Ricerc@Sapienza

In the present study, the ability of the natural sesquiterpene β-caryophyllene (CRY) and its metabolite β-caryophyllene oxide (CRYO) to inhibit the genotoxicity of a condensate of cigarette smoke (CSC) was evaluated both in bacterial and mammalian cells. Also, the inhibition of the CSC-mediated STAT3 phosphorylation and intracellular oxidative stress was evaluated as potential chemopreventive mechanism. Under our experimental conditions, both the sesquiterpenes exhibited antimutagenic properties, being CRY the most potent compound.

Chemoprevention is referred to as a strategy to inhibit, suppress, or reverse tumor development and progression in healthy people along with high-risk subjects and oncologic patients through using pharmacological or natural substances. Numerous phytochemicals have been widely described in the literature to possess chemopreventive properties, although their clinical usefulness remains to be defined. Among them, caryophyllane sesquiterpenes are natural compounds widely occurring in nature kingdoms, especially in plants, fungi, and marine environments.

Doxorubicin represents a valuable choice for different cancers, although the severe side effects occurring at the high effective dose limits its clinical use. In the present study, potential strategies to potentiate low-dose doxorubicin efficacy, including a metronomic schedule, characterized by a short and repeated exposure to the anticancer drug, and the combination with the natural chemosensitizing sesquiterpenes β-caryophyllene and β-caryophyllene oxide, were assessed in human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

Harpagophytum procumbens (Burch.) DC. ex Meisn. is a traditional remedy for osteoarticular diseases, including osteoarthritis (OA), although the bioactive constituents and mechanisms involved are yet to be clarified. In the present study, an aqueous H. procumbens root extract (HPE; containing 1.2% harpagoside) was characterized for its effects on synoviocytes from OA patients and phytochemical composition in polyphenols, and volatile compounds were detected.