Glycyrrhiza glabra

The Effect of Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) on Apoptotic Pathways in Skin Cancer Cells

Apoptosis plays an important role in resistance to chemotherapeutics used in cancer development and  treatment. In this study, we aimed to investigate how dried leaf extract of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) collected in Samandağ district of Hatay will affect bcl-2, caspase-3, bax, bcl-2, wee1, gadd153, AIF and p-JNK protein levels and activities in B16F10 skin cancer cells. For this purpose, skin cancer (B16-F10, melanoma) cell culture was performed. These cells were then treated with licorice extract and caspase-3, bax, bcl-2, wee1, gadd153, AIF, p-JNK, p-ERK protein levels and activities in cancer cells were analyzed by ELISA. In our study, we found decreased p-JNK and p-ERK activity, increased caspase-3, bax, wee1, gadd153, AIF and decreased Bcl-2.
We have demonstrated that the dried leaf extraction of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.)  plant has anti-carcinogenic effect by inducing apoptotic pathways and through which paths it provides.

Key words: Licorice, Glycyrhiza glabra L., B16F10 melanoma, Bax, Bcl-2.

Food or drinks may significantly alter the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs which may lead to adverse events. A drug such as metformin is widely used to regulate plasma glucose level and pomegranate and licorice have been identified to help in type-2 diabetes management. However, the interactions of the latter on metformin pharmacokinetics were not studied. Therefore, we aimed here to study the impact of pomegranate and licorice on metformin pharmacokinetics in rats. Juices were given to rats for two days and half an hour before metformin (20 mg/kg) oral administration. Blood samples, then, were collected at different time intervals, processed and analyzed using validated reliable HPLC method. Plasma profile and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated for each group. Pre-administration of pomegranate significantly reduced metformin maximum plasma concentration from 1410 to 1031 ng/ml. On the other hand, pre-administration of licorice significantly delayed metformin ...

Glycyrrhiza glabra has been used in medicine for thousands of years. Our previous study revealed that the methanolic extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (EGGR) exhibits significant nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages among 100 other extracts. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to investigate the potential anti-inflammatory effect of EGGR. The anti-inflammatory effect of EGGR on LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages was measured by MTT assay, NO content analysis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level analysis, RT-PCR, Western blot analysis, and ELISA assay. Low doses of EGGR were non-toxic to macrophages and imparted protective effect against LPS induced cell death. Incubation of LPS-treated macrophages with 100 μg/mL EGGR led to an increase in cell viability from 66.6 to 99%. Moreover, EGGR led to down regulation of NO (NO2+NO3) and ROS productions in a dose-dependent manner. In particular, 100 μg/mL EGGR led to a red...

Chemoprofile of Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth) Arn. a wild relative of commercial licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L) is presented. Both T. cuneifolia and G. glabra L were found to be very similar phytochemically. At least eighteen chromatophores were found similar in both the plants ...

The fragmentation pathways of six triterpenoid saponins from Glycyrrhiza radix were investigated using LC-MS/MS. Depending on the structure and the substitution pattern, different molecular adduct ions, [M+NH4]+ or [M+H]+, were observed in the positive ESI spectra. In the positive MSn spectra from the molecular adduct ions, characteristic product ions corresponding to the loss of dehydrated glucuronic acid or glucuronic acid were detected and they indicated the type of substitution and structural modification. Fragment ions originating from the sapogenin moiety in the positive mass spectra were predominantly provided by saponins having an 11-oxo-12-ene structure. On the other hand, the saponins gave fragment ions corresponding to the sugar moiety in the negative mass spectra. These results indicate the specific property of saponins that have the 11-oxo-12-ene structure to localize positive or negative charge in the mass spectrometric ionization and fragmentation process. Information...

The use of colchicine to induce polyploids increases secondary metabolite production potential and has been used for many years for the production of valuable compounds in plants. This project took advantage of this method to increase the production of secondary metabolites in licorice. For this purpose, seeds of licorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra var. glandulifera, were treated with different concentrations of colchicine for 24 hours and then cultivated in vitro. After a month, the effect of colchicine on the cellular DNA level of cotyledons was analyzed by spectrophotometry and flow cytometry. For callus induction, root explants of one month old plantlets derived from colchicine treated seeds were transferred to MS medium containing growth regulators and the anthocyanin and glycyrrhizic acid levels of the callus tissues were measured after two months of growth. The total DNA content of plantlets derived from seeds treated with 0.05%, 0.08% and 0.1% of colchicine for 24 hours was increas...

Glycyrrhiza glabra is used as Ayurveda medicine for many decades due to its great and broad medicinal activity. The present study aimed at carrying out phytochemical analysis and evaluates its in vitro antidiabetic, and antioxidant activities of traditional medicinal plant Glycyrrhiza glabra which was collected from the nearby area of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. An in vitro antidiabetic activity was evaluated by alpha-amylase methods and in vitro antioxidant activity by DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) assay. The Aqueous extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra root showed significant inhibition of alpha-amylase as compared to methanolic extract at various concentrations, whereas methanolic extract showed significant scavenging activity as compared to Aqueous extract at various concentrations. The phytochemical analysis revealed that Glycyrrhiza glabra root showed presence of secondary metabolites flavonoids, Saponin, glycosides, terpenoids etc. in different extracts which might be responsible for significant in vitro antidiabetic and antioxidant activities. Identification and isolation of active substances and secondary metabolites from such medicinal plants and their in vivo efficacy evaluation will help in further validation of pharmacological activities.

The root of the plant Aslussoos (Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn) has been used since prehistoric times, and is well documented in written form starting with the earliest Greeks. The roots and rhizomes of licorice (Glycyrrhiza species) have long been used globally as a medicine and natural sweetener. According to classical Unani text Aslussoos acts as a demulcent, concoctive of phlegm, expectorant etc. It is widely used for cold (Catarrh), cough, pharyngitis, hoarseness of voice etc. Some of the Unani compound formulations containing Aslussoos are Lauq-e-Sapistan Khiyar shambar, Mufeed Joshanda, Sharbat Nazla Safoof Asl-us-Soos, Sharbat-e-Aijaz, Jawarish Aslussoos etc. It is used mainly for the treatment of peptic ulcer, pulmonary and skin diseases. Clinical and experimental studies suggest that it has several other useful pharmacological properties apart from their traditional indications. It includes antitussive, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, antioxidative...

Two months after monolateral adrenalectomy, a 47-year-old woman stopped taking corticosteroid replacement therapy in the first 15 days of therapy. She was admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine because of hypertension, severe hypercalcemia, uncompensated metabolic alkalosis and clinical symptoms of acute adrenal insufficiency. The presence of hypokalemia and hypernatremia precluded a diagnosis of hypocortisolism, therefore no corticosteroids were given during the time required to investigate the cause of hypercalcemia, which resulted negative. Administration of intravenous saline infusion produced no improvement in her clinical condition. Despite electrolyte alterations, hydrocortison (100 mg i.v.) and zoledronate (4 mg i.v.) were also administered, leading to a rapid and marked improvement in her clinical picture within a few hours, with normalization of the calcemia and the other electrolytic disturbances. After her neurological condition had fully normalized, the patient...

Medicinal plants have been founded as traditional herbal medicine worldwide. Most of the plant's therapeutic properties are due to the presence of secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, glycosides, tannins and volatile oil. The present investigation analyzed the High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) fractions of Glycyrrhiza glabra (Aqueous, Chloroform, Ethanol and Hexane) against multidrug resistant human bacterial pathogens (Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). All the fractions showed antibacterial activity, were subjected to LC MS/MS analysis for identification of bioactive compounds. Among total HPLC fractions of G. glabra (n = 20), three HPLC fractions showed potential activity against multidrug resistant (MDR) bacterial isolates. Fraction 1 (F1) of aqueous extracts, showed activity against A. baumannii (15 ± 0.5 mm). F4 from hexane extract of G. glabra showed activity against S. aureus (10 ± 0.2 mm). However, ...

The present study was aimed to investigate antimicrobial potential of Glycyrrhiza glabra roots. Antimycobacterial activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra was found at 500 μg/mL concentration. Bioactivity guided phytochemical analysis identified glabridin as potentially active against both Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra and H37Rv strains at 29.16 μg/mL concentration. It exhibited antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Our results indicate potential use of licorice as antitubercular agent through systemic experiments and sophisticated anti-TB assay.

Ankaferd blood stopper (ABS) is a mixture of certain ratios of 5 different plant roots (Thymus vulgaris, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Vitis vinifera, Alpinia officinarum, and Urtica dioica). The aim of this study is to evaluate the histopathological effects of ABS on articular cartilage in vitro. Twenty-one albino Sprague Dawley rats were randomly allocated to 3 groups: 0.1 mL of saline was injected in the first group, 0.1 mL of ABS was injected in the second group, and 0.1 mL of blood and 0.1 mL of ABS were injected in the third group. One month later all rats were sacrificed. Specimens were obtained for histopathological evaluation. Significant results were detected in the groups with respect to International Cartilage Repair Society and synovial proliferation scores (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). According to inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrin formation scores, there was no significant difference between group 1 and group 2 (P < 0.01), although there was significant difference b...

Three immunomodulating herbs are used as examples of the complex interaction of herbs and T helper lymphocyte subsets: Astragalus penduliflorus (often called A. membranaceus, as- tragalus, or hu ́ang q ́ı), Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) and Glycyrrhiza uralensis (ga ̄ n caˇ o, Asian licorice), and Panax ginseng (Asian ginseng). Though a surface review of studies might suggest all of these are simple Th1 inducers and should thus aggravate Th1-dominant diseases, the clinical and pre- clinical evidence in fact show they are helpful in these and Th2-dominant conditions. This relates to the fact that they also affect Th17 and T regulatory subsets, as well as having many other actions (e.g., modulating inflammation) that are also beneficial. Immunomodulating herbs appear to be helpful in both Th1- and Th2-dominant conditions as a result, which fits with their traditional use. Claims to the contrary simply do not fit the available evidence.

Certain chemical and biological parameters of the plants including secondary metabolite accumulation are affected during the establishment of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Since, secondary metabolites are important from many aspects like food and pharmaceutical industries and also plant defense system, many studies are focused on the effects of fungal inoculation on different growth parameters and secondary production in plants. In this study, after simultaneous inoculation of licorice seeds with two fungal species Glomus mosseae and G. intraradices effects of inoculation on growth parameters and secondary production in 6-mounths old samples were assessed. Percentage of colonization, plant growth parameters, phosphorus and zinc, amount of glycyrrhizin, the total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids were measured. Results showed that length of roots and stems were increased as well as the number of leaflets, fresh and dry weights of seedlings, as compared to the control plants...

A new prenylated isoflavan, iconisoflavan (1), and a new prenylated isoflav-3-ene, iconisoflaven (2) were isolated from the roots of Glycyrrhiza iconica together with four known ones namely (3S)-licoricidin (3), licorisoflavan A (4), topazolin (5) and glycycoumarin (6). The structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR as well as HR-MS. Furthermore, the absolute configurations of compounds 1, 3 and 4 were established by electronic circular dichroism (ECD). All the isolated compounds (1-6) were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activities against five pathogenic bacteria and one yeast (Candida albicans) using an in vitro microdilution method. Compounds 1 and 3-5 displayed significant activity against Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 13311 with MIC values ranging from 2 to 8μg/mL. Additionally, all compounds were screened for their in vitro free radical scavenging activities using an in vitro microdilution DPPH assay spectrofotometrically. The tested compounds exhibited IC50 values in the range of 0.18-0.56mg/mL, suggesting an activity comparable with that of ascorbic acid (IC50: 0.07mg/mL). To the best of our knowledge, the present study constitutes the first phytochemical and bioactivity investigation on G. iconica.

An ultrasound-assisted extraction and chromolithic LC method was developed for simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and glycyrrhetinic acid (GL) from the root extract of Glycyrrhizza glabra using RPLC-PDA. The developed method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonisation. The method exhibited good linearity (r2 > 0.9989) with high precision and achieved good accuracies between 97.5 to 101.3% of quantitative results. The method is more sensitive and faster (resolved within ten minutes) than the earlier developed methods using normal LC columns.

Objective: In recent years, the incidences of opportunistic fungal pathogens have increased and development of fungal resistance to antifungal drugs is a global concern. Therefore, it is important to identify new antifungal agents. Saponins are secondary metabolites that are found in various plant species and show antifungal activity. The aim of the study was to evaluate antifungal activity of saponin extracted from the Glycyrrhiza glabra against Candida species (Candida albicans, Candida tropicalic and Candida glabrata). Antifungal activity Quillaja saponaria total saponin (QST) was also evaluated. Methods: The roots of the plant were dried, powdered and def-fatted with petroleum ether in a soxhlet apparatus. The air dried powder was successively extracted with methanol, n-butanol and diethyl ether. The antifungal activity of the saponins was carried out using well diffusion method and also the value of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) was calculated. Clotrimazole was used a...

An ultrasound-assisted extraction and chromolithic LC method was developed for simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and glycyrrhetinic acid (GL) from the root extract of Glycyrrhizza glabra using RPLC-PDA. The developed method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonisation. The method exhibited good linearity (r2 > 0.9989) with high precision and achieved good accuracies between 97.5 to 101.3% of quantitative results. The method is more sensitive and faster (resolved within ten minutes) than the earlier developed methods using normal LC columns.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the removal of toluene from gaseous solution throughGlycyrrhiza glabraroot (GGR) as a waste material. The batch adsorption experiments were conducted at various conditions including contact time, adsorbate concentration, humidity, and temperature. The adsorption capacity was increased by raising the sorbent humidity up to 50 percent. The adsorption of toluene was also increased over contact time by 12 h when the sorbent was saturated. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich model fitted the adsorption data better than other kinetic and isotherm models, respectively. The Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm also showed that the sorption by GGR was physical in nature. The results of the thermodynamic analysis illustrated that the adsorption process is exothermic. GGR as a novel adsorbent has not previously been used for the adsorption of pollutants.

Antitussive drugs are amongst the most widely used medications worldwide; however no new class of drugs has been introduced into the market for many years. Herein, we have analyzed the water-extracted polymeric fraction (WE) of Glycyrrhiza glabra. This arabinogalactan protein enriched fraction, ≥85% of which gets precipitated with Yariv reagent, consisted mainly of 3- and 3,6-linked galactopyranosyl, and 5- and

A collaborative study was conducted to validate an analytical method for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in licorice (root powder) and licorice extracts (paste and powder). Contents of OTA ranged from 26 to 141 μg/kg and from 8 to 52 μg/kg for licorice extracts and root material, respectively. For the analysis, a test portion is extracted with a mixture of methanol and aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution. The extract is filtered and diluted with phosphate-buffered saline; and OTA is purified with an immunoaffinity column containing antibodies specific to OTA. The purified extract is dried, reconstituted, and quantified by HPLC with fluorescence detection. Twenty laboratories from 13 European Union member states, Uruguay, Turkey, and the United States of America participated in this study. The study was evaluated according to internationally accepted guidelines. The method performance characteristics can be summarized as follows: over a working range of 7.7 to 141 μg/kg OTA, ...

The current work assessed the potential immunomodulatory and growth-promoting effects of Astragalus membranaceus (AM) and Glycyrrhiza glabra (liquorice) in Yellow perch (Perca flavescens). In this regard, fish with an average weight of 31 ± 1.0 g were divided into five groups, and fed daily with an additive-free basal diet (control); 1, 2, and 3% (w/w) Glycyrrhiza glabra, and the fifth diet was incorporated with a combination of 1% G. glabra-AM for a four-week period. Immunological, biochemical and growth parameters were measured; and sub-groups of fish were exposed to 1-week starvation. The results showed that incorporating AM and liquorice in the diet significantly improved Immunological [superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), Lipid peroxidase (LPx) and lysozyme activities], biochemical [Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine Transaminase (ALT) activities; and glucose and cortisol concentrations] and growth performance parameters [body mass...

An ultrasound-assisted extraction and chromolithic LC method was developed for simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and glycyrrhetinic acid (GL) from the root extract of Glycyrrhizza glabra using RPLC-PDA. The developed method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonisation. The method exhibited good linearity (r2 > 0.9989) with high precision and achieved good accuracies between 97.5 to 101.3% of quantitative results. The method is more sensitive and faster (resolved within ten minutes) than the earlier developed methods using normal LC columns.