Cytotoxic mechanism of Piper gaudichaudianum Kunth essential oil and its major compound nerolidol

AbstractPiper gaudichaudianum Kunth is used in popular medicine as anti-inflamatory and against liver disorders. One of the most studied components of the plant is the essential oil for which chemical analysis revealed (E)-nerolidol as major compound. Recently, we have shown that P. gaudichaudianum essential oil possesses strong cytotoxic effects in mammalian V79 cells. The aim of this study was to analyze the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of P. gaudichaudianum essential oil and nerolidol using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model study. Treatment of the XV185-14c and N123 strains with essential oil and nerolidol led to cytotoxicity but did not induce mutagenicity. Our results revealed an important role of base excision repair (BER) as the ntg1, ntg2, apn1 and apn2 mutants showed pronounced sensitivity to essential oil and nerolidol. In the absence of superoxide dismutase (in sod1Δ mutant strain) sensitivity to the essential oil and nerolidol increased indicating that this oil and nerolidol are generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ROS production was confirmed by DCF-DA probing assay in Sod-deficient strains. From this, we conclude that the observed cytotoxicity to P. gaudichaudianum essential oil and nerolidol is mainly related to ROS and DNA single strand breaks generated by the presence of oxidative lesions

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p