Perspectives on naturally occurring saponins as immunomodulatory and cytotoxic agents from Turkish plants
Bildiriler > Tam Metin Bildiri
Yazarlar: N Boke Sarikahya, A Nalbantsoy
Planta Medica, , , Uluslararası, Tam Metin Bildiri, Wos, cilt 92
Özet
Saponins are a diverse group of naturally occurring plant secondary metabolites present in a wide range of materials ranging from legumes and green leaves to sea creatures. They exhibit numerous biological activities such as fungicidal, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Considering the great potential of saponins, the main goal is placed on the isolation, purification and biological activities of saponins from Turkish plants. Saponins with adjuvant potential were determined as a result of in vitro immunomodulatory, cytotoxic and hemolytic activity studies performed on 19 different saponins from eight Cephalaria species. The structures of them were determined by advanced spectroscopic techniques such as 1D, 2D NMR and HR-MS. Immunomodulatory activity studies were conducted using QS-21 saponin in whole blood cells stimulated with PMA plus ionomycin as a positive control. Cytotoxicity studies were performed on HeLa, A549 and normal cell line HEK293 using the MTT method, and hemolytic activity studies were performed on human erythrocytes. It has been determined that saponin called elmalienoside A obtained from C. elmaliensis increase IL1-β production and didn’t show any cytotoxic effect on cells and choose an adjuvant candidate for vaccine formulations. One of the imperative results obtained of this study was that the most important isolated component, holothurin saponins, found in sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa were exhibited potent cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing effects on PC-3 and PANC-1 cells highlighting its potential against prostate and pancreatic cancers. Considering these results, the isolated saponins have great potential for planning further studies for use in cancer therapy. Funding : This study was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkiye (TUBITAK), Project Number:22AG013-22AG081 Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany