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Plant Therapeutics 2.0
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Plant Therapeutics 2.0

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2023) | Viewed by 17017

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Juei-Tang Cheng

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Guest Editor
Department of Medical Research, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan City 71004, Taiwan
Interests: metabolic disorders; insulin resistance; hepatokines; natural products; animal models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. I-Min Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy and Master Program, College of Pharmacy and Health Care, Tajen University, Pingtung 90741, Taiwan
Interests: natural compounds; medicinal plants; polyphenols; plant extracts; phytotherapy; pharmacology; toxicology; antioxidant activity; anti-inflammatory activity; cytoprotective activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Szu-Chuan Shen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate Program of Nutrition Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan
Interests: natural products; herbs; bioactivities; therapeutics; health food; diabetes; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants contain many principles, some of which are beneficial for human health. However, despite the best efforts of plant experts, many unclear points surround this field of research, particularly around ethanoherbs and/or classical plants, which are widely used around the world. Therefore, this Special Issue will focus on these gaps in knowledge. Additionally, combinations of plants with each other and/or with modern medicine are also popularly used in therapeutics. It is incredibly important to assess the historical significance of products contained in plants, so we would like to invite you to share useful plants that are applied in your local market, using a reliable model of disorders to indicate their effectiveness in therapeutics. Moreover, considering the strong interest in plant-derived effectiveness in health as an emerging challenge for modern therapies, this Special Issue will cover a wide variety of areas, aiming to contribute to the overall knowledge of medicinal plants from several perspectives. Scientific papers, including reviews, commentaries, original research, and others, are all welcome from everywhere around the world.

Prof. Dr. Juei-Tang Cheng
Prof. Dr. I-Min Liu
Prof. Dr. Szu-Chuan Shen
Guest Editors

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

  • functional product
  • plant combination
  • effectiveness in therapeutics
  • animal model
  • human health

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1988 KiB  
Article
Alleviative Effect of Ficus formosana Extract on Peripheral Neuropathy in Ovariectomized Diabetic Mice
by Chih-Yuan Ko, Chung-Hsin Wu, Thi Kim Ngan Nguyen, Li-Wen Chen, James Swi-Bea Wu, Wen-Chung Huang and Szu-Chuan Shen
Plants 2023, 12(21), 3774; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12213774 - 05 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1044
Abstract
In diabetes mellitus, Ficus formosana has been reported to ameliorate blood sugar levels and inhibit inflammation through its polyphenol and flavonoid contents. However, its effect on diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Ficus formosana extract [...] Read more.
In diabetes mellitus, Ficus formosana has been reported to ameliorate blood sugar levels and inhibit inflammation through its polyphenol and flavonoid contents. However, its effect on diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Ficus formosana extract (FFE) on DPN in ovariectomized diabetic mice. Ovariectomized female C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet plus streptozotocin injections to induce type 2 diabetes were orally administered FEE at 20 or 200 mg/kg BW daily, for 6 weeks. To evaluate the pain responses in the paws of the mice, a von Frey filament test and a thermal hyperalgesia test were performed. Additionally, the intraepidermal and sciatic nerve sections were examined, along with an assessment of inflammation- and pain response-related mRNA expression in the paws of the mice. The results showed that the oral administration of both 20 and 200 mg/kg BW FEE significantly alleviated the hypersensitivity of the paw and the abnormal proliferation and rupture of the C fiber, and reduced the mRNA expression of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, interferon-γ, cyclooxygenase-2, and voltage-gated sodium channel 1.8 in the sciatic nerve of ovariectomized diabetic mice. We propose that FFE ameliorates peripheral neuropathy by suppressing oxidative damage in ovariectomized diabetic mice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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16 pages, 1036 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of the Leaf and Stem Extracts of Combretum molle (R. Br. ex G. Don.) Engl. & Diels
by Myuri Parusnath, Yougasphree Naidoo, Moganavelli Singh, Farzad Kianersi and Yaser Hassan Dewir
Plants 2023, 12(9), 1757; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12091757 - 25 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1204
Abstract
Medicinal plants offer reasonable and accessible alternatives to synthetic drugs and are often devoid of the adverse side effects, toxicity, and pathogenic resistance associated with synthetic medicine. Combretum molle has been utilized in African traditional medicinal practices and purportedly contains bioactive compounds with [...] Read more.
Medicinal plants offer reasonable and accessible alternatives to synthetic drugs and are often devoid of the adverse side effects, toxicity, and pathogenic resistance associated with synthetic medicine. Combretum molle has been utilized in African traditional medicinal practices and purportedly contains bioactive compounds with medicinally beneficial effects. This study investigated the hexane, chloroform, and methanol leaf and stem extracts for their antioxidant properties using the 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assays. The study additionally analyzed the methanol extracts for their antibacterial activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) bacteria using agar well diffusion. Relative to the scavenging activity of the ascorbic acid control (79.15 ± 0.63% at 15 µg/mL to 94.61 ± 0.12% at 240 µg/mL), the plant’s radical scavenging activities were exceptionally high in the methanolic leaf and stem extracts (p < 0.05), ranging from 94.58 ± 1.10% at 15 µg/mL to 99.22 ± 0.30% at 240 µg/mL and 91.57 ± 1.71% at 15 µg/mL to 99.60 ± 0.20% at 240 µg/mL, respectively, suggesting a strong capacity to donate hydrogen ions. High scavenging activities were additionally observed in the chloroform stem (78.68 ± 1.18% at 15 µg/mL to 98.14 ± 1.22% at 240 µg/mL) and hexane leaf (72.12 ± 4.38% at 15 µg/mL to 89.87 ± 1.50% at 240 µg/mL) extracts (p < 0.05). All extracts exhibited poor ferric-reducing abilities in relation to the gallic acid control (100 ± 0.00%) at all concentrations (p < 0.05). The leaf and stem extracts exhibited broad-spectrum antibiotic capabilities against both tested strains, with significant activity at higher concentrations (p < 0.05). Overall, both the leaf and stem extracts of C. molle exhibited similar antioxidant and antibacterial activities. These findings warrant further pharmacological research on C. molle for potential drug development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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16 pages, 3622 KiB  
Article
Green Biogenic of Silver Nanoparticles Using Polyphenolic Extract of Olive Leaf Wastes with Focus on Their Anticancer and Antimicrobial Activities
by Bassam F. Alowaiesh, Haifa Abdulaziz Sakit Alhaithloul, Ahmed M. Saad and Abdallah A. Hassanin
Plants 2023, 12(6), 1410; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061410 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2029
Abstract
Agro-industrial wastes are rich in polyphenols and other bioactive compounds, and valorizing these wastes is a crucial worldwide concern for saving health and the environment. In this work, olive leaf waste was valorized by silver nitrate to produce silver nanoparticles (OLAgNPs), which exhibited [...] Read more.
Agro-industrial wastes are rich in polyphenols and other bioactive compounds, and valorizing these wastes is a crucial worldwide concern for saving health and the environment. In this work, olive leaf waste was valorized by silver nitrate to produce silver nanoparticles (OLAgNPs), which exhibited various biological, antioxidant, anticancer activities against three cancer cell lines, and antimicrobial activity against multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria and fungi. The obtained OLAgNPs were spherical, with an average size of 28 nm, negatively charged at −21 mV, and surrounded by various active groups more than the parent extract based on FTIR spectra. The total phenolic and total flavonoid contents significantly increased in OLAgNPs by 42 and 50% over the olive leaf waste extract (OLWE); consequently, the antioxidant activity of OLAgNPs increased by 12% over OLWE, recording an SC50 of OLAgNPs of 5 µg/mL compared to 30 µg/mL in the extract. The phenolic compound profile detected by HPLC showed that gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, rutin, naringenin, catechin, and propyl gallate were the main compounds in the HPLC profile of OLAgNPs and OLWE; the content of these compounds was higher in OLAgNPs than OLWE by 16-fold. The higher phenolic compounds in OLAgNPs are attributable to the significant increase in biological activities of OLAgNPs than that of OLWE. OLAgNPs successfully inhibited the proliferation of three cancer cell lines, MCF-7, HeLa, and HT-29, by 79–82% compared to 55–67% in OLWE and 75–79% in doxorubicin (DOX). The preliminary worldwide problem is multi-drug resistant microorganisms (MDR) because of the random use of antibiotics. Therefore, in this study, we may find the solution in OLAgNPs with concentrations of 2.5–20 µg/mL, which significantly inhibited the growth of six MDR bacteria L. monocytogenes, B. cereus, S. aureus, Y. enterocolitica, C. jejuni, and E. coli with inhibition zone diameters of 25–37 mm and six pathogenic fungi in the range of 26–35 mm compared to antibiotics. OLAgNPs in this study may be applied safely in new medicine to mitigate free radicals, cancer, and MDR pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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13 pages, 1588 KiB  
Article
GC-MS Analysis of Bioactive Compounds Extracted from Plant Rhazya stricta Using Various Solvents
by Nabih A. Baeshen, Yaaser Q. Almulaiky, Mohamed Afifi, Ammar Al-Farga, Haytham A. Ali, Naseebh N. Baeshen, Mosleh M. Abomughaid, Aaser M. Abdelazim and Mohammed N. Baeshen
Plants 2023, 12(4), 960; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12040960 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6907
Abstract
Worldwide, human beings have traditionally employed many folkloric herbal resources as complementary and alternative remedies, and these remedies have played a pivotal role in modern medicines for many decades, as scientists have used them to develop drugs. We studied the effects of employing [...] Read more.
Worldwide, human beings have traditionally employed many folkloric herbal resources as complementary and alternative remedies, and these remedies have played a pivotal role in modern medicines for many decades, as scientists have used them to develop drugs. We studied the effects of employing solvents with varying polarity on the yields of phytochemical components extracted from the plant Rhazya stricta. We used chloroform–methanol (1:1), methanol, ethanol, diethyl ether, and ethyl acetate as extraction solvents. The results showed that the efficiencies of the solvents at extracting phytochemical compounds were in this order: chloroform–methanol < ethanol < methanol < diethyl ether < ethyl acetate extract. The chloroform–methanol extract produced the highest concentration of phenolic and flavonoid contents among the five solvents tested (13.3 mg GAE/g DM and 5.43 CE/g DM). The yields of the extracted phytochemical compounds ranged from 47.55 to 6.05%. The results revealed that the properties of the extraction solvents considerably impacted the extraction yield and the phytochemical components of the R. stricta extract. Furthermore, compared with the other solvents, the chloroform–methanol extraction led to the highest yield (47.55%) and to more phytochemical substances being extracted. The aim of this study is to investigate the phytochemical compounds extracted from R. stricta with different solvents that have different polarities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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13 pages, 4165 KiB  
Article
Cytotoxic Potential of Diospyros villosa Leaves and Stem Bark Extracts and Their Silver Nanoparticles
by Oluwatosin Temilade Adu, Yougasphree Naidoo, Johnson Lin, Depika Dwarka, John Mellem, Hosakatte Niranjana Murthy and Yaser Hassan Dewir
Plants 2023, 12(4), 769; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12040769 - 08 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1269
Abstract
Diospyros villosa is traditionally used for an anti-bacterial property. Its cytotoxic effects have not been studied before. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the nutritional properties as well the cytotoxic effects of D. villosa. The leaves and stem barks were subjected to [...] Read more.
Diospyros villosa is traditionally used for an anti-bacterial property. Its cytotoxic effects have not been studied before. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the nutritional properties as well the cytotoxic effects of D. villosa. The leaves and stem barks were subjected to three different extraction methods (methanol, chloroform and hexane) and their nanoparticles were synthesized at two different temperatures (room temperature and at 80 °C). Thereafter, extracts were assessed using the associated AOCC protocols, for their nutritional content (moisture, fibre, proteins, lipid, ash and hydrolysable carbohydrates). Diospyros villosa extracts and their corresponding nanoparticles were then incubated overnight with cancerous and noncancerous cell lines to evaluate their cytotoxic potential. The nutritional analysis revealed that both young and mature leaves were rich sources of protein having values of 14.95% and 11.37% respectively. The moisture content was observed to be higher in all the leaf types (8.54 ± 0.75%, 9.67 ± 0.98% and 7.40 ± 0.80%) compared to the stem (2.13 ± 0.07%) respectively. The MTT cytotoxicity assay showed that the cell viability of MCF-7 cell lines was significantly lower when exposed to hexane and chloroform leaves extracts of D. villosa (IC50 of 26.64 and 26.07 µg mL−1) respectively, compared to camptothecin (36.54 µg mL−1). Similarly, the MCF-7 cell viability was observed to be significantly lower when exposed to hexane and chloroform stem extracts of D. villosa (IC50 of 24.57 and 3.92 µg mL−1), compared to camptothecin (36.54 µg mL−1). The cell viability of A549 cell lines was also found lower when exposed to the hexane and chloroform extracts (IC50 of 7.76 and 4.59 µg mL−1) compared to camptothecin (IC50 of 19.26 µg mL−1). Furthermore, the viability of A549 cell lines was found lower when exposed to hexane and chloroform stem extracts of D. villosa (IC50 of 10.67 and 5.35 µg mL−1) compared to camptothecin (19.26 µg mL−1). The biosynthesized nanoparticles further displayed an anticancer activity with an IC50 value of 4.08 µg mL−1 when compared to the control (36.54 µg mL−1). However, the HEK293 cell viability was observed to be significantly higher on exposure to hexane stem extracts of D. villosa (IC50 of 158.5 µg mL−1) compared to camptothecin (IC50 of 14.77 µg mL−1). Therefore, Diospyros villosa leaves, stem bark and nanoparticles synthesized showed high potential for being considered as a candidate for an anti-cancer regimen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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16 pages, 4297 KiB  
Article
Botanical Antcin K Alleviates High-Fat Damage in Palm Acid Oil-Treated Vascular Endothelial Cells and Macrophages
by Chen-Wen Lu, Ngan Thi Kim Nguyen, Szu-Chuan Shen, Yeh-Bin Wu, Hui-Ju Liang and Chung-Hsin Wu
Plants 2022, 11(21), 2812; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11212812 - 22 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1659
Abstract
Lipid metabolism disorder is the most critical risk factor for atherosclerosis, and the process involves lipid deposition in the arterial intima. In Taiwan, antcin K, an active triterpenoid from the fruiting bodies of Antrodia camphorata, has been considered a potential lipid-lowering agent. [...] Read more.
Lipid metabolism disorder is the most critical risk factor for atherosclerosis, and the process involves lipid deposition in the arterial intima. In Taiwan, antcin K, an active triterpenoid from the fruiting bodies of Antrodia camphorata, has been considered a potential lipid-lowering agent. Despite this, the possible therapeutic mechanisms of antcin K remain unclear. To explore the crucial role of botanical antcin K in reducing atherosclerotic plaque, we used SVEC4-10 vascular endothelial cells and RAW264.7 macrophages with palm acid oil-induced high-fat damage as our cell models. Our results showed through using the DPPH assay that antcin K had excellent free radical scavenging ability. Antcin K treatment can significantly alleviate the high-fat damage and reduce the levels of inflammatory factors of TNF-α and IL-1β in vascular endothelial cells and macrophages, as shown through MTT assay and ELISA. Furthermore, antcin K treatment can effectively enhance migration ability and clear lipid deposition in macrophages, as shown by using cell migration assay and oil red O staining. When stained with immunofluorescence, antcin K was shown to significantly decrease the expression of adhesion molecules of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) in vascular endothelial cells involved in monocyte migration and inflammation. Antcin K not only reduced the expression of the CD36 scavenger receptor but also augmented the expression of Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) transcription factor in macrophages, which inhibits the transformation of macrophages into foam cells underlying the pathological process of atherosclerosis. Taking our findings into account, we suggested that botanical antcin K could have therapeutic potential for the treatment of atherosclerosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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17 pages, 5713 KiB  
Article
Chemical Modification of Curcumin into Its Semi-Synthetic Analogs Bearing Pyrimidinone Moiety as Anticancer Agents
by Obaid Afzal, Mohammad Yusuf, Mohamed Jawed Ahsan, Abdulmalik S. A. Altamimi, Md. Afroz Bakht, Amena Ali and Salahuddin
Plants 2022, 11(20), 2737; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11202737 - 16 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2216
Abstract
Natural products (NPs) continue to provide a structural template for the design of novel therapeutic agents and expedite the drug discovery process. The majority of FDA-approved pharmaceuticals used in medical practice can be traced back to natural sources, and NPs play a significant [...] Read more.
Natural products (NPs) continue to provide a structural template for the design of novel therapeutic agents and expedite the drug discovery process. The majority of FDA-approved pharmaceuticals used in medical practice can be traced back to natural sources, and NPs play a significant role in drug development. Curcumin, one of the most well-studied chemicals among the NPs, is currently the subject of intense investigation for its biological effects, including the prevention and treatment of cancer. Cancer has overtaken all other causes of death in the world today, with 19.3 million new cases and nearly 10 million deaths predicted in 2020. In the present investigation, we reported the synthesis of three semi-synthetic analogues of curcumin-bearing pyrimidinone moiety by the chemical modification of the diketone function of curcumin followed by their characterization by analytical techniques including infrared (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and mass spectral data. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI US) methodology, the curcumin analogues (C1-C3) were tested for their anticancer efficacy against 59 cancer cell lines in a single dose assay. 1-(2,6-Dichlorophenyl)-4,6-bis((E)-4-hydroxy-3-methoxystyryl)pyrimidin-2(1H)-one (C2) demonstrated the most promising anticancer activity with mean percent growth inhibition (%GIs) of 68.22 in single dose assay at 10 µM. The compound exhibited >68 %GIs against 31 out of 59 cancer cell lines and was found to be highly active against all leukemia and breast cancer cell lines. The compound C2 showed a lethal effect on HT29 (colon cancer) with %GI of 130.44, while 99.44 %GI was observed against RPMI-8226 (Leukemia). The compound C2 displayed better anticancer activity against the panels of CNS, melanoma, ovarian, prostate, and breast cancer cell lines than curcumin and other anti-EGFR agents gefitinib and imatinib in single dose assay. The compound C2 also demonstrated potent anticancer activity in a 5-dose assay (0.001 to 100 µM) with GI50 values ranging from 1.31 to 4.68 µM; however, it was found to be non-selective with SR values ranging from 0.73 to 1.35. The GI50 values of compound C2 were found to be better than that of the curcumin against all nine panels of cancer cell lines. All of the curcumin analogues were subsequently investigated for molecular docking simulation against EGFR, one of the most attractive targets for antiproliferative action. In molecular docking studies, all the ligands were found to accommodate the active site of EGFR and the binding affinity of ligand C2 was found to be −5.086 kcal/mol. The ligand C2 exhibited three different types of interactions: H-bond (Thr790 and Thr854), π-cationic (Arg841), and aromatic H-bond (Asn842). The curcumin analogues reported in the current investigation may provide valuable therapeutic intervention for the prevention and treatment of cancer and accelerate anticancer drug discovery programs in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Therapeutics 2.0)
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