Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Potential Differences between Cynomorium coccineum L. Growing in Italy and in Tunisia: Effect of Environmental Stress

Attia, Imen Ben; Zucca, Paolo; Marincola, Flaminia Cesare; Piras, Alessandra; Rosa, Antonella; Chaïeb, Mohamed; Rescigno, Antonio

doi:10.3390/d10030053

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Our study showed that Cynomorium possessed even stronger anticancer activity. Recently, it was shown that the water extract of C. coccineum possesses antioxidant activities [ 36 ]. In addition, different components from this species also exert antimicrobial and antityrosinase activities [ 37 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anticancer Activity of Cynomorium coccineum

Sdiri

et al. 2018

Cancers

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The extensive applications of Cynomorium species and their rich bioactive secondary metabolites have inspired many pharmacological investigations. Previous research has been conducted to examine the biological activities and numerous interesting pharmaceutical activities have been reported. However, the antitumor activities of these species are unclear. To understand the potential anticancer activity, we screened Cynomorium coccineum and Cynomorium songaricum using three different extracts of each species. In this study, the selected extracts were evaluated for their ability to decrease survival rates of five different cancer cell lines. We compared the cytotoxicity of the three different extracts to the anticancer drug vinblastine and one of the most well-known medicinal mushrooms Amaurederma rude. We found that the water and alcohol extracts of C. coccineum at the very low concentrations possessed very high capacity in decreasing the cancer cells viability with a potential inhibition of tumorigenesis. Based on these primitive data, we subsequently tested the ethanol and the water extracts of C. coccineum, respectively in in vitro and in vivo assays. Cell cycle progression and induction of programmed cell death were investigated at both biological and molecular levels to understand the mechanism of the antitumor inhibitory action of the C. coccineum. The in vitro experiments showed that the treated cancer cells formed fewer and smaller colonies than the untreated cells. Cell cycle progression was inhibited, and the ethanol extract of C. coccineum at a low concentration induced accumulation of cells in the G1 phase. We also found that the C. coccineum’s extracts suppressed viability of two murine cancer cell lines. In the in vivo experiments, we injected mice with murine cancer cell line B16, followed by peritoneal injection of the water extract. The treatment prolonged mouse survival significantly. The tumors grew at a slower rate than the control. Down-regulation of c-myc expression appeared to be associated with these effects. Further investigation showed that treatment with C. coccineum induced the overexpression of the tumor suppressor Foxo3 and other molecules involved in inducing autophagy. These results showed that the C. coccineum extract exerts its antiproliferative activity through the induction of cell death pathway. Thus, the Cynomorium plants appear to be a promising source of new antineoplastic compounds.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anticancer Activity of Cynomorium coccineum

Sdiri

et al. 2018

Cancers

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“…In a series of papers, the lipid profile of Sardinian C. coccineum Supercritical Fluid Extract (SFE) oil has been elucidated [34], showing an almost 1:1:1 concentration of saturated fatty acids (SFA, mainly palmitic acid 16:0 and stearic acid 18:0), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA, mainly oleic acid 18:1 n-9), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) [28,37]. The same authors confirmed this pattern in a Tunisian sample [33], suggesting a promising nutraceutical source of functional and beneficial compounds (for example, about 11% of the SFE oils was 18:3 n-3). However, different accessions (also from the same geographical area) showed a high variability not only in the total quantity, but also in the oil composition [28,34], probably due to different annual weather fluctuations or small differences in the collection/extraction procedures.…”

Section: Phytochemistrymentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In a recent work, Ben Attia et al (2018) compared the chemical compositions of C. coccineum plants from Sardinia and Tunisia, describing a differential chemical profile, possibly due to the climatic conditions (more arid in the Tunisian desert, and temperate in the Mediterranean basin). The phenolics, in fact, were differently distributed among solvents at various polarities [33]. Additionally, these authors used 1 H-NMR to identify several amino acids (including proline, glutamine, valine, threonine, alanine, and asparagine) and mono-, bi-, and tricarboxylic organic acids (i.e., acetate, formate, and several common intermediates of biochemical pathways such as citrate, fumarate, malate, malonate, and succinate) in Sardinian and Tunisian samples.…”

Section: Phytochemistrymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Modern Use of an Ancient Plant: Exploring the Antioxidant and Nutraceutical Potential of the Maltese Mushroom (Cynomorium Coccineum L.)

2019

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In the continuous scientific search for new safe and effective drugs, there has recently been a rediscovery of natural substances as a potential reservoir of innovative therapeutic solutions for human health, with the prospect of integrating with and sometimes replacing conventional drugs. Cynomorium coccineum subsp. coccineum is a holoparasitic plant well known in ethnopharmacology, although its current use as a curative remedy is reported only in some ethnic groups of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Often known as ‘Maltese mushroom’ due to its unique appearance and the absence of chlorophyll, C. coccineum is present in almost all of the Mediterranean Basin. It is only recently that a few research groups have begun to look for confirmation of some of its traditional uses to highlight previously unknown biological activities. Here, we review the recent scientific findings on the plant’s phytochemistry and the most significant descriptions of some of its antioxidant and biological activities (antimicrobial, anticancer, pro-erectile, and anti-tyrosinase enzyme) both in vivo and in vitro. Some of these may be promising from the perspective of food and cosmetic formulations. The purpose of this review is to provide an initial impetus to those who, in the foreseeable future, will want to increase the knowledge and possible applications of this plant full of history, charm, and mystery.

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“…The reported IC50 was similar to rutin, chosen as the standard. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, no antioxidant activity has been determined for SO extracts using commonly electron-transfer or hydrogen atom-transfer assays [21].…”

Section: Antioxidant Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sisymbrium officinale, the Plant of Singers: A Review of Its Properties and Uses

et al. 2020

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Sisymbrium officinale (hedge mustard and formerly called Erysimum officinale) is a common plant in wild lands of Europe and Africa. It is also cultivated for its seeds and leaves to be used in salad or mustard. Sisymbrium officinale is useful not only in culinary preparations, but it also seems to possess interesting therapeutic properties, especially for throat diseases such as aphonia and hoarseness. For this reason, it is commonly called “herb of singers” (in Italian, “Erba dei cantanti”). Indeed a cup of Sisymbrium officinale infusion is frequently consumed by singers before artistic performance, even if its beneficial ability still needs to be scientifically demonstrated. Some preliminary data can be analyzed, but new efforts and resources should be devoted to study and investigate a plant with valuable therapeutic potential. This review summarizes the data available for Sisymbrium officinale.

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Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Potential Differences between Cynomorium coccineum L. Growing in Italy and in Tunisia: Effect of Environmental Stress

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

Anticancer Activity of Cynomorium coccineum

Anticancer Activity of Cynomorium coccineum

The Modern Use of an Ancient Plant: Exploring the Antioxidant and Nutraceutical Potential of the Maltese Mushroom (Cynomorium Coccineum L.)

Sisymbrium officinale, the Plant of Singers: A Review of Its Properties and Uses

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