Caffeine Citrate

Scientists have figured out how two famously poisonous plants create chemicals with surprising medical potential. After tracking thousands of genes in wolfsbane and larkspur, they identified six enzymes needed to build a complex compound called atisinium. The team recreated the process inside tobacco plants, offering a sustainable way to produce and test these rare molecules in larger amounts.Two plants capable of causing nerve damage and paralysis at extremely low doses may also contain compounds with valuable uses against pain, malaria, cancer, and agricultural pests. Researchers have now identified a way to reproduce part of this potent chemistry in a laboratory setting, creating a possible path toward more sustainable treatments based on natural products. The work focused on wolfsbane and larkspur and brought together scientists from Michigan State University and the Czech Academy of Sciences. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Plant. "These plants have been used in different forms of medicine throughout the world for thousands of years," said MSU alum Garret Miller, co-first author of the paper and now an assistant professor of biotechnology at the University of Michigan-Flint. "We know they interact with our bodies in so many ways, and understanding how to create them can help provide totally new routes of testing." The Powerful Chemistry of Poisonous Plants Despite major advances in modern science, plants remain unmatched in their ability to produce intricate natural chemicals. "Plants are the best chemists around, upgrading their arsenal of natural compounds over millions of years to help them survive," said Björn Hamberger, study author and the James K. Billman Endowed Professor in MSU's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. "Humans have found countless uses for these molecules in everyday life," added Lana Mutabdžija, a graduate student at the Czech Academy of Sciences and co-first author of the latest paper. "These include caffeine, capsaicin, menthol and vanillin, not to mention the fact that many of the medicines we use today either come directly from plants or are inspired by plant chemistry." The Hamberger Lab at MSU studies these natural substances, known as specialized metabolites, and explores how they might be put to practical use. In recent years, the group turned its attention to larkspur, which is also called delphinium because of its dolphin-shaped flowers. The researchers wanted to determine how the plant produces diterpenoid alkaloids, a group of chemicals that are highly toxic but may also have useful medical properties. A Long-Standing Chemical Puzzle Unraveling this process presented a major challenge. Diterpenoid alkaloids combine features from two of the planet's oldest and largest groups of plant chemicals. Their structures are so complicated that scientists have struggled for decades to understand exactly how plants construct them. Aconitine, one of the most familiar compounds in this family, was isolated nearly 200 years ago. Even so, researchers have still not successfully synthesized it in a laboratory. The project gained momentum through an unexpected partnership. At a scientific conference in Barcelona, Hamberger met researchers from Tomáš Pluskal's laboratory at the Czech Academy of Sciences. The Pluskal Group, including Mutabdžija, was studying the same difficult family of diterpenoid alkaloids in wolfsbane, a famously poisonous relative of larkspur that is also known as monkshood. "When this happens, we can either go our own ways, or come together, and it's joining up that always leads to the best science," said Hamberger. Tracing the Plants' Chemical Assembly Line After joining forces, the international team set out to identify the precise sequence of biochemical steps used by wolfsbane and larkspur to make diterpenoid alkaloids. The search resembled a molecular scavenger hunt. Researchers examined several species of both plants and tracked thousands of genes, looking for those that became "switched on" in the right tissues at the right moment. "You can imagine a biosynthetic pathway almost as an assembly line," said Miller, who earned his Ph.D. in the Hamberger Lab. "If you have ten steps in a row needed to build a finished product, and suddenly one quits, the next steps can't happen." Plants generally make specialized metabolites in very small quantities and at a slow pace. Identifying the biochemical pathways behind them is therefore essential for producing these compounds on a larger scale and applying them to real-world problems. Once researchers solve a pathway, they can transfer the genetic instructions for building a compound into an engineered host, such as yeast. This form of biohacking can turn the host into a biological production system, allowing it to manufacture larger amounts of the desired chemical for further study and development. "In an ideal scenario, this could eventually help create new drugs inspired by these natural products," said Mutabdžija. Tobacco Plants Become Living Biofactories After identifying a promising collection of genes from wolfsbane and larkspur, the researchers transferred those genetic instructions into tobacco plants. The tobacco served as a convenient living factory for testing whether the genes could reproduce the plants' chemical process. Analysis showed that the modified tobacco plants had assembled the pathway the team was seeking. Six distinct enzymes worked together to produce atisinium, a diterpenoid alkaloid. The enzymes helped shape the molecule into its complicated final structure. They also enabled the addition of an essential source of nitrogen that the researchers had not expected. By identifying the first biochemical steps required to make atisinium, the team has gained an important starting point for studying the broader diterpenoid alkaloid family and its potentially useful medicinal properties. "Our vision is to provide green, sustainable tools that will allow us to harness these plants' natural power," Hamberger said.

A major long-term study linked coffee consumption with lower risks of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death from liver disease. Coffee drinkers also showed healthier liver scans and blood protein patterns, with less fat, inflammation, and scarring. Benefits appeared even at one or two cups daily and were strongest around three to four cups.One of the largest investigations yet into coffee and liver health has found that people who drink more coffee tend to have lower risks of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death related to liver disease. The Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University study, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, also uncovered biological patterns that could help explain why coffee consumption has repeatedly been associated with healthier livers. "Previous studies suggested that coffee might benefit the liver, but most were smaller or looked at only one piece of the puzzle," said hepatologist Hyunseok Kim, MD, MPH, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai and corresponding author of the study. "We followed hundreds of thousands of people for more than a decade and looked at their health outcomes along with liver MRI scans and blood protein analyses. Together, those findings help explain the biological mechanisms behind coffee's association with better liver health." Study Followed Nearly 355,000 Adults Researchers examined data from 354,957 UK Biobank participants who had no history of cirrhosis or liver cancer when the study began. Using linked medical records, the team tracked new cases of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver-related death over a median period of 13 years. The results showed that coffee drinkers generally experienced better liver outcomes than people who did not drink coffee. Participants who consumed five or more cups per day had a 32% lower risk of cirrhosis, a 47% lower risk of liver cancer, and a 42% lower risk of dying from liver disease compared with non-coffee drinkers. Coffee Linked to Less Liver Damage The researchers also examined liver MRI scans and blood protein measurements to look for physical and molecular signs of liver health. People who drank more coffee had lower levels of liver fat, excess liver iron, fibrosis, and liver inflammation on MRI scans. Their blood samples also contained higher levels of proteins associated with healthy liver function and lower levels of proteins connected to inflammation and tissue scarring. Together, these findings provide biological support for the long-observed relationship between coffee consumption and lower liver disease risk. Although risk generally declined as coffee intake increased, the researchers found signs of benefit even among people who drank only one or two cups per day. The strongest associations appeared at about three to four cups daily. The researchers stressed that although the group consuming the most coffee (five or more cups daily) also showed benefits, they are not advising people to raise their intake specifically to that amount. Decaf Showed Similar Associations Both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee were linked to better liver outcomes. This suggests that caffeine is probably not the only substance responsible for the association. Coffee contains numerous naturally occurring compounds, some of which may influence inflammation, liver scarring, and other biological processes involved in liver disease. However, the study was observational. It identified associations but cannot establish that coffee directly prevents cirrhosis, liver cancer, or liver-related death. The researchers also emphasized that drinking coffee should complement, not replace, well-established approaches to protecting liver health. "Our findings support moderate coffee consumption for people who already enjoy and tolerate it well," said study senior author Ju Dong Yang, MD, medical director of the Liver Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai. "However, we would not recommend that someone begin drinking coffee solely for liver protection based on this study alone. Prevention should continue to focus on maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol, exercising regularly, and managing blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol." Coffee Is Not Appropriate for Everyone Caffeine may not be suitable for some people. Those with uncontrolled high blood pressure, certain heart rhythm disorders, severe anxiety, insomnia, or other conditions that require caffeine restriction should speak with a healthcare provider before increasing their coffee intake. Future research will focus on identifying which substances in coffee may be responsible for the liver-related associations observed in the study. "The next step in our research is to identify the specific compounds in coffee that are responsible for these liver-protective associations," said study author Shelly Lu, MD, the Women's Guild Chair in Gastroenterology and director of the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Cedars-Sinai. "Our findings point to biological pathways involving inflammation and scarring and highlight molecular targets that future research can explore to better understand how coffee may influence liver health and who stands to benefit the most." Additional Cedars-Sinai authors include Yufeng Wang, Abdelrahman M. Attia, Minsun Kwak, Seungwon Burm, Derin Celtik, Daniel Legaspi, Osama Khattab, Naomy Kim, Beza M. Mengistu, Kelsey N. Larios, Walid Ayoub, Alexandar Kuo, Paul Martin, Aarshi Vipani, Yun Wang, Debiao Li and Stephen Pandol. Other authors include Mohammad Saeid Rezaee-Zavareh, David Sooik Kim and Suthat Liangpunsakul. Conflicts of Interest: Ju Dong Yang reports the following conflicts of interest: consulting service for AstraZeneca, Eisai, Exact Sciences, and Fujifilm Medical Sciences.