EditorialBiological Efficacy of Medicinal Plant Extracts in PreventingOxidative Damage

Jaideep Banerjee ,1 Amitava Das,2 Mithun Sinha,2 and Sudipta Saha 3

1George Washington University, Washington, USA2The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA3Babasaheb Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India

Correspondence should be addressed to Jaideep Banerjee; banerjee.42@osu.edu

Received 12 August 2018; Accepted 13 August 2018; Published 13 September 2018

Copyright © 2018 Jaideep Banerjee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work isproperly cited.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species(RNS) are important signaling molecules that maintain cellu-lar homeostasis. Redox imbalance or production of excessamounts of ROS and RNS, however, is either a cause or animportant mediator in the pathogenesis and pathophysiologyofmany diseases. It results in oxidative damage to various bio-logical macromolecules including DNA, lipids, and proteins,thereby altering several signaling pathways that ultimatelypromote cellular damage and death.

Natural product-based medicines have been used in med-ical practices for centuries. Naturally derived compoundshave fewer reported side effects than allopathic medicineand may be safer to use over a longer period of time. F. Zhuet al. had reported in 2012 in Plos One that the active ingredi-ents in combinations of natural products can achieve the samelevel of potency as synthetic drugs, although they may have tobe taken in larger quantities or for a longer period. About 8%of hospital admissions in theUnited States of America are dueto adverse or side effects of synthetic drugs, and approxi-mately 100,000 people each year die due to these toxicities,as reported in J Appl Pharmaceut Sci in 2011 by G Philomena.However, toxicity of herbal medicines needs to be seen incontext, and although generally considered safe, it can stillhave side effects.

Many natural compounds and natural product mimicsare potential antioxidants that protect against oxidativedamage in chronic diseases. Understanding and validatingthe bioactivities of the natural compounds and the molecular

mechanisms are essential for a solid scientific foundation fortheir clinical use, improvement in their efficacy, and to meetthe regulatory challenges. This special issue on the “Biologi-cal Efficacy of Medicinal Plant Extracts in Preventing Oxida-tive Damage” presents a collection of original reports andreview articles on the scientific mechanism of action of somenovel as well as traditionally used medicinal extracts inpreventing oxidative damage-related diseases.

G.-H. Li et al. describe the bioactive constituents andthe mechanism of action of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix etRhizoma (SMRR), which is a traditional Chinese medicineand is commonly used for the therapy of cardiac cerebraldiseases. The authors discuss the effect of the SMRRextract as well as the purified constituents tanshinone I,tanshinone IIA, and salvianolic acids A and B on theNrf2 pathway and the resulting antioxidant therapeuticeffects on cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative dis-eases, diabetes, nephropathy, inflammation, liver diseases,and lung diseases.

K. C. dos Santos et al. evaluated the effect of the leavesof Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) on dysmetabolism andcardiomyopathy in type 1 diabetic rats. Yacon is a nativeAndean plant that is rich in phenolic compounds, andthe treatment increased the activity of the antioxidantenzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathioneperoxidase). This was also associated with reduced glycemia,increased insulin concentration, decreased serum triacyl-glycerol and fatty acid content, and decreased fibrosis and

HindawiOxidative Medicine and Cellular LongevityVolume 2018, Article ID 7904349, 2 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7904349

cellular disorganization in the pancreas and cardiac tissue ofdiabetic animals.

Carapa guianensis (Aublet) is a neotropical tree found inthe north of South America, Central America, Caribbean,and Sub-Saharan Africa. The seed oil is widely used inBrazilian traditional medicine because of its multiple curativeproperties against fever and rheumatism and as an anti-inflammatory agent, antibacterial agent, and insect repellant.Authors C. F. Araujo-Lima et al. have evaluated the chemicalcomposition, free-radical scavenging activity, and mutagenicand genotoxicity properties of three C. guianensis oilsobtained by different extraction methods and have identifiedthe best procedure to extract the oil which makes it safefor use.

Authors D. Guo et al. report that natural Gracilaria lema-neiformis sulfated polysaccharide increased the cell viabilityand restored the cell morphology of human kidney proximaltubular epithelial cells (HK-2) damaged by oxalate. Adecrease in released lactate dehydrogenase and an increasein mitochondrial membrane potential were observed. Theauthors also found that the repair ability of the GLP fractionsare closely correlated with the molecular weight of the frac-tions, with GLP2 exhibiting the strongest repair effect. Theseresults can therefore provide references for inhibiting the for-mation of kidney stones and developing original antistonepolysaccharide drugs.

In the review article by M. A. Mendez-Encinas et al., theauthors describe the functional properties and potentialapplication as an antioxidant and anticancer agent of feru-lated arabinoxylans, which are polysaccharides obtainedfrom the cell walls of cereal grains. They also discuss thegel-forming characteristic of these polysaccharides, whichhas characteristics such as high water absorption capacity,stability to pH, temperature, and ionic charges, thus makingthem an excellent drug delivery system.

J. Meng et al. report a potential use of a traditionalTibetan medicine, Rheum tanguticum (Rt), for treatment inAlzheimer’s disease. Rt has anti-inflammatory and antioxida-tive properties and inhibits the expression and production ofinflammatory and oxidative molecules such as IL-1β, TNF-α,and nitric oxide by microglia. They further found that aloe-emodin and (+)-catechin are responsible for these propertiesthrough the secretion of IL-10 from microglia.

The effect of olive leaf extract (OLE) on testicular damagewas tested in rats by R. S. Almeer et al. Cisplatin is widelyused as an antineoplastic drug for treating various cancers.However, its use is mainly limited by severe toxicity tonormal tissues, especially nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, andtesticular damage. Cisplatin causes disorganization of germi-nal epithelium and apoptosis. And testicular weights, catalase,serum testosterone, and testicular enzymes are significantlyreduced. The authors report that OLE treatment can mark-edly attenuate both biochemical and histopathologicalchanges and is mediated, at least partly, by inducing thenuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/hemeoxygenase 1 (HO-1) pathway.

H. A. Ogaly et al., in their manuscript, have investigatedthe efficacy of Mentha piperita L. essential oil (MPEO)against liver fibrosis in rats and have explored this use of

MPEO as an antifibrotic treatment for treating chronic liverdiseases. Hepatoprotective effects of MPEO were observedas documented by the reduction of liver injury markersand lipid peroxidation (LPO) with ameliorated pathologicaland fibrotic liver injuries. Furthermore, reduced expressionof desmin, α-SMA, TGF-β1, and SMAD3 proteins indi-cated that reduced hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation.MPEO also resulted in downregulation of CCl4-stimulatedp53 expression.

Lycopene, which is a potent antioxidant carotenoid, hasbeen evaluated by N. Stojiljkovic et al. in methotrexate-induced kidney damage in rats. Lycopene was administeredin two different forms: dissolved in corn oil or encapsulatedin nanoliposomes. Application of both forms of lycopeneconcomitantly with methotrexate was found to be effectiveagainst changes in serum urea and creatinine and oxidativedamage markers and markedly reversed structural changesof kidney tissue, with the nanoliposome-encapsulated formbeing more effective for recovery.

Resveratrol (RSV), a natural polyphenol, is known for itspotent antioxidant and anticancer effects. Authors B. Yanet al. studied the effect of RSV on the biological propertiesof activated pancreatic stellate cells that initiate pancreaticfibrosis in chronic pancreatitis. The authors report thatRSV downregulates miR-21 expression and induces PTENexpression, resulting in impeded reactive oxygen speciesinduction in PSCs. Collectively, the authors conclude thatRSV inhibits invasion and migration of pancreatic cancercells through suppression of ROS/miR-21-mediated activa-tion and glycolysis in PSCs and thus may serve as a newstrategy for clinical prevention or treatment of pancreaticductal adenocarcinoma.

Taken together, the articles in this special issue contrib-uted by the experts in the fields of oxidative stress biologyhighlight the increasing importance of investigating the effectof natural products on ameliorating oxidative damage andthus identify safe therapeutic treatments for the plethora ofoxidative stress-related diseases.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestregarding the publication of this article.

Jaideep BanerjeeAmitava DasMithun SinhaSudipta Saha

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