Medical plant extracts and natural compounds with a hepatoprotective effect against damage caused by antitubercular drugs: A review

Drug-induced liver injury encompasses a spectrum of diseases ranging from mild biochemical abnormalities to acute liver failure; example of this scenery is hepatotoxicity caused by the first-line antituberculous drugs isoniazid, rifampin and pyrazinamide, which are basic for treatment of drug-sensible and drug-resistant tuberculosis. In the search for pharmacological alternatives to prevent liver damage, antitubercular drugs have been the subject of numerous studies and published reviews, a great majority of them carried out by Asian countries. At the same time, hepatoprotectors from plant source are now emerging as a possible alternative to counteract the toxic effects of these therapeutic agents. The present review aims to highlight the most recent studies on the subject, based information published in scientific databases such as Scopus and Pub Med.

Natural compounds and extracts from Mexican medicinal plants with anti-leishmaniasis activity: An update

Leishmaniasis is considered as an emerging, uncontrolled disease and is endemic in 98 countries. Annually, about 2 million cases of cutaneous and 500000 cases of visceraltype leishmaniasis are recorded and 60000 persons died from the disease. In Mexico,cutaneous leishmaniasis is known as chiclero's ulcer and is reported in 22 states, it is considered as a health problem. For its treatment, pentavalent antimonial drugs are administered. These drugs cause severe side effects, are costly. Drug-resistant cases have been reported and have been developing for over 70 years. One alternative to the drugs that are currently available is to find active molecules in medicinal plants. Dihydrocorynantheine, corynantheine and corynantheidine are active against Leishmania major,while harmane, pleiocarpin, buchtienin, luteolin and quercetin are active against Leishmania donovani. In Mexico, about 20 medicinal plants have been evaluated against Leishmania mexicana, among which the most active are Tridax procumbens, Lonchocarpus xuul and Pentalinon andrieuxii. From these plants, active compounds with IC_(50)≤30 mg/mL or m M have been isolated, such as 3(S)-16,17-didehydrofalcarinol or Oxylipin, cholestra-4,20,24-trien-3-one or pentalinosterol, 24-methylcholest-4-24(28)-dien-3-one, cholest-4-en-3-one, 6,7-dihydroneridie-none, neridienone, cholest-5,20,24-trien-3β-ol, and isocordoin. Today, only pentalinonsterol has been synthesized and assayed in the visceral leishmaniasis experimental model using BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania donovani. Liposome formulation of this compound administered by intravenous route at 2.5 mg/kg showed a significant reduction of parasite load in mouse liver and spleen.

Anti-inflammatory evaluation and acute toxicity of three food supplements that contain Moussonia deppeana

Objective:To identify the anti-inflammatory activity through two murine models and in the median Lethal Dose(LD_(50)) of three dietary supplements that contain Moussonia deppeana.Methods:The anti-inflammatory activity of three dietary supplements(Cicatrisan/Gastricus^(R),Gastinol^(R),and Gastrovita^(R)) EtOH extracts was evaluated by TPA and by carrageenan murine models;also,median Lethal Dose(LD_(50)) was determined.Verbascoside was quantified by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.β-sitosterol,stigmasterol and the mixture of ursolic and oleanolic acids were identified in all supplements by TLC;however,none of these dietary supplements contain verbascoside.Results:For the TPA model,Cicatrisan/Gastricus^(R)generated a notable effect with 38.24%inhibition.While in the carrageenan model,it also exhibited noteworthy anti-inflammatory activity of ear edema with 66.39%of paw edema inhibition at 150 mg/kg,followed by Gastinol^(R) and Gastrovita^(R) with 50%at 300 mg/kg.Finally,LD_(50) was >2 g/kg for all supplements,when was administered intragastrically and Body Weight(BW) gain in mice was not altered after 14 days.Conclusions:Of the three food supplements containing M.deppeana,only the EtOH extract from the Cicatrisan/Gastricus^(R)formulation(tablets) showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in both experimental models and the LD_(50) was > 2 g/kg.