Phytochemicals Derived from Catharanthus roseus and Their Health Benefits

Abstract

Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus) is an important medicinal plant distributed in many countries. It has attracted increasing attention due to it being shown to possess a range of phytochemicals with various biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic and anticancer properties. Remarkably, vinblastine and vincristine isolated from this plant were the first plant-derived anticancer agents deployed for clinical use. Recently, new isolated indole alkaloids from this plant including catharoseumine, 14′,15′-didehydrocyclovinblastine, 17-deacetoxycyclovinblastine and 17-deacetoxyvinamidine effectively inhibited human cancer cell lines in vitro. Moreover, vindoline, vindolidine, vindolicine and vindolinine isolated from C. roseus leaf exhibited in vitro antidiabetic property. These findings strongly indicate that this plant is still a promising source of bioactive compounds, which should be further investigated. This paper provides an overview of the traditional use and phytochemical profiles of C. roseus, and summarises updated techniques of the preparation of dried material, extraction and isolation of bioactive compounds from this plant. In addition, purported health benefits of the extracts and bioactive compounds derived from this plant were also addressed to support their potential as therapeutic agents.

Development of a Cell Suspension Culture System for Promoting Alkaloid and Vinca Alkaloid Biosynthesis Using Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Local Catharanthus roseus

“…The elicitation stimulated the biosynthesis of total alkaloids and vinblastine. Vinblastine was selected for the analysis of bis-indole in this study because its content is usually higher than vincristine in the plant and vincristine is transformed from vinblastine [36]. In the past, cell suspension cultures of C. roseus have been employed for the production of TIAs and many other pharmaceutically important products [37]; however, one of the major disadvantages of this approach is the inability of these cultures to produce vindoline and, hence, vinblastine and vincristine [38,39].…”

Revisão de três espécies medicinais e ornamentais da família Apocynaceae Juss.

“…Suas flores são róseas ou brancas com corola com 5 pétalas em forma de lóbulos. Os frutos são do tipo folículo de 2-4 cm e largura de 3 mm, com pequenas e escuras sementes (Lorenzi, 2015;Pham et al, 2020). Historicamente utilizada no tratamento de diversas doenças, no Brasil já foram descritos os usos das folhas de C. roseus no controle de hemorragias e escorbuto, como enxaguante bucal para dor de dente, na cicatrização e limpeza de feridas crônicas e no tratamento de diabetes (Nisar et al, 2016;Mishra & Verma, 2017).…”

“…Na China é utilizada como diurético, adstringente e para tosse. No Havaí, a planta fervida é usada para fazer cataplasma para estancar sangramentos (Nisar et al, 2016;Mishra & Verma, 2017;Pham et al, 2020).…”

Gallotannin-Enriched Fraction from Quercus infectoria Galls as an Antioxidant and Inhibitory Agent against Human Glioblastoma Multiforme

“…To date, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved multiple natural product-derived drugs to treat various forms of cancers. For example, the vinblastine and vincristine active compounds extracted from the Catharanthus roseus (Apocynaceae) and Madagascar periwinkle respectively, are currently used in clinical trials for leukemia, testicular cancer and other malignant tumors' treatment [6,7]. In the present study, the anti-GBM therapeutic effect exerted by gallotannin, a potential active compound isolated from the gall of the Quercus infectoria (QI) plant, was investigated.…”