Bioactivities of Plant Extracts and Phytotherapy

Description of Subtheme:

Nature is an infinite source of bioactive compounds and products with exciting medicinal properties and technological applications. The vast majority of them come from plants. Plants can produce a wide variety of molecules through different biosynthetic routes. Biochemical pathways in plants can lead to the production of small molecules known as secondary metabolites. These secondary metabolites (polyphenols, terpenes, and alkaloids) have promising therapeutic potential and pharmacological applications. It can be used in traditional or complementary medicine. Recently, natural products have been introduced in clinical trials as anticancer and antimicrobial agents. Research in natural products has shown many advantages.

Research Action Plan:

• Extraction of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants and herbs
• Anti-inflammatory bioactivities in plant extracts
• Screening and bioassay-guided fractionation of plant extracts
• Treatment of diseases using herbal medicine and deciphering their molecular mechanism and biochemical changes by assessing changes in various genes and proteins in various signaling pathways and measuring levels of cytokines and metabolic enzymes.
• Phytochemicals as an immune booster against pathogens
• Encapsulation of thermosensitive essential oils to enhance their biological activity.
• Investigating alternative natural therapeutic strategies in experimental models and deciphering the underlying signaling pathways involved in their mechanisms of action.
• Green nanomaterials synthesized from plants and their biomedical applications.

Prominent Research:

• • Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality and ranks third among cancers in terms of prevalence. Despite advances in early detection and treatment with chemotherapy and surgery, colon cancer continues to be associated with high recurrence rates, resulting in a heavy disease burden. Extracts of the black desert truffle Terfezia boudieri ( boudieri) have shown promising anticancer properties. Treatment with the water extract of T. boudieri reduced the capacity of human colon cancer cells for wound healing and colony formation in a dose-dependent manner. Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and p53 expression were elevated in cancer cells. On the contrary, the levels of cyclin D1 and c-Myc were suppressed. Mechanistically, these effects were attributed to influence the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, proteins involved in cellular proliferation, and the cell cycle.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful chronic autoimmune disease that affects the joints. Its first-line therapy, methotrexate (MTX), although effective in ameliorating disease progress, induces hepatotoxicity in long-term Therefore, the search for natural compounds with fewer side effects could be an alternative therapeutic approach. This research project aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and antioxidant effects of synthetic trans-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) dissolved in sesame oil against MTX in the adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rat model. Δ9-THC/sesame oil markedly attenuated the severity of clinical manifestations, recovered histopathological changes in tibiotarsal joints, and repressed splenomegaly in arthritic rats. Δ9-THC/sesame oil therapy showed similar effects to MTX in neutralizing the inflammatory process of AIA, by attenuating the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) scores and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, to normal values. Unlike MTX, this natural combination markedly protected the liver of arthritic rats and downregulated the induced oxidative stress by increasing the antioxidant defense system (activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and glutathione levels (GSH)).
  • Silver/silver chloride nanoparticles (Ag/AgCl-NPs) (15 nm) biosynthesized using the leaf extract of the endemic Lebanese plant, Origanum ehrenbergii Boiss, showed a potent antioxidant activity and an antibacterial effect against Gram-positive and bacteria. The biosynthesized Ag/AgCl-NPs inhibited the growth of bacteria after 3 hours. And exhibited inhibitory effects on the formation of bacterial biofilms, as well as on preformed
  • Saffron Crocus sativus (C. sativus) is a flower from the iridaceous family. Crocin, saffron's major constituent, and saffron have anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. Our aim was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of saffron and crocin in a repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) mouse model. Both saffron and crocin demonstrated marked improvement in neurological, cognitive, motor, and sensorimotor functions. In addition, both compounds significantly reduced oxidative stress and inflammatory processes. No abnormal histological features were observed in any of the injured groups. Saffron extract and crocin provide a neuroprotective effect in a mouse model of rmTBI by decreasing oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and behavioral deficits.