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Natural Product Compounds from Plants in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published in Namrita Lall, Medicinal Plants for Cosmetics, Health and Diseases, 2022
Priya Darshani, Md TanjimAlam, Prem P. Tripathi, V.S. Pragadheesh
Korean red ginseng was shown to prevent dopaminergic neuron cell death by decreasing the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) in the substantia nigra and striatum. In the cellular model on rat PC12 cells, it was shown that Korean red ginseng treatment prevented 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion- (MPP+-)–induced cell death. Decreased cell viability and apoptosis were consequently reported. Another plant, Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. ex Havil., reduced apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, therefore exhibiting anti-Parkinson’s activity (Sairazi and Sirajudeen, 2020). Flavonoids such as baicalein, hesperidin, and quercetin were reported to increase dopamine and serotonin levels in the striatum and downregulate oxidative stress and the astroglial response, thus highlighting their anti-neurodegenerative roles in PD mice models (Corona, 2018). Administration of monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1) can alleviate the effects of various neurodegenerative processes. GM1-deficient animals showed Parkinson-like symptoms, suggesting the potential therapeutic role of GM1 in PD treatment (Wang et al., 2019).
Antihypertensive effects of oriental drugs in human and SHR
Published in H. Saito, Y. Yamori, M. Minami, S.H. Parvez, New Advances in SHR Research –, 2020
Hideaki Higashino, Aritomo Suzuki, Koichiro Komai
Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Jacks. (ref.A, 1990; ref.18a. 1960; ref.18b, 1960). Oral administration of the decoction of the stem with hooks showed a hypotensive action in anesthetized dogs (0.05 g/kg), rabbits (2-3 g/kg) and rats (5 g/kg). Since this action was not influenced by atropine treatment and the decoction has never caused direct vasodilation in the isolated ear arteries of rabbits, it was considered that this hypotensive action was caused by the inhibition of vasomotor center through the vagus. Although main component, rhynchophylline, reduced the blood pressure like as total alkaloid solution, the effect was much smaller and shorter than that of reserpine.
Herbal Medicines in Neuropsychiatric Illness: The Case of L-Stepholidine
Published in Vikas Kumar, Addepalli Veeranjaneyulu, Herbs for Diabetes and Neurological Disease Management, 2018
Nitin Sati, Kedar S. Prabhavalkr, Sridhar Natesan, Lokesh K. Bhatt
Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Jack and Gastrodia elata BI. are traditional Chinese herbs that are usually used in combination to treat convulsive disorders, such as epilepsy, in China. Anti-convulsive effect of the mentioned herbs was evaluated using in vitro and in vivo studies. The study was carried out with either of the plants and the combination, separately. The results of the study indicated that U. rhynchophylla (Miq.) possesses anti-convulsive activity and its effect is synergized by G. elata BI. U. rhynchophylla has also been used to relieve various neurological symptoms. The methanolic extract of U. rhynchophylla also exhibited neuroprotective activity. Inhibition of β-amyloid protein generation, prevention of β-amyloid protein fibril formation or destabilization of β-amyloid protein may serve as attractive targets for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The study revealed that U. rhynchophylla has remarkably inhibitory effects on the regulation of β-amyloid protein fibrils, and thus could have the potency to be a novel therapeutic agent to prevent and/or cure Alzheimer’s disease.3
Hirsutine ameliorates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury through improving mitochondrial function via CaMKII pathway
Published in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension, 2023
Wen Jiang, Yuxiang Zhang, Wei Zhang, Xiaomei Pan, Jieyu Liu, Qiang Chen, Junhui Chen
Uncaria rhynchophylla, a member of the Uncaria genus of the family Rubiaceae, is one type of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and it has been used extensively to treat cardiovascular diseases in the long history of China (13,14). Previous studies have confirmed that the total effective rate of the extracts from Uncaria rhynchophylla in patients with mild to moderate hypertension is 83% (13). In addition, the extracts have been reported to prevent myocardial I/R injury by reducing infarct size and alleviating oxidative stress (15). Hirsutine, one of the principal Uncaria extracts, has been demonstrated to protect neonatal rat cardiomyocytes against hypoxic injury by reducing oxidative stress and cell apoptosis (15). However, whether hirsutine is involved in the protective effects of myocardial I/R injury is still unknown. Consequently, it is necessary to further explore the capacity of hirsutine to regulate myocardial I/R injury.
Safety and biological activity evaluation of Uncaria rhynchophylla ethanolic extract
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Heung Bin Lim, Hyeong Ryeol Lee
Uncaria rhynchophylla (UR) belongs to the family Rubiaceae and its hooks (branches) are used for medicinal purposes. It is native to China and is known as Gou-teng in Chinese medicine (Kuramochi et al. 1994). As a traditional Chinese medicine, UR has been used to prevent convulsions, pacify the liver, extinguish wind, and lower the heat (Ndagijimana et al. 2013); in addition, a Japanese medicine containing UR has been used to relieve headaches, dizziness, epilepsy, fever, and high blood pressure (Hou et al. 2005, Fujiwara et al. 2006). Various biological activities of UR have been reported, including anticancer (Lee et al. 2000), vasodilatory (Zhang et al. 2004), anti-hypertensive, neuroprotective (Zhou and Zhou 2010), NF-κB inhibitory (Hsieh et al. 2009), anti-anxiolytic (Jung et al. 2006), antiepileptic (Ho et al. 2014), anti-inflammatory (Yuan et al. 2009), and anti-allergic (Kim et al. 2009) effects, suggesting its potential as a natural component for use in clinical drug development.
Stereoselective in vitro metabolism of rhynchophylline and isorhynchophylline epimers of Uncaria rhynchophylla in rat liver microsomes
Published in Xenobiotica, 2018
Xin Wang, Zhou Qiao, Jia Liu, Mei Zheng, Wenyuan Liu, Chunyong Wu
In summary, our present study demonstrated the stereoselectivity in the metabolism of RIN and IRN epimers using in vitro incubations with RLM. Eight oxidative and hydroxylated metabolites reacted at A- and C-ring were identified by LC-Q-TOF/MS. The metabolic rate of IRN was much faster than that of RIN; meanwhile, the pathway specific stereoselectivity was observed that RIN was preferentially metabolized via hydroxylation at A-ring, whereas IRN was preferentially metabolized by oxidative metabolism at C-5 position. Moreover, this stereoselectivity in hepatic metabolism of two epimers was mainly mediated by CYP3A. These results will expand our understanding on the relationship between the chemical structure and biological fate of RIN and IRN, which may provide useful information for further research on other TMOAs derivatives as well as the clinical use of Uncaria rhynchophylla.