Traditional medicine is a good source of knowledge about therapeutics, which are consequently researched and successfully implicated in modern pharmaceutical preparations. Sambucus ebulus L. (SE), also known as dwarf elder or dwarf elderberry, is a widely used as wound-healing, anti-nociceptive, anti-rheumatoid, anti-influenza, antibacterial and diuretic medicinal plant in Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Romania and Bosnia–Herzegovina [1,2,3,4,5]. Fresh fruits, jam, tea or decoction of SE fruits are used as immunostimulating and hematopoietic herbal preparations, as well as for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders [1,2,6]. The number of modern studies focusing on SE biological activities are growing, but there is still insufficient knowledge regarding molecular mechanisms of action of fresh or dry fruits and various fruit extracts.

Only ripe fruits are used in traditional medicine recipes and the chemical content varies depending on the types of the extract [3,7]. Data from phytochemical analyses in the literature reveal that SE fruits are high in polyphenolics, especially anthocyanins and proantchocyanidins, phenolic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonol glycosides, as well as organic acids, tannins, pectins, resins, vitamin C, volatile substances (eugenol, valeric acid, citronellal etc.), amino acids (including some essential ones), and plant sterols [3,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Many chromatographic analyses of SE fruit extracts have been carried out up to date, and, still, the information about the presence of certain specific organic compounds remains unclear, especially with regard to soil characteristics, variety of extragents used for sample preparation. Therefore, a detailed phytochemical analysis could be useful, especially in examining the molecular mechanisms of SE fruits on human health.

Numerous studies have established the strong in-vitro antioxidant activity of SE fruit extracts, analyzing its iron chelating, NO radical scavenging, and ABTS cation radical decolorization activity, and their interrelations with polyphenolic and anthocyanin content [3,7,8]. The presence of different functional groups in polyphenolics and organic acids found in the tested SE fruit extracts is considered to determine, to a great extent, their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In oxidatively challenged 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, SE fruit aqueous extract (FAE) acts as modulator of antioxidant genes’ transcription [17]. In macrophages treated with ethanol- or lipopolysaccharides (LPS), SE FAE suppresses the ethanol- and LPS-stimulated transcription of glutamate–cysteine ligase, glutathione peroxidase and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) [9,18]. Acetone extracts, hydrophilic and anthocyanin-rich fractions of SE fruits possessing high in-vitro antioxidant activity protect macrophages from the oxidative stress-mediated cytotoxicity caused by tert-Butyl hydroperoxide [19]. Ethyl acetate fraction of SE fruits possesses cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory activity reducing ethanol-induced cell death, proinflammatory gene transcription in macrophages [9]. Methanolic extracts of SE fruits reduce carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats [20]. Others describe the antiemetic, neuroprotective and anti-herpes-simplex-virus activities of SE fruit extracts [12,21].

In an intervention study on healthy adult volunteers, SE fruit tea enhances serum antioxidant potential, improves lipid profile [22], decreases serum CRP, IL-1β, leptin and adiponectin levels [23], thus indicating an immune- and fat metabolism-modulating activity. A clinical trial reported the effectiveness of SE fruit ethanol extract for the treatment of paederus dermatitis, proving its anti-inflammatory and wound healing potential [24].

LPS-stimulated macrophages are widely used in-vitro models for testing anti-inflammatory activity of medicinal plant extracts. The macrophages are source of a variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and may act in a paracrine and endocrine mode. In low grade inflammation, such as in adiposity, where the activation of chemokine release is associated with macrophage recruitment and unlocking a self-feeding inflammatory process that leads to such complications as insulin resistance and related atherosclerosis [25]. The released cytokines and chemokines, such as TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β, NO, as a product of iNOS, activate signaling pathways mediated by Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), the inhibitor of κB-kinase (IKK)β and other serine kinases [25,26,27,28], and resulting in NFκB activation. The latter stimulates the transcription of pro-inflammatory genes [29].

Along with the protein synthesis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays an important role in sensing nutrients and responds to different stress conditions by activating the unfolded protein response and subsequently implicating it into insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases [30,31]. ER stress can promote inflammation, and vice versa [32,33]. ER stress-related inflammation could be mediated by iNOS [34]. Therefore, the enzyme iNOS as a cross point of inflammation and ER stress could be a possible therapeutic target.

There are data that ER stress and inflammation in different pathological conditions could be reduced by compounds such as resveratrol [35,36], epigallocatechin gallate [37] and proanthocyanidins found in herbal extracts [38]. SE fruits, being rich polyphenolics, anthocyanins and stilbenes, could be effective in combating ER stress and inflammation.

2. Phytochemical Content and Composition

Among the phytochemical compounds identified in the tested SE FAE 15 amino acids (AAs), 10 organic acids (OAs), 36 sugar acids and alcohols, 25 mono-, di- and trisaccharides, 13 fatty acids (saturated and unsaturated) and their esters (Table 1), and 38 phenolic compounds were detected and quantified (Table 2).