Tomatidine is isolated from the fruits of tomato plants and found to have anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages. In the present study, we investigated whether tomatidine suppresses airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and eosinophil infiltration in asthmatic mice. BALB/c mice were sensitized with ovalbumin and treated with tomatidine by intraperitoneal injection. Airway resistance was measured b...

Antibiotic resistance is an important problem in antibiotic treatment of infections, particularly in hospitals. Tomatidine is a plant secondary metabolite with antimicrobial and antifungal effects. This study examined the possible synergistic effect tomatidine with several antibiotics against standard and clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa a...

Aging reduces skeletal muscle mass and strength, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we used mouse models to investigate molecular mechanisms of age-related skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy as well as new potential interventions for these conditions. We identified two small molecules that significantly reduce age-related deficits in skeletal muscle strength, qualit...

Aging is a major international concern that brings formidable socioeconomic and healthcare challenges. Small molecules capable of improving the health of older individuals are being explored. Small molecules that enhance cellular stress resistance are a promising avenue to alleviate declines seen in human aging. Tomatidine, a natural compound abundant in unripe tomatoes, inhibits age-related sk...

Candida albicans is a major cause of fungal diseases in humans, and its resistance to available drugs is of concern. In an attempt to identify novel antifungal agents, we initiated a small-scale screening of a library of 199 natural plant compounds (i.e., natural products [NPs]). In vitro susceptibility profiling experiments identified 33 NPs with activity against C. albicans (MIC50s ≤ 32 μg/ml...

α-Tomatine was not highly phytotoxic and slightly inhibited the stem elongation (7 to 13%) when applied as a spray to etiolated 4-day-old seedlings of sesbania [Sesbania exaltata (Raf.) Rybd.], sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia L.), mungbean (Vigna radiata L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L.). Tomatidine had less effect on stem elongation than tomatine and reduced the e...

antibiotic resistance is an important problem in antibiotic treatment of infections, particularly in hospitals. tomatidine is a plant secondary metabolite with antimicrobial and antifungal effects. this study examined the possible synergistic effect tomatidine with several antibiotics against standard and clinical strains of staphylococcus aureus, enterococcus faecalis, pseudomonas aeruginosa a...

Steroidal alkaloids (SAs) are triterpene-derived specialized metabolites found in members of the Solanaceae family that provide plants with a chemical barrier against a broad range of pathogens. Their biosynthesis involves the action of glycosyltransferases to form steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs). To elucidate the metabolism of SGAs in the Solanaceae family, we examined the tomato (Solanum lyco...

Phytomonas serpens are flagellates in the family Trypanosomatidae that parasitise the tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum L.), which results in fruits with low commercial value. The tomato glycoalkaloid tomatine and its aglycone tomatidine inhibit the growth of P. serpens in axenic cultures. Tomatine, like many other saponins, induces permeabilisation of the cell membrane and a loss of cell cont...