Pentalinonsterol, a Phytosterol from Pentalinon andrieuxii, is Immunomodulatory through Phospholipase A in Macrophages toward its Antileishmanial Action.

Our earlier in vitro and in vivo studies have revealed that the phytosterol, pentalinonsterol (cholest-4,20,24-trien-3-one) (PEN), isolated from the roots of Pentalinon andrieuxii, possesss immunomodulatory properties in macrophages and dendritic cells. Leishmaniasis, caused by the infection of Leishmania spp. (a protozoan parasite), is emerging as the second-leading cause of mortality among the tropical diseases and there is an unmet need for a pharmacological intervention of leishmaniasis.

A Novel Sterol Isolated from a Plant Used by Mayan Traditional Healers Is Effective in Treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania donovani.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani, is a global health problem affecting millions of people worldwide. Treatment of VL largely depends on therapeutic drugs such as pentavalent antimonials, amphotericin B, and others, which have major drawbacks due to drug resistance, toxicity, and high cost. In this study, for the first time, we have successfully demonstrated the synthesis and antileishmanial activity of the novel sterol pentalinonsterol (PEN), which occurs naturally in the root of a Mexican medicinal plant, Pentalinon andrieuxii.

Choice of cyclodextrin for cellular cholesterol depletion for vascular endothelial cell lipid raft studies: cell membrane alterations, cytoskeletal reorganization and cytotoxicity.

The use of cyclodextrins as tools to establish the role of cholesterol rafts in cellular functions has become a widely accepted procedure. However, the adverse effects of cyclodextrins as the cholesterol-depleting agents on cellular structure and functions are not reported in detail. Therefore, in the current study, we investigated the membrane-perturbing actions and cytotoxicity of the two widely used cellular cholesterol-depleting cyclodextrins methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MbetaCD) and hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPCD) in our well-established bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cell (BPAEC) in vitro model system.