François Senejoux

• PharmD / PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of Franche-Comté

Background/Objectives: Inflammation is a vital response of the immune system, frequently linked to the development and progression of numerous chronic and autoimmune diseases. Targeting inflammation represents an attractive strategy to prevent and treat these pathologies. In this context, many pathways, including pro-inflammatory cytokines secretio...

Arginase, a difficult-to-target metalloenzyme, is implicated in a wide range of diseases, including cancer, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases. Despite the medical need, existing inhibitors have limited structural diversity, consisting predominantly...

The methanolic extract of the leaves of Macaranga hurifolia Beille showed arginase inhibitory activity (40% at 100 µg/mL) and was then fractionated to obtain nine polyphenolic compounds. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR spectroscopic data, and by comparison with data previously reported in the literature, as gallic acid (1), 3,4...

Excess weight and obesity are the fifth leading cause of death globally, and sustained efforts from health professionals and researchers are required to mitigate this pandemic-scale prob- lem. Polyphenols and flavonoids found in Aspalathus linearis—a plant widely consumed as Rooibos tea—are increasingly being investigated for their positive effects...

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of the n-butanol fraction of the methanol leaf extract of Artemisia campestris (BFAC), growing wild in the arid zone of Tunisia, on induced obesity in male Wistar rats. Methods: The total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of the BFAC were estimated. The main phenolic composition of t...

Plants are a promising source of innovative bioactive compounds for skin treatment and some species of the Juncaceae family have been used in folk medicine for the treatment of erysipelas or bleeding. We focused on Luzula sylvatica, a Juncaceae member that has sparked growing interest for its anti-inflammatory potential Methods: The antioxidant pro...

Artemisia herba-alba (AHA) is a medicinal plant known for its preventive capacities against chronic diseases. Inflammation is a naturally occurring cellular response to noxious stimuli, and both acute and chronic inflammation are involved in human disorders. Preventing and limiting the negative impact of inflammation by using phytocompounds has att...

Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) is a widespread anthocyanin derivative, which has been reported in vitro to exert potent antioxidant, antiglycation and α-glucosidase inhibition effects. Nevertheless, the physiological relevance of such properties remains uncertain considering its significant instability in gastrointestinal conditions. A simulated dige...

Anthocyanins from Vaccinium myrtillus fruits have been reported in vitro to exert potent radical scavenging and antiglycation activities. However, the physiological relevance of such properties remains unclear given the potential susceptibility of anthocyanin derivatives to digestive conditions. A simulated gastrointestinal tract model was thus imp...

Vaccinium myrtillus fruit (bilberry) is well known for its high richness in anthocyanins, which may be responsible for its preventive effects on several oxidative and carbonyl stress-related pathologies. However, limited data are available regarding the antioxidant and antiglycative contributions of its constituents. Spectrometric analyses were per...

Phenanthrenoids have been widely described, in the Juncaceae family, for their biological properties such as antitumor, anxiolytic, anti‐microbial, spasmolytic, and antiinflammatory activities. The Juncaceae family is known to contain a large variety of phenanthrenoids possessing especially anti‐inflammatory and cytotoxic properties. Luzula sylvati...

Background: Some Bupleurum species, such as the Bupleurum chinense DC. or the Bupleurum scorzonerifolium Willd have been extensively studied (especially their roots) for the treatment of inflammation. In contrast, only compounds extracted from the aerial parts of Bupleurum rotundifolium have been studied and showed anti-inflammatory or antiprolife...

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and Harpagophytum (H. procumbens) are two medicinal herbs traditionally used for their anti-inflammatory effect. Nonetheless, if the effects of the single compounds isolated from these plants have been well described, little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind whole extracts. Methods: We studied and comp...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The Vha-Venda people living in rural areas of Limpopo Province of South Africa regularly use traditional plant-based medicines to treat malaria. In our earlier publication, twenty indigenous plant species used to treat malaria or its symptoms by Vha-Venda people were evaluated for antiplasmodial activity. The main o...

The present study aimed at developing an original pre-column HPLC assay allowing rapid characterization of nitric oxide (NO) scavengers from complex plant extracts. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was employed as a NO donor and spiked with an aqueous extract from Aloysia triphylla leaves prior to HPLC analysis. Relying on the ability of radical scavengi...

This is the first part of my work on Filipendula ulmaria (Meadowsweet), mainly about two ways to determine Xanthine oxydase inhibitor and the beginning of a chemoguided fractionation.

Objective: To evaluate the total phenolic contents, antioxidant and antiglycation activities of leaves, barks, roots and kernels from two cultivars of Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae). Methods: Total phenolic contents were determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu's method. The antioxidant activities were assessed by three different protocols including D...

Detarium microcarpum is an African tree which is widely used as a folk medicine and food. A methanol extract from the leaves as well as its hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions were evaluated for their total phenolic content and radical scavenging activities. Additionally, a pre-column DPPH-HPLC assay was performed to scre...

This is the very first work on the Plantinauv project.

Annonaceous acetogenins (AAGs) are neurotoxins possibly responsible for atypical Parkinsonism / dementia clusters, via the consumption of edible Annonaceae fruits. Their presence was investigated in fruit pulps of Annona squamosa from different locations. Qualitative analysis of other AAGs was performed. We here report the identification of squamoc...

South Africa being home to more than 35% of the world's Helichrysum species (c.a. 244) of which many are used in traditional medicine, is seen potentially as a significant resource in the search of new anti-HIV chemical entities. It was established that five of the 30 Helichrysum species selected for this study had significant anti-HIV activity ran...

The cause and maintenance of the fairy circle phenomenon of the Namibian pro-desert have not yet been satisfactorily explained. Several diverse hypotheses have been put forward, but none have universally been accepted. In the current study a possible link between the barren patches (fairy circles) of the Garub region (southern Namibian pro-desert)...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Aerial parts of Heracleum sphondylium L. (HS) are used in traditional medicine to treat hypertension. To provide pharmacological basis for this use, we investigated the vasorelaxant effects of a dichloromethane extract of HS (HSDE) and the mechanisms involved. Materials and methods: Activity of HSDE was evaluated...

The one-step cascade assembly of the central core of halichonadins K and L, two dimeric sesquiterpenoids of marine origin, is described for a model system providing suitable conditions towards the total synthesis of the two molecules. A biomimetic multicomponent reaction involving a glycine, a C5 unit presumably derived from lysine, and an isocyani...

Apocynin is a naturally occurring acetophenone widely used as an inhibitor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase. Recent data suggested that apocynin might exert NADPH oxidase-independent pharmacological properties. Among them, vasorelaxant properties have been described, but the mechanisms still give rise to debates. The p...

Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. (Lamiaceae) is traditionally used in Uighur's medicine for the treatment of hypertension. Our study determined and evaluated the bioactive compounds by performing an activity-guided fractionation of a hydroalcoholic extract of the whole plant, using an in vitro model of rat isolated thoracic aortic rings. Seven compoun...

Affectant près d'un milliard de personnes dans le monde, l'hypertension artérielle représente un facteur de risque majeur de pathologies cardiovasculaires et d'insuffisance rénale et constitue l'une des principales causes de mortalité. L'identification de traitements anti-hypertenseurs efficaces et tenant compte des particularités des différentes p...

Fruits of Nitraria sibirica Pall. are traditionally used in Uighur medicine to treat hypertension. This study aimed to support that folk use by defining their vasoactive and hypotensive properties. The vasorelaxant activity and the underlying mechanisms of a hydroalcoholic extract from the fruits of Nitraria sibirica Pall. (NSHE) were evaluated on...

Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. (ZC) is widely used in Uyghur folk medicine for the treatment of hypertension diseases in Xinjiang, an autonomous region of China. To provide pharmacological basis for this traditional use, we explored the vasodilating effects of ZC and investigated the underlying mechanisms. Activity of hexane (ZCHE), dichloromethane...

Isolona hexaloba is a tall tree of equatorial Africa forests, which is traditionaly used against malaria. The genus Isolona is a source of bis-benzylisoquinolines [1] and of prenylated indoles which were proposed to be chemotaxonomical markers [2,3]. Fractionnation of a stem bark chloromethylenic extract of Isolona hexaloba yielded ubiquitary fatty...