Oral administration of the purple passion fruit peel extract reduces wheeze and cough and improves shortness of breath in adults with asthma.

Asthma, affecting as many as 400 million individuals worldwide, is one of the most prevalent chronic health condition in the United States. With an increasing number of patients with asthma and the frequent inability of conventional lifestyle modification and therapy to effectively control the problem, nutritional and dietary therapies are being sought. This study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of the purple passion fruit peel (PFP) extract, a novel mixture of bioflavonoids, on asthma symptoms. Patients with asthma were studied in a 4-week randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial with oral administration of PFP extract (150 mg/d) or placebo pills. The effects of PFP extract were evaluated by assessing the clinical symptoms of asthma and spirometry tests. Most clinical symptoms of asthma of the PFP extract-treated group were moderated significantly compared to the baseline. The prevalence of wheeze, cough, as well as shortness of breath was reduced significantly in group treated with PFP extract (P < .05), whereas the placebo caused no significant improvement. Purple passion fruit peel extract supplementation resulted in a marked increase in forced vital capacity (P < .05) as placebo showed no effect. However, no significant improvement was observed in the forced expiratory volume at 1 second of those supplemented with PFP extract. No adverse effect was reported by any of study participants. The PFP extract may be safely offered to asthmatic subjects as an alternative treatment option to reduce clinical symptoms.

Tannins and related compounds induce nitric oxide synthase and cytokines gene expressions in Leishmania major-infected macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells.

Some polyphenol-containing extracts (Pelargonium sidoides, Phyllanthus amarus) and representatives of simple phenols (shikimic acid 3- and 5-O-gallate), flavan-3-ols (epigallocatechin 3-gallate), proanthocyanidins (a hexamer) and hydrolysable tannins (corilagin, casuariin, geraniin) were studied for gene expressions (iNOS, IL-1, IL-10, IL-12, IL-18, TNF-alpha, IFN-alpha/gamma) by RT-PCR. All extracts and compounds were capable of enhancing the iNOS and cytokine mRNA levels in parasitised cells when compared with those in non-infected conditions.

Floral procyanidins of the forage legume red clover (Trifolium pratense L.).

The chemical characteristics of the purified procyanidin polymers of the flowers of the forage legume red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) were studied by (13)C NMR, acid-catalyzed degradation with benzyl mercaptan, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The (13)C NMR showed that the fraction consisted of predominantly procyanidin polymers. The thiolysis reaction products indicated a mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of 9.3 with epicatechin (81%) as the abundant flavan-3-ol extension unit and the terminating units dominated by catechin (95%). ESI-MS showed a range of oligomeric procyanidin ions (DP of 2-11). The white clover floral prodelphinidins consist of terminal units with nearly equal proportions of epigallocatechin (52%) and gallocatechin (48%) and extender units showing epigallocatechin (56%) and gallocatechin (39%). The dramatic difference in the stereochemistry of the terminal and extender units observed for the red clover floral procyanidins contrasts with the mixture of cis and trans stereochemistry observed for white clover floral prodelphinidins.

Evaluation of sage phenolics for their antileishmanial activity and modulatory effects on interleukin-6, interferon and tumour necrosis factor-alpha-release in RAW 264.7 cells.

A series of sage phenolics was tested for activity against a panel of Leishmania parasites and for immunomodulatory effects on macrophage functions including release of tumour necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interferon (IFN)-like activities. For this, functional bioassays were employed including an in vitro model for leishmaniasis in which macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells were infected with Leishmania parasites, an extracellular Leishmania growth-inhibition assay, a fibroblast-lysis assay for TNF-activity, a cell proliferation assay using IL-6 sensitive murine B9 hybridoma cells, and a virus protection assay for IFN-like activity. Whereas none of the test samples exhibited marked activities against extracellular Leishmania promastigotes (IC50 > 700 to > 2800 nM; > 500 microg/ml), caffeic acid, salvianolic acids K and L as well as the methyl ester of salvianolic acid I showed pronounced antileishmanial activities against intracellular amastigote stages within RAW cells (IC50 3-23 nM vs. 10-11 nM for the reference Pentostam). Noteworthy, the phenolic samples showed no cytotoxicity against the host cells (IC50 > 600 to > 2200 nM; > 400 microg/ml). Tested sage phenolics activated Leishmania-infected RAW 264.7 for release of TNF ranging 22-117 U/ml and IL-6 ranging 3-42 U/ml. In contrast, their TNF- or IL-6-inducing potential in experiments with non-infected host cells was negligible. Furthermore, caffeic acid and salvianolic acid K induced a modest release of IFN-like activity (5-9 and 2-4 U/ml, respectively) as reflected by inhibition of the cytopathic effect of encephalomyocarditis virus on L929 cells. The results support the emerging picture that plant polyphenols may be credited for the profound health-beneficial properties of various herbal medicines and agricultural products.