Hirsutine, an Emerging Natural Product with Promising Therapeutic Benefits: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables are used not only for nutritional purposes but also as therapeutics to treat various diseases and ailments. These food items are prominent sources of phytochemicals that exhibit chemopreventive and therapeutic effects against several diseases. Hirsutine (HSN) is a naturally occurring indole alkaloid found in various Uncaria species and has a multitude of therapeutic benefits. It is found in foodstuffs such as fish, seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, and some grain products among other things. In addition, it is present in fruits and vegetables including corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, potatoes, bamboo shoots, bananas, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The primary emphasis of this study is to summarize the pharmacological activities and the underlying mechanisms of HSN against different diseases, as well as the biopharmaceutical features. For this, data were collected (up to date as of 1 July 2023) from various reliable and authentic literature by searching different academic search engines, including PubMed, Springer Link, Scopus, Wiley Online, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Findings indicated that HSN exerts several effects in various preclinical and pharmacological experimental systems. It exhibits anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant activities with beneficial effects in neurological and cardiovascular diseases. Our findings also indicate that HSN exerts promising anticancer potentials via several molecular mechanisms, including apoptotic cell death, induction of oxidative stress, cytotoxic effect, anti-proliferative effect, genotoxic effect, and inhibition of cancer cell migration and invasion against various cancers such as lung, breast, and antitumor effects in human T-cell leukemia. Taken all together, findings from this study show that HSN can be a promising therapeutic agent to treat various diseases including cancer.

Phytochemical analysis and biological investigation of Cheilanthes tenuifolia (Burm.f.) Swartz

“…Thus, our present findings are in agreement with the traditional values and scientific reports observed in the databases. According to the findings of different studies the bioactive substances (rutin, and quercetin) of the plant has potent anti-inflammatory activity and liable for diminishing different inflammatory markers such as cytokines ( Abd Nikfarjam et al, 2017 ; Bhuia et al, 2023c ).…”

Efficacy of Rotundic Acid and Its Derivatives as Promising Natural Anticancer Triterpenoids: A Literature‐Based Study

“…The development of cancer involves the transformation of a healthy cell into a cancerous cell, which is able to evade programmed cell death, or apoptosis, allowing it to continue to grow and divide uncontrollably. [101,102] When cells undergo apoptosis, they exhibit specific alterations such as chromatin condensation, cytoplasmic shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, membrane blebbing, and the formation of intact apoptotic bodies that are efficiently eliminated by neighboring cells and degraded within lysosomes. In the development of cancer, inhibition of apoptosis is a key factor, and the targeting of apoptotic pathways is an area of potential in cancer treatment with new therapies being developed.…”

Mikania micranthaKunth: An Ethnopharmacological Treasure Trove of Therapeutic Potential

“…In addition to the macrovascular complications of diabetes such as stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and coronary artery disease, the microvascular complications of diabetes such as diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy, are also exacerbated by hyperglycemia. [89][90][91] The administration of M. micrantha ethanolic leaf extract for the duration of 30 days remarkably diminished the mean fasting blood glucose level on alloxan-mediated diabetic rats due to the stimulation of insulinproducing β-cells of the pancreas. [29]…”