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Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Plant Extracts and Phytochemicals

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 4658

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Seok-Geun Lee

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Guest Editor

Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Bionanocomposite Research Center, Kyung Hee Univerisity, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea
Interests: molecular genetics; cancer biology; cancer pharmacology; bioactive phytochemicals
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute a Special Issue of the journal Plants focused on “Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Plant Extracts and Phytochemicals.” Oxidation and Inflammation are critical processes for normal cellular function and immune responses. Moreover, oxidative stress can trigger inflammation, vice versa, creating a positive feedback loop. Consequently, an imbalance or dysregulation of these processes can contribute to the development and progression of various chronic diseases, including allergies, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Therefore, understanding the interconnected nature of oxidation and inflammation is essential for the development of effective strategies for disease prevention and treatment. Targeting both processes represents a promising therapeutic approach for managing these pathological conditions.

Plants serves as a rich source of complex and highly structurally diverse chemical compounds. These compounds often serve as the starting point for drug discovery and development, having provided us with a plethora of clinically useful drugs, including paclitaxel, artemisinin, galantamine, and morphine. Notably, acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug derived from salicylic acid found in willow and other salicylate-rich plants, has been employed to treat fever and pain for thousands of years. However, many natural compounds beneficial for human health remain undiscovered, particularly with regard to addressing oxidative stress and inflammation-associated diseases. In this context, this Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive platform for researchers, scientists, and practitioners to share their latest research findings and insights related to the crucial role that plant extracts and phytochemicals play in combating oxidative stress and inflammation. We welcome submissions of original research articles, reviews, and short communications that explore plant extracts and phytochemicals, their antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory activities, and their pharmacological potential in addressing oxidative stress- and inflammation-associated diseases.

Prof. Dr. Seok-Geun Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

plants
phytochemicals
drug discovery
bioactive compounds
biochemometrics
metabolomics
molecular network analysis
oxidative stress
inflammation
oxidative stress or/and inflammation-associated diseases

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 4356 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interaction of Norsecurinine-Type Oligomeric Alkaloids with α-Tubulin: A Molecular Docking Study

by Gérard Vergoten and Christian Bailly

Plants 2024, 13(9), 1269; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13091269 - 3 May 2024

Viewed by 359

Abstract

The medicinal plant Securinega virosa (Roxb ex. Willd) Baill., also known as Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle, is commonly used in traditional medicine in Africa and Asia for the management of diverse pathologies, such as parasite infections, diabetes, and gastrointestinal diseases. Numerous alkaloids have been isolated from the twigs and leaves of the plant, notably a variety of oligomeric indolizidine alkaloids derived from the monomers securinine and norsecurinine which both display anticancer properties. The recent discovery that securinine can bind to tubulin and inhibit microtubule assembly prompted us to investigate the potential binding of two series of alkaloids, fluevirosines A–H and fluevirosinine A–J, with the tubulin dimer by means of molecular modeling. These natural products are rare high-order alkaloids with tri-, tetra-, and pentameric norsecurinine motifs. Despite their large size (up to 2500 Å³), these alkaloids can bind easily to the large drug-binding cavity (about 4800 Å³) on α-tubulin facing the β-tubulin unit. The molecular docking analysis suggests that these hydrophobic macro-alkaloids can form stable complexes with α/β-tubulin. The tubulin-binding capacity varies depending on the alkaloid size and structure. Structure-binding relationships are discussed. The docking analysis identifies the trimer fluevirosine D, tetramer fluevirosinine D, and pentamer fluevirosinine H as the most interesting tubulin ligands in the series. This study is the first to propose a molecular target for these atypical oligomeric Securinega alkaloids. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Plant Extracts and Phytochemicals)

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16 pages, 3028 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bioassay-Guided Fractionation of Pittosporum angustifolium and Terminalia ferdinandiana with Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy Exploratory Study

by Janice Mani, Joel Johnson, Holly Hosking, Luke Schmidt, Ryan Batley, Ryan du Preez, Daniel Broszczak, Kerry Walsh, Paul Neilsen and Mani Naiker

Plants 2024, 13(6), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13060807 - 12 Mar 2024

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Abstract

Bioprospecting native Australian plants offers the potential discovery of latent and novel bioactive compounds. The promising cytotoxic and antibacterial activity of methanolic extracts of Pittosporum angustifolium and Terminalia ferdinandiana led to further fractionation and isolation using our laboratory’s bioassay-guided fractionation protocol. Hence, the aim of this study was to further evaluate the bioactivity of the fractions and subfractions and characterize bioactive compounds using liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography MS (GC-MS). Compounds tentatively identified in P. angustifolium Fraction 1 using LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS were chlorogenic acid and/or neochlorogenic acid, bergapten, berberine, 8′-epitanegool and rosmarinic acid. GC-MS analysis data showed the presence of around 100 compounds, mainly comprising carboxylic acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, amino acids and monoalkylglycerols. Furthermore, the fractions obtained from T. ferdinandiana flesh extracts showed no cytotoxicity, except against HT29 cell lines, and only Fraction 2 exhibited some antibacterial activity. The reduced bioactivity observed in the T. ferdinandiana fractions could be attributed to the potential loss of synergy as compounds become separated within the fractions. As a result, the further fractionation and separation of compounds in these samples was not pursued. However, additional dose-dependent studies are warranted to validate the bioactivity of T. ferdinandiana flesh fractions, particularly since this is an understudied species. Moreover, LC-MS/GC-MS studies confirm the presence of bioactive compounds in P. angustifolium Fraction 1/subfractions, which helps to explain the significant acute anticancer activity of this plant. The screening process designed in this study has the potential to pave the way for developing scientifically validated phytochemical/bioactivity information on ethnomedicinal plants, thereby facilitating further bioprospecting efforts and supporting the discovery of novel drugs in modern medicine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Plant Extracts and Phytochemicals)

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13 pages, 3633 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Cannabichromene Isolated from Hemp

by Min Hong, Jong-Hui Kim, Joon-Hee Han, Byeong-Ryeol Ryu, Young-Seok Lim, Jung-Dae Lim, Sang-Hyuck Park, Chang-Hyeug Kim, Soo-Ung Lee and Tae-Hyung Kwon

Plants 2023, 12(23), 3966; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12233966 - 25 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1978

Abstract

Cannabichromene (CBC), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in Cannabis sativa, has recently been shown to possess several medicinal properties. However, how CBC produces anti-inflammatory effects and the mechanisms of this remain poorly studied. Therefore, we extracted and purified the CBC from the Cannabis sativa cv. pink pepper (hemp cultivar). The efficacy of CBC in reducing inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophages and a λ-carrageenan-induced mouse model was then evaluated. CBC had no cytotoxicity up to a concentration of 20 μM and inhibited nitric oxide production by approximately 50% at a concentration of 20 μM. In addition, CBC treatment significantly inhibited causes of inflammation such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) at both the mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, CBC suppressed LPS-stimulated inflammation in RAW 264.7 cells by downregulating the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways (MAPK). Furthermore, our in vivo experiments confirmed that the λ-carrageenan-induced increase in the levels of the cytokines iNOS, IL-1β, and IL-6 was abrogated following treatment with CBC. Therefore, CBC has potential anti-inflammatory effects and may be useful for preventing or treating inflammation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Plant Extracts and Phytochemicals)

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Review

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16 pages, 2176 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fissistigma oldhamii (Hemsl.) Merr.: Ethnomedicinal, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Aspects

by Christian Bailly

Plants 2023, 12(24), 4094; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12244094 - 7 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1010

Abstract

The species Fissistigma oldhamii (Hemsl.) Merr. (Annonaceae) has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine in China to treat diverse human diseases. Decoctions from the roots of the plant (Guā Fù Mù) are used to treat body pain and inflammatory pathologies, such as rheumatic syndromes, sciatica, and osteoarthritis. The phytochemical content of the plant and the associated pharmacological activities have been analyzed. Seventy natural products were identified in the different parts of the plants, namely, the roots, stems, leaves, fruits, and seeds. The compounds comprise many tri- and tetracyclic alkaloids (aporphine-type), anthraquinones, terpenoids, flavonoids, and others. The pharmacological properties of these molecules were analyzed to point out the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, and/or antimicrobial effects, together with the underlying modulated pathways and molecular targets in some cases. The panel of phytoconstituents present in F. oldhamii extracts is large, with the majority of bioactive products identified in the roots and stems. Multiple molecules can contribute to the anti-inflammatory properties of the extracts. Network pharmacology analyses of the phytoconstituents are needed to better delineate the effective components and their targets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Plant Extracts and Phytochemicals)

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