Apigenin

Thin-layer chromatography of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) from the continental and Adriatic regions of Croatia showed that 72.2% of propolis samples contain galangin, 88.8% of samples contain kaempferol, naringenin and apigenin and 66.6% of samples contain caffeic acid. Caffeic acid, pinocembrin, galangin, chrysin and naringenin were analyzed by HPLC. In all samples, pinocembrin was the dominant flavonoid. In samples from the Adriatic region, concentration of pinocembrin ranged from 0.03 to 6.14% (x = 2.87%) and in the continental region samples from 0 to 4.74% (x = 2.84%). Chrysin was found in all propolis samples in a concentration ranging from 0.22 to 5.32% (x = 1.86%) in the continental region samples and from 0.03 to 3.64% (x = 1.96%) in samples from the Adriatic region. Chrysin was followed by naringenin, ranging from 0 to 1.14% (x = 0.42%) in samples from the Adriatic region and from 0.22 to 2.41% (x = 0.60%) in the continental region samples. Concentration of caffeic ...

The screening of 50 sorghum varieties showed that, on average, germination did not affect the content in total phenolic compounds but decreased the content of proanthocyanidins, 3-deoxyanthocyanidins, and flavan-4-ols. Independent of germination, there are intervarietal differences in antioxidant activities among sorghum varieties. Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities were more positively correlated in ungerminated varieties than in germinated ones. Sorghum grains with pigmented testa layer, chestnut color glumes, and red plants had higher contents, larger diversity of phenolic compounds, and higher antioxidant activities than other sorghums. Some red sorghum varieties had higher antioxidant activities (30-80 mumol of Trolox equiv/g) than several sources of natural antioxidants from plant foods. Among varieties used for "to", "dolo", couscous, and porridge preparation, the "dolo"(local beer) varieties had the highest average content and diversity in phenolic compounds as well as the highest antioxidant activities. The biochemical markers determined are useful indicators for the selection of sorghum varieties for food and agronomic properties.

Apigenin, a naturally occurring plant flavone, abundantly present in common fruits and vegetables, is recognized as a bioactive flavonoid shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer properties. Epidemiologic studies suggest that a diet rich in flavones is related to a decreased risk of certain cancers, particularly cancers of the breast, digestive tract, skin, prostate and certain hematological malignancies. It has been suggested that apigenin may be protective in other diseases that are affected by oxidative process, such as cardiovascular and neurological disorders, although more research needs to be conducted in this regard. Human clinical trials examining the effect of supplementation of apigenin on disease prevention have not been conducted, although there is considerable potential for apigenin to be developed as a cancer chemopreventive agent.

In this work, it will be studied through a series of quantum mechanical calculations the influence of the coordination of the magnesium metal, with the molecular and electronic structures of three different flavonoids; Primuletine (5-Hydroxyflavone, 5- Hydroxy-2-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one) [P], Chrisina (5,7-Dihydroxyflavone, 5,7- Dihydroxy-2-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one) [C] and Apigenin (4',5,7- Trihydroxyflavone, 5,7-Dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one) [A].

Context: Leucas aspera L. (Labiatae) is a common aromatic herb and grows generously in South India and in the broad area of South Asia. Traditionally, this species is taken orally for analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and wound healing treatments.

Aims: To isolate compounds from L. aspera with anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities.

Methods: The chloroform extract was subjected to a column chromatography on silica gel 60 and their structures were established by spectral analysis (UV, IR, and NMR). The anti-inflammatory activity of the test compounds was evaluated in male albino rats. The acute inflammation was induced by the subplantar administration of 0.1 mL of 1% carrageenan in the right paw. The excision wound model was used to study the rate of wound contraction and the time required for complete epithelization of the injuries in rabbits.

Results: A flavonoid apigenin-7-O-(6”-O-E-caffeoyl)-β-D–glucopyrano-side (1) was isolated from a chloroform fraction of L. aspera. The hydrolysis of compound 1 yield an apigenin (aglycone), caffeic acid and β-D-glucose. Assuming caffeoyl glucose linked to the 7-OH group of apigenin.

Conclusions: Compound 1 exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory activity compared with standard diclofenac sodium. The wound healing study revealed that decreased wound area and significant increase in epithelialization in treatment groups was observed.

Soy glycinin (SG) and soy trypsin inhibitor (STI) were derivatized by chlorogenic- and caffeic acid (cinnamic acids, C(6)-C(3) structure), and by gallic acid representing hydroxybenzoic acids (C(6)-C(1) structure). Further, the flavonoids, flavone, apigenin, kaempferol, quercetin and myricetin (C(6)-C(3)-C(6) structure) were also caused to react with soy proteins to estimate the influence of the number and the position of hydroxy substituents. The derivatization caused a reduction of lysine, cysteine and tryptophan residues in the soy proteins. The isoelectric points of the derivatives were shifted to lower pH values and formation of high molecular fractions was documented. The derivatives were characterized in terms of their solubility at different pH-values to document the influence on the functional properties. The structural changes induced were studied using circular dichroism (CD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), intrinsic fluorescence, and binding of anilinonaphthalenesulfonic acid. The influence of derivatization on the in-vitro digestibility with trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin and pancreatin was also assessed. The effect on the trypsin inhibitor activity of all the resulting STI derivatives was studied, the latter being reduced.

Phenolic compounds, vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid and L-dehydroascorbic acid), and antioxidant capacity were evaluated in orange juices manufactured by different techniques. Five processes at industrial scale (squeezing, mild pasteurization, standard pasteurization, concentration, and freezing) used in commercial orange juice manufacturing were studied. In addition, domestic squeezing (a hand processing technique) was compared with commercial squeezing (an industrial FMC single-strength extraction) to evaluate their influences on health components of orange juice. Whole orange juice was divided into soluble and cloud fractions after centrifugation. Total and individual phenolics were analyzed in both fractions by HPLC. Commercial squeezing extracted 22% more phenolics than hand squeezing. The freezing process caused a dramatic decrease in phenolics, whereas the concentration process caused a mild precipitation of these compounds to the juice cloud. In pulp, pasteurization led to degradation of several phenolic compounds, that is, caffeic acid derivatives, vicenin 2 (apigenin 6,8-di-C-glucoside), and narirutin (5,7,4'-trihydroxyflavanone-7-rutinoside) with losses of 34.5, 30.7, and 28%, respectively. Regarding vitamin C, orange juice produced by commercial squeezing contained 25% more of this compound than domestic squeezing. Mild and standard pasteurization slightly increased the total vitamin C content as the contribution from the orange solids parts, whereas concentration and freezing did not show significant changes. The content of L-ascorbic acid provided 77-96% of the total antioxidant capacity of orange juice. Mild pasteurization, standard pasteurization, concentration, and freezing did not affect the total antioxidant capacity of juice, but they did, however, in pulp, where it was reduced by 47%.

The flavone C-glucoside, vicenin-2, in semi-purified extracts of the leaves of Lychnophora ericoides was quantified in rat plasma samples using a method based on reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Vicenin-2 was analyzed on a LiChrospher RP18 column using an isocratic mobile phase consisting of a mixture of methanol: water (30:70, v/v) plus 2.0% glacial acetic acid at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min(-1). Genistein was used as internal standard. The mass spectrometer was operated in positive ionization mode and analytes were quantified by multiple reaction monitoring at m/z 595 >457 for vicenin-2 and m/z 271 >153 for internal standard. Prior to the analysis, each rat plasma sample was acidified with 200 microL of 50 mmol L(-1) acetic acid solution and extracted by solid-phase extraction using a C18 cartridge. The absolute recoveries were reproducible and the coefficients of variation values were lower than 5.2%. The method was li...

SIDERITIS SCARDICA Griseb. (ironwort, mountain tea), an endemic plant of the Balkan Peninsula, has been used in traditional medicine in the treatment of gastrointestinal complaints, inflammation, and rheumatic disorders. This study aimed to evaluate its gastroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities. Besides, continuously increasing interest in assessing the role of the plant active constituents preventing the risk of cancer was a reason to make a detailed examination of the investigated ethanol, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and N-butanol extracts regarding cytotoxicity. Oral administration of the investigated extracts caused a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in a model of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. Gastroprotective activity of the extracts was investigated using an ethanol-induced acute stress ulcer in rats. The cytotoxic activity of plant extracts was assessed on PBMC, B16, and HL-60 cells and compared to the cytotoxicity of phenolic compounds identified in ext...

A simple and specific analytical method for the quantitative determination of flavonoids from the aerial parts of the Artemisia afra plant samples was developed. By column high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV absorption and mass spectrometry (MS) detection, separation was achieved on a reversed-phase octadecylsilyl (C18) column with water, methanol, and acetonitrile, all containing 0.1% acetic acid, as the mobile phase. These methods were used to analyze various species of Artemisia plant samples. The wavelength used for quantification of flavonoids with the diode array detector was 335 nm. The limits of detection (LOD) by HPLC/MS were found to be 7.5, 7.5, 10, 2.0, and 2.0 ng/mL; and by LC-UV the LODs were 500, 500, 500, 300, and 300 ng/mL for apigenin, chrysoeriol, tamarixetin, acacetin, and genkwanin, respectively. The HPLC/MS method was found to be 50-150 times more sensitive than the HPLC-UV method. HPLC/MS coupled with an electrospray ionization interface is d...

— Although a broad range of biological and pharmacological activities of apigenin have been reported, the mechanism(s) behind its antibacterial effects are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the synergistic antibacterial activity of apigenin in combination with existing antimicrobial agents against oral bacteria. The combination effect of apigenin was evaluated against oral bacteria, either alone or with antibiotics, via broth dilution method and checkerboard and time kill assay. MIC/MBC values for apigenin, ampicillin, gentamicin, erythromycin, and vancomycin against all the tested bacteria ranged between 50-200/100-800 microg/mL, 0.0313-16/0.125-32 microg/mL, 2-256/4-512 microg/mL, 0.008-32/0.016-64 microg/mL, and 0.25-64/1-128 microg/mL, respectively. Checkerboard assay revealed synergistic activity in the combination of apigenin with antibiotics at fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) <0.5. 1-6 hours of treatment with 1/2 MIC of apigenin with 1/2 MIC of antibiotics resulted from an increase of the rate of killing in units of CFU/mL to a greater degree than was observed with alone. These results suggest that the apigenin is important in the antibacterial actions of oral pathogen agents. Keywords— Apigenin, antibacterial activity, oral pathogen bacteria, Synergistic effect, Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), Minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs)

Apigenin (4&#39;,5,7,-trihydroxyflavone) is a flavonoid found in certain herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Apigenin can attenuate inflammation, which is associated with many chronic diseases of aging. Senescent cells-stressed cells that accumulate with age in mammals-display a pro-inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) that can drive or exacerbate several age-related pathologies, including cancer. Flavonoids, including apigenin, were recently shown to reduce the SASP of a human fibroblast strain induced to senesce by bleomycin. Here, we confirm that apigenin suppresses the SASP in three human fibroblast strains induced to senesce by ionizing radiation, constitutive MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling, oncogenic RAS, or replicative exhaustion. Apigenin suppressed the SASP in part by suppressing IL-1α signaling through IRAK1 and IRAK4, p38-MAPK, and NF-κB. Apigenin was particularly potent at suppressing the expression and secretion of CXCL10 (IP10), a...

Two oil-in-water formulations, containing equal amounts of apigenin-enriched chamomile flower extracts, for potential use as topical antiinflammatory agents, were prepared and their physicochemical properties evaluated. A pilot clinical study was then carried out to assess patient acceptability and efficacy. The creams were either non-liposomal or liposomal. The liposomal formulations were more viscous, thus producing superior release characteristics in vitro. The clinical study also showed that the liposomal creams were, as antiinflammatory agents, slightly more effective in vivo than the non-liposomal formulations. These results suggest that there is scope for the further development of even more effective and safer alternatives to corticosteroids. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cytotoxic effects of the combination of the food components vitexin-2-O-xyloside (X), raphasatin (4-methylsulphanyl-3-butenyl isothiocyanates; G) and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (E) were investigated in colon (LoVo and CaCo-2) and breast (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) cancer cells. Breast cancer cells were more resistant than colon cells to X, G and E inhibition. On the contrary, marked synergistic effects among X, G and E on cell growth were found in both colon cancer cells. Further analysis revealed a G0/G1 arrest of the phase cell progression and apoptosis, linked to modulation of Bax, Bcl2, caspase-9 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase as well as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation in both colon cancer cells, whereas apoptosis and ROS were not significantly detected in normal human lymphocytes. We conclude that the X, G and E mixture might act by mitochondrial pathway activation of apoptosis, possibly elicited by ROS and the mixture may be effective in the chemoprevention of colon c...

Background and objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders that affect fertility. In this syndrome, the rate of fibrotic tissue formation and structures such as collagen increases. This study intended to evaluate protective effect of apigenin on ovarian follicles in PCOS-induced female Wistar rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 60 adult Wistar rats (weight: 200-250 g) were used. A vaginal test was performed to confirm induction of PCOS. Then, the rats were randomly divided into four groups: 1) control, 2) PCOS, 3) PCOS+apigenin (10 mg/kg), and 4) PCOS+apigenin (20 mg/kg). The rats in the experimental groups received apigenin solution via intrapertoneal injection for 14 days. Next, the ovarian tissue of animals was removed and subjected to histological studies. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test. Statistical analysis of data was carried out in SPSS (version 20), and significance level was set to 0.05. Results: The number of secondary cystic follicles in groups treated with apigenin (10 and 20 mg/kg) decreased significantly compared to the PCOS group (group2) (P≤0.05). Despite the reduction in the number of follicles, this reduction for the primary follicles was not statistically significant. Moreover, treatment with apigenin had no significant effect on the number of graph follicles (p≥0.05). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that apigenin might be useful in controlling PCOS. Therefore, it may be suggested as a supplement to improve fertility of patients with PCOS.

SIDERITIS SCARDICA Griseb. (ironwort, mountain tea), an endemic plant of the Balkan Peninsula, has been used in traditional medicine in the treatment of gastrointestinal complaints, inflammation, and rheumatic disorders. This study aimed to evaluate its gastroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities. Besides, continuously increasing interest in assessing the role of the plant active constituents preventing the risk of cancer was a reason to make a detailed examination of the investigated ethanol, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and N-butanol extracts regarding cytotoxicity. Oral administration of the investigated extracts caused a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in a model of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. Gastroprotective activity of the extracts was investigated using an ethanol-induced acute stress ulcer in rats. The cytotoxic activity of plant extracts was assessed on PBMC, B16, and HL-60 cells and compared to the cytotoxicity of phenolic compounds identified in ext...

Muscle atrophy is a complex process that occurs as a consequence of various stress events. Muscle atrophy-associated genes (atrogenes) such as atrogin-1/MAFbx and MuRF-1 are induced early in the atrophy process, and the increase in their expression precedes the loss of muscle weight. Although antioxidative nutrients suppress atrogene expression in skeletal muscle cells, the inhibitory effects of flavonoids on inflammation-induced atrogin-1/MAFbx expression have not been clarified. Here, we investigated the inhibitory effects of flavonoids on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced atrogin-1/MAFbx expression. We examined whether nine flavonoids belonging to six flavonoid categories inhibited atrogin-1/MAFbx expression in mouse C2C12 myotubes. Two major flavones, apigenin and luteolin, displayed potent inhibitory effects on atrogin-1/MAFbx expression. The pretreatment with apigenin and luteolin significantly prevented the decrease in C2C12 myotube diameter caused by LPS stimulation. Importan...