosphomolybdenum assay, free radical scavenging activity, metal chelating activity and ferric and cupric reducing power. Both methanolic extracts were analyzed for phenolic derivatives by HPLC–DAD. Caffeic acid was the dominant phenolic acid being present up to 2.19±0.020mg/g extract in ALB. The highest content of (+) catechin (1.54±0.060mg/g) and (−) epicatechin (3.18±0.160mg/g) was found in ALB as well as total polyphenolics (22.45±0.95mg/g GAEs/g extract). The ALT revealed the highest total flavonoid content (34.99±0.39mg REs/g extract). Free radical scavenging activity of ALB against DPPH (25.39±0.36mg TEs/g extract) and ABTS (33.99±1.06mg TEs/g) was evaluated. In addition, ALB had stronger metal chelating activity (7.31±0.31mg EDTAEs/g extract) and higher ferric (34.67±0.51mg TEs/g extract) and cupric (23.82±0.36mg TEs/g) reduction ability as compared with the ALT. Total antioxidant capacity of ALB in phosphomolybdenum test was assayed (236.80±0.86mg AEs/g extract). A. lutea roots have a significant potential in safeguarding against various induced oxidative stress.

Cirrhosis of the Liver in the Horse

Asphodeline lutea (L.) Rchb. is a wild plant traditionally used as a food in the Mediterranean region. The alcoholic extracts of A. lutea roots from different origins (Bulgarian and Turkish) were investigated for anti-cholinesterase, anti-tyrosinase, anti-amylase, anti-glycosidase and anti-proliferative activity (against MCF-7 and MCF-10A cell lines). A validated HPLC method for the determination of two anthraquinones, two bianthraquinones, two naphthalenes, two flavonoids and one hydroxycinnamic acid was developed due to the presence of these components in the genus Asphodeline. In addition, total anthraquinones content was determined spectrophotometrically. A. lutea from Bulgaria demonstrated higher level of total anthraquinones (0.81 ± 0.05 mg g−1). A naphthalene derivative (2-acetyl-1,8-dimethoxy-3-methylnaphthalene) was the major compound in Bulgarian accession (0.96 ± 0.03 mg g−1), while caffeic acid was the main analyte in Turkish sample (0.42 ± 0.06 mg g−1). Turkish extracts were more potent as cholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitors but less active as anti-diabetic agent. The higher anti-proliferative effect was presented by Bulgarian extract with IC50 values 120 ± 16.8 mg mL−1 (for MCF-7) and 256 ± 16.1 mg mL−1 (for MCF-10A).