The Potential of Vouacapanes from Pterodon Emarginatus Vogel against COVID-19 Cytokine Storm

Abstract

Purpose: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the search for potential therapeutic responses for various aspects of this disease. Fruits of Pterodon emarginatus Vogel (Fabaceae), sucupira, have been used in Brazilian traditional medicine because of their anti-inflammatory properties, which have been proven in vivo, in vitro, and in silico. Therefore, the aim of this work is to evaluate P. emarginatus oleoresin and isolated diterpenes by in vitro anti-inflammatory models. Methods: In this study, the mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory activity of Pterodon emarginatus oleoresin and vouacapanes 6α,19β-diacetoxy-7β,14β-dihydroxyvouacapan (V1), 6α-acetoxy-7β,14β-dihydroxyvouacapan (V2), and methyl 6α-acetoxy-7β-hydroxyvouacapan-17β-oate (V3) were investigated in HaCaT cells. Results: Oleoresin, V2, and V3 inhibited phospholipase A2 (30.78%, 24.96%, and 77.64%, respectively). Both vouacapanes also inhibited the expression of COX-2 (28.3% and 33.17%, respectively). The production of interleukin IL-6 was inhibited by oleoresin by 35.47%. However, oleoresin did not interfere with Nrf-2 expression or IL-8 production. Conclusion: The results support the ethnomedicinal use of P. emarginatus oleoresin as an anti-inflammatory herbal medicine, and also highlight Pterodon emarginatus oleoresin and isolated vouacapanes as an attractive therapeutic approach for COVID-19 through the reduction or chronological control of the inflammatory mediators IL-6, COX-2, phospholipase A2, and INF-y (indirectly) during the SARS-CoV-2 infection process.

Enhanced geranylgeraniol stability and dissolution from self-emulsifying pellets containing the sucupira (Pterodon emarginatus Vogel) standardized extract

“…Pterodon emarginatus Vogel (Fabaceae) is a tree species of the Brazilian flora, which has proven pharmacological activities, especially anti-inflammatory (Pascoa et al, 2015;Goes et al, 2020;Lorenzi & Matos, 2021;Oliveira et al, 2023).…”

Natural or synthetic? Classification of common preservatives in food and drug industry by artificial intelligence

“…Although several biochemical pathways are known to foster the expression of secondary metabolites, the shikimic acid pathway is widely considered as the main contributor when the biosynthesis of antioxidants is concerned, especially upon drought stress (SOUZA et al, 2021;YADAV et al, 2021) mainly through phytohormones homeostasis and their signaling networks, which further initiate the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites (SMs). Among these free-radical scavenging metabolic products are monoaromatic phenolic compounds, which are acknowledged to exhibit thermodynamic feasibility to mop up reactive oxygen species, as well as interact with several bodily receptors; thereby promoting anti-inflammatory effects; gastroprotective, neuroprotective as well as anticancer activities (ALVES et al, 2020;OLIVEIRA et al, 2021;THOMAZ et al, 2018a) Regarding the building block of monoaromatic antioxidants, the good electron acceptor/donor behavior provided by the resonance allow these molecules to participate in charge-transfer reactions with many other chemical species (THOMAZ et al, 2020). Owing to this feature, many researchers have exploited the phenolic moiety as the backbone of synthetic antioxidant compounds, thereby employing medicinal chemistry strategies such as bioisosterism and latentiation to putatively enhance the antioxidant properties of these additives in dados e algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina geraram um modelo confiável e preciso para classificação imediata de antioxidantes monoaromáticos naturais e sintéticos.…”