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Background: Onion waste was reported to be a valuable source of bioactive constituents with potential health-promoting benefits. This sparked a surge of interest among scientists for its valorization. This study aims to investigate the chemical profiles of peel and root extracts of four onion cultivars (red, copper-yellow, golden yellow and white onions) and evaluate their erectogenic and anti-inflammatory potentials., Methods: UPLC-QqQ-MS/MS analysis and chemometric tools were utilized to determine the chemical profiles of onion peel and root extracts. The erectogenic potential of the extracts was evaluated using the PDE-5 inhibitory assay, while their anti-inflammatory activity was determined by identifying their downregulating effect on the gene expression of IL-6, IL-1β, IFN-γ, and TNF-α in LPS-stimulated WBCs., Results: A total of 103 metabolites of diverse chemical classes were identified, with the most abundant being flavonoids. The organ's influence on the chemical profiles of the samples outweighed the influence of the cultivar, as evidenced by the close clustering of samples from the same organ compared to the distinct separation of root and peel samples from the same cultivar. Furthermore, the tested extracts demonstrated promising PDE-5 and anti-inflammatory potentials and effectively suppressed the upregulation of pro-inflammatory markers in LPS-stimulated WBCs. The anti-inflammatory activities exerted by peel samples surpassed those of root samples, highlighting the importance of selecting the appropriate organ to maximize activity. The main metabolites correlated with PDE-5 inhibition were cyanidin 3-O-(malonyl-acetyl)-glucoside and quercetin dimer hexoside, while those correlated with IL-1β inhibition were γ-glutamyl-methionine sulfoxide, γ-glutamyl glutamine, sativanone, and stearic acid. Taxifolin, 3'-hydroxymelanettin, and oleic acid were highly correlated with IL-6 downregulation, while quercetin 4'-O-glucoside, isorhamnetin 4'-O-glucoside, and p-coumaroyl glycolic acid showed the highest correlation to IFN-γ and TNF-α inhibition., Conclusion: This study provides a fresh perspective on onion waste as a valuable source of bioactive constituents that could serve as the cornerstone for developing new, effective anti-PDE-5 and anti-inflammatory drug candidates., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: To investigate the chemical composition of the alcoholic extract from creeping juniper leaves using HPLC-MS/MS and to elucidate its potential anti-inflammatory mechanism through network-based pharmacology analysis to collectively enable a systematic exploration of the chemical composition, mechanism of action, and therapeutic potential of the alcoholic extract from creeping juniper leaves, providing valuable insights into its suitability as an anti-inflammatory agent., Methods: Chemical profiling of the alcoholic extract of creeping juniper leaves using HPLC-MS/MS and revealing its anti-inflammatory mechanism using network-based pharmacology. Further, isolation of some of the identified biomarkers, assessment of their ex-vivo anti-inflammatory activity, and determination of their binding to pro-inflammatory cytokines using molecular docking and dynamics., Key Findings: Thirty-seven compounds were annotated and forwarded to network pharmacology analysis which revealed that the highest interactions were exhibited by quercetin, cosmosiin, myricetin, amentoflavone, hyperoside, isorhamnetin, and quercitrin whereas the most enriched inflammatory targets were IL-2, PGF, VEGFA, and TNFs. PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, arachidonic acid metabolism, and MAPK signaling pathway were found to be the most enriched ones. Six hit compounds were isolated and identified as hyperoside, quercetrin, cupressuflavone, hinokiflavone, amentoflavone, and quercetin. The isolated compounds showed strong anti-inflammatory activity against TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, and molecular docking and dynamics simulation showed that quercetin, quercitrin, and hyperoside had the least binding energy with TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1B, respectively., Conclusions: Creeping juniper may reduce inflammation based on the suggested multi-compounds and multi-pathways, and that provided the basis for creeping juniper use as a potential anti-inflammatory drug., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.)