-
Petiveria alliacea extracts uses multiple mechanisms to inhibit growth of human and mouse tumoral cells
Background:
There is ethnopharmacological evidence that Petiveria alliacea can have antitumor activity; however, the mechanism of its cytotoxic activity is not well understood. We assessed multiple in vitro biological activities of an ethyl acetate soluble plant fraction over several tumor cell lines.
Methods:
Tumor cell lines were evaluated using the following tests: trypan blue exclusion test, MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide], flow cytometry, cytoskeleton organization analysis, cell cycle, mitochondria membrane depolarization, clonogenicity test, DNA fragmentation test and differential protein expression by HPLC-Chip/MS analysis. F4 fraction characterization was made by HPLC-MS.
Results:
Petiveria alliacea fraction characterized by de-replication was found to alter actin cytoskeleton organization, induce G2 cell cycle arrest and cause apoptotic cell death in a mitochondria independent way. In addition, we found down regulation of cytoskeleton, chaperone, signal transduction proteins, and proteins involved in metabolic pathways. Finally up regulation of proteins involved in translation and intracellular degradation was also observed.
Conclusions:
The results of this study indicate that Petiveria alliacea exerts multiple biological activities in vitro consistent with cytotoxicity. Further studies in animal models are needed but Petiveria alliacea appears to be a good candidate to be used as an antitumor agent.
-
Induction of apoptosis of human primary osteoclasts treated with extracts from the medicinal plant Emblica officinalis
Background:
Osteoclasts (OCs) are involved in rheumatoid arthritis and in several pathologies associated with bone loss. Recent results support the concept that some medicinal plants and derived natural products are of great interest for developing therapeutic strategies against bone disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. In this study we determined whether extracts of Emblica officinalis fruits display activity of possible interest for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis by activating programmed cell death of human primary osteoclasts.
Methods:
The effects of extracts from Emblica officinalis on differentiation and survival of human primary OCs cultures obtained from peripheral blood were determined by tartrate-acid resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positivity and colorimetric MTT assay. The effects of Emblica officinalis extracts on induction of OCs apoptosis were studied using TUNEL and immunocytochemical analysis of FAS receptor expression. Finally, in vitro effects of Emblica officinalis extracts on NF-kB transcription factor activity were determined by gel shift experiments.
Results:
Extracts of Emblica officinalis were able to induce programmed cell death of mature OCs, without altering, at the concentrations employed in our study, the process of osteoclastogenesis. Emblica officinalis increased the expression levels of Fas, a critical member of the apoptotic pathway. Gel shift experiments demonstrated that Emblica officinalis extracts act by interfering with NF-kB activity, a transcription factor involved in osteoclast biology. The data obtained demonstrate that Emblica officinalis extracts selectively compete with the binding of transcription factor NF-kB to its specific target DNA sequences. This effect might explain the observed effects of Emblica officinalis on the expression levels of interleukin-6, a NF-kB specific target gene.
Conclusions:
Induction of apoptosis of osteoclasts could be an important strategy both in interfering with rheumatoid arthritis complications of the bone skeleton leading to joint destruction, and preventing and reducing osteoporosis. Accordingly, we suggest the application of Emblica officinalis extracts as an alternative tool for therapy applied to bone diseases.
-
TCMGeneDIT: a database for associated traditional Chinese medicine, gene and disease information using text mining
Background:
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a complementary and alternative medical system in Western countries, has been used to treat various diseases over thousands of years in East Asian countries. In recent years, many herbal medicines were found to exhibit a variety of effects through regulating a wide range of gene expressions or protein activities. As available TCM data continue to accumulate rapidly, an urgent need for exploring these resources systematically is imperative, so as to effectively utilize the large volume of literature.
Methods:
TCM, gene, disease, biological pathway and protein-protein interaction information were collected from public databases. For association discovery, the TCM names, gene names, disease names, TCM ingredients and effects were used to annotate the literature corpus obtained from PubMed. The concept to mine entity associations was based on hypothesis testing and collocation analysis. The annotated corpus was processed with natural language processing tools and rule-based approaches were applied to the sentences for extracting the relations between TCM effecters and effects.
Results:
We developed a database, TCMGeneDIT, to provide association information about TCMs, genes, diseases, TCM effects and TCM ingredients mined from vast amount of biomedical literature. Integrated protein-protein interaction and biological pathways information are also available for exploring the regulations of genes associated with TCM curative effects. In addition, the transitive relationships among genes, TCMs and diseases could be inferred through the shared intermediates. Furthermore, TCMGeneDIT is useful in understanding the possible therapeutic mechanisms of TCMs via gene regulations and deducing synergistic or antagonistic contributions of the prescription components to the overall therapeutic effects. The database is now available at http://tcm.lifescience.ntu.edu.tw/.
Conclusion:
TCMGeneDIT is a unique database that offers diverse association information on TCMs. This database integrates TCMs with biomedical studies that would facilitate clinical research and elucidate the possible therapeutic mechanisms of TCMs and gene regulations.
-
Syzygium jambolanum treatment improves survival in lethal sepsis induced in mice
Background:
The leaves and the fruits from Syzygium jambolanum DC.(Myrtaceae), a plant known in Brazil as sweet olive or 'jambolão', have been used by native people to treat infectious diseases, diabetes, and stomachache. Since the bactericidal activity of S. jambolanum has been confirmed in vitro, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the prophylactic treatment with S. jambolanum on the in vivo polymicrobial infection induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in mice.
Methods:
C57Bl/6 mice were treated by the subcutaneous route with a hydroalcoholic extract from fresh leaves of S. jambolanum (HCE). After 6 h, a bacterial infection was induced in the peritoneum using the lethal CLP model. The mice were killed 12 h after the CLP induction to evaluate the cellular influx and local and systemic inflammatory mediators' production. Some animals were maintained alive to evaluate the survival rate.
Results:
The prophylactic HCE treatment increased the mice survival, the neutrophil migration to infectious site, the spreading ability and the hydrogen peroxide release, but decreased the serum TNF and nitrite. Despite the increased migration and activation of peritoneal cells the HCE treatment did not decrease the number of CFU. The HCE treatment induced a significant decrease on the bone marrow cells number but did not alter the cell number of the spleen and lymph node.
Conclusion:
We conclude that the treatment with S. jambolanum has a potent prophylactic anti-septic effect that is not associated to a direct microbicidal effect but it is associated to a recruitment of activated neutrophils to the infectious site and to a diminished systemic inflammatory response.
-
Echinacea purpurea and osteopathic manipulative treatment in children with recurrent otitis media: a randomized controlled trial
Background:
Recurrent otitis media is a common problem in young children. Echinacea and osteopathic manipulative treatment have been proposed as preventive measures, but have been inadequately studied. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of Echinacea purpurea and/or osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) for prevention of acute otitis media in otitis-prone children.
Methods:
A randomized, placebo-controlled, two-by-two factorial trial with 6-month follow-up, conducted 1999 – 2002 in Tucson, Arizona. Patients were aged 12–60 months with recurrent otitis media, defined as three or more separate episodes of acute otitis media within six months, or at least four episodes in one year. Ninety children (44% white non-Hispanic, 39% Hispanic, 57% male) were enrolled, of which 84 had follow-up for at least 3 months. Children were randomly assigned to one of four protocol groups: double placebo, echinacea plus sham OMT, true OMT (including cranial manipulation) plus placebo echinacea, or true echinacea plus OMT. An alcohol extract of Echinacea purpurea roots and seeds (or placebo) was administered for 10 days at the first sign of each common cold. Five OMT visits (or sham treatments) were offered over 3 months.
Results:
No interaction was found between echinacea and OMT. Echinacea was associated with a borderline increased risk of having at least one episode of acute otitis media during 6-month follow-up compared to placebo (65% versus 41%; relative risk, 1.59, 95% CI 1.04, 2.42). OMT did not significantly affect risk compared to sham (44% versus 61%; relative risk, 0.72, 95% CI 0.48, 1.10).
Conclusion:
In otitis-prone young children, treating colds with this form of echinacea does not decrease the risk of acute otitis media, and may in fact increase risk. A regimen of up to five osteopathic manipulative treatments does not significantly decrease the risk of acute otitis media.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00010465
-
Neuroprotective efficacy and therapeutic window of curcuma oil: in rat embolic stroke model
Background:
Among the naturally occurring compounds, turmeric from the dried rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa has long been used extensively as a condiment and a household remedy all over Southeast Asia. Turmeric contains essential oil, yellow pigments (curcuminoids), starch and oleoresin. The present study was designed for investigating the neuroprotective efficacy and the time window for effective therapeutic use of Curcuma oil (C. oil).MethodIn the present study, the effect of post ischemic treatment of C.oil after ischemia induced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in the rat was observed. C.oil (500 mg/kg body wt) was given 4 hrs post ischemia. The significant effect on lesion size as visualized by using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and neuroscore was still evident when treatment was started 4 hours after insult. Animals were assessed for behavioral deficit scores after 5 and 24 hours of ischemia. Subsequently, the rats were sacrificed for evaluation of infarct and edema volumes and other parameters.
Results:
C.oil ameliorated the ischemia induced neurological functional deficits and the infarct and edema volumes measured after 5 and 24 hrs of ischemia. After 24 hrs, immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis demonstrated that the expression of iNOS, cytochrome c and Bax/Bcl-2 were altered after the insult, and antagonized by treatment with C.oil. C.oil significantly reduced nitrosative stress, tended to correct the decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and also affected caspase-3 activation finally apoptosis.
Conclusion:
Here we demonstrated that iNOS-derived NO produced during ischemic injury was crucial for the up-regulation of ischemic injury targets. C.oil down-regulates these targets this coincided with an increased survival rate of neurons.
-
Antioxidant activities and phenolic contents of the methanol extracts of the stems of Acokanthera oppositifolia and Adenia gummifera
Background:
Acokanthera oppositifolia Lam (family: Apocynaceae) is a shrub or small tree with white latex, and the leaves of this plant are used in the form of a snuff to treat headaches and in infusions for abdominal pains and convulsions and septicaemia. Adenia gummifera Harv of the family Passifloraceae is a distinctive woody climber whose infusions are used as emetics and are said to help with some forms of depression. Lipid peroxidation has gained more importance today because of its involvement in pathogenesis of many diseases. Free radicals are the main agents in lipid peroxidation. Antioxidants thus play an important role of protecting the human body against damage by the free radicals. Plants containing phenolic compounds have been reported to possess strong antioxidant properties.
Methods:
The antioxidant activities and phenolic contents of the methanol extracts of the stems of Acokanthera oppositifolia and Adenia gummifera were evaluated using in vitro standard procedures. Spectrophotometry was the basis for the determinations of total phenol, total flavonoids, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins. Tannins, quercetin and catechin equivalents were used for these parameters. The antioxidant activities of the stem extract of Acokanthera oppositifolia were determined by the 2,2'-azinobis-3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferrous reducing antioxidant property (FRAP) methods.
Results:
The results from this study showed that the antioxidant activities of the stem extract of Acokanthera oppositifolia as determined by the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferrous reducing antioxidant property (FRAP) methods, were higher than that of Adenia gummifera. The levels of total phenols and flavonols for A. oppositifolia were also higher. On the other hand, the stem extract of Adenia gummifera had higher level of total flavonoids and proanthocyanidins than that of Acokanthera oppositifolia. The 2, 2'-azinobis-3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) activities of the 2 plant extracts were similar and comparable to that of BHT.
Conclusion:
Thus, the present results indicate clearly that the extracts of Acokanthera oppositifolia and Adenia gummifera possess antioxidant properties and could serve as free radical inhibitors or scavengers, acting possibly as primary antioxidants. This study has to some extent validated the medicinal potential of the stems of Acokanthera oppositifolia and Adenia gummifera.
-
Antibacterial and antioxidant properties of the methanol extracts of the leaves and stems of Calpurnia aurea
Background:
In South Africa, Calpurnia aurea (Ait.) Benth is used to destroy lice and to relieve itches, to destroy maggots and to treat allergic rashes, particularly those caused by caterpillars. Antioxidants play an important role protecting against damage by reactive oxygen species. Plants containing flavonoids have been reported to possess strong antioxidant properties.
Methods:
The antibacterial, antioxidant activities and phenolic contents of the methanol extracts of the leaves and stems of Calpurnia aurea were evaluated using in vitro standard methods. Spectrophotometry was the basis for the determinations of total phenol, total flavonoids, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins. Tannins, quercetin and catechin equivalents were used for these parameters. The antioxidant activities of the stem extract of Calpurnia aurea were determined by ABTS, DPPH, and ferrous reducing antioxidant property (FRAP) methods. Laboratory isolates of 10 bacteria species which included five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative strains were used to assay for antibacterial activity of this plant.
Results:
The results from this study showed that the antioxidant activities of the stem extract of Calpurnia aurea as determined by the total phenol, flavonoids, and FRAP methods were higher than that of the leaves. On the other hand, the leaf extract of the plant has higher level of total flavonols and proanthocyanidins. The leaf extract also has higher radical scavenging activity as shown in 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and 2,2¿-azinobis-3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assay. The leaf extract showed activity against seven of the bacterial organisms.
Conclusion:
The results from this study indicate that the leaves and stem extracts of Calpurnia aurea possess antioxidant properties and could serve as free radical inhibitors or scavenger or, acting possibly as primary antioxidants. Although, the antibacterial properties of Calpurnia aurea are not as effective as the standard drugs- Chloramphenicol and Streptomycin, they still possess some activity against bacterial strains used in this study. Calpurnia aurea may therefore be a good candidate for functional foods as well as pharmaceutical plant-based products.
-
Patient satisfaction and side effects in primary care: An observational study comparing homeopathy and conventional medicine
Background:
This study is part of a nationwide evaluation of complementary medicine in Switzerland (Programme Evaluation of Complementary Medicine PEK) and was funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. The main objective of this study is to investigate patient satisfaction and perception of side effects in homeopathy compared with conventional care in a primary care setting.
Methods:
We examined data from two cross-sectional studies conducted in 2002–2003. The first study was a physician questionnaire assessing structural characteristics of practices. The second study was conducted on four given days during a 12-month period in 2002/2003 using a physician and patient questionnaire at consultation and a patient questionnaire mailed to the patient one month later (including Europep questionnaire).The participating physicians were all trained and licensed in conventional medicine. An additional qualification was required for medical doctors providing homeopathy (membership in the Swiss association of homeopathic physicians SVHA).
Results:
A total of 6778 adult patients received the questionnaire and 3126 responded (46.1%). Statistically significant differences were found with respect to health status (higher percentage of chronic and severe conditions in the homeopathic group), perception of side effects (higher percentage of reported side effects in the conventional group) and patient satisfaction (higher percentage of satisfied patients in the homeopathic group).
Conclusion:
Overall patient satisfaction was significantly higher in homeopathic than in conventional care. Homeopathic treatments were perceived as a low-risk therapy with two to three times fewer side effects than conventional care
-
In vivo effects of Pain Relieving Plaster on closed soft tissue injury in rabbit ears
Background:
Soft tissue injury imposes major public health burdens worldwide. The positive effect of China's Tibetan medicine and the Lamiophlomis rotata-based herbal Pain Relieving Plaster (PRP) on healing closed soft tissue injury (CSTI) has been reported. The herbs contained in Plaster are also referred as 'blood-activating and stasis-dispelling' in herbal medicine. The formula of the plaster contains four China's Tibetan medical herbs, including Lamiophlomis rotata, Oxytropis falcate Bunge, Curcuma longa Linn, and Myricaria bracteata. Two of these herbs (Lamiophlomis rotate; Curcuma longa Linn) are commonly used in different formulae of Chinese medicine. The objective of this study is to use an interdisciplinary approach to test the hypothesis that the formula and its components influence the process of CSTI.
Methods:
In vivo models have been established in 30 rabbit ear pinnae and studied for: (1) blood flow velocity (BFV) which was affected by pressure of 21.2 kg/cm2 for 30 second over the local rabbit ear tissue; (2) edema formation of the closed soft tissue injury; (3) in vivo local temperature change.
Results:
The results of in vivo studies indicated that CSTI significantly increased the velocity of blood flow and increased edema formation within the control group. The PRP extracts for 5 hours significantly slowed down the BFV of CSTI in rabbit ears, markedly decreased the elevated edema level from the 3rd to the 5th day.
Conclusion:
The ingredients contained in the formula have positive effects in healing CSTI and further study is worth exploring.
|
