Broussonetia luzonica leaves extract on Lowering Cholesterol Levels Utilizing

Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry (AIMS)

Stephen King C. Barranda, Ron Jasper C. Placio, John Carl R.Salavarria
Manila Science High School, Manila, Philippines
skbarranda@gmail.com, ronjasperplacio17@gmail.com, johncarlsalavarria@gmail.com

I. INTRODUCTION

There are a lot of factors to determine

Cholesterol is present in every cell of the
body and has important natural functions
when it comes to digesting foods, producing
hormones, and generating vitamin D
(Macgill, 2018). According to Mayo Clinic
(2019), the body needs cholesterol to build
healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol
can increase your risk of heart disease. It can
develop fatty deposits in the blood vessels
and these deposits grow, making it difficult
for enough blood to flow through your
arteries. Cholesterol doesn’t dissolve in
water, so it can’t travel through your blood on
its own. To help transport cholesterol, the
liver produces lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are
particles made from fat and protein that carry
cholesterol through the bloodstream. The two
major forms of lipoprotein are low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) (Cruickshank and
Cafasso, 2018). Low-density lipoprotein
(LDL) cholesterol can combine with proteins
and other substances in the blood to make
plaque that can buildup and cause blood
vessels to become stiffer, narrower, or
blocked while high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) cholesterol removes cholesterol from
the blood vessels and carries it back to the
liver, where it is broken down and removed
from the body (Gavin,2018).
the levels of high cholesterol including
heredity, diet, and lifestyle. Less commonly,
underlying illnesses affecting the liver,
thyroid, or kidney may affect blood
cholesterol levels.
High Cholesterol is one of the risk
factors that can lead to atherosclerotic
cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), including
heart attack, TIA, stroke and peripheral artery
disease (Wedro, 2015). According to Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), a
person with high cholesterol have about
twice the risk of heart disease as people with
lower levels. As stated in the study in Rush
University Medical Center (2015), 71 million
American adults (33.5%) have high low-
density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,”
cholesterol and there are more women that
have high cholesterol than men. There are a
lot of foods that may lower cholesterol levels
in the body by different mechanisms. High
fiber foods bind cholesterol and make it
difficult to be absorbed. Some plants contain
stanols, squalene and sterols, which prevent
the cholesterol from being absorbed into the
blood stream. One of those plants is
Himbabao (Broussonetia luzonica) that has
antioxidant, chemo preventive, antitumor and
hypocholesterolemic activities (Casuga,
Castillo & Corpus, 2016).
Broussonetia luzonica (Blanco)
(Moraceae) (B. luzonica), a tree endemic in
the Philippines, is commonly found in
thickets and forests at low and medium
altitudes. For Filipinos especially those
from the northern part of Luzon, the leaves
and flowers are edible and used in vegetable
recipes such as pinakbet and bulanglang.
Compounds present in other species of
Broussonetia exhibited remarkable
biological activities.
Broussonetia papyrifera exhibited
potent antiproliferative effects on estrogen
receptor-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells
in vitro[5]; furthermore, its methanolic
extract exhibited cytotoxicity against HeLa
cell lines and HepG2 cell lines. Plants under
the same genus might also exhibit the same
biological activities because of similar
active principles present in them.
Identification of bioactive compounds
present in the leaves of B. luzonica is
conducted for further reference of future
studies on one of the edible and endemic
plants of the Philippines. There are no
published literatures that determine the
bioactive compounds present in the
different extracts of B. luzonica leaves by
gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
(GC–MS) analysis. This study aimed to
investigate and characterize the bioactive
compounds in the different crude extracts of
B. luzonica leaves.
Hypercholesterolemia is a disease in
which the blood cholesterol level is high.
Vascular disease, i.e. furring up of the blood
vessels, often occurs at an earlier age than
usual, especially amongst men. Thus
lifelong therapies, started in childhood, to
reduce blood cholesterol are needed. In
children with familial
hypercholesterolemia, diet has been the
main treatment option. Medications, such as
cholestyramine and colestipol, have been
used effectively, but due to their unpleasant
taste they are poorly tolerated and treatment
plans are not followed. The advent of statin
therapy for children has improved treatment
and this review updates the previous
published version.
Statins, another way of reducing
cholesterol levels is a class of cholesterol-
lowering medications that inhibit 3-
hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A
reductase, are commonly administered to
treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Statin use may expand considerably given
its potential for treating an array of
cholesterol-independent diseases. However,
the lack of conclusive evidence supporting
these emerging therapeutic uses of statins
brings to the fore a number of unanswered
questions including uncertainties regarding
patient-to-patient variability in response to
statins, the most appropriate statin to be
used for the desired effect, and the efficacy
of statins in treating cholesterol-
independent diseases. In this review, the
adverse effects, costs, and drug–drug and
drug–food interactions associated with
statin use are presented. Furthermore, we
discuss the pleiotropic effects associated
with statins with regard to the onset and
progression of autoimmune and
inflammatory diseases, cancer,
neurodegenerative disorders, strokes,
bacterial infections, and human
immunodeficiency virus. Understanding
these issues will improve the prognosis of
patients who are administered statins and
potentially expand our ability to treat a wide
variety of diseases.
The bioactive compounds present in
methanol, n-hexane and ethyl acetate
extracts obtained from B. luzonica leaves
Their identification and characterization
were based on their elution order in a HP-
5MS column. The elution time, molecular
formula and the amount of these bioactive
compounds were also presented. Based on
abundance, the top three major compounds
present in the methanolic extract were
lupeol (21.973%), tritriacontane (16.670%)
and γ-sitosterol (14.754%). The n-hexane
crude extract contained squalene (29.028%)
followed by tetracosane (8.626%) and
triacontane (7.341%). The ethyl acetate
crude extract had phytol (20.288%), 1,2,3-
propanetriol, monoacetate (21.211%) and
squalene (6.8%) as the top three major
compounds. The GC chromatograms of the
three extracts are the retention time in the
column and the detected peaks which
correspond to the bioactive compounds
present in the extract.
Lupeol belongs to pentacyclic lupane-type
triterpenes and exhibits in edible vegetables,
fruits and many plants. Many researches
indicated that lupeol possesses many
beneficial pharmacological activities
including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,
anti-hyperglycemic, anti-dyslipidemic and
anti-mutagenic effects. From various
disease-targeted animal models, these
reports indicated that lupeol has anti-
diabetic, anti-asthma, anti-arthritic,
cardioprotective, hepatoprotective,
nephroprotective, neuroprotective and
anticancer efficiency under various routes
of administration such as topical, oral,
subcutaneous, intraperitoneal and
intravenous. It is worth mentioning that
clinical trials of lupeol were performed to
treat canine oral malignant melanoma and
human moderate skin acne in Japan and
Korea.
Thymus vulgaris is a species of flowering
plant in the mint family Lamiacea. Thymus
is a widely used medicinal plant in food and
pharmaceutical industries. Among different
species of Thymus, Thymus vulgaris is used
more than other species in therapeutic
dosage forms. In Traditional medicine T.
vulgaris is cultivated in many countries by
most people especially in rural areas
depending on herbal medicines to treat
many diseases including inflammation-
related ailments such as rheumatism,
muscle swelling, insect bites, pains, etc.
Also the modern medicine in essential oil of
thyme has demonstrated that the compounds
have shown anti-inflammatory, antioxidant,
antibacterial and antifungal properties. Also
the modern medicine in essential oil of
thyme has demonstrated the compounds
have shown anti-inflammatory,
immunomodulatory, antioxidant,
antibacterial and antifungal properties. The
plant material mentioned would be the
subject of this study.
The objective of this research is to
investigate the contents of endemic plant
Broussonetia luzonica. Another research
objective is to produce more sufficient
information as basis for other research about
the Use of endemic plant Broussonetia
luzonica
The researchers aimed to answer the
following questions throughout the period of
the study:
1. How does Himbabao (Broussonetia
luzonica) affect the lowering of high
cholesterol content using Ambient
Ionization Mass Spectrometry
(AIMS)?
2. How does the untreated sample of
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and water
affect the lowering of high blood
pressure induced on female albino rats?
3. What is the significant difference
between the untreated Thyme (Thymus
vulgaris) and water sample on
affecting the lowering of high blood
pressure induced on female albino rats?
4. What is the significant difference
between the treated Thyme (Thymus
vulgaris) and water sample on
affecting the lowering of high blood
pressure induced on female albino rats?
5. What is the significant difference
between the treated and untreated
samples on affecting the lowering of
high blood pressure induced on female
albino rats?
The proponents formulated
hypotheses based on the questions stated
above:
1. There is no significant difference
in the effect on lowering high blood
pressure on the readings of the untreated
Thymus vulgaris on female albino rat.
2. There is no significant difference
in the effect on lowering high blood
pressure on the readings of the treated
Thymus vulgaris on female albino rat.
3. There is no significant difference
in the effect on lowering high blood
pressure between the readings of the treated
and untreated Thymus vulgaris on female
albino rat.
This research desires to give knowledge
about the high contents of (herbal)
medication procedures and medium in
mitigating to the worsening condition of
hypertension and cardiovascular diseases
which is very evident to most Filipinos, but
also to other institutions or countries that are
facing the same situation of high probability
of hypertensive population. This research
also proposes a solution on the worsening
solid waste management through the
utilization of biodegradable materials to
become alternative sources for medicine,
then, at the same time, reducing the amount
of solid biodegradable wastes.
This research also was conducted with
specific materials, Broussonetia luzonica
endemic plant from Ilocos . This research
will focus only on the High Content Seen on
the Phytochemical Screening. This research
used related researches about other types of
native plants that only grow in the
Philippines. The researchers conducted the
experiment with certified scientists and
experts on the Adamson University.
The following terms were often
mentioned and discussed in this research
and are the main subjects of this study:
1. Hypertension - Blood pressure is the
force exerted by the blood against the
walls of the blood vessels. The
pressure depends on the work being
done by the heart and the resistance of
the blood vessels. ---
2. Musa acuminata - Musa acuminata,
the wild species of banana is a plant
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research study, Thymus vulgaris
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vital role in lowering the high blood
pressure of an organism.
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