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Compounds derived from nature have played a major role in drug discovery. They became the basis for the development of new pharmaceuticals. In this scope, family Cucurbitaceae is a prominent source of secondary metabolites, mainly triterpenoids. In this paper, we provide a brief review of cucurbitane metabolites that exhibit an extensive range of b...
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... (9) [19] in the natural juice from Aronia melanocarpa have been used as anti-inflammatory drugs (Fig. 2). Manoalide (10) [20] from the sponge Luffariella variabilis, diterpene lactones andrographolide (11) [21,22] and 14-deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide (12) from A. paniculata are considered to possess anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity (Fig. 3). Pdophyllotoxin (13), vinblastine (14) and vincristine (15), [23] from Podophyllum peltatum [24][25][26], Madagascan periwinkle and Catharanthus roseus respectively, are used in the treatment of childhood leukemia and have antimitotic activity (Fig. 3) [27]. Taxol (16) from the bark of the Pacific or American yew tree Taxus brevifolia ...
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... (12) from A. paniculata are considered to possess anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity (Fig. 3). Pdophyllotoxin (13), vinblastine (14) and vincristine (15), [23] from Podophyllum peltatum [24][25][26], Madagascan periwinkle and Catharanthus roseus respectively, are used in the treatment of childhood leukemia and have antimitotic activity (Fig. 3) [27]. Taxol (16) from the bark of the Pacific or American yew tree Taxus brevifolia and epothilone (17) from myxobacteria, are used as anticancer drugs, while it is reported that 17 is more potent than taxol (Fig. 3) [28,29]. Camptothecin (18) [30] was isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminate, and is currently being ...
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... periwinkle and Catharanthus roseus respectively, are used in the treatment of childhood leukemia and have antimitotic activity (Fig. 3) [27]. Taxol (16) from the bark of the Pacific or American yew tree Taxus brevifolia and epothilone (17) from myxobacteria, are used as anticancer drugs, while it is reported that 17 is more potent than taxol (Fig. 3) [28,29]. Camptothecin (18) [30] was isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminate, and is currently being developed as an anticancer agent (Fig. 3). Cephalotaxine (19), an alkaloid, is obtained from Cephalotaxus harringtonia and possesses antineoplastic activity against murine lymphocytic leukemia (Fig. 3) ...
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... from the bark of the Pacific or American yew tree Taxus brevifolia and epothilone (17) from myxobacteria, are used as anticancer drugs, while it is reported that 17 is more potent than taxol (Fig. 3) [28,29]. Camptothecin (18) [30] was isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminate, and is currently being developed as an anticancer agent (Fig. 3). Cephalotaxine (19), an alkaloid, is obtained from Cephalotaxus harringtonia and possesses antineoplastic activity against murine lymphocytic leukemia (Fig. 3) ...
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... that 17 is more potent than taxol (Fig. 3) [28,29]. Camptothecin (18) [30] was isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminate, and is currently being developed as an anticancer agent (Fig. 3). Cephalotaxine (19), an alkaloid, is obtained from Cephalotaxus harringtonia and possesses antineoplastic activity against murine lymphocytic leukemia (Fig. 3) ...
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... balsaminol F (75), balsaminagenin A (76), balsaminagenin B (77), balsaminoside A (78) and karavilagenin C (79) (Fig. 12) Fig. (9). Triterpene derivatives. Balsaminols C-E (80-82) along with cucurbitacins (83- 92) isolated from M. balsamina displayed antimalarial activity with IC 50 values of 4.6-7.4 µM for 3D7 and 4.0-8.2 µM for Dd2, respectively (Fig. 13) ...
Citations
... domesticado (Chomicki et al., 2020). PAIDEIA XXI La familia Cucurbitaceae es una fuente destacada de metabolitos secundarios, principalmente triterpenoides, los metabolitos de cucurbitano exhiben una amplia gama de acciones biológicas, específicamente efectos antidiabéticos, antiinflamatorios, citotóxicos, hepatoprotectores y antiparasitarios (Shah et al., 2014). ...
El hombre ha adoptado por innumerables procedimientos para mejorar la calidad de sus productos agrícolas, así como también para mitigar las adversidades que se pueden producir en los cultivos, buscando alternativas para mejorar los suelos, producir en condiciones controladas, garantizar la rentabilidad en las cosechas y aportar a la salud de los consumidores. La agricultura agroecológica u otras expresiones es el resultado de la agricultura intensiva, industrial, o de la revolución verde por los impactos negativos sobre el suelo, la atmósfera y los cultivos como las cucurbitáceas entre las que se destacan: melón (Cucumis melo L.), sandía (Citrullus lanatus T.), pepino (Cucumis sativus L.), zapallo (Cucurbita máxima D.), entre otras. El objetivo de este trabajo fue desarrollar una revisión de literatura sobre el uso de fertilizantes orgánicos en cucurbitáceas. Se utilizó en la revisión de 56 documentos científicos en inglés, español y portugués, incluidas en Web of Science, SCOPUS, Scielo, Redalyc y Latindex 2.0 desde el año 2010 hasta 2023, utilizando las palabras claves ¨familia Cucurbitaceae¨, ¨importancia de las Cucurbitáceas¨, ¨fertilizantes orgánicos¨, ¨uso de fertilizantes orgánicos en las Cucurbitáceas¨, además se utilizaron operadores boleanos como el ¨and¨ en las búsquedas con fertilizante orgánico y cucurbitáceas específicas. Se observó que mayor uso de fertilizante orgánico provino del estiércol bovino en ocho documentos (50%). Se pudo concluir que es posible producir cucurbitáceas con diferentes abonos orgánicos y que su producción y calidad dependen del contenido nutricional de los mismos, así como de factores edafoclimáticos relacionados al cultivo.
... Bitter gourd (Momordica spp.), an herbaceous climbing plant of Cucurbitaceae, originated from the tropical regions of Africa and is currently widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia (Schaefer and Renner, 2010). Its seeds have various bioactive components such as ribosome-inactivating proteins (Puri et al., 2009), trypsin inhibitors (Lo et al., 2014), cucurbitane triterpenoids (Chen et al., 2005;Shah et al., 2014), and hypoglycemic peptide (Khanna et al., 1981;Wang et al., 2011). Most cultivated bitter gourds have yellow seeds; however, black, brown patched, brownish tan, and whitish brown-colored seeds have also been reported in the wild and semi-domesticated varieties (Kole et al., 2020). ...
Seed coat color is one of the most intuitive phenotypes in bitter gourd (Momordica spp.). Although the inheritance of the seed coat color has been reported, the gene responsible for it is still unknown. This study used two sets of parents, representing, respectively, the intersubspecific and intraspecific materials of bitter gourd, and their respective F1 and F2 progenies for genetic analysis and primary mapping of the seed coat color. A large F2:3 population comprising 2,975 seedlings from intraspecific hybridization was used to fine-map the seed coat color gene. The results inferred that a single gene, named McSC1, controlled the seed coat color and that the black color was dominant over the yellow color. The McSC1 locus was mapped to a region with a physical length of ∼7.8 Mb and 42.7 kb on pseudochromosome 3 via bulked segregant analysis with whole-genome resequencing (BSA-seq) and linkage analysis, respectively. Subsequently, the McSC1 locus was further fine-mapped to a 13.2-kb region containing only one candidate gene, MC03g0810, encoding a polyphenol oxidase (PPO). Additionally, the variations of MC03g0810 in the 89 bitter gourd germplasms showed a complete correlation with the seed coat color. Expression and PPO activity analyses showed a positive correlation between the expression level of MC03g0810 and its product PPO and the seed coat color. Therefore, MC03g0810 was proposed as the causal gene of McSC1. Our results provide an important reference for molecular marker-assisted breeding based on the seed coat color and uncover molecular mechanisms of the seed coat color formation in bitter gourd.
... For these reasons, this species has been regarded as a gifted plant by some rural populations. Some reviews have been published about Cucurbitaceae and Momordica species, particularly focusing on Momordica charantia, the most studied species of the genus (Dhiman et al. 2012;Bharathi and John 2013;Shah et al. 2014; Omokhua-Uyi and Van Staden 2020; Muronga et al. 2021). Different aspects of M. balsamina have also been reported in these reviews, mostly covering its nutritional and medicinal properties. ...
... Besides growing widely, Cucurbitaceae have become one of the plant families most cultivated around the world (Shah et al. 2014;Omokhua-Uyi and Van Staden 2020). Some of the most economically important cucurbits include watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), melon (Cucumis melo), cucumber (Cucumis sativus), pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) and bitter gourd (M. ...
Momordica balsamina L. (Cucurbitaceae), frequently named balsam apple, southern balsam pear or African pumpkin, is a vegetable with high nutritional value, being mostly used as food in sub-Saharan Africa. It has also been largely used in traditional medicine to treat several diseases, such as malaria fevers and diabetes. As a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, the main constituents are cucurbitane-type triterpenoids, with different oxidation patterns, named cucurbitacins. This review aims at summarizing our contribution to the phytochemical study of M. balsamina and the evaluation of the
isolated cucurbitacins and derivatives as multidrug resistance reversers in cancer cells and bacteria. In this way, the selective antiproliferative activity against multidrug resistant cancer cells of cucurbitacins obtained from M. balsamina, their ability as P-glycoprotein inhibitors in cancer cells overexpressing this ABC transporter, as well as efflux pump inhibitors in resistant bacteria strains are reviewed. Moreover, the in vitro antimalarial activity of cucurbitacins and acyl derivatives against the blood and liver-stages of Plasmodium strains, and the in vivo activity of selected compounds is also reviewed. Besides our work, edible and medicinal uses, and other studies mainly reporting the biological activities of M. balsamina extracts, such as antidiabetic, antibacterial,
anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties are also addressed.
... Naturally occurring dietary compounds have gained increasing attention for the prevention of various types of cancers and viral infections, including HIV [17][18][19][20]. Cucurbitacin-D (Cur-D) is a tetracyclic triterpene commonly found in the cucurbitaceae family, which has been used in conventional medicine for decades [17,21]. However, no study has demonstrated its anti-HIV activity. ...
Chemodietary agents are emerging as promising adjuvant therapies in treating various disease conditions. However, there are no adjuvant therapies available to minimize the neurotoxicity of currently existing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). In this study, we investigated the anti-HIV effect of a chemodietary agent, Cucurbitacin-D (Cur-D), in HIV-infected macrophages using an in-vitro blood–brain barrier (BBB) model. Since tobacco smoking is prevalent in the HIV population, and it exacerbates HIV replication, we also tested the effect of Cur-D against cigarette smoke condensate (CSC)-induced HIV replication. Our results showed that Cur-D treatment reduces the viral load in a dose-dependent (0–1 µM) manner without causing significant toxicity at <1 µM concentration. Further, a daily dose of Cur-D (0.1 µM) not only reduced p24 in control conditions, but also reduced CSC (10 µg/mL)-induced p24 in U1 cells. Similarly, Cur-D (single dose of 0.4 µM) significantly reduced the CSC (single dose of 40 µg/mL)-induced HIV replication across the BBB model. In addition, treatment with Cur-D reduced the level of pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. Therefore, Cur-D, as an adjuvant therapy, may be used not only to suppress HIV in the brain, but also to reduce the CNS toxicity of currently existing ARVs.
... Cucurbitaceae family is a well-known source of secondary metabolites, mostly triterpenoids. These cucurbitane metabolites exhibit a wide range of biological actions especially anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, cytotoxic, antiparasitic effects, and hepatoprotective (Shah et al., 2014) [42] . ...
Pakistan has variety of medicinal herbs, shrubs, and other plants, useful to treat wide range of diseases. Medicines obtained from plants have fewer side effects and are inexpensive. Natural products obtained from the biologically active plants extract are being used to explore new antibiotics to treat infectious diseases. Plants extracts are comprised of herbal antioxidants which help to boost immunity against diabetes by inhibiting peroxidation chain reaction. Alkaloids, flavonoids, and other biologically active compounds extracted from the different parts of medicinal plants have great potential to inhibit α-glucosidase.
... Some cucurbitanes have been isolated from different species of the Cucurbitaceae family. These compounds exhibit an extensive range of biological actions, specifically antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, hepatoprotective, cardiovascular, and antiparasitic effects [7]. ...
... Earlier studies have revealed that the Cucurbitaceae family is rich in various phytoconstituents like flavones C-glycosides, Cucurbitacin (B, D, G & H), triterpenoids, water-soluble polysaccharides and other di- verse groups of proteins like lectins, ribosome inactivating proteins, etc are reported in the Cucurbitaceae family [36][37][38]. Phloem exudates/ sap or latex is believed that they are rich in lectin-like protein with diverse metabolites having a wide variety of therapeutic potentials [39,40]. ...
Praecitrullus fistulosus, belonging to the family of Cucurbitaceae is a tropical vegetable and medicinal plant, grown and consumed extensively in subtropical countries, including the subcontinent India. However, there are limited reports on the medicinal properties of the plant and need to be explored. The lectin identified from the fruit sap of Praecitrullus fistulosus, named as PfLP, possesses potent agglutinating activity against trypsinized rabbit erythrocytes and exhibited its functional role against tumor progression, on in vitro &in vivo models. Experimental results revealed that PfLP shows a promising cytotoxic effect against multiple cancer cell lines. Further, we examined the in vivo anticancer and anti-angiogenic properties of PfLP against EAC bearing mice. PfLP treatment resulted in tumor growth inhibition and increased the life-span of the EAC bearing mice, without showing any detectable side effects, as revealed by histological parameters. Further, a significant decrease in the ascites VEGF secretion level was parallel with a drastic reduction in tumoral neovasculature as evidence for angiogenic parameters. Gelatin zymogram study reveals that PfLP inhibits metalloproteinases (MMP-2 & MMP-9) activity in order to execute its anti-angiogenic effect. PfLP has also inducing apoptosis, in cancer cells was revealed by DNA fragmentation assay followed by Giemsa and AO/EBr staining method, showed the apoptotic bodies and condensed nuclei compared to control cells. More interestingly, PfLP did not exhibit any adverse side effects or secondary complications in normal mice. These results clearly exhibit the potential role of PfLP in regressing the tumor progression by targeting angiogenesis and inducing cell death in mouse transplantable tumor.
... The gourds family of vegetables or Cucurbitaceae have been extensively studied for their pharmacological activities. The gourds family ( Fig. 2A) includes ash gourd, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, ridged gourd, pumpkin and snake gourd are grown to be consumed in daily diet due to their high medicinal value and nutritional benefits [64]. The ash gourd (Benincasa hispida), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) are among the most commonly planted and consumed for various therapeutic applications. ...
Amounting scientific evidences have revealed the antitumor, antimetastatic, antiangiogenic, antiproliferative, chemopreventive and neo-adjuvant efficacy of Prophetic Medicine in various in vitro, in vivo and clinical cancer models. Prophetic Medicine includes plants, dietary materials or spices that were used as remedy recipes and nutrition by the great Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to treat various ailments. Prophetic medicine is the total authentic Hadith narrated by the Prophet (PBUH) in relation to medicine, whether Qur'anic verses or honourable Prophetic Hadith. The ability of functional foods from Prophetic Medicine to modulate various signalling pathways and multidrug resistance conferring proteins with low side-effects exemplify their great potential as neo-adjuvants and/or chemotherapeutics. The present review aims to provide the collective in vitro, in vivo, clinical and epidemiology information of Prophetic Medicines, and their bioactive constituents and molecular mechanisms as potential functional foods for the management of cancer.
... In this regard, the use of plants and plant extracts for treating a disease or disease symptoms have played a role in medical care for thousands of years. Although the use of plant extract is no longer a major aspect of medical care practiced in Western countries, it is still popular in large parts of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Europe [107]. However, many pharmaceutical agents currently being prescribed have been derived from natural compounds found in traditional medicinal plants; a fact that seems to be disregarded by medical practitioners in the western world [108]. ...
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that is characterized by hyperglycemia due to lack of or resistance to insulin. Patients with diabetes are frequently afflicted with ischemic vascular disease and impaired wound healing. Type 2 diabetes is known to accelerate atherosclerotic processes, endothelial cell dysfunction, glycosylation of extracellular matrix proteins, and vascular denervation. Herbal medicines and naturally occurring substances may positively affect diabetes management, and could thus be utilized as cost-effective means of supporting treatment in developing countries. Natural treatments have been used in these countries for a long time to treat diabetes. The present review analyses the features of aberrant angiogenesis, abnormalities in growth factors, oxidative stress, and metabolic derangements relevant to diabetes, and how herbal substances and their active chemical constituents may counteract these events. Evidence for possible biochemical effectiveness and limitations of herbal medicines are given, as well as details regarding the role of cytokines and nitric oxide.
