The family Thymelaeaceae, which includes huge evergreen trees that are sparsely distributed in tropical rainforests, includes the genus Aquilaria. Numerous medical conditions, including inflammation, cancer, and oxidative stress have been traditionally treated using Aquilaria agallocha and Aquilaria malaccensis. In this study, we evaluated in silico and biological activity with A. agallocha and A. malaccensis sample for more conformation. Raw 264.7 macrophage cells and HacaT cells were used, together with the MTT, ROS, NO, and wound healing assays, to investigate the possible cytotoxicity in A549 lung cancer. Thus, A. agallocha and A. malaccensis showed significant cytotoxicity against A549 cancer cells at 1000 µg/mL. Furthermore, we observed an elevated ROS level in cancer cells. The wound healing assay showed cancer cell inhibition activity. While BCL-2 decreased in the intrinsic route, p53, Bax, Caspase 3, and Caspase 9 were elevated by A.A and A.M. Additionally, we have also conducted an in silico evaluation followed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, along with ADMET and biological activity prediction to further validate the experimental results. In normal cells, both samples showed less toxicity at 1000 µg/mL and suppressed the LPS-treated NO and ROS levels against the inflammation. Additionally, A.A and A.M suppressed the pro-inflammatory gene expression of COX-2, iNOS, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 in RAW 264.7 cells. On the other hand, A.A and A.M extract effectively suppressed oxidative stress by increasing the antioxidative gene expression in H₂O₂-induced HaCat cells at 50 μg/mL. This study revealed that the plant extracts from A. agallocha and A. malaccensis could exert a cytotoxic effect on lung adenocarcinoma cells through the activation of an intrinsic signaling pathway. Moreover, it could be a potential source of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer agents after consideration of in vivo and clinical studies.

The family Bignoniaceae includes Handroanthus impetiginosus trees, which are sparsely distributed in the northeast of Brazil. Natural products play a vital role in the discovery of drugs for various diseases. Many plants have been used as sources of medicines because of their chemical diversity and potent bioactivity. Handroanthus impetiginosus has been used traditionally to cure a wide range of illnesses, such as cancer, oxidative stress, and inflammation. This work highlights the cytotoxicity, cell death, and routes of apoptosis in lung cancer cells (A549) and the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of roasted Handroanthus impetiginosus (lapacho/taheebo) in normal cells. The cell viability assay indicated that puffing roasted taheebo is nontoxic to a normal cell line up to 500 µg/mL but significantly toxic to A549 cells. The roasted lapacho/taheebo also increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in A549 lung cancer cells, and cellular apoptosis via a mitochondrial intrinsic pathway was confirmed. The roasted lapacho/taheebo significantly inhibited both colony formation and cell migration ability, highlighting its potential as an anticancer agent. Additionally, this study demonstrates that roasted taheebo enhanced the expression of genes for BAX accumulation and decreased Bcl-2 gene expression through the p53 signaling pathway. Furthermore, research on the anti-inflammatory properties of roasted taheebo revealed a strong NO inhibition as well as the inhibition of inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, iNOS, COX-2, IL-6, and IL-8) through the NF-κB signaling pathway. However, in H₂O₂-induced HaCaT cells, roasted taheebo extract significantly reduced oxidative stress by upregulating the level of expression of antioxidative markers (SOD, CAT, GPx, and GST) at 50 μg/mL. As a result, roasted taheebo justifies investigation in animal and clinical trials as a possible source of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory substances, and anti-cancer compounds.