Exploring plants as medicine: an in vitro approach

Introduction: Plants as medicine Archaeological evidence for the use of plants as medicine dates as far back as 60,000 years ago from the area now known as Iraq, and 8,000 years ago from China. The first written records are from the Sumerians from 5,000 BC and the Ancient Egyptians from 1,500 BC. Two well-known plants that were already used in that time are the opium poppy, and cannabis. The first pharmaceutical medicine was only developed in 1804 when the German Friedrich Sertürner isolated morphine from the opium poppy (Pan et al 2014)

Exploring plants as medicine: an in vitro approach

Introduction: Plants as medicine Archaeological evidence for the use of plants as medicine dates as far back as 60,000 years ago from the area now known as Iraq, and 8,000 years ago from China. The first written records are from the Sumerians from 5,000 BC and the Ancient Egyptians from 1,500 BC. Two well-known plants that were already used in that time are the opium poppy, and cannabis. The first pharmaceutical medicine was only developed in 1804 when the German Friedrich Sertürner isolated morphine from the opium poppy (Pan et al 2014)

Biological activities and nutritional value of Tapinanthus bangwensis leaves

The cytotoxic and antioxidant properties of the ethanolic extract and fractions of the leaves of Tapinanthus bangwensis were evaluated. The investigation of their total phenol and flavonoid contents, proximate analysis and their mineral composition were also carried out. In the brine shrimp lethality assay, the ethyl acetate and dichloromethane fractions showed cytotoxic activity with LD50 values of 11.22 and 15.84 μg/ml, respectively. The ethyl acetate and dichloromethane fractions exhibited significant cytotoxic effects towards HeLa cells with IC50 values of 24.25 and 24.43 μg/ml respectively. In the DPPH assay, the ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest activity while the butanol fraction showed the highest activity in the metal chelating and the lipid peroxidation assays. The quantitative analysis gave the total phenol and flavonoid contents in the range of 13.38 to 668.65 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g and 0.53 to 34.52 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g, respectively. For the proximate analysis, the crude fibre, carbohydrate, protein, total ash and moisture content values were 58.03, 17.80, 7.79, 13.70 and 0.60%, respectively while iron occurred in the highest amount and sodium in the least in the mineral composition analysis. These results demonstrate the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of T. bangwensis leaves and support the traditional use of the plant in cancer treatment.Keywords: Tapinanthus bangwensis, brineshrimp, HeLa, antioxidan

Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity and Phenolic Contents of Four Nigerian Medicinal Plants

In this study, phenolic compounds and antimicrobial properties of four medicinal plants from Nigeria was investigated. The antibacterial properties and minimum inhibition concentration of Microdesmis puberula, Hypoestis verticillaris, Icacina tricantha, and Enterolobium cyclocarpum against 21 different bacteria was carried out using the disc diffusion assay. These plant extract were subjected to phytochemical screening by reverse phase HPLC (high pressure liquid chromatography) coupled with diode array detection and GC-MS (gas chromatography- mass spectrum). H. verticillaris had the most significant activity and showed inhibitory activity against most of the Gram-positive bacteria. However, M. puberula was only effective against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter sakkai with inhibition zone of 8 mm. Furthermore, both I. tricantha and E. cyclocarpum only had antimicrobial effect on S. warneri with the inhibition zone of 12 and 13 mm, respectively. The results showed that M. puberula mostly contained 0.46 mg100 g-1 dry sample quarcetin and H. verticillaris contained approximately 0.7 mg 100 g-1 dry sample mangiferin and quarcetin. Moreover, both I. tricantha and E. cyclocarpum contain mostly quarcetin and rutin. According to GC-MS results, M. puberula contained thymol and methyl cinnamic acid and H. verticillaris contained methyl cinnamic acid and gallic acid. These plant extracts can be considered to be used in the cosmetic and food industries or even as a safe alternative to synthetic antimicrobial drugs

In vitro investigation of potential anti-diabetic activity of the corm extract of Hypoxis argentea Harv. Ex Baker

The corms of Hypoxis argentea are widely used as a traditional remedy for diabetes mellitus in South Africa. In this study, we investigated the effects of non-toxic concentrations (12.5–100 µg mL–1) of the aqueous extract of H. argentea (HAA) corms on glucose uptake, pancreatic beta cell proliferation, and adipocyte differentiation. HAA stimulated glucose uptake in HepG2 cells up to 19.6 % and 17.0 % in L6 myotubes. Live-cell imaging microscopy revealed significant increases (p < 0.001) in total INS-1 cell numbers exposed to HAA, although no effect was observed on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. HAA produced weak to moderate inhibition of porcine pancreatic α-amylase, α-glucosidase, porcine pancreatic lipase, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) activities, as well as protein glycation. Our results suggest that the acclaimed anti-diabetic effects of H. argentea could be mediated by its promotion of glucose utilization and preservation of pancreatic beta cell populations while preventing fat accumulation in adipocytes

ANTI-PROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE AQUEOUS ROOT EXTRACT OF DIANTHUS THUNBERGII SS HOOPER (CARYOPHYLLACEAE)

Background: The roots of Dianthus thunbergii SS Hooper are used traditionally in South Africa for the treatment of diabetes, wounds, colic, chest complaints and cancer. This study was aimed at investigating the potential anti-proliferative activities of the D. thunbergii in mammalian cancer cell lines. Materials and Methods: Aqueous and ethanol extracts of D. thunbergii were tested in vitro on two cancer cell lines: human hepato-cellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells and murine insulinoma (INS-1) cells using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2- yl) 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and crystal violet cell viability assays, as well as live-cell fluorescence imaging microscopy. A tentative profiling of the aqueous extract was also carried out using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Results: The aqueous extract (50-200μg/ml) exhibited significant (

Cytotoxicity of syringin and 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol isolated from Foeniculum vulgare on selected human cell lines

The present study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic effect of seven plant extracts and the isolated compounds; syringin and 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol on cancerous and non-cancerous cells. The ethanol extract of F. vulgare was found to exhibit the most significant toxicity with an IC50 value of 19.97 μg/mL on HeLa cells. Bioassay guided fractionation lead to the isolation of two compounds, syringin (1) and 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol (2). Both compounds showed toxicity against MCF-7, HeLa, and DU145 cancer cell line. The results showed that compound 2 showed high toxicity against all the cancer cell lines with IC50 values of 14.24, 7.82 and 22.10 μg/mL, respectively. 4-Methoxycinnamyl alcohol also showed no apoptotic effect in cell cycle analysis after 48 hours at a concentration of 10 μg/mL. However DNA fragmentation study revealed that, necrosis took place at a concentration of 10 μg/mL after 48 h exposure.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gnpl202016-09-15hb201

Evaluation of the wound healing properties of South African medicinal plants using zebrafish and in vitro bioassays

Ethnopharmacological relevance In South Africa, medicinal plants have a history of traditional use, with many species used for treating wounds. The scientific basis of such uses remains largely unexplored. Aim of the study To screen South African plants used ethnomedicinally for wound healing based on their pro-angiogenic and wound healing activity, using transgenic zebrafish larvae and cell culture assays

Cytotoxicity of synthesized 1,4-naphthoquinone analogues on selected human cancer cell lines

In an effort to establish new candidates with enhanced anticancer activity of 5-hydroxy-7-methyl-1,4- naphthoquinone scaffold (7-methyljuglone) previously isolated from the root extract of Euclea natalensis, a series of 7-methyljuglone derivatives have been synthesized and assessed for cytotoxicity on selected human cancer lines. These compounds were screened in vitro for anticancer activity on MCF-7, HeLa, SNO and DU145 human cancer cell lines by MTT assay. Most of them exhibited significant toxicity on cancer cell lines with lower IC50 values. The most potent derivative (19) exhibited the toxicity on HeLa and DU145 cell lines with IC50 value of 5.3 and 6.8 lM followed by compound (5) with IC50 value of 10.1 and 9.3 lM, respectively. Structure–activity relationship reveals that the fluoro substituents at position C-8 while hydroxyl substituents at C-2 and C-5 positions played an important role in toxicity.University of Pretoria, South Africa and National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bmc2015-09-30hb201