Therapeutic Applications of Rosmarinic Acid in Cancer-Chemotherapy-Associated Resistance and Toxicity.

Chemotherapeutic drugs and radiotherapy are fundamental treatments to combat cancer, but, often, the doses in these treatments are restricted by their non-selective toxicities, which affect healthy tissues surrounding tumors. On the other hand, drug resistance is recognized as the main cause of chemotherapeutic treatment failure. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a polyphenol of the phenylpropanoid family that is widely distributed in plants and vegetables, including medicinal aromatic herbs, consumption of which has demonstrated beneficial activities as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories and reduced the risks of cancers. Recently, several studies have shown that RA is able to reverse cancer resistance to first-line chemotherapeutics, as well as play a protective role against toxicity induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, mainly due to its scavenger capacity. This review compiles information from 56 articles from Google Scholar, PubMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov aimed at addressing the role of RA as a complementary therapy in cancer treatment.

Chemical constituents from the leaves of Elaeocarpus floribundus.

The genus Elaeocarpus belongs to the Elaeocarpaceae family, consists of about 350 species distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions. Plants in the genus, reportedly, contain compounds known for various biological activities like affinity for the δ-opioid receptor, antioxidant, cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activities. Elaeocarpus floribundus, commonly known in India as 'Indian Olive' is a medicinal plant widely distributed through Eastern Asia and the pacific. Here, we report the isolation and spectroscopic characterization of fifteen compounds (1-15) and additional three compounds (16-18) were obtained as mixtures. This includes four fatty acids, three diterpenoids, one triterpene alcohol, two fatty alcohols, three phaeophytins, one phytosterol, one sesquiterpene, and three hydrocarbons from the hexane extract of the leaves. Compounds 1-18 are reported for the first time from this source. To the best of our knowledge, this is an initial report of the isolation of compounds 1-11, and 14-18 from the genus Elaeocarpus.