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Plants in the genus Hypericum (Hypericaceae), include more than 500 species worldwide, and many are valued for their medicinal properties, and are used as traditional herbal medicines. However, only H. perforatum is officially recognized as herbal drug in several pharmacopoeias, and used as an antidepressant clinically. Hypericum perforatum had been used as an herbal medicine since the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A.D.) in China. It taxonomically belongs to the section Hypericum in the genus Hypericum. There are about 42 species in the section Hypericum , with six species occurring in China. All six are recorded as traditional herbal medicines for treating aliments, including hepatitis, malaria, traumatic hemorrhage, irregular menstruation, wounds, and bruises. The study aimed to characterize the chemical profiles of five phylogenetically related Hypericum species, and compare their metabolites with three H. perforatum products. Informed by ethnobotanical use, the extracts prepared from the five species were further investigated into anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antiplasmodial activity. This study tested the hypothesis that systematic metabolomic and bioactivity characterization of species in section Hypericum will help to validate their phytotherapeutic use and reveal potential drug lead compounds. Targeted and non-targeted metabolic analyses coupled with chemometrics were conducted on H. perforatum and four medicinal species, H. attenuatum , H. enshiense , H. erectum , and H. faberi , native to China from section Hypericum. UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS and UPLC-TQD-MS/MS were used for non-targeted and targeted metabolic analyses, respectively. Cytotoxicity bioassays on four cancer cell lines, anti-inflammation tests and anti-plasmodial activity on Plasmodium falciparum 3D7, selected based on traditional medicinal use, were evaluated on extracts from Hypericum species. Progenesis QI and EZinfo were used for chemometrics analysis to link the chemical profile and bioassay activity to aid in the identification of bioactive compounds. In total, 58 compounds were identified from the five species, including compounds with well-characterized bioactivity. Hypericum attenuatum , H. erectum , and H. perforatum , displayed the highest cytotoxicity, and contain the cytotoxic compounds petiolin A, prolificin A, and hypercohin G, respectively. Hypericum faberi and H. perforatum showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity, with pseudohypericin, quercetin and chlorogenic acid being observed at higher concentrations. Hypericum perforatum and H. erectum showed anti-plasmodial activity, with higher hyperforin and xanthones in these species that may account for the anti-plasmodial activity. This study characterized the chemical differences among five Hypericum species using metabolomics. These ethnomedically important species were tested for their biological activities in three distinct in vitro assays. The ethnobotanical data were useful for identifying bioactive Hypericum species. Hypericum attenuatum , H. erectum and H. faberi are promising phytotherapeutic species, although they are much less studied than H. perforatum , St. John's wort. Combining ethnobotanical surveys with chemometric analyses and bioactivity screening can greatly enhance the discovery of promising active constituents. [Display omitted] • Profiled five Hypericum species with non-targeted and targeted chemometrics. • Identified 58 representative compounds from five species that drive chemotaxonomy. • Described Hypericum cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, and anti-plasmodial activity. • Employed chemometrics to aid in the identification of bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim of the study: Costus spicatus Sw. (Costaceae) is a prominent medicinal herb used by Dominicans in the Dominican Republic and the United States for the treatment of diabetes, a growing epidemic in the Hispanic community. An ethnobotanical survey of the Dominican community in New York City revealed the popular use of a tea from the insulina plant to treat hyperglycemia. Insulina was identified as Costus spicatus. We tested the ability of a tea made from the leaves of Costus spicatus to alter glucose homeostasis in C57BLKS/J (KS) db/db mice, a model of obesity-induced hyperglycemia with progressive beta cell depletion. Materials and methods: From 6 to 16 weeks of age, Experimental and Control animals (n =6/5) were given ad lib access to Costus spicatus tea or water, respectively. Results: Weight gain and progression of hyperglycemia and insulinopenia between the Experimental and Control groups were statistically indistinguishable. There was no difference between groups in average fed or fasting glucose and insulin concentrations. Intraperitoneal (IP) insulin tolerance testing after the 10-week study period showed that Costus spicatus tea consumption did not alter insulin sensitivity. Conclusions: These data suggest that at the dose given, tea made from Costus spicatus leaves had no efficacy in the treatment of obesity-induced hyperglycemia. More investigation is needed to more fully explore dosages and the possible utility and biological activity of this common Dominican herbal remedy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]