editorial plant-derived antioxidants in disease...

EditorialPlant-Derived Antioxidants in Disease Prevention

Renata Szymanska,1 Pavel Pospisil,2 and Jerzy Kruk3

1Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science,AGH University of Science and Technology, Reymonta 19, 30-059 Krakow, Poland2Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Centre of the Region Hana for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research,Slechtitelu 27, Palacky University, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic3Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology,Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland

Correspondence should be addressed to Renata Szymanska; [email protected]

Received 1 December 2016; Accepted 1 December 2016

Copyright © 2016 Renata Szymanska et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited.

Plant-derived antioxidants are a large group of natural prod-ucts with reducing or radical-scavenging capacity. Due totheir potent preventive, as well as therapeutic actions, thesecompounds receive a great deal of attention by not onlyscientists but also pharmacologists and physicians.

Maintenance of redox homeostasis plays a central role inhealth and disease prevention. Oxidative stress is generatedby unbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) andantioxidants. Excess of ROS leads to degradation of lipids,proteins and nucleic acids and thus may lead to oxidativedamage of cells and in a consequence to overexpression ofoncogenes, mutagens formation, induction of atherogenicactivity, or inflammation. Oxidative stress is suggested to playa major role in pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, neu-rodegeneration, cancers, immune disorders, diabetes, aging,and others. Plants, especially dietary fruits and vegetables, area rich source of antioxidants. It is postulated that antioxidantsshow health benefits through direct reduction of oxidativestress. In the body, antioxidant network works in concertthrough several different mechanisms: ROS scavenging, ter-mination of lipid peroxidation, or chelating ofmetals. Despitethe fact that broad knowledge of antioxidant structures,properties, and biological actions has been gathered, manyaspects required clarification and further studies. Relativelylittle is known about cellular mechanisms of their therapeuticpotential, interactions with other compounds, appropriatedosage, and effectiveness of a treatment (especially their effectin randomized clinical trials). Furthermore, the bioactivenessof a large number of natural compounds remains unknown.

Well-known antioxidants, as well as those newly discovered,raise hopes for their use in the prevention and treatment ofthe above-mentioned diseases.

In this special issue, an attempt has been made to gatherarticles that update our understanding about the role of plant-derived antioxidants in disease prevention. These reportsfilled the gaps in the field of antioxidants research, allowbetter understanding of their action, and facilitate their futureusage in diseases prevention and treatment. The special issuecomplies sixteen (16) excellent articles including four (4)reviews, eleven (11) research papers, and one (1) clinicalstudy, which show current and recent developments in plant-derived antioxidant research.

The review by S. Perrone et al. summarizes the latestknowledge about the role of plant-derived xanthophyll,lutein, as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent inanimal model and human, with special focus on new-borns. An interesting review by Y. Zhao et al. describesmechanism of action and the clinical status of ligustrazine(tetramethylpyrazine), a natural compound from Ligusticumwallichii, which is extensively used in Chinese medicine fortreatment of such diseases as cardiovascular disorders, dia-betes, cancers, or liver injury. S. Ojha et al.’s review is focusedon the role on plant-derived compounds for counteractingcisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Cisplatin is a commonlyused chemotherapeutic, which very often induces organtoxicity, in particular of kidneys and ears. Thus, the authorsdescribe the most suitable plant-originated compounds thatare able to combat cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. A nice

Hindawi Publishing CorporationOxidative Medicine and Cellular LongevityVolume 2016, Article ID 1920208, 2 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1920208

2 Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

“methodological” review provided by A. M. Pisoschi et al.gathers the information about analytical methods which canbe applied for measurements of antioxidants and antioxidantcapacity of plant-derived products. This article describes theantioxidant extraction procedures and discusses advantagesand disadvantages of commonly used analytical methods forantioxidant detection.

ROS play a major role in pathogenesis of numerous dis-eases. It is believed that application of exogenous antioxidantsis a promising strategy to suppress oxidative stress associ-ated with those disorders or via other still not recognizedmechanisms. In this special issue most of research articlesshow that plant-derived compounds (or their extracts) actssuccessfully as suppressors of oxidation and can be usedin the future as therapeutic agents. The published papersshow data obtained either on (1) cell lines or (2) on theanimal models. The research article by P.-H. Li et al. showsthat ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts of medicinalplant Equisetum ramosissimum inhibit the growth of humanmalignant melanomas. Authors in in vitro experiments triedalso to explain themechanism of their action, which probablyis connected with caspase induction. Likewise, J. FerreiraCampos et al. evaluated the chemical profile of ethanolextract of Senna velutina leaves and showed its cytotoxic effectagainst leukemic cells. Next, Plinia peruviana (Jaboticaba)fruit peels, which is a rich source of phenolic compounds andwell-known antioxidant, were examined by H. S. Pitz et al.’sgroup. They have reported that a hydroalcoholic extract ofthis Brazilian plant has a positive potential during the woundhealing. In turn, B. Zhou et al. have explored the effect of soyoligopeptides in UVB-induced acute photodamage of humanskin. Topically applied soy oligopeptides showed protectiveeffects by increased Bcl-2 protein expression and decreasedCDPs-positive cells, sunburn cells, apoptotic cells, p53, andBax proteins expression in epidermis layer of UVB-irradiatedforeskin.

R. H. Oliveira Lopes et al. conducted the research onanimal models. They treated hyperlipidemic Wistar ratswith hydroethanolic extract of Curatella americana leaves.They have demonstrated that, as compared to the control,this extract contains compounds that have ability to lowercholesterol and triglycerides levels in tested rats. The studyof M. Xu et al. showed prophylactic effect of resveratrolon the incidence of portal vein system thrombosis in ratfibrosis model. The protective effects of resveratrol, amongothers, were connected with decrease in platelet aggregation,ROS production, and increase of nitric oxide synthesis. P. P.de Toledo Espinodola et al. group have also evaluated theantihyperlipidemic effects of plant extract. They tested rootwater extract of guavira (Campomanesia adamantium) onlipid profile of hyperlipidemic Wistar rats. The extract, richin phenolic compounds (mostly gallic and ellagic acids), hadability to lower lipid peroxidation and improve lipid serumlevel in animals. R. M. Perez-Gutierrez et al. isolated sixnovel flavonoids from the bark of Eysenhardtia polystachya.They tested their activity on streptozotocin-induced diabeticmice and found that newly discovered phenolics are potentantioxidants and can have therapeutic effects in diabetes.M. Kluknavsky et al. examined the effect of (−)-epicatechin

on locomotor activity and hypertension in commonly usedanimal model of hypertension, spontaneously hypertensiverats. (−)-Epicatechin treatment prevented from hypertensionand reduced locomotor hyperactivity which was, amongothers, the results of increase of nitric oxide synthase and totalantioxidants capacity in the blood. H. Li et al. studied the pro-tective effect of astragalan, an acidic polysaccharide isolatedfrom medicinal plant, Astragalus membranaceus, againstneurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine that can cause parkinson-ism. Experiments, which were performed on Caenorhabditiselegans models, have shown that Astragalus polysaccharideshows a great therapeutic potential in neurodegenerationtreatment. R. C. L. Affonso et al. investigated whetheraqueous extract of coffee bean residual press cake improvedthe skin wound healing. They found that coffee extractssignificantly reduced wound area size on the inflammatoryphase.

The article provided by X. Li et al. describes the resultsof clinical trial combined with preclinical studies on ratmodel. A clinical trial experiments confirmed the associationof oxidants/antioxidants unbalance with coronary chronictotal occlusion. They examined 399 patients at age of 80–89. The preclinical studies encompass rat treatment with apolysaccharide isolated from endothelium corneum gigeriaegalli. In both cases the authors have measured the levelof superoxide dismutase 3, nitric oxide, endothelial nitricoxide synthase, and malondialdehyde. The obtained resultshave shown that the tested polysaccharide could be usedas a potential therapeutic agent for coronary chronic totalocclusion in very old patients.

Taken altogether, the data presented in this special issuecover a series of topics addressing the role of plant-derivedantioxidants in different oxidative stress-related diseases pre-vention. We believed that the papers published in this specialissue enrich our understanding of a physiological action ofnatural products but also provide promising perspectives ontheir future usage as therapeutic agents. We are sure thatall the information provided in this issue will be of broadinterest.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the authors, reviewers, andeditorial staff who contributed to the preparation of thisspecial issue.

Renata SzymanskaPavel Pospisil

Jerzy Kruk

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