Pomegranate as a cosmeceutical source: pomegranate fractions promote proliferation and procollagen synthesis and inhibit matrix metalloproteinase-1 production in human skin cells

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is an ancient fruit with exceptionally rich ethnomedical applications. The peel (pericarp) is well regarded for its astringent properties; the seeds for conferring invulnerability in combat and stimulating beauty and fertility. Here, aqueous fractions prepared from the fruit's peel and fermented juice and lipophilic fractions prepared from pomegranate seeds were examined for effects on human epidermal keratinocyte and human dermal fibroblast function. Pomegranate seed oil, but not aqueous extracts of fermented juice, peel or seed cake, was shown to stimulate keratinocyte proliferation in monolayer culture. In parallel, a mild thickening of the epidermis (without the loss of ordered differentiation) was observed in skin organ culture. The same pomegranate seed oil that stimulated keratinocyte proliferation was without effect on fibroblast function. In contrast, pomegranate peel extract (and to a lesser extent, both the fermented juice and seed cake extracts) stimulated type I procollagen synthesis and inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1; interstitial collagenase) production by dermal fibroblasts, but had no growth-supporting effect on keratinocytes. These results suggest heuristic potential of pomegranate fractions for facilitating skin repair in a polar manner, namely aqueous extracts (especially of pomegranate peel) promoting regeneration of dermis, and pomegranate seed oil promoting regeneration of epidermis.     

Pomegranate peel and fruit extracts: A review of potential anti-inflammatory and anti-infective effects

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) has been used for centuries in many cultures for the prevention and treatment of a wide number of health disorders such as inflammation, diabetes, diarrhea, dysentery, dental plaque and to combat intestinal infections and malarial parasites.

Aim of the review

This review aims at providing an up-to-date overview of the chemical constituents, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of Punica granatum L. Moreover, the focus of this review is the possible exploitation of this species to treat different diseases and to suggest future investigations.

Materials and methods

An extensive and systematic review of the extant literature was carried out, and the data under various sections were identified by using a computerized bibliographic search via PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. All abstracts and full-text articles were examined. The most relevant articles were selected for screening and inclusion in this review.

Key findings

A variety of pomegranate ethnomedical uses have been recorded. Additionally, over the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase of interest in pomegranate as a medicinal and nutritional product due to its n1ewly identified potential health effects, which include treatment and prevention of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. From the toxicological perspective, pomegranate fruit juice, extracts and preparations have been proven to be safe.

Conclusions

The ethnopharmacological relevance of pomegranate is fully justified by the most recent findings indicating the fruit is a medicinal and nutritional agent useful for treating a wide range of human disorders and maladies. Further investigations are needed to fully understand the mode of action of the active constituents and to fully exploit pomegranate’s preventive and therapeutic potential.     

石榴不同药用部位对中枢神经系统疾病的作用机制研究进展

中药对中枢神经系统（CNS）疾病的作用和机制是近年来研究的热点。石榴科植物石榴Punica granatum L.对CNS疾病的作用受到广泛关注,石榴籽、石榴皮、石榴花、石榴汁等不同药用部位均被发现可用于治疗CNS疾病。因此,对石榴不同药用部位成分进行比较,并总结各个药用部位对不同CNS疾病（阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病、神经胶质瘤、创伤性脑损伤等）的作用,为进一步研究石榴治疗CNS疾病的物质基础及作用机制、发挥其药用价值提供参考。     

Assessment of the genotoxic risk of Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) whole fruit extracts

Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) whole fruit extracts, have been used in Cuban traditional medicine as an effective drug for the treatment of respiratory diseases. This species showed interesting anti-viral activity, e.g. aqueous or hydroalcoholic extracts of whole fruits have proved highly active against the influenza virus. However, some toxic properties of this extract have also been reported and, to date, very little is known about its genotoxic properties. In the present study, the genotoxicity of a Punica granatum (pomegranate) whole fruit extract was assessed using different in vitro and in vivo assays that detect DNA damage at different expression levels. Results from reversion and gene-conversion test in microorganisms, sister chromatid exchanges, micronuclei and sperm-shape abnormality assays in mice, clearly showed that the hydroalcoholic extract of P. granatum whole fruits is genotoxic when tested both in vitro and in vivo.     

Antiinflammatory and anti‐cancer activities of pomegranate and its constituent,ellagic acid: Evidence from cellular,animal, and clinical studies

Inflammation is commonly characterized as a defensive and protective reaction of the body to various exogenous or endogenous stimuli, which aims to maintain the body health. Punica granatum (pomegranate) and its constituent ellagic acid (EA) are recently more taken into accounts since their promising pharmacological effects. Therefore, we aimed to obtain a comprehensive review regarding antiinflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant activities of both pomegranate and EA and their possible involved mechanisms. In the procedure, scientific databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, were searched in the English language, until the end of January 2019. Pomegranate belonging to the Punicaceae has been used for medical purposes from ancient and in different cultures. Several studies have also supported that EA is the major active compound of pomegranate and possesses antimutagenic, antiinflammatory, antifibrosis, anticancer, and antiaging properties. It has been suggested that pomegranate and EA possess promising immunomodulatory effects in preclinical models as well as human studies through regulation of the T‐cell function and suppressing humoral immunity. Hopefully, we wish that this review and information could be helpful for designing further experiments to investigate the potential protective effects of pomegranate and EA.     

Pomegranate extract mouth rinsing effects on saliva measures relevant to gingivitis risk

Pomegranate components have properties that could promote oral health, including reducing the risk of gingivitis. The present study examined young adults (n = 32, split evenly among both genders), for the effects of 4 weeks of thrice daily mouth rinsing with the pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) extract PomElla^® dissolved in water. This treatment changed salivary measures relevant to oral health including gingivitis. The changes were: reduced total protein (which can correlate with plaque forming bacteria readings), reduced activities of aspartate aminotransferase (an indicator of cell injury), reduced alpha‐glucosidase activity (a sucrose degrading enzyme), increased activities of the antioxidant enzyme ceruloplasmin (which could give better protection against oral oxidant stress) and increased radical scavenging capacity (though this increase was significant only by nonparametric statistical analysis). A placebo of cornstarch in water did not affect these measures. These data raise the possibility of using pomegranate extracts in oral health products such as toothpaste and mouthwashes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anticancer Activity of Punica granatum (Pomegranate): A Review

Cancer is a pathological condition where excessive and abnormal cell growth leads to widespread invasion within the body to affect various organ functions. It is known that chemotherapeutic agents are themselves possible candidate of cancer generation as they can kill normal cells. So, therapeutic approach for cancer treatment and prevention is weighed in terms of benefit to risk ratio. Nowadays, there is an immense interest for the search herbal formulation with cancer preventive effect because of the problems, generated with existing chemotherapeutic regimens. Research interest in fruits rich in polyphenols is increasing because of their anticancer potential. In this review, we highlight the potential health benefits of pomegranate (Punica granatum) fruit and the underlying mechanism of its inhibition of cancer progression. Pomegranate has demonstrated anti‐proliferative, anti‐metastatic and anti‐invasive effects on various cancer cell line in vitro as well as in vivo animal model or human clinical trial. Although several clinical trials are in progress for identifying the pomegranate as a candidate for various cancer treatment. It is necessary to replicate and validate its therapeutic efficacy by multiple clinical studies in order to formulate pomegranate products as an integral part of the dietary and pharmacological intervention in anticancer therapy. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dittany of Crete: A botanical and ethnopharmacological review

Origanum dictamnus (Lamiaceae family), an endemic plant of the Greek island of Crete, is widely used as a traditional medicine since antiquity, all over Europe. The aim of the present review is to present comprehensive information of the plant's botanical taxonomy and morphology, as well as of the chemical constituents, biological and pharmacological research on O. dictamnus, which will be presented and critically evaluated. The paper also highlights particularly interesting aspects and common medicinal uses not previously described in the specific ethnobotanical literature. An increasing number of chemical and pharmacological studies have been reported recently, some of which strongly support its traditional medicinal uses against various illnesses such as sore throat, cough and gastric ulcer. A variety of compounds, including flavonoids, lipids and terpenoids (mainly carvacrol and thymol) have been identified from the plant. Current studies have showed that the extracts, the essential oil, as well as their active principles possess several pharmacological properties, like antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-ulcer ones. The recent scientific data and the rich historical evidence of its medicinal uses could support further research as well as its use as a safe herbal medicinal product.     

Hypnotic effects and binding studies for GABAA and 5-HT2C receptors of traditional medicinal plants used in Asia for insomnia

Aim of the study

Many medicinal plants have been used for treatment of insomnia in Asia. However, scientific evidence and precise mechanism for their sedative-hypnotic activity have not been fully investigated. Thus, we investigated the binding activity of the oriental plant extracts (mainly from Korea and Japan) to the well-known molecular targets for sleep regulation, GABA_A and 5-HT_2C receptors. Following the binding assay, sedative-hypnotic effects of the extracts with high affinity were examined in an animal model of sleep.

Materials and methods

Aqueous and ethanol extracts of 15 medicinal plants were tested for binding at the benzodiazepine site of GABA_A receptor and 5-HT site of 5-HT_2C receptor. The sedative-hypnotic effects of selected extracts were evaluated by measuring the sleep latency and sleep duration during pentobarbital-induced sleep in mice after oral administration of extracts.

Results

In the GABA_A assay, the ethanol extracts of licorice and danshen displayed concentration-dependent, high affinity binding, whereas in the 5-HT_2C assay, the ethanol extracts of ginseng and silk tree showed high affinity. Among these extracts we tested previously uncharacterized licorice and silk tree for hypnotic effects. We found the ethanol extracts of licorice and silk tree significantly decreased sleep latency and increased sleep duration in pentobarbital-induced sleep.

Conclusions

We demonstrate for the first time that licorice and silk tree have the sedative-hypnotic activity possibly by modulating GABA_A and 5-HT_2C receptors. We propose that licorice and silk tree might be effective candidates for treatment of insomnia.     

响应面优化酶法提取石榴皮多糖及其抗氧化活性研究

目的 采用响应面法优化石榴皮多糖的酶法提取工艺，并对石榴皮多糖体外抗氧化活性进行研究，为药物制剂和功能性食品寻找新的生物成分。方法 采用RSM Box-Behnken设计法，考察酶解时间、液料比、加酶量对石榴皮多糖提取率的影响。用酶标仪测定DPPH自由基清除作用、羟自由基清除作用、超氧阴离子自由基清除活性和还原力测定。结果 最佳提取条件为：酶解温度为55℃，pH为5，酶解时间为88 min，液料比为22:1mL/g，加酶量为0.93%。在最佳提取条件下，石榴皮多糖得率为（22.31±0.07）%，与Box-Behnken设计模型的预测值22.35%很好地吻合。石榴皮多糖对DPPH（1,1-二苯基-2-吡啶基肼）自由基清除、羟自由基清除、超氧阴离子自由基清除和还原能力有明显的抗氧化作用。结论 建议采用优化的酶解辅助方法提取石榴皮多糖，该法制得的石榴皮多糖可作为一种良好的抗氧化剂。