Abyssinone V, a prenylated flavonoid isolated from the stem bark of Erythrina melanacantha increases oxidative stress and decreases stress resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Objectives Recent studies showed that distinct extracts of Erythrina species used in the traditional medicine of sub‐Saharan Africa are protective against stress conditions. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms as well as relevant compounds remain unclear. Methods We used the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate compounds isolated from the stem bark of Erythrina melanacantha (abyssinone V (1), abyssinon‐4′O‐methylether (2), sigmoidin B‐4′O‐methylether (3), glabranin (4), 8‐prenylnaringenin (5), citflavanone (6), exiguaflavanone (7) and homoeriodictyol (8)). Antioxidative capacity in vitro (trolox equivalent antioxidative capacity assay) and modulation of oxidative stress in vivo (2′, 7′‐dichlorofluorescein assay) were investigated; stress resistance was analysed using the nucleic acid stain SYTOX green. Key findings None of the prenylated flavonoids caused protection against thermal stress; in contrast, most of the compounds (1, 4, 5, 8) decreased stress resistance. None of the compounds decreased the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, but abyssinone V (1) caused an increase in oxidative stress. In line with these results, none of these compounds showed radical‐scavenging effects in vitro. Conclusions The stem bark of E. melanacantha contains various prenylated flavonoids, but no compound protected C. elegans against stress conditions. In contrast, abyssinone V increases oxidative stress and reduces stress resistance in this model organism.

New Acetophenones and Chromenes from the Leaves of Melicope barbigera A. Gray

“…Moreover, we also found that acetophenone derivatives containing prenyl substituents show particularly higher cytotoxic activities compared to other compounds not bearing such structure elements. This finding was also reported for species of the genus Acronychia [25,39,[45][46][47] and we also observed such effects in our previous work with prenylated isoflavonoids and pterocarpanes from the genus Erythrina (Fabaceae) [48][49][50].…”

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“…In contrast to the ABTS cation assay outcome described above, 8-PN (5–25 µM) was not able to reduce stable colored ABTS radicals in vitro in a more recent study. In the in vivo part of the same study, 8-PN at the tested 100 µM concentration slightly diminished intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species in Caenorhabditis elegans , but the inhibition did not reach statistical significance [ 189 ]. Overall, it thus appears that 8-PN has potential antioxidant activity, but this activity only emerges at relatively high concentrations.…”

Nicotine-mediated therapy for Parkinson’s disease in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans model

“…A previous study has shown that nematode thermal stress is relevant to increasing oxidative stress ( Koch et al, 2019 ). In order to investigate the effect of nicotine on thermotolerance, all treated and untreated worms were moved to 37°C for three hours, and the number of live and dead OW13 worms was counted.…”

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