Secondary Metabolite Mapping Identifies Peony Episperm Inhibitors of Human Hepatoma Cells

Abstract

As the main by-product during the oil production of peony seeds, the episperm is traditionally used as a lead component in folk herbal formulas for the cancer treatment in China. However, the investigation of its phytochemical foundation underlying anticancer effects remains an ongoing challenge. The work therefore determined growth inhibition activities of 8 solvent extracts of peony episperms in the human liver cancer cell line. This activity was then mapped onto the secondary metabolite profile of extracts by principal components analysis (PCA). The top 3 principal components of High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC)-PCA map discriminated extract activities mainly based on the differential content of 5 stilbene compounds, which were then tested individually. The trans-ε-viniferin, gnetin-H, suffruticosol A, suffruticosol B, and suffruticosol C were thus determined as growth inhibitors and apoptosis inducers of human liver cancer cells with activities comparable to that of the antineoplastic cisplatin. A partial least squares regression-HPLC model was also constructed for the prediction of inhibitory effects of peony episperm extracts. These results expand the fundamental understanding of the peony episperms and support its current medicinal uses in China. Moreover, PCA-mediated secondary metabolite mapping was proved to be an efficient approach to qualify biomedical products required for pharmaceutical and medicinal uses.

Multivariate Data Analysis Guided Identification of Anticancer Constituents of Spina Gleditsiae for Human Hepatoma Cells

“…14 Thus, in recent years, MVA has been employed to model phytochemical data and to aid determination of discriminative bioactive constituents. 11,12 In this study, a HPLC-PCA map was constructed to model the metabolic profiling of secondary metabolites and successfully determine the anticancer compounds of Spina Gleditsiae. Compared with the traditional bioassay-guided fractionation, the identification and grouping of functional compounds from plant extracts was much quicker and more efficient through the multivariate analysis mediated secondary metabolite mapping method.…”

“…The multivariate data analysis (MVA)guided method, developed recently and characterized as minimum consuming of time, raw materials, and solvents, could provide an advanced technique for the fast screening of bioactive agents of complex medicinal products. 11,12 Therefore, a MVA-guided method was employed in this study to identify the anticancer components of Spina Gleditsiae.…”

Suffruticosol B Is an Osteogenic Inducer through Osteoblast Differentiation, Autophagy, Adhesion, and Migration

“…Suffruticosol B (Suf-B), extracted from P. suffruticosa , was originally reported for its pharmacological effects as an ecdysteroid antagonist [ 12 ]. It has also been reported that Suf-B is cytotoxic and exhibits antitumor properties in the human liver, colon cancer, and promyelocytic leukemia [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]. In addition, the pharmacological effects of Suf-B suggest that it is a natural source of antioxidants and hypoglycemics [ 16 , 17 ].…”