Development of Potential Therapeutic Agents from Black Elderberries (the Fruits of L.).

Elderberry ( L.) is a widespread deciduous shrub, of which the fruits (elderberries) are used in the food industry to produce different types of dietary supplement products. These berries have been found to show multiple bioactivities, including antidiabetic, anti-infective, antineoplastic, anti-obesity, and antioxidant activities.

Discovery of new anticancer agents from higher plants.

Small organic molecules derived from higher plants have been one of the mainstays of cancer chemotherapy for approximately the past half a century. In the present review, selected single chemical entity natural products of plant origin and their semi-synthetic derivatives currently in clinical trials are featured as examples of new cancer chemotherapeutic drug candidates. Several more recently isolated compounds obtained from plants showing promising in vivo biological activity are also discussed in terms of their potential as anticancer agents, with many of these obtained from species that grow in tropical regions.

Pharmacokinetics of α-mangostin in rats after intravenous and oral application.

Scope: The xanthone α-mangostin is one of the major bioactive secondary metabolites in Garcinia mangostana. Until now, in vivo studies on the absorption, bioavailability, disposition, and metabolism of α-mangostin are limited.

Methods And Results: In the present study, an LC-MS/MS assay has been established for the determination of α-mangostin in rat plasma.