A four-strain probiotic exerts positive immunomodulatory effects by enhancing colonic butyrate production in vitro

Abstract

 The purpose of this contribution is to evaluate the cytotoxicity and apoptosis inducing ability
of structurally diverse anthraquinones to establish a relationship between structure and toxicity. Besides the
wide spread use of anthraquinones in pharmacological drugs for constipation and non-prescription dietary
supplements for weight loss, extracts are still commercialized as crude extracts and long-term side effects are
still relevant. In this work we developed a method to quantify the cascarosides isolated from Rhamnus
purshiana (Cascara Sagrada) using LC-MS/MS and evaluated the effects of this extract and isolated
compounds on cellular viability using NOK-SI, HeLa, and T98G cell lineages. Apoptosis inducing ability was
also analyzed via evaluating key-proteins involved in apoptosis pathways. Using cascarosides isolated from
bark extracts, we found that the presence of glucose moieties in the chemical structure reduced the toxicity.
This communication reviewed the mechanisms of action, toxicity of anthraquinones and correlated the toxicity
with chemical structures of cascarosides. Results indicate that cascarosides-enriched cascara extract, as well
as glycosylated anthraquinones, may have some beneficial effects for laxative action of herbal medicines.
Considering our results, a cascarosides-enrichment in cascara extract is recommended.