The bioactive qualities of Arteannuin B, a component from the Sweet Annie or Artemisia annua plant, are being investigated by scientists at the University of Texas in San Antonio (UTSA) in relation to cancer cells and Covid, the illness brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
They have determined that the medicinal plant can help in the fight against Covid and Glioblastoma, the most severe and prevalent form of brain cancer.
Over 2,000 years ago, the herb Artemisia annua, often known as Sweet Annie, was utilized in traditional Chinese medicine. It is a tall, aromatic plant with brilliant green leaves. It generates artemisinin, an endoperoxide-containing drug used to treat malaria.
Its leaf extracts have been applied to the treatment of Covid-19 and a number of other illnesses. However, until recently, scientists were unsure of exactly how the plant’s chemicals functioned.
Approximately 50% of prescription medications come from natural sources. They are produced by bacteria, fungus, or plants. Half of these medications have botanical origins. When you consider all the medications there are in the globe, that is astounding, according to Valerie Sponsel from the university.
“Various plants generate various therapeutic chemicals. There are various different sorts of substances that have been known to cause cancer for centuries yet have only recently been recognized. Research is ongoing because there will never be a single drug that will cure all tumors, she continued.
The researchers extracted the chemical using methanol as the solvent. Utilizing liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy, its leaf extracts were separated and characterized.
In order to determine how harmful a compound is to cells, the fractions were evaluated on glioblastoma (GBM) cells.
After that, the fractions were purified so that each component could be identified and tested against a different cancer cell. Arteannuin B continuously showed cytotoxic action against GBM cancer cells throughout the treatment. They think it could stop the overexpressed cysteine proteases, which break down proteins, in cancer cells.
“We then chemically reduced arteannuin B and demonstrated that at the same concentration, the reduced form of arteannuin B was not potent against GBM. This finding helped us understand how arteannuin B works in the body, according to UTSA researcher Francis Yoshimoto.
The scientists also demonstrated that “arteannuin B inhibits the action of the major protease of the SARS-CoV-2 and caspase-8. They are both cysteine proteases.
“We want to understand how this operates so that we can provide medication to someone in a wise manner. Our bodies vary from one another. For instance, cancer overexpresses particular genes, and if you can identify the gene, you may use medication to target it and prevent the activity of its protein product from being produced.
Understanding the process through which drugs operate is extremely useful, according to the researchers, since it makes medication administration more efficient.
Conclusion:-
Scientists at the University of Texas in San Antonio are investigating the bioactive properties of Arteannuin B, a component from the Sweet Annie plant, in relation to cancer cells and Covid.The plant has been utilized in Chinese medicine for 2,000 years. The compound was extracted in methanol and analyzed in leaf extracts using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and NMR. They found that Arteannuin B showed cytotoxic action against GBM cancer cells, possibly stopping overexpressed cysteine proteases that break down proteins. The reduced form of arteannuin B was not potent against GBM, but it inhibited the action of the major protease of SARS-CoV-2 and caspase-8. Understanding the process of drug operation is crucial for efficient medication administration, as our bodies vary and cancer overexpresses specific genes.
