Genus Oenothera includes medicinal plants that are distributed throughout the world and are known since ancient times.Popular indications of different species of this genus include treatment of inflammations,diabetes,microbial infections,ulcers,tumors,kidney and liver problems.The plants of this genus are a botanical source for various pharmaceutically active components like sterols,alkaloids,phenolic acids,flavonoids,tdterpenoids,saponins,bitlavonols and tocopherols.This review article is a compilation of chemical composition and biological activities of the various species of the genus Oenothera.

PURPOSE: The promoter methylation status of cell cycle regulatory genes plays a crucial role in the regulation of the eukaryotic cell cycle. CpG cytosines are actively subjected to methylation during tumorigenesis, resulting in gain/loss of function. E2F5 gene has growth repressive activities; various studies suggest its involvement in tumorigenesis. This study aims to investigate the epigenetic regulation of E2F5 in breast cancer to better understand tumor biology. METHODS: The promoter methylation status of 50 breast tumor tissues and adjacent normal control tissues was analyzed. mRNA expression was determined using SYBR® green quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and methylation-specific PCR was performed for bisulfite-modified genomic DNA using E2F5-specific primers to assess promoter methylation. Data was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Significant (p<0.001) upregulation was observed in E2F5 expression among tumor tissues, relative to the control group. These samples were hypo-methylated at the E2F5 promoter region in the tumor tissues, compared to the control. Change in the methylation status (Δmeth) was significantly lower (p=0.022) in the tumor samples, indicating possible involvement in tumorigenesis. Patients at the postmenopausal stage showed higher methylation (75%) than those at the premenopausal stage (23.1%). Interestingly, methylation levels gradually increased from the early to the advanced stages of the disease (p<0.001), which suggests a putative role of E2F5 methylation in disease progression that can significantly modulate tumor biology at more advanced stage and at postmenopausal age (Pearson's r=0.99 and 0.86, respectively). Among tissues with different histological status, methylation frequency was higher in invasive lobular carcinoma (80.0%), followed by invasive ductal carcinoma (46.7%) and ductal carcinoma in situ (20.0%). CONCLUSION: Methylation is an important epigenetic factor that might be involved in the upregulation of E2F5 gene in tumor tissues, which can be used as a prognostic marker for breast cancer.
Biology ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; Cell Cycle ; Disease Progression ; DNA ; E2F5 Transcription Factor ; Epigenomics ; Eukaryotic Cells ; Genes, Regulator ; Humans ; Methylation* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; RNA, Messenger ; Up-Regulation*

Genus Oenothera includes medicinal plants that are distributed throughout the world and are known since ancient times. Popular indications of different species of this genus include treatment of inflammations, diabetes, microbial infections, ulcers, tumors, kidney and liver problems. The plants of this genus are a botanical source for various pharmaceutically active components like sterols, alkaloids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, triterpenoids, saponins, biflavonols and tocopherols. This review article is a compilation of chemical composition and biological activities of the various species of the genus Oenothera.

Objective To evaluate the total phenolic content and compare the antioxidant activity of various solvent extracts and fractions from the aerial parts of Coronopus didymus through various assays. Methods Total phenolic content was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and the in vitro antioxidant activity of a number of different extracts was investigated in a dose-dependent manner with three different methods: the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. A flavone was isolated from the most active ethanolic extract with high antioxidant activity using size exclusion chromatography. IC