Butein

Skin cancer incidence has drastically increased, causing a significant impact on global health. Increased UV radiation, along with changes in genetic and environmental factors, triggers the uncontrolled proliferation of skin cells. To address the increasing incidence of skin cancer, the discovery of novel treatment strategies is crucial. Natural products are one of the promising and alternative approaches for the treatment of skin cancer, which helps to mitigate the growing global health burden. Butein, naturally present in many plant families, demonstrates significant pharmacological properties, including anticancer activity. It inhibits the metastatic behavior in mouse melanoma cells; however, its effect on human skin carcinoma cell lines remains unexplored. Thus, this study investigates the anticancer potential of butein on skin carcinoma by employing different cytotoxicity assays such as Sulphorhodamine B (SRB), Neutral Red Uptake (NRU), and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Further, cell-based assays and molecular interaction studies were performed to explore the inhibitory potential of butein on lipoxygenase-5 (LOX-5) and hyaluronidase, prominent cancer markers. Further investigation revealed that butein arrests cell cycle progression, increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and disrupts the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), leading to both apoptotic and necrotic cell death. In addition, butein possesses good oral bioavailability, drug-like properties, and high gastrointestinal absorption in prediction studies, while it did not alter human erythrocytes' integrity in an ex vivo study, suggesting it is a possible candidate for future trials.

Aerial parts from the herb Anacyclus valentinus L. are traditionally used by the local populations in Algeria to treat infections and several diseases such as diabetes, cholesterol disorders, abdominal pains, indigestion, digestive disorders, colic and pains, and commonly employed in culinary preparationsThey are rich in bioactive compounds, such as terpenes and flavonoids.This work aimed to explore A. valentinus as a potential source of bioactive mols. with food and pharmaceutical applications.Ethanol crude extract and fractions (hexane, chloroform, Et acetate, n-butanol and aqueous) were obtained from aerial parts of this herb and evaluated for radical scavenging activity (RSA) on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and OH radicals, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), silver ions (Ag+) reducing potential, and for ferric-ion-based total antioxidant capacity.Extracts were also studied for in vitro inhibition of enzymes implicated on the onset of neurol. diseases (butyrylcholinesterase: BuChE) and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM, α-amylase).The total contents of phenolics (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), and tannins (TTC) were determined by colorimetric methods.Qual. analyses of this herb were performed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatog. system coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI/MSMS).The results revealed that the polar extracts had significant RSA and capacity to reduce iron, and silver ions (Ag+).The extracts had a higher activity toward BuChE and α-amylase, especially the hexane fraction and crude ethanol extractThe n-butanol fraction had the highest TPC (214.64 mg GAE/g DE), Et acetate had the highest flavonoid levels (145.44 CE/g DE), whereas the ethanol crude extract had the highest TTC (402.38 mg CE/g DE).Isorhamnetin (1), scilliglaucoside (2), butein (3), gallocatechin (4), protocatechuic acid hexoside (5), myricetin derivative (6), ferulic acid derivative (7), quercetin (8), luteolin 3-O-glucoside (9), and caffeic acid derivative (10) were identified in Et acetate and n-butanol fractions.The findings suggest A. valentinus as a promising source of biol. active mols. with food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical applications.