Anti-Inflammatory Principles from the Needles of <i>Pinus taiwanensis</i> Hayata and In Silico Studies of Their Potential Anti-Aging Effects

• Main Authors: Ping-Chung Kuo (Author), Yue-Chiun Li (Author), Anjar M. Kusuma (Author), Jason T. C. Tzen (Author), Tsong-Long Hwang (Author), Guan-Hong Ye (Author), Mei-Lin Yang (Author), Sheng-Yang Wang (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/antiox10040598; 2076-3921
• Keywords: <i>Pinus taiwanensis</i>; Pinaceae; anti-inflammatory; superoxide anion generation; elastase release; ghrelin receptor; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Antioxidants, Vol 10, Iss 4, p 598 (2021)

<i>Pinus</i> needle tea are very popular in Eastern countries such as Japan, Russia, Korea, and China. Pine needle tea is claimed to have significant anti-aging effects, but no clear evidence has supported this until now. In the present study, five undescribed compounds (<b>1</b>-<b>5</b>) as well as seventy-two known compounds were purified and characterized from the bioactive fraction of methanol extracts of <i>P. taiwanensis</i> needles. Most of the isolates were examined for their anti-inflammatory bioactivity by cellular neutrophil model and six compounds (<b>45</b>, <b>47</b>, <b>48</b>, <b>49</b>, <b>50</b>, and <b>51</b>) exhibited a significant inhibition on superoxide anion generation and elastase release with IC₅₀ values ranging from 3.3 ± 0.9 to 8.3 ± 0.8 μM. These anti-inflammatory ingredients were subjected to docking computing to evaluate their binding affinity on the ghrelin receptor, which played an important role in regulating metabolism, with anti-aging effects. Compounds <b>49</b>, <b>50</b>, and <b>51</b> formed a stable complex with the ghrelin receptor via hydrogen bonds and different types of interactions. These results suggest the flavonoids are responsible for the potential anti-aging effects of pine needle tea.