# Investigation of Kelussia Odoratissima and Angelica Sinensis Similarities in Zebrafish-based In-vivo Bioactivity Assays and Their Chemical Composition

## TL;DR

This study compares the chemical and biological similarities of two medicinal plants, Kelussia odoratissima and Angelica sinensis, using zebrafish models to assess their effects on blood vessel growth and pancreatic cell regeneration.

## Contribution

The study identifies shared chemical compounds and biological activities between two geographically distinct medicinal plants using zebrafish-based assays.

## Key findings

- Both essential oils inhibited blood vessel formation in zebrafish embryos, likely due to phthalide compounds.
- AVR significantly induced pancreatic beta cell regeneration, though less effectively than the positive control NECA.
- Shared compounds made up over 50% of the essential oils from both plants.

## Abstract

Background: Kelussia odoratissima and Angelica sinensis are two medicinal plants
commonly used in Iran and China, respectively. They have been used in their
indigenous traditional medicine, for various diseases including, blood refining,
inflammation, cold, flu, stress, cardiovascular diseases, and nervous disorders.
This study was conducted to evaluate the volatile oil composition of K.
odoratissima leaves (KVL) and A. sinensis root (AVR); we also examined the
biological activity of essential oils (EOs) and hydroalcoholic extracts of both
plants using two different transgenic zebrafish (Danio rerio) models:
angiogenesis and pancreatic beta cell (pBC) regeneration models.Materials and
Methods: Both EOs were isolated by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and
GC/MS. For viability tests, larvae were treated with different concentrations of
extracts to determine an appropriate starting concentration. Hydroalcoholic
extracts and EOs have been tested in a dose-dependent manner for their
biological activity using tissue-specific transgenic zebrafish Tg(fli-1: EGFP)
and Tg (ins: GFP-NTR) embryos and larvae. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the
mean of pBC area and intersegmental vessels (ISVs) outgrowth between the
treatment groups.Results: Eleven compounds were in common to both oils,
comprising 51.3% of KVL and 61.7% of AVR, of which 39.3% in KVL and 37.6% in AVR
were phthalide structures. Results revealed that both EOs blocked ISVs formation
in the Tg (fli-1: EGFP) embryos increased to 10% of the control value, while
both hydroalcoholic extracts did not show any anti-angiogenesis effects in these
embryos. In addition, AVR has been shown to significantly induce PBC
regeneration following ablation in the Tg (ins: GFP-NTR), but its regenerative
activity was lower than that of 5′-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA) as a
positive control. Taken together, the anti-angiogenesis activity of both EOs
could be attributed to the phthalide structures while for the PBC regenerative
activity, other compounds including β-Thujaplicinol, exclusively existing in
AVR, might be effective.Conclusion: Although the genera, organs, and origin of
these plants are different, their similar chemical composition and biological
activities make them valuable resources for further investigation in basic
medical and pharmaceutical science.