Effects ofMorus albaL. and Natural Products Including Morusin onIn VivoSecretion andIn VitroProduction of Airway MUC5AC Mucin

Abstract

BackgroundIt is valuable to find the potential activity of regulating the excessive mucin secretion by the compounds derived from various medicinal plants. We investigated whether aqueous extract of the root bark of Morus alba L. (AMA), kuwanon E, kuwanon G, mulberrofuran G, and morusin significantly affect the secretion and production of airway mucin using in vivo and in vitro experimental models.MethodsEffect of AMA was examined on hypersecretion of airway mucin in sulfur dioxide-induced acute bronchitis in rats. Confluent NCI-H292 cells were pretreated with ethanolic extract, kuwanon E, kuwanon G, mulberrofuran G, or morusin for 30 minutes and then stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) for 24 hours. The MUC5AC mucin secretion and production were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsAMA stimulated the secretion of airway mucin in sulfur dioxide-induced bronchitis rat model; aqueous extract, ethanolic extract, kuwanon E, kuwanon G, mulberrofuran G and morusin inhibited the production of MUC5AC mucin induced by PMA from NCI-H292 cells, respectively.ConclusionThese results suggest that extract of the root bark and the natural products derived from Morus alba L. can regulate the secretion and production of airway mucin and, at least in part, explains the folk use of extract of Morus alba L. as mucoregulators in diverse inflammatory pulmonary diseases.

Preparation of morusin from Ramulus mori and its effects on mice with transplanted H22 hepatocarcinoma

“…Morusin is an important component of the traditional Chinese medicine Morus alba L. Currently, increasingly attention is being paid to its antitumor function. However, the previous studies focused on the cellular and molecular levels (1,2,3,15,16,18,19), and no studies have utilized tumor-bearing mice, and few studies have analyzed the exact effect and mechanism of antitumor activity of morusin in vivo. In addition, there is no commercial morusin standard, which results in a bottleneck in the rational drug use of morusin.…”

“…In China, mulberry branches have been commonly used as medicine. Modern research shows that Ramulus mori has many medical functions, such as inhibiting human cervical cancer stem cell growth and migration [1], inducing apoptosis and suppressing NF-j B activity [2], and regulating the secretion and production of airway mucin [3]. R. mori contains many types of chemicals, including some flavones, alkaloids, polysaccharides, and coumarins, such as mulberroside A, R. mori polysaccharide, nojirimycin, many types of amino acids, and vitamins [4,5].…”

Prenylated flavonoid morusin protects against TNBS-induced colitis in rats

“…Cortex mori radicis (Sang-Bai-Pi) is a plant material used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to cure different diseases associated with inflammation; its traditional uses have been validated by many studies dealing with anti-inflammatory activity. Morusin previously showed the protective effect in different chemically induced animal models of inflammation [ 6 , 7 ]. In this study, the effect of morusin on TNBS-induced colitis, an acute intestinal inflammation with predominantly Crohn’s disease-like features due to the transmural character of the inflammation, was demonstrated.…”

“…An investigation of the cyclization of a prenyl group attached at C-8 or C-6 found that cyclization reduced the cytotoxicity of the compounds studied but not their anti-inflammatory activity [ 5 ]. Morusin showed in previous in vivo studies beneficial effect on chemically induced acute bronchitis [ 6 ] and glomerulonephritis [ 7 ]. It also exerted neuroprotective effect associated with reduction of oxidative stress in brain [ 8 ].…”

Identification of the Metabolic Enzyme Involved Morusin Metabolism and Characterization of Its Metabolites by Ultraperformance Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Time‐of‐Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC/Q‐TOF‐MS/MS)

“…Like most flavonoids, morusin has antitumor [ 6 , 7 ], anti-inflammatory [ 8 ], and antibacterial [ 9 ] activity. However, it is unclear if morusin or its metabolites produce these biological activities.…”