Uses and abuses of in vitro tests in ethnopharmacology: Visualizing an elephant

Houghton, Peter J.; Howes, Melanie-Jayne; Lee, C.C.; Steventon, Glyn B.

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2007.01.032

Cited by 279 publications

(168 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Oxidative and inflammatory processes are among the pathological features associated with the central nervous system in Alzheimer's disease (AD) (Houghton et al, 2007). The excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated, leads to inflammation by stimulating release of cytokines and activation of enzymes such as lipoxygenases (LOXs) from inflammatory cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts of twelve plants used traditionally to alleviate pain and inflammation in South Africa

Dzoyem¹,

Eloff²

2015

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

140

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Ethnopharmacological relevanceOxidative stress and inflammatory conditions are among the pathological features associated with the central nervous system in Alzheimer's disease. Traditionally, medicinal plants have been used to alleviate inflammation, pains and also other symptoms possibly associated with Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine the in vitro antiinflammatory, antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity of twelve South African medicinal plants traditionally used to alleviate pain and inflammation. Materials and MethodsNitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages and 15-lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitory assay were used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity.Acetylcholinesterase inhibition was assessed by using a modification of the Ellman's method.Antioxidant activity, total phenolic and total flavonoids contents were determined using standard in vitro methods. ResultsThe extract of Burkea africana had the highest anti-15-lipoxygenase activity with 85.92% inhibition at 100 µg/mL. All the extracts tested inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in a dose dependant manner in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. However, extracts from Leucaena leucocephala, Lippia javanica inhibited the production of NO by 97% at a concentration of 25 µg/mL. In addition, both Leucaena leucocephala and Englerophytum magaliesmontanum had strong activity against acetylcholinesterase with IC 50 values of 118 µg/mL and 160 µg/mL respectively. Hight levels of phenolics and flavonoids were found in Leucaena leucocephala, Lippia javanica and Burkea africana. The correlation with antioxidant activities was not strong indicating that other metabolites may also be involved in antioxidant activity. ConclusionsThe results obtained in this study validate the use of leaf extracts of these plants in South African traditional medicine against inflammation. Extracts of these plants species might be of value in the management of various diseases emerging from oxidative stress and related degenerative disorders.2

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts of twelve plants used traditionally to alleviate pain and inflammation in South Africa

Dzoyem¹,

Eloff²

2015

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

140

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“…All tests were performed in duplicate and the results were expressed as the arithmetic mean of MIC values obtained in the two trials (13). The bands established for antifungal activity were: excellent activity (50 to 500 mg mL -1 ); moderate activity (600 to 1000 mg mL -1 ); inactive or poor activity (1000 mg mL -1 ) (14).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary antifungal and cytotoxic evaluation of synthetic cycloalkyl[b]thiophene derivatives with PLS-DA analysis

Souza¹,

Oliveira²,

Aquino³

et al. 2012

Acta Pharmaceutica

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2-Aminothiophene derivatives are an important class of heterocycles found in several biologically active and natural compounds. This class of compounds has demonstrated a broad spectrum of activities and applications as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, dyes, biodiagnostics, and electronic and optoelectronic devices (1). -5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-cyclohepta[b]thiophene-3-carbonitrile (2r), which inhibited more than 97 % growth of the three cell lines. The PLS discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) applied generated good exploratory and predictive results and showed that the descriptors having shape characteristics were strongly correlated with the biological data.

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“…With increasing interest in finding therapeutic agents for complex syndromes like cancer, diabetes, and neurological diseases, came the necessity to avoid overpredictive claims of bioactivity and hence batteries of test systems replaced the single test. 38 The diversification in bioassay systems brought substantial increases in the costs of the drug development process. In spite of the drawbacks inherent with in vitro tests, that is, their ineffectiveness for addressing issues of drug transport from the site of administration to the site of action, or issues of secondary metabolism after drug administration, the application of HTS has provided several successful 'hits' or relevant drug candidates in the past.…”

Section: Dependency On In Vitro Bioassaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing the potential clinical use of medicinal plants as anti-diabetic agents

Campbell-Tofte¹,

Mølgaard²,

Winther³

2012

BTAT

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Diabetes is a metabolic disorder arising from complex interactions between multiple genetic and/or environmental factors. The characteristic high blood sugar levels result from either lack of the hormone insulin (type 1 diabetes, T1D), or because body tissues do not respond to the hormone (type 2 diabetes, T2D). T1D patients currently need exogenous insulin for life, while for T2D patients who do not respond to diet and exercise regimes, oral anti-diabetic drugs (OADs) and sometimes insulin are administered to help keep their blood glucose as normal as possible. As neither the administration of insulin nor OADs is curative, many patients develop tissue degenerative processes that result in life-threatening diabetes comorbidities. Several surveys of medicinal plants used as anti-diabetic agents amongst different peoples have been published. Some of this interest is driven by the ongoing diabetes pandemic coupled with the inadequacies associated with the current state of-the-art care and management of the syndrome. However, there is a huge cleft between traditional medicine and modern (Western) medicine, with the latter understandably demanding meaningful and scientific validation of anecdotal evidence for acceptance of the former. The main problems for clinical evaluation of medicinal plants with promising anti-diabetic properties reside both with the complexity of components of the plant materials and with the lack of full understanding of the diabetes disease etiology. This review is therefore focused on why research activities involving an integration of Systems Biology-based technologies of pharmacogenomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics with standard clinical data, should be used for cost-effective validation of the safety and anti-diabetic efficacy of promising medicinal plants. The application of such approaches to studying entire mixtures of plant materials will ensure proper elucidation of novel therapies with improved mechanisms of action, as well as facilitate a personalized clinical use of medicinal plants as anti-diabetic agents.

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Uses and abuses of in vitro tests in ethnopharmacology: Visualizing an elephant

Cited by 279 publications

References 36 publications

Anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts of twelve plants used traditionally to alleviate pain and inflammation in South Africa

Anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts of twelve plants used traditionally to alleviate pain and inflammation in South Africa

Preliminary antifungal and cytotoxic evaluation of synthetic cycloalkyl[b]thiophene derivatives with PLS-DA analysis

Harnessing the potential clinical use of medicinal plants as anti-diabetic agents

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