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In parallel with a steady rise in cancer incidence worldwide, the scientific community is increasingly focused on finding novel, safer and more efficient modalities for managing this disease. Over the past decades, natural products have been described as a significant source of new structural leads for novel drug candidates. Scutellaria root is one of the most studied natural products because of its anticancer potential. Besides just describing the cytotoxic properties of plant constituents, their molecular mechanisms of action in different cancer types are equally important. Therefore, this review article focuses on the role of the Scutellaria flavones wogonin, baicalein, baicalin, scutellarein and scutellarin in regulating the autophagic machinery in diverse cancer models, highlighting these molecules as potential lead compounds for the fight against malignant neoplasms. The knowledge that autophagy can function as a dual-edged sword, acting in both a pro- and antitumorigenic manner, further complicates the issue, revealing an amazing property of flavonoids that behave either as anti- or proautophagic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cruciferous vegetables are richest sources of isothiocyanates and among them, allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) is one of the major constituents. It has been known to possess various activities of therapeutic interest. Keeping this in view, the present study was planned to investigate antioxidant capacity of AITC using Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (CUPRAC) Assay, 2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assay, β-Carotene bleaching (BCB) assay and superoxide anion scavenging assay. The antimutagenic potency of AITC was determined by modifying Vibrio harveyi bioluminescence assay against direct acting mutagen 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NPD) and indirect acting mutagens 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF), 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) in presence and absence of S9. Furthermore, the antihemolytic activity was evaluated using hemolysis assay. Among the different activities carried out, it was observed that AITC exhibited efficient antimutagenic potential against direct acting mutagen NPD and indirect acting mutagens 2-AAF and DMBA in the presence as well as absence of S9 fraction in Vibrio harveyi bioluminescence assay. Overall, our results established the efficiency of AITC to act as strong antimutagenic agent, efficient anti-hemolytic agent and mild antioxidant agent thus, making AITC an interesting candidate to be further explored for drug discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain is a complex, chronic pain state accompanied by tissue injury and nerve damage. This important health issue constitutes a challenge for the modern medicine worldwide. The management of neuropathic pain remains a major clinical challenge, pertaining to an inadequate understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropathic pain. Various classes of drugs have been reported effective for the management of neuropathic pain viz. opiates, tricyclic antidepressants, and antiepileptic agents. However, association of adverse effects with these drugs hinders their confident prescription in people with neuropathic pain. Recently, various medicinal plants have been reported effective for the management of neuropathic pain. So, it may be prudent to look beyond synthetic drugs pertaining to their unprecedented pharmacotherapeutic effects with lesser adverse effects. The extensive literature review has been carried out from databases such as Science direct, Scifinder, Wiley online library, PubMed, Research gate, Google scholar and Chemical Abstracts. The list of Traditional Indian Medicinal plants (TIMPs) and isolated compounds have been compiled which have been reported effective as an alternative therapy for the management of neuropathic pain. This helps the researchers to discover some novel therapeutic agents against neuropathic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The toxicity induced by 7, 12-dimethylbenz(α)anthracene (DMBA) has been widely delineated by a number of researchers. This potent chemical damages many internal organs including liver, by inducing the production of reactive oxygen species, DNA-adduct formation and affecting the activities of phase I, II, antioxidant and serum enzymes. Glucosinolate hydrolytic products like isothiocyanates (ITCs) are well known for inhibiting the DNA-adduct formation and modulating phase I, II enzymes. Sulforaphane is ITC, currently under phase trials, is readily metabolized and inter-converted into erucin upon ingestion. We isolated erucin from Eruca sativa (Mill.) Thell. evaluated its hepatoprotective role in DMBA induced toxicity in male wistar rats. The rats were subjected to hepatic damage by five day regular intraperitoneal doses of DMBA. At the end of the protocol, the rats were euthanized, their blood was collected and livers were processed. The liver homogenate was analyzed for phase I (NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase, NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase, cytochrome P450, cytochrome P420 and cytochrome b5), phase II (DT diaphorase, glutathione-S-transferase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase) and antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidise, ascorbate peroxidise, glutathione reductase and lactate dehydrogenase). The level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, lipid hydroperoxides, conjugated dienes and reduced glutathione in the liver homogenate was also analyzed. The serum was also analyzed for markers indicating hepatic damage (alkaline phosphatase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, direct bilirubin and total bilirubin). Erucin provided significant protection against DMBA induced damage by modulating the phase I, II and antioxidant enzymes. The histological evaluation of liver tissue was also conducted, which showed the hepatoprotective role of erucin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponentially increasing population and the demand for food is inextricably linked. This has shifted global attention to improving crop plant traits to meet global food demands. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a major non-grain food crop that is grown all over the world. Currently, some of the major global potato research work focuses on the significance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in potato. miRNAs are a type of non-coding RNAs that regulate the gene expression of their target mRNA genes by cleavage and/or their translational inhibition. This suggests an essential role of miRNAs in a multitude of plant biological processes, including maintenance of genome integrity, plant growth, development and maturation, and initiation of responses to various stress conditions. Therefore, engineering miRNAs to generate stress-resistant varieties of potato may result in high yield and improved nutritional qualities. In this review, we discuss the potato miRNAs specifically known to play an essential role in the various stages of the potato life cycle, conferring stress-resistant characteristics, and modifying gene expression. This review highlights the significance of the miRNA machinery in plants, especially potato, encouraging further research into engineering miRNAs to boost crop yields and tolerance towards stress. • Potato, being the third most important crop to sustain the hunger and nutritional needs of the world's exponentially growing population. • The environmental stresses brought on by the change in climate induce the nutritional imbalance in potato plants, which ultimately affects the plant growth and tuber yield. • microRNAs have emerged as versatile players in mitigating stress and architecture the potato life cycle. Therefore, decoding the role of miRNAs helps in developing the novel potato cultivar with enhanced stress tolerance and yield. • Keeping this in view we highlight the significance of the miRNA machinery in plants, especially potato, encouraging further research into engineering miRNAs to boost crop yields and tolerance towards stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Environmental pollutants are responsible for inducing a number of biochemical and physical changes in the various organs of an organism. The most potent pollutants is 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) (a genotoxic carcinogen), a polyaromatic hydrocarbon. It is known to induce a number of genetic changes including the formation of DNA adducts. These genotypic changes in turn are responsible for inducing microstructural changes in the vital organs viz. kidneys, stomach and lungs of an organism. These changes in turn cause biochemical alterations in an animal and hence alter the normal functioning. Synthetic drugs provide a sigh of relief but a large number of side effects in addition to the growing resistance has made it necessary to find an efficient alternative. Plant secondary metabolites, especially glucosinolate hydrolytic products, are known for their high bioprotective activity. The current study was therefore designed to analyze the bioprotective role of erucin against DMBA-induced microstructural changes in kidneys, lungs and stomach of male Wistar rats using histological analysis. Material and Method: The bioprotective efficacy of erucin was evaluated in male Wistar rats against DMBA induced microstructural changes. The rats were divided into five groups where group I was untreated control, group II was DMBA treated and group III-V were treatment (DMBA + erucin) groups. Results: Erucin was able to protect the rats against DMBA-induced histopathological changes in the lungs and stomach. No changes were observed in kidney following treatment with DMBA or erucin. Conclusion: Erucin has bioprotective activity against genotoxic carcinogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]