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The genus Gnaphalium (Asteraceae) is distributed across most regions of the world. Some of them are not only used as a food source, but has also been used for the treatment of various diseases including pain, rheumatism, chronic pharyngitis and arthritis in China since ancient times. In this review, we would like to summarize previous research on genus Gnaphalium, including traditional uses, phytochemistry, bioactivities and quality control. The data presented here on genus Gnaphalium was generated based on various scientific research databases, including SciFinder, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley library, Web of Science, and CNKI. Analysis of these findings showed that plants in genus Gnaphalium have a capital power in various therapeutic uses, including pulmonary protection, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory and anti-complementary activities, and antidiabetic effect. Consistent with this, the chemicals from the plant extracts revealed its richness in various chemicals, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, terpenoids, sterols, and others. In spite of its wide applicable value worldwide, the quality control of genus Gnaphalium is still based on local standards. Thus, we argue that a national standard is required for genus Gnaphalium in China, to validate its bioactivity and future clinical trials rigorously.

The inflorescences of the Mexican gordolobo are used as a folk medicine to treat various respiratory diseases. Currently, the botanical species that bear the name Mexican gordolobo belong to the genera Gnaphalium and Pseudognaphalium. Despite a long history of traditional use, most Mexican gordolobo species have never been fully chemically characterized, and the range of constituents in the species has not been comprehensively reported. To establish a quality control and chemical characterization method, a total of 49 samples belonging to 18 species of Pseudognaphalium and four species of Gnaphalium were studied. Nine flavones were quantified using a UPLC-PDA method. The method was validated in terms of linearity (R2 > 0.99), precision (intra- and inter-day: 0.1–3.9%), accuracy (96–103%), detection limit (10 ng/mL), limit of quantification (25 ng/mL) and robustness. 3-Methylquercetin, luteolin, quercetin, 3,5-dihydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxyflavone, apigenin and gnaphaliin A were present at relatively high levels in most of the samples analyzed. The samples of P. oxyphyllum and P. liebmannii showed the highest content of the 9 compounds analyzed. Whereas the samples of the 5 species of Gnaphalium showed the lowest levels, including non-detectable, of the 9 compounds quantified. This marks an important difference with Pseudognaphalium species. Furthermore, using UHPLC-ESI-QToF data with targeted and non-targeted approaches, 57 compounds, were identified in Mexican gordolobo samples. Flavonoids were the main group of compounds found in Mexican gordolobo. [Display omitted] • Nine flavones were quantified in 18 species of Pseudognaphalium and 4 species of Gnaphalium. • Samples of P. oxyphyllum and P. liebmannii showed the highest content of the 9 compounds analyzed. • Using UHPLC-ESI-QToF data 57 compounds were identified in Mexican gordolobo. • This is the first work in which many Mexican gordolobo species have been studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamochaeta (Compositae) is a genus of 50–80 herbaceous species with a center of diversity in South America and with several common, generally weedy species in the eastern United States. Historically, some authors recognized as few as one species in the eastern United States while others have recognized as many as eight. These increased numbers are a product of both naturalization of nonnative species and recognition of new taxa. A study was undertaken with DNA markers to assess whether the putative species of this region exhibit genetic differences and to determine if DNA markers may be useful tools for identification. One nuclear and one plastid region of DNA were sequenced, and unique nuclear markers were found for all eight recognized species and unique plastid markers were found for five of the eight species. These results support the species hypotheses for entities in this region. Unlike other genera of the Compositae (e.g., Solidago) that possess little genetic differentiation in commonly used barcoding regions of DNA, the species of Gamochaeta in the eastern United States can be identified using a single nuclear marker, and several may be identified with a single plastid marker. Given that species of Gamochaeta are naturalizing in many places on Earth, these data will provide an important resource for identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Pseudognaphalium Kirp., segregated from Gnaphalium L., is one of the largest genera of the tribe Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae) with about 60 species, most of them found in South, Central, and North America, but some species also occurring in Africa, Asia, Europe, and New Zealand. We present a taxonomic revision of Pseudognaphalium for North America accepting 36 species, mainly distributed in the Nearctic Region and the Mexican Transition Zone, and about one third of the species occurring in the Neotropical Region. The following taxa are newly synonymized: G. oaxacanum Greenm. with P. semiamplexicaule (DC.) Anderb., G. schraderi DC. with P. attenuatum (DC.) Anderb. var. sylvicola (McVaugh) Hinojosa & Villaseñor, P. altamiranum (Greenm.) Anderb. with P. roseum (Kunth) Anderb., and P. beneolens (Davidson) Anderb. with P. thermale (E. E. Nelson) G. L. Nesom. Lectotypes are newly designated for G. oblanceolatum Greenm., G. panniforme S. F. Blake, G. ramosissimum Nutt., G. roseum Kunth var. angustifolium Benth., G. roseum var. hololeucum Benth., and G. roseum var. sordescens Benth. Morphological descriptions are provided as well as taxonomic data on nomenclatural types, including synonymies, illustrations, distribution maps, distribution and habitat, additional material examined, distinguishing characters and taxonomic affinities for each taxon, biogeographical and ecological comments, and a key for their identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gnaphalium affine is traditionally used to treat hyperuricemia and gout in China. Recently, the hypouricemic and renal protective effects of G. affine extract (GAD) have been deeply evaluated. However, little is known about the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of bioactive constituents in GAD. This study is aimed at investigating the individual and holistic pharmacokinetics of 10 bioactive components (including caffeic acid, caffeoylquinic acids, and flavonoids) in rats after single and multiple administrations of GAD. GAD is orally dosed to normal male rats at doses of 225, 450, or 900 mg/kg/day for 10 consecutive days and also orally administrated to uric acid nephropathy (UAN) rats at a dose of 900 mg/kg/day for 28 consecutive days. Integrated PKs of multiple components are calculated by area under the curve (AUC)-based weighting approach. All the components show a double-peak phenomenon in terms of their plasma concentration-time curves, suggesting that the components undergo enterohepatic circulation. The integrated AUC increases in a good dose-proportional manner with GAD dose. Compared with that in normal rats, the plasma exposure of caffeic acid and caffeoylquinic acids increases by 2.3- to 4.3-fold after 10-day chronic treatment of 900 mg/kg GAD in UAN rats. Modest drug accumulation is observed after 28-day chronic treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Biomonitoring is a valuable tool for assessing the presence and effects of air pollutants such as heavy metals (HM); due to their toxicity and stability, these compounds can affect human health and the balance of ecosystems. To assess its potential as a sentinel organism of HM pollution, the wild plant Gnaphalium lavandulifolium was exposed to four sites in the metropolitan area of México Valley (MAMV): Altzomoni (ALT) Coyoacán (COY), Ecatepec (ECA), and Tlalnepantla (TLA) during 2, 4, and 8 weeks, between October and November 2019. Control plants remained under controlled conditions. The chemical analysis determined twelve HM (Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) in the leaves. Macroscopic damage to the leaves, later determined in semi-thin sections under light microscopy, lead to a finer analysis. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) showed major structural changes: chromatin condensation, protoplast shrinkage, cytoplasm vacuolization, cell wall thinning, decreased number and size of starch grains, and plastoglobules in chloroplasts. All these characteristics of stress-induced programed cell death (sPCD) were related to the significant increase of toxic HM in the leaves of the exposed plants compared to the control (p < 0.05). Immunohistochemistry revealed a significant amount of proteases with caspase 3-like activity in ECA and TLA samples during long exposure times. Ultrastructural changes and sPCD features detected confirmed the usefulness of G. lavandulifolium as a good biomonitor of HM contamination. They supported the possibility of considering subcellular changes as markers of abiotic stress conditions in plants., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Mexican gordolobo (MG) is one of the most important medicinal plants in Mexico and an important source of specialized metabolites with biological activities. The species employed in Mexican traditional medicine identified with this name are very different and difficult to identify according to existent criteria. In order to contribute to the identification of these species, a semi-targeted 1H NMR-based chemometric method was developed to characterize the chemical profiling of retail samples of MG. Thus, 17 retail samples of MG flowers were successively extracted with a gradient of water:chloroform (1:4, 1:2 and 0:1) in an ultrasonic bath for 15 min each. The organic phase of the three extracts was pooled, evaporated and analyzed by 1H NMR. The NMR data were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis, revealing that flavones gnaphaliin A (1), gnaphaliin B (2), araneol (3), 3,5,7-Tri- O -methylgalangin (4) and diterpenes sclareol (5) and kaur-16-en-18-oic acid (6) can be effectively used as chemotaxonomical markers for the correct identification of the Gnaphalium spp that compose MG. The aforementioned chemotaxonomic markers may be useful in establishing therapeutic criteria. • Selective extraction of discriminating chemotaxonomical markers from Gnaphalium species. • 1H NMR and chemometrics for the identification of Gnaphalium species. • Correlating species that compose Mexican gordolobo with their chemical profiling. • Flavones and diterpenes as chemotaxonomical biomarkers. • Towards de safe and effective consumption of Mexican gordolobo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gnaphalium hypoleucum DC. was first recorded in the Chinese National Pharmacopoeia "Yi Plant Medicine". There is no detailed report on its main components' activity in suppressing the quorum sensing activity (QS) of bacteria. Our study aimed to screen the main components in extracts of G. hypoleucum DC. in order to measure their effects on bacterial QS activity and to explore specific quorum sensing mechanisms that are affected by G . hypoleucum DC. extracts. Crude extracts of G. hypoleucum DC. contained significant amounts of two compounds shown to inhibit bacterial QS activity, namely apigenin and luteolin. Apigenin and luteolin in crude extracts of G. hypoleucum DC. showed substantial inhibition of pigment formation, biofilm production, and motility in Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472 compared to the effects of other phytochemicals from G. hypoleucum DC. Apigenin and luteolin exhibited a strong QS inhibitory effect on C. violaceum , interfering with the violacein pigment biosynthesis by downregulating the vioB , vioC , and vio D genes. In the presence of signal molecules, the QS effect is prevented, and the selected compounds can still inhibit the production of the characteristic purple pigment in C. violaceum . Based on qualitative and quantitative research using genomics and bioinformatics, we concluded that apigenin and luteolin in crude extracts of G. hypoleucum DC can interfere with the generation of QS in C. violaceum by downregulating the vioB , vioC , and vio D genes. Indeed, G. hypoleucum DC. is used for the treatment of bacterial infections, and this research provides new ideas and potential alternative uses for medicinal plants.

Background: Gnaphalium affine D. Don extract (GAD) enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity of benzbromarone (BBR) in combination use. However, little is known about effects of GAD on the pharmacokinetics (PKs) and metabolic enzymes of BBR., Purpose: To investigate the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) mechanism of the herb-drug interactions (HDIs) between GAD and BBR., Study Design and Methods: Intragastric single BBR (4.5 or 50 mg/kg), single BBR (4.5 or 50 mg/kg) + single GAD (450 mg/kg, 2 h after BBR-administration), or single BBR (4.5 or 50 mg/kg) + multiple GAD (450 mg/kg/day, once daily for 7 days) were administered to both sexes for BBR PK studies in normal rats. Intragastric multiple BBR (4.5 mg/kg/day), or multiple BBR (4.5 mg/kg/day) + multiple GAD (450 mg/kg/day, 2 h after BBR-administration) were administered for BBR PK and PD studies in male rats with hyperuricemic nephropathy (HN). The cumulative anti-hyperuricemic effects of BBR and BBR+GAD were determined by plasma uric acid (UA) concentration-time curve and area under curve (AUC UA ). An in vivo cocktail approach was employed to determine the effects of GAD on cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C11(9) and 1A2 - mediated drug metabolism., Results: In normal rats, the repeated dose administration of GAD induced a significant increase of BBR AUC and prolonged the mean residence time (MRT) (p < 0.05). systemic exposure to BBR and metabolically derived hydroxybenzbromarones was significantly greater in female compared with male rats (p < 0.05). In HN rats, post-administration of GAD resulted in significantly higher bioavailability and enterohepatic recycling (ER) of BBR relative to the BBR alone administrated group from the prolongation of terminal elimination half-life (T 1/2 ) and MRT of BBR (p < 0.05). Significantly higher urate-lowering effect of BBR+GAD compared with BBR alone was generally observed at post-dosing most time points with a maximal effect of 84.3% (acute treatment), 71.4% (7-day subchronic treatment) and 82.5% (14-day subchronic treatment) reduction in UA levels. Additionally, GAD showed a significant inhibitory effect on CYP2C11(9)-mediated tolbutamide (probe substrate) metabolism with ≥ 1.25 but < 2-fold increase in AUC tolbutamide ., Conclusions: PD synergism demonstrated with the BBR+GAD combination could be explained by the PK interaction observed partially from CYP2C11(9)-mediation and enterohepatic recycling., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)