Background The L-arginine/nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)/ATP-sensitive potassium channel (K ATP ) signaling pathway is a crucial biological pathway that plays a significant role in many physiological processes. Purpose This study provides a comprehensive overview of this signaling pathway and its therapeutic implications across various diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, metabolic syndromes, and chronic pain conditions. It highlights how natural compounds can effectively influence this essential signaling cascade to help manage different health issues. Methodology A comprehensive review was conducted to evaluate the effects of phytochemicals on modulating the L-arginine/NO/cGMP/K ATP pathway in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders, metabolic syndromes, and chronic pain conditions. The literature review included searches of electronic databases such as Scopus®, PubMed®, and ScienceDirect®, as well as manual searches of reference lists and citations within the authors' areas of expertise. Results and discussion L-arginine plays a central role in this pathway, which is converted into NO-a potent vasodilator-by nitric oxide synthases, thereby regulating vascular tone and pain sensitivity. The subsequent activation of cGMP and K ATP channels further influences cellular function, providing protective effects during ischemic events, supporting cardiovascular stability, helping combat metabolic syndromes, and pain. While traditional pharmacological approaches have shown effectiveness by regulating the pathway, they often come with undesirable side effects. Additionally, emerging evidence supports the role of phytochemicals as promising modulators with therapeutic potential in such conditions. Conclusion Phytochemicals may modulate the L-arginine/NO/cGMP/K ATP pathway to treat cardiovascular disorders, metabolic syndromes, and chronic pain conditions.

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Local populations select different plants to meet their demands, so that morphologically similar species can be more used for a given use. Herein, we seek to understand whether plant species that are phylogenetically closer together are used more similarly than distant species in the phylogeny. Ethnobotanical data were collected in five rural communities in a semi-arid region of Brazil. A total of 120 local experts were selected and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. The people's knowledge of plants was organized into usage subcategories. We estimated the redundancy values for the mentioned species, and we compiled data from the literature on the wood density values of the cited species. We constructed our phylogenetic hypothesis of useful plants and used comparative phylogenetic methods to estimate the signal. Our results showed a strong phylogenetic grouping for both tool handle and craft uses. We observed a moderate phylogenetic grouping in which related cited plants exhibit similar redundancy and a weak grouping in which cited plants present similar wood density values. Our results revealed the importance of using phylogeny for useful plants. We conclude the phylogenetic proximity of useful plants and the lower redundancy for some species in our study may suggest greater use pressure, given that few species fulfill the same function.

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The Millettioid/Phaseoloid (MP) clade from the subfamily Papilionoideae (Leguminosae) consists of six tribes and ca. 3,000 species. Previous studies have revealed some plastome structural variations (PSVs) within this clade. However, many deep evolutionary relationships within the clade remain unresolved. Due to limited taxon sampling and few genetic markers in previous studies, our understanding of the evolutionary history of this clade is limited. To address this issue, we sampled 43 plastomes (35 newly sequenced) representing all the six tribes of the MP clade to examine genomic structural variations and phylogenetic relationships. Plastomes of the species from the MP clade were typically quadripartite (size ranged from 140,029 to 160,040 bp) and contained 109-111 unique genes. We revealed four independent gene losses ( ndhF , psbI , rps16 , and trnS-GCU ), multiple IR-SC boundary shifts, and six inversions in the tribes Desmodieae, Millettieae, and Phaseoleae. Plastomes of the species from the MP clade have experienced significant variations which provide valuable information on the evolution of the clade. Plastid phylogenomic analyses using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian methods yielded a well-resolved phylogeny at the tribal and generic levels within the MP clade. This result indicates that plastome data is useful and reliable data for resolving the evolutionary relationships of the MP clade. This study provides new insights into the phylogenetic relationships and PSVs within this clade.

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