lignans and cinnamaldehyde

Oxidative stress contributes to the pathogenesis of many human diseases. Cinnamon is a worldwide used spice, dietary supplement and traditional medicine, and is used for the therapy of oxidative stress related diseases. A well-established concept is that the functions of cinnamon preventing oxidative stress-induced diseases are attributed to the occurrence of cinnamaldehyde and its analogues.. In our continuous searching of natural molecules with antioxidant capacity, we have found that cinnamaldehyde and its analogues in cinnamon are weak inhibitors of oxidative stress, and thus we speculate that there are novel and/or potent molecules inhibiting oxidative stress in cinnamon.. A systemic phytochemical investigation of cinnamon using column chromatography was performed to identify the chemical constituents of cinnamon, and then their capacity of inhibiting oxidative stress and action of mechanism targeting Nrf2 pathway were investigated using diverse bioassay, including NAD(P)H: quinone reductase (QR) assay, immunoblot analysis, luciferase reporter gene assay, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry.. Cinnamon improved the intracellular antioxidant capacity. A systemic phytochemical investigation of cinnamon gave the isolation of twenty-two chemical ingredients. The purified constituents were tested for their potential inhibitory effects against oxidative stress. Besides cinnamaldehyde analogues, a lignan pinoresinol (PRO) and a flavonol (-)-(2R,3R)-5,7-dimethoxy-3', 4'-methylenedioxy-flavan-3-ol (MFO) were firstly identified to be inhibitors of oxidative stress. Further study indicated that PRO and MFO activated Nrf2-mediated antioxidant response, and protected human lung epithelial cells against sodium arsenite [As(III)]-induced oxidative insults.. The lignan PRO and the flavonoid MFO are two novel Nrf2 activators protecting tissues against oxidative insults, and these two constituents support the application of cinnamon as an agent against oxidative stress related diseases.

Topics: Acrolein; Animals; Antioxidants; Arsenites; Cell Line; Cinnamomum zeylanicum; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Epithelial Cells; Flavonoids; Furans; Humans; Lignans; Mice; NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone); NF-E2-Related Factor 2; Oxidative Stress; Protective Agents; Sodium Compounds

In this study, we evaluated cytotoxicity of chemicals isolated from Torricellia tiliifolia DC. on Spodoptera litura (SL-1) cell line. Among the isolated compounds, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamaldehyde, 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamaldehyde, and syringaresinol inhibited SL-1 cell survival in both dose- and time-dependent manners. Meanwhile, the in vivo insecticidal activity test revealed that 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamaldehyde and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamaldehyde showed obvious insecticidal activities. These two compounds exhibited toxicity to SL-1 cells by inducing cellular morphological changes including shape change, cell shrinkage, vacuolation, cell membrane blebbing and chromatin condensation and apoptosis. 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamaldehyde and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamaldehyde showed the most effect on mitochondrial membrane depolarization at 24h and 72h respectively and induced the apoptosis at a late time point 72h. Our results suggest that 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamaldehyde and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamaldehyde inhibit SL-1 survival by inducing apoptosis.

Topics: Acrolein; Animals; Apoptosis; Cell Line; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Furans; Lignans; Magnoliopsida; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial; Plant Extracts; Spodoptera