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Herbal Drug Discovery Against Inflammation: From Traditional Wisdom to Modern Therapeutics
Published in Amit Baran Sharangi, K. V. Peter, Medicinal Plants, 2023
Shalini Dixit, Karuna Shanker, Madhumita Srivastava, Priyanka Maurya, Nupur Srivastava, Jyotshna, Dnyaneshwar U. Bawankule
Cucurbitacins are extremely oxygenated, tetracyclic triterpenes containing a cucurbitane skeleton characterized by a 19-(10→9β)-abeo-10α-lanost-5-ene. These are abundant in the Cucurbitaceae family and are also known as the bitter principles, but later they can be seen in other genera also. Cucurbitanes are divided into 12 categories (Yuan et al., 2006; Jayaprakasam, Seeram, and Nair, 2003). Acetyl group position 28(C) is responsible for inhibiting COX-2 and used for inflammation. Dihydrocucurbitacin B, cucurbitacin R, cucurbitacins isolated from the roots of Cayaponia tayuya, are found to have decent anti-inflammatory activity (Recio et al., 2004). Cucurbitacins such as cucurbitacin B, D, E, and I were already reported to have significant anti-inflammatory activity.
Ethnopharmacology of Wild Plants Used in Diabetes
Published in Mahendra Rai, Shandesh Bhattarai, Chistiane M. Feitosa, Ethnopharmacology of Wild Plants, 2021
Patricia Landazuri, Nelsy Loango Chamorro, Beatriz Restrepo Cortes
It is a desert plant, widely distributed in different parts of the world (Hussain et al. 2014, Heydari et al. 2019). Parts used: roots, fruits, seeds, rinds, and leaves; compounds: in fruit, several bioactive compounds have been recorded in the literature: glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and essential oils, cucurbitacins, and colocynthosides (Benariba et al. 2013, Hussain et al. 2014). Cucurbitacins have been reported as the main components of C. colocynthis fruits. In roots, the butanolic extract contains terpenoids, saponins flavonoids, and quinones (Chekroun et al. 2015); seeds extracts (aqueous, butanolic, hydromethanolic) contain: catechic tannins and flavonoids, terpenoids, Coumarins (Benariba et al. 2013).
Melons of Central Asia
Published in Raymond Cooper, Jeffrey John Deakin, Natural Products of Silk Road Plants, 2020
Ravza F. Mavlyanova, Sasha W. Eisenman, David E. Zaurov
Roots of C. melo var. agrestis collected in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan contained 1.16% tannins and up to 2% sugars. The stems contained 0.87% tannins, up to 4% sugars, 0.4% titratable organic acids and trace alkaloids. Leaves contained 1.74% tannins, 0.53% titratable organic acids and trace alkaloids. Fruits contained up to 2% sugars, 1.07% titratable organic acids, and trace alkaloids (Zaurov et al., 2013). In a phytochemical investigation of C. melo stems, Chen et al. (2009) isolated and identified 21 cucurbitane-type triterpenoids (cucurbitane-type triterpenoids, including cucurbitacin B, 28 23,24-dihydrocucurbitacin B, cucurbitacin A, cucurbitacin R, isocucurbitacin R, cucurbitacin G, cucurbitacin H, hexanorcucurbitacin D, arvenin I, arvenin III, and dihydroisocucurbitacin B, among others.
Effects of Dietary Phytochemicals on DNA Damage in Cancer Cells
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2023
Yang Ye, Ying Ma, Mei Kong, Zhihua Wang, Kang Sun, Fang Li
Cucurbitacins are a group of tetracyclic triterpenoids derived from various plants such as Bryonia sp., Cucumis sp., and Cucurbita sp. (137). In total, 40 types of cucurbitacins and their derivatives have been identified, and cucurbitin B is the most abundant source of cucurbitins. Previous studies have reported that cucurbitin B has antileukemia, antiangiogenic, anticancer, and antiaging effects (138–141). Many studies have shown that cucurbitin B induces cell cycle arrest and DNA damage to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells. In human lung cancer A549 cells, a low concentration of cucurbitacin B causes DSBs, increases intracellular ROS levels, and induces DNA damage. Cucurbitacin B activates CHK1-CDC25C-CDK1 via ATM, causing G2/M cell cycle arrest and inhibiting cell proliferation (53). Niu et al. (54) found that cucurbitacin B induces DNA damage and activates ATM and ATR to promote the apoptosis of cancer cells; DNA damage further activates phosphatase and tensin homolog, which et al., DNA damage with autophagy.
Cucurbitacin B regulates lung cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis via inhibiting the IL-6/STAT3 pathway through the lncRNA XIST/miR-let-7c axis
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2022
Jian-Hua Liu, Chen Li, Liang Cao, Chang-Hong Zhang, Zhi-Hua Zhang
Natural compounds of plant origin and their related derivatives are of great significance for the development of cancer treatment drugs (Zhou et al. 2017). Cucurbitacin, a natural compound, plays a key role in the treatment of diseases (Chan et al. 2010). Cucurbitacin is divided into cucurbitacin A-T, and cucurbitacin B (CuB) is the most common type (Chen et al. 2005). As widely reported, CuB has good antitumor activity (El-Senduny et al. 2016). Chen et al. (2005) revealed CuB had low toxicity to normal cells and could induce gastric cancer cell apoptosis. Additionally, CuB treatment was reported to inhibit tumour proliferation and invasion by inducing G2/M phase arrest (Guo et al. 2014). However, the specific antitumor mechanism of CuB is not clear. Herein, we explore the specific mechanism of CuB in lung cancer.
Advancements of compounds targeting Wnt and Notch signalling pathways in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer
Published in Journal of Drug Targeting, 2021
Zhuonan Pu, Fang Yang, Liang Wang, Yunpeng Diao, Dapeng Chen
Cucurbitacin, extracted from edible plants, is well known for its anti-cancer properties. In HCT116, SW480 and DLD1 colon cancer cell lines, cucurbitacin specifically binds to the ankyrin domain of Notch-1 to suppress its activity [119]. However, eicosapentaenoic acid free fatty acid enriched Lactobacillus species in the gut microbiota by restoring activity of the Notch-1 initiation arm in mice treated with AOM/DSS [120]. Interestingly, Notch-1 exhibited different roles in these experiments, associated with the potential of Notch-1 to promote apoptosis and carcinogenesis [121,122].