Chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activities of the oil of Ziziphora clinopodioides...

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NPC Natural Product Communications

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DR. PAWAN K AGRAWAL Natural Product Inc. 7963, Anderson Park Lane, Westerville, Ohio 43081, USA [email protected] EDITORS

PROFESSOR ALESSANDRA BRACA Dipartimento di Chimica Bioorganicae Biofarmacia, Universita di Pisa, via Bonanno 33, 56126 Pisa, Italy [email protected] PROFESSOR DEAN GUO State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China [email protected]

PROFESSOR YOSHIHIRO MIMAKI School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Horinouchi 1432-1, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0392, Japan [email protected] PROFESSOR STEPHEN G. PYNE Department of Chemistry University of Wollongong Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia [email protected] PROFESSOR MANFRED G. REINECKE Department of Chemistry, Texas Christian University, Forts Worth, TX 76129, USA [email protected] PROFESSOR WILLIAM N. SETZER Department of Chemistry The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL 35809, USA [email protected] PROFESSOR YASUHIRO TEZUKA Institute of Natural Medicine Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630-Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan [email protected] PROFESSOR DAVID E. THURSTON Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK [email protected]

ADVISORY BOARD Prof. Berhanu M. Abegaz Gaborone, Botswana

Prof. Viqar Uddin Ahmad Karachi, Pakistan

Prof. Øyvind M. Andersen Bergen, Norway

Prof. Giovanni Appendino Novara, Italy

Prof. Yoshinori Asakawa Tokushima, Japan

Prof. Lee Banting Portsmouth, U.K.

Prof. Julie Banerji Kolkata, India

Prof. Alejandro F. Barrero Granada, Spain

Prof. Anna R. Bilia Florence, Italy

Prof. Maurizio Bruno Palermo, Italy

Prof. César A. N. Catalán Tucumán,Argentina

Prof. Josep Coll Barcelona, Spain

Prof. Geoffrey Cordell Chicago, IL, USA

Prof. Cristina Gracia-Viguera Murcia, Spain

Prof. Duvvuru Gunasekar Tirupati, India

Prof. A.A. Leslie Gunatilaka Tucson, AZ, USA

Prof. Kurt Hostettmann Lausanne, Switzerland

Prof. Martin A. Iglesias Arteaga Mexico, D. F, Mexico

Prof. Jerzy Jaroszewski Copenhagen, Denmark

Prof. Leopold Jirovetz Vienna, Austria

Prof. Karsten Krohn Paderborn, Germany

Prof. Hartmut Laatsch Gottingen, Germany

Prof. Marie Lacaille-Dubois Dijon, France

Prof. Shoei-Sheng Lee Taipei, Taiwan

Prof. Francisco Macias Cadiz, Spain

Prof. Imre Mathe Szeged, Hungary

Prof. Joseph Michael Johannesburg, South Africa

Prof. Ermino Murano Trieste, Italy

Prof. M. Soledade C. Pedras Saskatoon, Cnada

Prof. Luc Pieters Antwerp, Belgium

Prof. Peter Proksch Düsseldorf, Germany

Prof. Phila Raharivelomanana Tahiti, French Plynesia

Prof. Monique Simmonds Richmond, UK

Prof. Valentin Stonik Vladivostok, Russia

Prof. Winston F. Tinto Barbados, West Indies

Prof. Karen Valant-Vetschera Vienna, Austria

Prof. Peter G. Waterman Lismore, Australia

HONORARY EDITOR

PROFESSOR GERALD BLUNDEN The School of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences,

University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2DT U.K.

[email protected]

Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Published online (www.naturalproduct.us)

NPC-SILAE: Special Issue

I am very grateful to Professor Luca Rastrelli, Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche e Biomediche, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy, for organizing this issue, originating from the XIX SILAE (Società Italo-Latinoamericana di Etnomedicina) Congress, which was held at Cagliari, Italy, from September 6th-10th, 2010, and attended by a large number of participants from Latin America and the European Union. The present issue highlights some significant aspects of ethnomedicine. The editors join me in thanking Professor Rastrelli, the authors and the reviewers for their efforts that have made this issue possible, and to the production department for putting it into print.

Pawan K. Agrawal

Editor-in-Chief


Editorial

The Italo-Latin American Society of Ethnomedicine (SILAE, www.silae.it) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world by serving as an educator, leader, spokesperson and professional association. The fundamental objective of SILAE is to promote research and development into the use of medicinal and food plants in different countries of the World. SILAE welcomes and actively seeks opportunities to work cooperatively, activating and intensifying scientific relations between countries and between SILAE members. Since SILAE was founded (1990) its objective has been set to contribute to the close examination of the themes of great interest and actuality in the context of the relationships between Latin America and the European Union. In addition to this, SILAE aimed to individualize new ways of collaboration between its member countries and other European as well as Asiatic countries to sign accords with intergovernmental organizations. SILAE proposes to establish contacts with Scientific Communities, Universities, and Research Centres for the pursuit of medicinal and food plants knowledge. Moreover SILAE_live, the one-to-one live Chat and Messenger on our website (www.silae.it), is the first scientific chat on the web and is a developed tool to engage the interest and imagination of the public and for helping non-scientists to understand and enjoy scientific discoveries and the scientific processes. In addition to organizing membership activities, SILAE publishes the SILAE Special Issues, as well as many scientific newsletters, books and reports, and spearheads programs that raise the bar of understanding for science worldwide. Natural Product Communications is publishing a special issue that contains a selection of papers that were presented at the XIX SILAE Congress (Cagliari, Italy, September, 6-10, 2010). For the Conference, 292 papers from authors coming from 19 different countries were accepted and published in the Proceedings of the SILAE 2010 (Abstract book ISBN: 88-8160-218-0). The most promising 60 submissions were proposed for publication in the special issue of Natural Product Communications in October 2010, each of which was reviewed by at least two anonymous referees. Following the review, 31 papers from different universities of Argentina (7), Brazil (8), Colombia (2), Cuba (1), Honduras (1), Ireland and Serbia (1), Italy (6), Mexico (2) and Venezuela (3) were selected for publication in this Special Issue. They are original papers on all aspects of natural products including isolation, characterization, spectroscopic properties, biological activities, synthesis, analytical methods and tissue culture; several are collaborative works between two or more countries. Ten papers present the compositions of essential oils from different aromatic plants using analytical techniques such as GC, GC/MS, GC/MS-LRI, esGC, GC-C-IRMS (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 14, 16, 22, 28) and also NMR spectroscopy (22). Although essential oils have been used therapeutically for centuries, there is little published research on many of them. Bonaccorsi et al. (1) report in their article on samples of Egyptian nerolì oils, obtained from the flowers of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium, Rutaceace). For all the samples the composition was determined by GC/FID and by GC/MS-LRI; the samples were also analyzed by esGC to determine the enantiomeric distribution of twelve volatiles and by GC-C-IRMS for the determination of the 13CVPDB values of some mono and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, alcohols and esters. The analytical procedures allowed the quantitative determination of 86 components (1). Radulović et al. (7) identify 109 constituents from an essential oil sample obtained from dry leaves of Nepeta × faassenii Bergmans, a hybrid species produced by crossbreeding N. mussinii Spreng. with N. nepetella L. The chemical composition of the oil was compared, using multivariate statistical analyses (MVA), with those of the oils of other Nepeta taxa, in particular N. mussinii and N. nepetella. The authors also report the chemical composition dissimilarity relationships of 36 Nepeta essential oil samples. Some authors report the in vitro activity of the essential oil against bacteria (2, 11, 16, 28). Bruno et al. (2) record the results obtained with the oil from the aerial parts of Salvia verbenaca (Labiatae) aerial parts against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Perez et al. (11), the essential oil of Chrysactinia mexicana (Astaraceae) roots against Streptococcus pneumonia; Rios Tesch et al. (16), Lantana camara var. moritziana (Verbenaceae) leaf essential oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; and Mora et al. (28), Phthirusa adunca (Loranthaceae) aerial parts essential oil against Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia. Results confirm that many essential oils possess in vitro antimicrobial activity against pathogens when compared with reference drugs. Martini et al. (8) report the chemical composition of two Lamiaceae, Ocimum selloi and Hesperozygis myrtoides, widely used in Brazilian traditional medicine. The authors report, for the first time, the chemical composition of the essential oil from H. myrtoides, a very aromatic small bush found in the region of Aiuruoca (Minas Gerais State, Brazil); this plant is also used in the preparation of a drink with “cachaça”, the Brazilian sugar cane spirit, where the plant is soaked in the bottle’s spirit and buried for one year before being consumed. The essential oils showed activity against Candida albicans C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis. Oliva et al. (14) also report the activity against Candida yeasts (C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. guillermondii, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis) of an essential oil obtained from Aloysia triphylla (Verbenaceae), a promising alternative from the Argentinean flora for the treatment of candidiasis.

Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Published online (www.naturalproduct.us) Veloza et al. report the application of dioxirane chemistry to essential oils in order to generate modified compounds with potential uses in several areas of medicine and industry (22). Polyphenols are among the most widespread class of metabolites in nature, and their distribution is almost ubiquitous. Nine papers describe the isolation and structure elucidation, as well as the bioactivity, of phenolic compounds. Interesting biological properties are reported, such as antioxidant (17, 18, 26, 29), antifungal (13), antimicrobial (17), antiplatelet (20), antiangiogenic (25), chemopreventive and apoptotic activities (21). Arevalo et al. (3) report a new phenolic apiosyl derivative, two uncommon apiosyl derivatives, and known phenyl propanoids and flavonoids from Martinella obovata (Bignoniaceae) collected in Honduras, and used by indigenous peoples to treat various eye ailments, including inflammation and conjunctivitis. It is well known that the consumption of polyphenol-rich products, mainly due to their antioxidant properties, is beneficial for human health, Salvador et al. (18), as well as Aislan et al. (29), report the antioxidant capacity and phenolic organic acids and flavonoids content of Myrtaceae plants of the south of Brazil. The article by Mendiondo et al. [17] presents the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extract of Chuquiraga straminea (Asteraceae). The extract was also active against ten methicillin resistant and sensitive S. aureus strains isolated from nosocomial infection; kaempferol and quercetin glycoside derivatives seem to be responsible for some of the observed biological activity of the extracts. Derita and Zacchino (13) dedicate their article to the bio-guided fractionation of the active dichloromethane extract of Polygonum persicaria L. (Polygonaceae). This genus is represented in Argentina by 21 species and some of them have been used in traditional medicine of that country to treat complaints related to fungal infections, such as skin ailments and vaginal disease. Isolated sesquiterpene dialdehydes and flavonoids showed activity against yeasts, Aspergillus spp. and dermatophytes with MICs between 3.9 - 250 µg/mL. The results validate the popular use of this plant. Data from the literature show that some flavonoids and other phenolic substances have the property to interfere with the platelet system. A diet rich in phenolic compounds may favorably contribute to reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases through several mechanisms. Douglas et al. (20) assessed the inhibitory activity toward clotting formation and platelet aggregation of an aqueous extract of leaves from Petroselinum crispum, an aromatic herb from the Apiaceae family that has been employed in the food, pharmaceutical, perfume and cosmetic industries. The active principles, cosmosiin (apigenin 7-O-glucoside) and apigenin, showed in vitro antiplatelet aggregation activity. Angiogenesis is a crucial step in many pathological conditions like cancer, inflammation and metastasis formation; on this basis, the search for antiangiogenic agents has widened. In order to identify new compounds able to interfere with the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 (VEGFR-1), Lepore et al. (25) investigated the extract of Calycolpus moritzianus (Myrtaceae) leaves by a competitive ELISA-based assay. Phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of the active fractions led to the isolation of flavonoids and terpenes. The authors hypothesized that the inhibitory activity of PlGF and VEGF interaction with Flt-1 receptor by the C. moritzianus CHCl3 extracts and fractions may be due to the presence of a combination of compounds acting synergistically or as vehicles enhancing the biological activity. These results suggest that the use of C. moritzianus extract is preferable to that of a purified single compound. Torrenegra et al. (21) evaluated the activity of 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone, 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone and 3,5,7-trihydroxy-6-methoxyflavone present in Chromolaena leivensis (Asteraceae) on cell viability, cell cycle distribution, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and viability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and fibroblasts. 3,5-Dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone showed activity on mitochondrial membrane, whereas both 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone slightly increased the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells either with phytohemagglutinin or without it, and the proliferation of fibroblasts. The chemical composition of naturally grown herbs may vary according to climatic conditions, harvest time, storage condition, and so on. As such, the same type of herb can vary in its composition and concentrations of chemical constituents from batch to batch. These variabilities can result in significant differences in pharmacological activity. Therefore, the identification and extraction of active ingredients from a medicinal plant represent a new approach to the development of natural product based drugs. Picerno et al. (26) report on the evaluation of polyphenol components and antioxidant properties of fresh bergamot juice (Citrus bergamia, Rutaceae), as well as on the production and characterization of powders obtained by loading the fresh juice onto maltodextrins as a carrier (BMP) for spray-drying. Moreover, a formulation study to develop tablets containing BMP for oral administration has been performed. The characteristics of the tablets were evaluated in terms of disintegration time and the release of the active compounds into water and simulated biological fluids. Five papers deal with the evaluation of pharmacological activity of crude extracts from plants used in Mexican (6), Argentinean (9, 10 and 31) and Cuban (12) traditional medicine. Pazos et al. (6) investigated the effect of Morinda citrifolia (Rubiaceae) seed (noni oil) on serum lipid levels in normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic induced mice. They found that administration of noni oil causes a reduction in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in both models. GC-MS analysis of the fatty acid methyl esters indicated the presence of five major fatty acids. The mean linoleic acid content of crude noni seed oil was 67.8%; these results indicate that noni seeds may be a useful new source of vegetable oil. Few medicinal plants have been


scientifically evaluated for their safety, efficacy and potential benefits, despite the great public interest in these herbs. Sabini et al. (10) evaluated the cytotoxic and genotoxic activities of a cold aqueous extract obtained from Achyrocline satureioides (Asteraceae) using the Allium cepa test, whereas Escobar et al. (31) assessed the genotoxic and cytotoxic activities of a methanolic extract of Verbascum thapsus (Scrophulariaceae) using a micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow. Numerous investigations have reported bioactive properties for both medicinal plants and the results obtained in these present studies allow the conclusion to be made that the aqueous extract of A. satureioides and the methanolic extract of V. thapsus do not contain genotoxic and cytotoxic compounds. Cytotoxicity, antiviral and virucidal activities of aqueous extracts of Baccharis articulata were also evaluated by Cristina Vanesa Torres et al. (9). Extracts exhibited more than 95% virucidal activity against Herpes suis virus type 1. These findings support the potential application of these extracts as a disinfectant or antiseptic consistent with ancient ethnopharmacological thinking. In Cuba, alcoholic extracts of propolis are popular as a homemade remedy. Three main types of Cuban propolis directly related to their secondary metabolite classes were described: brown Cuban propolis (BCP), rich in polyisoprenylated benzophenones, red Cuban propolis (RCP), containing isoflavonoids as the main constituents, and yellow Cuban propolis (YCP) with a variety of triterpenoids as the major chemical components. Monzote et al. (12) assessed the activity of Cuban propolis extracts (brown, red and yellow type) on Leishmania amazonensis and Trichomonas vaginalis. All propolis samples caused inhibition of growth of the Leishmania parasite. RCP was the most active and the most cytotoxic. Only five propolis extracts showed activity against T. vaginalis and in this case YCP samples were the most active. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 80% of the world's people, mostly in poor and less-developed countries, depend on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare requirements. They use medicinal plants not only for themselves but also for their domestic animals. Traditionally, people collected the ingredients for their medicines from forests. However, due to rapid and extensive deforestation, accompanied by uncontrolled over-exploitation, the wild populations of medicinal plants are disappearing very fast. Three papers deal with biodiversity and nature protection. The cerrado, a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais, is characterized by an enormous range of plant and animal biodiversity. The cerrado is one of the world's threatened biodiversity hotspots. About 60% of its vegetation has already been removed and the remaining areas are isolated in forest fragments. Due to the devastation, many natural compounds with potential biological activities have been lost. Soares et al. (23) compared the basal cytotoxicity of active compounds extracted from plants of the Brazilian “cerrado”. Those with low toxicity were subjected to further anti-inflammatory assays as natural products with low cytotoxicity constitute an excellent alternative source for complementary treatments for inflammatory disease. The viability was assayed using the neutral red uptake assay in Mac Coy cells after 24 h of exposure. The dose evaluated was 50µg/µL. The test substances were: cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, vanilic acid, homogentisis acid, scandenin, palustric acid, diosgenin, and cabraleone. From 1975 until the beginning of the 1980s, many governmental programs have been launched with the intent of stimulating the development of the "cerrado" region, through subsidies for agriculture. As a result, there has been a significant increase in agricultural and cattle production. On the other hand, urban pressure and rapid establishment of agricultural activities in the region have rapidly reduced the biodiversity of the ecosystems. Camargo et al. (30) tried to diagnose the current public programs focused on herbal medicines in Brazil from 1985 to 2006. Sharry et al. (19) dedicated their article to the establishment of vegetative propagation systems for three native forest species widely used in Argentinean folk medicine: Erythrina crista-galli (Fabaceae), Acacia caven (Mimosaceae) and Salix humboldtiana (Salicaceae). In the last few years the use of in vitro culture techniques for trees has facilitated the cloning of selected phenotypes, leading to the preservation and manipulation of vegetal material. The authors are able to support the conservation of native forest resources for medicinal use by means of vegetative propagation techniques: macro and micropropagation and somatic embryogenesis. The last four papers are quite different from the others, each one dealing with its own subject of great importance. Marques et al. (5) report for the first time the isolation of six aristolactams from Ottonia anisum (Piperaceae). Aristolactams belong to a large and important group of naturally occurring alkaloids that possess a phenanthrene lactam skeleton with a phenolic hydroxy function. They constitute an important alkaloid group due to their unique structural features and potent biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritis, anti-PAF, anti-mycobacterial, and neuro-protective. Aristolactams have been reported from plants of the Annonaceae, Monimiaceae, Menispermaceae, Piperaceae and Saururaceae families. Nicoletti (15) analyzed, first by HPTLC and later by isolation and analysis of spectroscopic data, the presence of a sildenafil derivative (thiosildenafil) in herbal products. Quality assurance has enabled health professionals to prescribe safely herbal medicines that the population has been taking for quite a long time.The presence of synthetic drugs in the formulation of herbal products in order to improve the efficacy has been reported in several cases.

Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Published online (www.naturalproduct.us) Viegi et al. (24) revised the use of toxic or potentially toxic plants for the treatment of ailments in livestock and pets in ethnoveterinary practice in Italy. More than 250 of the entities used (81% for curative purposes) can be toxic unless dosed appropriately. The species belong to 71 families, among which the Fabaceae predominates. Drugs derived from natural sources are usually produced by harvesting the natural source or through semi-synthetic methods: semisynthesis is usually used when the precursor molecule is too structurally complex, too costly or too inefficient to be produced by total synthesis. It is also possible that the semisynthetic derivative outperforms the original biomolecule itself with respect to potency, stability and safety. Usubillaga et al. (27) undertook the isomerization of kaurenic acid to obtain ent-kaurenic acid, a tetracyclic diterpene that has been reported to have antimicrobial, antiparasitic and cytotoxic activity. The occurrence of kaurenic acid, which has an exocyclic double bond at Δ16, is widespread in the plant kingdom, while the occurrence of its isomer ent-kaur-15-en-19-oic acid is rare. The congresses of SILAE are international events whose organizations are submitted to an International Organizer Committee composed of professors from Italian and Latin America Universities. The Italo-Latin American Congress of Ethnomedicine arose from the necessity to evaluate the important potentialities of little known medicinal and alimentary plants, typical and traditional plants of the Latin American continent and to provide connections between Italian and other European and Latin-American researchers, with common objectives of research in the areas in which the projects will be articulated. Traditional medicine is used by 85% of the World’s population and is of great importance in developing countries. In accordance with the requirements of the World Health Organization, a scientific basis and proof for the use of medicinal plants is required and so the organization of such a Congress provides an important exchange of such information and coordination of scientific activity. This Natural Product Communications special issue provided an opportunity for publication of original, peer-reviewed, full-length articles on new research on medicinal plants used in Latin America; this will serve to stimulate the studies in these areas that are extremely important for academia and industry. The Guest Editor would like to thank the contributors who gave so generously of their time and experience and who made this publication a valuable tool for scientists in the field of natural products chemistry and biology. Thanks are also due to the referees for their valuable comments and for the very detailed and accurate review of manuscripts; their comments certainly helped to improve the papers. I am also grateful to my staff who lent their considerable talents to the project: Annalisa Piccinelli, Florence Somma, Luca Campone and the webmaster of SILAE, Vincenzo Barbarulo. I thank all of them for their commitment, continued support and friendship. I am also very grateful to the Editorial Board of Natural Product Communications for embracing this project with interest and enthusiasm, and for the opportunity to publish this Special Issue. I hope that this will be the first of a long series in this attractive and interesting Journal. Finally, I would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief, Pawan Agrawal, for his valuable input and for careful supervision. Thank you Pawan!

Luca Rastrelli

Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche e Biomediche, University of Salerno,

Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy E-mail: [email protected]

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12. Monzote Fidalgo L, Sariego Ramos I, García Parra M, Cuesta-Rubio O, Márquez Hernández I, Campo Fernández M, Piccinelli AL, Rastrelli L. (2011) Activity of Cuba propolis extracts on Leishmania amazonensis and Trichomonas vaginalis. Natural Product Communications, 6, 973-976

13. Derita M, Zacchino S. (2011) Validation of the ethnopharmacological use of Polygonum persicaria for its antifungal properties. Natural Product Communications, 6, 931-933

14. Oliva M, Carezzano E, Gallucci N, Casero C, Demo M. (2011) Antimycotic effect of the essential oil of Aloysia triphylla against Candida species obtained from human pathologies. Natural Product Communications, 6, 1039-1043

15. Nicoletti M. (2011) Isolation and identification of thiosildenafil in a health supplement. Natural Product Communications, 6, 1003-1004

16. Rios Tesch N, Mora F, Rojas L, Díaz T, Velasco J, Yánez C, Rios N, Carmona J, Pasquale S. (2011) Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana (Otto & Dietr.) López-Palacios. Natural Product Communications, 6, 1031-1034

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19. Sharry S, Adema M, Basiglio Cordal MA, Villarreal B, Nikoloff N, Briones V, Abedini W. (2011) Propagation and conservation of native forest genetic resources of medicinal use by means of in vitro and ex vitro techniques. Natural Product Communications, 6, 985-988

20. Chaves DSA, Frattani F, Assafim M, de Almeida AP, Zingali RB, Costa SS. (2011) Phenolic chemical composition of Petroselinum crispum extract and its effect on haemostasis. Natural Product Communications, 6, 961-964

21. Torrenegra RDG, Rodriguez AO. (2011) Chemical and biological activity of leaves extracts of Chromolaena leivensis. Natural Product Communications, 6, 947-950

22. Veloza LA, Orozco LM, Sepúlveda-Arias JC. (2011) Use of dimethyldioxirane in the epoxidation of the main constituents of the essential oils obtained from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora. Natural Product Communications, 6, 925-930

23. Soares VCG, Bonacorsi C, Andrela ALB, Bortoloti LV, Campos SC, Fagundes FHR, Piovani M, Cotrim CA, Vilegas W, Toyama MH. (2011) Cytotoxicity of active ingredients extracted from plants of the Brazilian “Cerrado”. Natural Product Communications, 6, 983-984

24. Viegi L, Vangelisti R. (2011) Toxic plants used in ethnoveterinary medicine in Italy. Natural Product Communications, 6, 999-1000

25. Lepore L, Gualtieri MJ, Malafronte N, Dal Piaz F, Ambrosio L, De Falco S, De Tommasi N. (2011) Anti-angiogenic activity evaluation of secondary metabolites from Calycolpus moritzianus (O. Berg) Burret leaves. Natural Product Communications, 6, 943-946

26. Picerno P, Sansone F, Mencherini T, Prota L, Aquino RP, Rastrelli L, Lauro MR. (2011) Citrus bergamia juice: phytochemical and technological studies Natural Product Communications, 6, 951-955

27. Rojas J, Aparicio R, Villasmil T, Peña A, Usubillaga A. (2011) On the isomerization of ent-kaurenic acid. Natural Product Communications, 6, 935-938

28. Mora FD, Ríos N, Rojas LB, Díaz T, Velasco J, Carmona JA, Silva B. (2011) Chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Phthirusa adunca (Meyer) from Venezuelan Andes Natural Product Communications, 6, 1051-1053

29. Pascoal ACRF, Ehrenfried CA, Eberlin MN, Alves Stefanello ME, Salvador MJ. (2011) Free-radical scavenging activity, determination of phenolic compounds and HPLC-UV/DAD/ESI-MS profile of Campomanesia adamantium leaves. Natural Product Communications, 6, 969-972

30. Saranz Camargo EE, Medeiros Bandeira MA, Gomes de Oliveira A. (2011) Diagnosis of public programs focused on herbal medicines in Brazil. Natural Product Communications, 6, 1001-1002

31. Escobar FM, Sabini MC, Zanon SM, Cariddi LN, Tonn CE, Sabini LI. (2011) Genotoxic evaluation of a methanolic extract of Verbascum thapsus using micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow Natural Product Communications, 6, 989-991

Natural Product Communications 2011

Volume 6, Number 7

Contents

Original Paper Page

Use of Dimethyldioxirane in the Epoxidation of the Main Constituents of the Essential Oils Obtained from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora Luz A. Veloza, Lina M. Orozco and Juan C. Sepúlveda-Arias 925

Validation of the Ethnopharmacological Use of Polygonum persicaria for its Antifungal Properties Marcos Derita and Susana Zacchino 931

On the Isomerization of ent-Kaurenic Acid Julio Rojas, Rosa Aparicio, Thayded Villasmil, Alexis Peña and Alfredo Usubillaga 935

Aristolactams from Roots of Ottonia anisum (Piperaceae) André M. Marques, Leosvaldo S. M. Velozo, Davyson de L. Moreira, Elsie F. Guimarães and Maria Auxiliadora C. Kaplan 939

Anti-angiogenic Activity Evaluation of Secondary Metabolites from Calycolpus moritzianus Leaves Laura Lepore, Maria J. Gualtieri, Nicola Malafronte, Roberta Cotugno, Fabrizio Dal Piaz, Letizia Ambrosio, Sandro De Falco and Nunziatina De Tommasi 943

Chemical and Biological Activity of Leaf Extracts of Chromolaena leivensis Ruben D. Torrenegra G. and Oscar E. Rodríguez A. 947

Citrus bergamia Juice: Phytochemical and Technological Studies Patrizia Picerno, Francesca Sansone, Teresa Mencherini, Lucia Prota, Rita Patrizia Aquino, Luca Rastrelli and Maria Rosaria Lauro 951

Phenolic Derivatives from the Leaves of Martinella obovata (Bignoniaceae) Carolina Arevalo, Ines Ruiz, Anna Lisa Piccinelli, Luca Campone and Luca Rastrelli 957

Phenolic Chemical Composition of Petroselinum crispum Extract and Its Effect on Haemostasis Douglas S. A. Chaves, Flávia S. Frattani, Mariane Assafim, Ana Paula de Almeida, Russolina B. Zingali and Sônia S. Costa 961

Bioactivities of Chuquiraga straminea Sandwith María Elena Mendiondo, Berta E. Juárez, Catiana Zampini, María Inés Isla and Roxana Ordoñez 965

Free Radical Scavenging Activity, Determination of Phenolic Compounds and HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS Profile of Campomanesia adamantium Leaves Aislan C.R.F. Pascoal, Carlos Augusto Ehrenfried, Marcos N. Eberlin, Maria Élida Alves Stefanello and Marcos José Salvador 969

Activity of Cuban Propolis Extracts on Leishmania amazonensis and Trichomonas vaginalis Lianet Monzote Fidalgo, Idalia Sariego Ramos, Marley García Parra, Osmany Cuesta-Rubio, Ingrid Márquez Hernández, Mercedes Campo Fernández, Anna Lisa Piccinelli and Luca Rastrelli 973

Antioxidant Capacity and Phenolic Content of four Myrtaceae Plants of the South of Brazil Marcos José Salvador, Caroline C. de Lourenço, Nathalia Luiza Andreazza, Aislan C.R.F. Pascoal and Maria Élida Alves Stefanello 977

Cytotoxicity of Active Ingredients Extracted from Plants of the Brazilian “Cerrado” Veronica CG Soares, Cibele Bonacorsi, Alana LB Andrela, Lígia V Bortoloti, Stepheny C de Campos, Fábio HR Fagundes, Márcio Piovani, Camila A Cotrim, Wagner Vilegas and Marcos H Toyama 983

Propagation and Conservation of Native Forest Genetic Resources of Medicinal Use by Means of in vitro and ex vitro Techniques Sandra Sharry, Marina Adema, María A. Basiglio Cordal, Blanca Villarreal, Noelia Nikoloff, Valentina Briones and Walter Abedini 985

Genotoxic Evaluation of a Methanolic Extract of Verbascum thapsus using Micronucleus Test in Mouse Bone Marrow Franco Matías Escobar, María Carola Sabini, Silvia Matilde Zanon, Laura Noelia Cariddi, Carlos Eugenio Tonn and Liliana Inés Sabini 989

Continued Overleaf

Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Published online (www.naturalproduct.us) Study of Antiviral and Virucidal Activities of Aqueous Extract of Baccharis articulata against Herpes suis virus Cristina Vanesa Torres, María Julia Domínguez, José Luis Carbonari, María Carola Sabini, Liliana Inés Sabini and Silvia Matilde Zanon 993

Evaluation of Cytogenotoxic Effects of Cold Aqueous Extract from Achyrocline satureioides by Allium cepa L test María C. Sabini, Laura N. Cariddi, Franco M. Escobar, Romina A. Bachetti, Sonia B. Sutil, Marta S. Contigiani, Silvia M. Zanon and Liliana I. Sabini 995

Toxic Plants Used in Ethnoveterinary Medicine in Italy Lucia Viegi and Roberta Vangelisti 999

Diagnosis of Public Programs focused on Herbal Medicines in Brazil Ely Eduardo Saranz Camargo, Mary Anne Medeiros Bandeira and Anselmo Gomes de Oliveira 1001

Identification of Thiosildenafil in a Health Supplement Marcello Nicoletti 1003

Hypolipidemic Effect of Seed Oil of Noni (Morinda citrifolia) Diana C. Pazos, Fabiola E. Jiménez, Leticia Garduño, V. Eric López and M. Carmen Cruz 1005

Composition of Egyptian Nerolì Oil Ivana Bonaccorsi, Danilo Sciarrone, Luisa Schipilliti, Alessandra Trozzi, Hussein A. Fakhry and Giovanni Dugo 1009

Essential oil of Nepeta x faassenii Bergmans ex Stearn (N. mussinii Spreng. x N. nepetella L.): A Comparison Study Niko Radulović, Polina D. Blagojević, Kevin Rabbitt and Fabio de Sousa Menezes 1015

Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Salvia verbenaca Essential Oil Marisa Canzoneri, Maurizio Bruno, Sergio Rosselli, Alessandra Russo, Venera Cardile, Carmen Formisano, Daniela Rigano and Felice Senatore 1023

Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activities of the Essential Oils from Ocimum selloi and Hesperozygis myrtoides Márcia G. Martini, Humberto R. Bizzo, Davyson de L. Moreira, Paulo M. Neufeld, Simone N. Miranda, Celuta S. Alviano, Daniela S. Alviano and Suzana G. Leitão 1027

Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana Nurby Rios Tesch, Flor Mora, Luis Rojas, Tulia Díaz, Judith Velasco, Carlos Yánez, Nahile Rios, Juan Carmona and Sara Pasquale 1031

Activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae of the Essential Oil and 5-(3-Buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl Isolated from Chrysactinia mexicana Roots Bárbara Missiam Mezari Guevara Campos, Anabel Torres Cirio, Verónica Mayela Rivas Galindo, Ricardo Salazar Aranda, Noemí Waksman de Torres and Luis Alejandro Pérez-López 1035

Antimycotic Effect of the Essential Oil of Aloysia triphylla against Candida Species Obtained from Human Pathologies María de las Mercedes Oliva, María Evangelina Carezzano, Mauro Nicolás Gallucci and Mirta Susana Demo 1039

Secretory Cavities and Volatiles of Myrrhinium atropurpureum Schott var. atropurpureum (Myrtaceae): An Endemic Species Collected in the Restingas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Cristiane Pimentel Victório, Claudio B. Moreira, Marcelo da Costa Souza, Alice Sato and Rosani do Carmo de Oliveira Arruda 1045

Chemical Composition and in vitro Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Phthirusa adunca from Venezuelan Andes Flor D. Mora, Nurby Ríos, Luis B. Rojas, Tulia Díaz, Judith Velasco, Juan Carmona A and Bladimiro Silva 1051 Manuscripts in Press 1054


LIST OF AUTHORS Abedini, W ............................ 985 Adema, M .............................. 985 Almeida, AP .......................... 961 Alviano, CS ......................... 1027 Alviano, DS ......................... 1027 Ambrosio, L .......................... 943 Andreazza, NL ...................... 977 Andrela, ALB ........................ 983 Aparicio, R ............................ 935 Aquino, RP ............................ 951 Aranda, RS .......................... 1035 Arevalo, C ............................. 957 Arruda, ACO ....................... 1045 Assafim, M ............................ 961 Bachetti, RA .......................... 995

Bandeira, MAM .................. 1001 Bizzo, HR ............................ 1027 Blagojević, PD .................... 1015 Bonaccorsi, I........................ 1009 Bonacorsi, C .......................... 983 Bortoloti, LV ......................... 983 Briones, V .............................. 985 Bruno, M ............................. 1023 Camargo, EES ..................... 1001 Campone, L ........................... 957 Campos, BMMG ................. 1035 Canzoneri, M ....................... 1023 Carbonari, JL ......................... 993 Cardile, V ............................ 1023 Carezzano, ME .................... 1039 Cariddi, LN ..................... 989,995 Carmona A,J ........................ 1051 Carmona, J ........................... 1031 Chaves, DSA ......................... 961 Cirio, AT ............................. 1035 Contigiani, MS ...................... 995 Cordal, MAB ......................... 985 Costa, SS ............................... 961 Cotrim, CA ............................ 983 Cotugno, R ............................ 943 Cruz, MC ............................. 1005 Cuesta-Rubio, O .................... 973

de Campos, SC ....................... 983 de Lourenço, CC .................... 977 de Oliveira, AG ....................1001 Demo, MS ............................1039 Derita, M ................................ 931 Díaz, T ........................ 1031,1051 Domínguez, MJ ...................... 993 Dugo, G ................................1009 Eberlin, MN ............................ 969 Ehrenfried, CA ....................... 969 Escobar, FM ................... 989,995 Fagundes, FHR ....................... 983 Fakhry, HA ...........................1009 Falco, SD ................................ 943 Fernández, MC ....................... 973 Fidalgo, LM ............................ 973 Formisano, C ........................1023 Frattani, FS ............................. 961 Galindo, VMR ......................1035 Gallucci, MN ........................1039 Garduño, L ...........................1005 Gualtieri, M ............................ 943 Guimarães, EF ........................ 939 Hernández, IM........................ 973 Isla, MI ................................... 965 Jiménez, FE ..........................1005 Juárez, BE .............................. 965 Kaplan, MAC ......................... 939 Lauro, MR .............................. 951 Leitão, SG ............................1027 Lepore, L ................................ 943 López, VE ............................1005 Malafronte, N ......................... 943 Marques, AM ......................... 939 Martini, MG .........................1027

Mencherini, T ......................... 951 Mendiondo, ME ..................... 965 Menezes, FS ......................... 1015 Miranda, SN ......................... 1027 Mora, F ................................. 1031 Mora, FD .............................. 1051 Moreira, CB ......................... 1045 Moreira, DL .................. 939,1027 Neufeld, PM ......................... 1027 Nicoletti, M .......................... 1003 Nikoloff, N ............................. 985 Oliva, MM ............................ 1039 Ordoñez, R ............................. 965 Orozco, LM ............................ 925 Parra, MG ............................... 973 Pascoal, ACRF ................ 969,977 Pasquale, S ........................... 1031 Pazos, DC ............................. 1005 Peña, A ................................... 935 Pérez-López, LA .................. 1035 Piaz, FD .................................. 943 Piccinelli, AL .................. 957,973 Picerno, P ............................... 951 Piovani, M .............................. 983 Prota, L ................................... 951 Rabbitt, K ............................. 1015 Radulović, N ........................ 1015 Ramos, IS ............................... 973 Rastrelli, L ............... 951,957,973 Rigano, D ............................. 1023 Rios, N .........................1031,1051 Rodríguez A, OE .................... 947 Rojas, J .......................... 935,1031 Rojas, LB ............................. 1051 Rosselli, S ............................. 1023 Ruiz, I ..................................... 957 Russo, A ............................... 1023 Sabini, LI ................. 989,993,995 Sabini, MC .............. 989,993,995

Salvador, MJ ................... 969,977 Sansone, F .............................. 951 Sato, A .................................. 1045 Schipilliti, L ......................... 1009 Sciarrone, D ......................... 1009 Senatore, F ........................... 1023 Sepúlveda-Arias, JC ............... 925 Sharry, S ................................. 985 Silva, b ................................. 1051 Soares, VCG .......................... 983 Souza, MC ............................ 1045 Stefanello, MEA ............. 969,977 Sutil, SB ................................. 995 Tesch, NR............................. 1031 Tommasi, ND ......................... 943 Tonn, CE ................................ 989 Torrenegra G., RD ................. 947 Torres, CV .............................. 993 Torres, NW .......................... 1035 Toyama, MH .......................... 983 Trozzi, A .............................. 1009 Usubillaga, A ......................... 935 Vangelisti, R .......................... 999 Velasco, J .................... 1031,1051 Veloza, LA ............................. 925

Velozo, LSM .......................... 939 Victório, CP ......................... 1045 Viegi, L .................................. 999 Vilegas, W .............................. 983 Villarreal, B ............................ 985 Villasmil, T ............................ 935 Yánez, C ............................... 1031 Zacchino, S ............................ 931 Zampini, C ............................. 965 Zanon, SM ................ 989,993,995 Zingali, RB ............................. 961

Use of Dimethyldioxirane in the Epoxidation of the Main Constituents of the Essential Oils Obtained from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora Luz A. Velozaa*, Lina M. Orozcoa and Juan C. Sepúlveda-Ariasb

aLaboratorio de Fitoquímica, Escuela de Química, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, A.A. 097, Vereda La Julita Pereira, Risaralda – Colombia

bLaboratorio de Fisiología Celular e Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, A.A. 097, Vereda La Julita, Pereira, Risaralda – Colombia [email protected]

Received: December 10th, 2010; Accepted: March 16th, 2011

Dimethyldioxirane (DMDO), a widely used oxidant in organic synthesis is considered an environmentally friendly oxygen transfer reagent because acetone is the only byproduct formed in its oxidation reactions. This work describes the isolation of the main constituents (terpenes) in the essential oils obtained from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora, their epoxidation with DMDO in acetone solution and the characterization of the resulting epoxides by GC-MS (EI) and NMR. This is one of the first reports involving the application of dioxirane chemistry to essential oils in order to generate modified compounds with potential uses in several areas of medicine and industry. Keywords: dimethyldioxirane, epoxidation, estragole, citral, carvone, citronellal. The use of dimethyldioxirane (DMDO), a member of a new class of three-membered ring peroxide containing oxidants, has increased notably in recent years due to its ability to do oxygen atom transfer reactions with a wide range of substrates, including C=C bonds [1], C-H insertions in hydrocarbons [2], as well as oxidations of atoms containing lone pairs of electrons, such as sulfides [3] and primary and secondary amines [4]. DMDO is also considered to be an environmentally friendly oxygen transfer reagent, and is attractive from the “green chemistry” [5] point of view due to its lack of toxic or harmful metals. DMDO’s reactions occur under extremely mild and neutral conditions, and the only byproduct of its reactions is acetone, which can be easily removed. Thus, DMDO reactions do not require complicated purification procedures to obtain pure products. This electrophilic oxygen transfer reagent is the reagent of choice for the epoxidation of both conjugated and unconjugated double bonds containing other functional groups, such as hydroxyls or carbonyls. Isolated double bonds are selectively and easily oxidized under mild conditions (0-25°C and neutral pH) [6]. On the other hand, allylic alcohols are oxidized frequently with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) [7] in the presence of transition metals, which are necessary to initiate the reaction.

Typically, enones are epoxidized with alkaline hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) [8], but in some cases the hydrolytically-sensitive epoxide products open via a side reaction to form a diol. The three types of olefins mentioned above have been successfully oxidized with DMDO in high regio- and stereoselectivity. Several methods for the generation of epoxides from alkenes have been developed, such as the Sharpless [9] and Jacobsen [10] catalytic epoxidations, the use of alternative routes involving the formation of intermediate halohydrins by using trichloroisocyanuric acid in aqueous acetone [11] and the use of peracids to generate both mono- and bisepoxides, as well as cleaved oxidation products. A system involving a hydrogen peroxide-dinuclear manganese (IV) complex and a carboxylic acid has been successfully employed for the efficient epoxidation of terpenes such as limonene, citral, carvone and linalool, while other sterically hindered terpenes (i.e., citronellal, -and-pinene) were epoxidized in low yields [12]. The selective oxidation of monoterpenes (i.e., limonene, terpinene, neryl acetate, geranyl acetate, citral and geranyl nitrile) with H2O2 catalyzed by peroxotungstophosphate under biphasic conditions produced mono- and bisepoxides in good yields [13]. While alkene epoxidation has found widespread use in the

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926 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Veloza et al.

total synthesis of natural products, there are very few reports in the literature of regioselective epoxidations of natural products with DMDO. Therefore, in this work, we have carried out the DMDO epoxidation of the main terpene constituents in the essential oils extracted from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora, which makes this one of the first reports where dioxirane chemistry has been applied to isolated components of essential oils. Tagetes lucida (Asteraceae) is an endemic plant that is widely distributed in Central and South America, and is known in Colombia as “Estragón de invierno” [14]. Its extracts are reported to possess bactericidal [15], antimycotic [16] and antioxidant [17] activities, but this plant has not been well studied from the chemical point of view. In Colombia, the essential oil extracted from this plant contains a large amount (93.8%) of a phenylpropanoid, estragole (1-allyl-4-methoxybenzene), which is present in many vegetables as a flavoring [18]. Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) is known worldwide as the herb lemongrass, and is widely used in folk medicine due to its antimicrobial [19], anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic [20] and antifungal [21] activities. The essential oil from lemongrass has been widely used in the perfume and cosmetics industries. It has also been used in chemical synthesis, due to its high citral (3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal) content. Citral exists as a natural mixture of two isomeric aldehydes, geranial and neral. Recently, some citral derivatives with potential bactericidal activity were generated using “green” thiol conjugate additions [22]. Citral is a polyfunctional molecule that mediates a wide number of chemical transformations, mainly epoxidation reactions. Lippia alba (Verbenaceae) is a shrub widely distributed from Mexico to South America [23] and is known in Colombia as “Pronto alivio”. L. alba essential oil and some organic and polar extracts have shown analgesic, anti-inflammatory [24], antifungal [25], and antibacterial [26] properties. In Colombia the essential oil from this plant is distinguished by its high content of S-carvone [2-methyl-5-(1-methylethenyl)-2-cyclohexene-1-one] (40-57 %), a substance with a high-value for the perfume and cosmetics industries and as a starting material for fine organic synthesis [27]. Eucalyptus citriodora (Myrtaceae) is an aromatic specie known as “lemon scented gum”. Water extracts from dried leaves of E. citriodora are traditionally used as antipyretics, anti-inflammatory and analgesic [28]. E. citriodora essential oil has been shown to contain high concentration (70-80%) of citronellal (3,7-dimethyl-6-octenal) [29], which is effective against bacterial and fungal infections [30]. Besides, this compound is attractive from the stereochemical point of view since it can be used in an efficient way to introduce a new stereogenic center in more complex structures [31].

As an important application of dioxirane chemistry to essential oils, this work describes the epoxidation of the main constituents of the essential oil from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora with acetone solutions of DMDO. In general, the importance of the derivatives generated is due to their polyfunctionality and the high reactivity of the oxirane ring. Such terpene epoxides can be readily transformed into alcohols, aldehydes, ketones and heterocycles, which give these terpene epoxides a promising position in terpene chemistry with future applications in industry and medicine. The chemical composition and identity of the main constituents of the essential oils obtained from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora were determined by GC-MS (EI). The main constituent of the oil from T. lucida was estragole, which had a relative abundance of 93.8% and a retention time of 7.7 minutes. Citral was the main component of the oil from C. citratus. It had a relative abundance of 74% and retention times of 8.1 and 8.3 minutes for the isomers. Carvone was the main constituent of the oil from L. alba, with a relative abundance of 42% and a retention time of 7.9 minutes. Citronellal was the main constituent of the oil from E. citriodora with a relative abundance of 74% and a retention time of 6.7 minutes. All of the compounds were isolated in high purity (95%), which was confirmed by GC-MS. The epoxidation of estragole, citral, carvone and citronellal with DMDO in an acetone solution afforded epoxyestragole 1, 6,7-epoxycitral 2a and 2b, 8,9-epoxycarvone 3 and 6,7-epoxycitronellal 4 (Figure 1), with greater than 95% conversion (confirmed by GC-MS). The resulting epoxides were stored at room temperature and evaluated at several points during the course of one year and found to be stable (data not shown).

1

OCHO

O

2a, 2b

O

9

76

O

3

O

49

76

3

7 8

9

10

O

CHO

Figure 1: Epoxides obtained from the DMDO reaction.

Estragole was chosen for DMDO epoxidation because it possesses allyl and methoxy substituents. The isolated double bond does not have electron-donating groups that would promote epoxidation. In addition, the electron-donating methoxy group (–OMe) bound to the aromatic ring does not have a direct influence on the olefin’s reactivity. Under the conditions employed for the reaction, 1 was obtained in a short period of time (0.5-1 h) in 85% yield (101 mg). When this substrate and a series of other substrates, including unsubstituted styrenes and

Dimethyldioxirane epoxidation of essential oils Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 927

cycloalkenes, were epoxidized with aqueous H2O2 and a polystyrene-supported triphenylarsine reagent, the moderately unstable epoxide products were isolated in poor yield [32]. Kim, et al. [33] synthesized trans-anethole oxide from trans-anethole (an isomer of estragole) using an acetone solution of DMDO as the oxidizing reagent. This oxide was stable for one year, and reaction’s yield was >95%. This yield was much better than that obtained by Mohan and Whalen [34] and Greca et al [35], who used m-CPBA to oxidize the same substrate, but obtained low yields (38%) that were complicated by the presence of m-CPBA’s acid byproduct. These results and estragole’s structural characteristics provide evidence supporting the high reactivity of DMDO. Therefore, it is clear that this oxygen transfer reagent is the reagent of choice for the epoxidation of double bonds, including electron deficient olefins. The use of this oxidant offers a variety of advantages; it is generated from readily available reagents, it reacts to generate epoxides under mild conditions and its only byproduct is acetone and prevents the need for work-up conditions that can cause the opening of the oxirane ring. Another substrate chosen for DMDO epoxidation was citral, which is widely distributed in nature as a mixture of E/Z isomers. This substrate can undergo a wide range of reactions due to its multiple functional groups, including two trisubstituted double bonds, one of which is adjacent to a carbonyl group. One benefit of using this substrate is that the regioselectivity in the epoxidation of the 6,7 double bond versus the 2,3 double bond provides a measure of the relative rate of reaction of the two olefins that can be read from the ratio of the two possible monoepoxides (i.e., the 6,7 and 2,3 epoxides) because this is a simple intramolecular competition experiment. Although the two double bonds are trisubstituted, the inductive electron- withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group lowers the nucleophilicity of the 2,3 double bond, and if electronic properties are the decisive factor in the reactivity, then preferential epoxidation of the 6,7 double bond would be expected. The 6,7-epoxycitral 2a, 2b was obtained as a mixture of diastereoisomers with an E/Z ratio of 50:50 which corresponds to the content in essential oil and in 87% yield (92 mg). The preferential epoxidation of the 6,7 double bond is probably due to its greater nucleophilicity, which is a consequence of its electron-donating alkyl substituents. Conversely, the reactivity of the 2,3 double bond is drastically reduced due to the electron-withdrawing effect of the conjugated carbonyl group, which results in much lower nucleophilicity. This result shows the electrophilic character of DMDO and its preference for electron-rich double bonds. In addition, the high conversion to the 6,7 monoepoxide indicates that the reaction’s rate increases with the nucleophilic character of

citral’s terminal double bond due to the presence of its electron-donating substituents. The exclusive formation of the monoepoxide shows that the oxidation of the aldehyde function to a carboxylic acid did not occur under the reaction conditions employed, which indicates that DMDO promotes the epoxidation of the double bonds in preference to oxygen insertion. Other studies have shown that under the same conditions used in our epoxidation of citral, the oxidation of geraniol (the allylic alcohol corresponding to the reduction of citral) with DMDO produces the 2,3 and 6,7 epoxides, as well as the bis-epoxide [36]. Clearly, the nature of the substrate is an important factor in determining the regioselectivity of the epoxidation reaction. In the case of geraniol, the formation of the 2,3 epoxide has been explained in terms of the stability gained from an intermolecular hydrogen bond formed by the hydroxyl and the DMDO molecule in the epoxidation transition state. The lack of 2,3 epoxycitral formation can be explained by the inductive electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group, which lowers the nucleophilicity of the adjacent double bond. The resonance effect of the -unsaturated aldehyde also contributes to the decreased reactivity of the double bond. Finally, in the case of citral, the formation of a hydrogen bond between the substrate and the DMDO molecule is not possible. The treatment of citral with H2O2 in an alkaline medium in the presence of a phase-transfer catalyst gives rise to the formation of the 2,3 epoxide and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, which forms as a result of the epoxide’s decomposition [37]. Alternatively, treating citral with peracetic acid gives the 6,7-epoxy derivative and the (E/Z)-2,6-dimethyl-5,6-epoxy-1-heptenyl isomers resulting from a Baeyer-Villiger side reaction [38]. The formation of the 6,7 derivative has also been reported in moderate yield (43%) by Woitiski [12] by reacting citral with a H2O2-dinuclear manganese (IV) complex of oxalic acid. Carvone is another substrate chosen for DMDO epoxidation, which contains two electron-poor double bonds, the exocyclic double bond due to the low number of electron-donating alkyl substituents and the endocyclic bond due to the bearing electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group. These carvone’s structural characteristics allow to compare the reactivity of the two double bonds in an intramolecular competition experiment with this cyclic substrate. The results show the regioselectivity in the reaction of carvone with DMDO and the formation of the exocyclic monoepoxide 3 as the only product of the reaction in 80% yield (102 mg) and 50:50 diastereoselectivity. The selective epoxidation of the carvone exocyclic double bond corroborates that DMDO is a powerful reagent for the epoxidation of electron-poor double bonds. The lack of endocyclic oxirane formation demonstrates the low nucleophilicity of the enone double bond due to the carbonyl group electron-withdrawing effect.


In the epoxidation of carvone under oxygen using Nickel(II) acetylacetonate as catalyst, (R)-(-)-carvone exhibited low reactivity due to long times reaction to obtain the exocyclic monoepoxide [39]. When the anhydrous hydrogen peroxide/alumina system is used, a high regioselectivity of the exocyclic monoepoxide (93.8%) and a low substrate conversion (8.7%) were observed, however, yields decreased to 0.8% in the absence of alumina catalyst [40]. Citronellal is an aliphatic olefin which contains an aldehyde group and a terminal trisubstituted double bond. This substrate can be used as a chemoselectivity probe for DMDO epoxidation in terms of the aldehyde oxidation to carboxylic acid versus the double bond epoxidation. The results show the double bond oxidation leading to the formation of the diastereomeric epoxides in 84% yield (272 mg) and 50:50 ratio, confirming the high reactivity and chemoselectivity of DMDO to nucleophilic olefins. Similar results were obtained for the epoxidation of Citronellal with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) and molybdenum catalyst in nonpolar and aprotic solvents, giving a mixture of diastereomeric epoxides with a 50:50 ratio and 71% yield [41]. Essential oils are an important source of terpenes that can be modified chemically to generate a wide variety of polyfunctional compounds. From the chemical point of view, epoxidation of the main constituents of Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora with DMDO generates oxirane derivatives and provides evidence for the high reactivity of this new oxygen transfer reagent. Although a large number of compounds have been epoxidized with DMDO, to our knowledge, this is the first report of the synthesis of estragole, citronellal and citral epoxides using DMDO. Epoxide stability is an important characteristic when carrying out tests of biological activity. The high conversion of estragole and the good yield of epoxyestragole indicate that unactivated olefins can be efficiently oxidized with DMDO. The epoxidation of citral proved to be regioselective, providing only 6,7 epoxide as a result of the higher nucleophilicity of the 6,7 double bond relative to the 2,3 double bond, which is electron deficient due to the electron-withdrawing effect of the conjugated carbonyl group. In addition, the use of citral shows that DMDO oxidizes double bonds in preference to oxidizing aldehydes to carboxylic acids. For carvone, the nucleophilicity of the double bond adjacent to the carbonyl group is quite low due to the electronic-withdrawing effect of this group, which is an important reactivity factor. The DMDO epoxidation of citronellal confirms the chemoselectivity of this oxidant agent in terms of the aldehyde oxidation to carboxylic acid versus the double bond epoxidation. Our results indicate that it is important to consider both the regio and chemoselectivity of the DMDO in the epoxidation of natural compounds.

Experimental

General: Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses were performed using a Shimadzu GC-2010 gas-chromatograph coupled to a selective mass detector (Shimadzu QP-2010) and equipped with an Rtx-5Sil-MS column (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 m film thickness) operating in electronic ionization mode at 70 eV. Helium was used as the carrier gas. All data processing was done on the Shimadzu Labsolutions software (GCMS Solution version 2.5), which includes the Wiley Registry of Mass Spectral Data, 7th Edition (Wiley Interscience, New York). 1H NMR spectra were acquired on a Bruker Avance DRX400 (400.13 MHz) spectrometer at 25 °C using CDCl3 as the solvent and TMS as an internal standard. Essential oils extraction: Essential oils were obtained from plant leaves by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MWHD) at CENIVAM (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones para la Agroindustrialización de Especies Vegetales Aromáticas y Medicinales Tropicales), Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga (Colombia). Terpenes isolation: The essential oils from T. lucida (800 mg) and L. alba (812 mg) were fractionated over a silica gel column eluting with n-hexane-chloroform (90:10) and increasing the polarity of the solvent to 50:50. Estragole (119 mg) and carvone (128 mg) were obtained with a purity of 95% as determined by GC-MS. The structure of each compound was identified by comparison of their mass spectrum (Wiley Registry of Mass Spectral Data) and was further confirmed by comparison to 1H NMR data reported in the literature. The essential oils from C. citratus (3 mL) and E. citriodora (3 mL) were distilled under reduced pressure (60ºC/550 mm Hg and 90ºC/550 mm Hg, respectively). Citral (106 mg) and citronellal (324 mg) were obtained with a purity of 95% as determined by GC-MS. The structure of citral and citronellal were identified by comparison of their mass spectrum (Wiley Registry of Mass Spectral Data) and was further confirmed by comparison to 1H NMR data reported in the literature. Preparation of DMDO in acetone solution: A concentrated solution of DMDO in acetone (0.11 M) was prepared using Oxone (Caroate, 2KHSO5.KHSO4.K2SO4), acetone and NaHCO3 according to a previously reported literature procedure [42]. The DMDO concentration was determined by UV/Vis spectrophotometry. General procedure for the epoxidation of terpenes with DMDO: Estragole, citral, carvone and citronellal were dissolved in acetone (1 mL) and 1.0-1.2 equiv. of DMDO (0.11 M solution in acetone) was rapidly added at 25 °C. The solution was stirred at this temperature and monitored by TLC and GC-MS until the peroxide test (KI/HOAc) was negative (total reaction time 0.5-1 h). The solvent was

Dimethyldioxirane epoxidation of essential oils Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 929

removed under reduced pressure to give the respective epoxides in high purity. The structure of the epoxides was confirmed with spectral data and comparison with spectral data reported in the literature of 1 [43], 2a,2b [44], 3[45] and 4 [44]. Epoxyestragole (1) 1H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 7.16 (2H, d, J=8.0 Hz, H-5, H-9), 6.84-6.87 (2H, m, H-6, H-8), 3.79 (3H, s, H-10), 3.09-3.11 (1H, m, H-2), 2.74-2.89 (3H, m, H-1, H-3), 2.52 (1H, dd, J=2.8 Hz, J=5.0 Hz, H-3). 6,7-Epoxycitral 1H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) 2a epoxygeranial: 10.0 (1H, d, J=8.0 Hz, H-1), 5.91-5.93 (1H, m, H-2), 2.71-2.77 (3H, m, H-4, H-6), 2.01 (3H, s, H-9), 1.64-1.83 (2H, m, H-5), 1.28 and 1.31 (6H, s, H-8, H-10). 2b epoxyneral: 9.97 (1H, d, J=8.0 Hz, H-1), 5.91-5.93 (1H, m, H-2), 2.71-2.77 (1H, m, H-6), 2.29-2.48 (2H, m, H-4), 2.20 (3H, s, H-9), 1.64-1.83 (2H, m, H-5), 1.28 and 1.31 (6H, s, H-8, H-10).

8,9-Epoxycarvone (3) 1H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) Isomer A: 6.72-6.76 (1H, m, H-3), 2.71 (1H, d, J=4.4 Hz, H-9), 2.03-2.57 (6H, m, H-4, H-5, H-6, H-9), 1.77-1.80 (3H, m, H-7), 1.33 (3H, s, H-10). Isomer B: 6.72-6.76 (1H, m, H-3), 2.68 (1H, d, J=4.8 Hz, H-9), 2.03-2.57 (6H, m, H-4, H-5, H-6, H-9), 1.77-1.80 (3H, m, H-7), 1.32 (3H, s, H-10). 6,7-Epoxycitronellal (4) 1H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 9.77 (1H x 2, m, H-1), 2.68-2.71 (1H x 2, m, H-6), 2.39-2.46 (2H, m, H-2’), 2.24-2.30 (2H, m, H-2), 2.08-2-18 (1H x 2, m, H-3), 1.52-1.57 (4H x 2, m, H-4, H-5), 1.27, 1.31 (6H x 2, s, H-8, H-10), 1.00 (3H x 2, d, J=6.8 Hz, H-9). Supplementary data: 1H-NMR spectra for compounds 1, 2a, 2b, 3 and 4 are contained in the supplementary data. Acknowledgments - The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from COLCIENCIAS-CENIVAM (contrato RS-432-2004), Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira and Red ALMA MATER.

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Validation of the Ethnopharmacological Use of Polygonum persicaria for its Antifungal Properties Marcos Derita*and Susana Zacchino

Pharmacognosy Area, Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, National University of Rosario, Suipacha 531, Rosario, 2000, Argentina [email protected]

Received: November 13th, 2010; Accepted: March 16th, 2011

Polygonum L. genus (Polygonaceae) is represented in Argentina by 21 species and some of them have been used in the traditional medicine of our country to treat affections related with fungal infections, such as skin ailments and vaginal diseases. With the aim of contributing to the correct ethnopharmacological use of this genus, in the present work we describe the antifungal properties of P. persicaria (species not studied up to now) and the bio-guided isolation of the main active compounds. Results showed that dichloromethane extracts was the most active with MICs (Minimun Inhibitory Concentrations) between 31.2 – 1000 µg/mL, validating the ethnopharmacological use of P. persicaria to treat affections related with fungal infections in the Argentinean traditional medicine. Keywords: Validation, Ethnopharmacological use, Polygonum, Antifungal activity. Since the early 1980s, fungal infections have emerged as major causes of morbi-mortality, mainly among immunocompromised patients. The majority of deaths were associated with species of Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus [1]. Instead, dermatophytes such as Trichophyton and Microsporum spp. produce superficial infections (tineas) which are usually not threatening but dramatically diminish the quality of life of human beings [2]. Although it appears to be an array of antifungal agents (polyenes, azoles, allylamines and the recent echinocandins) there are, in fact, few therapeutic options. Decreased susceptibilities of yeasts to the currently available antifungal agents [3] added to the increase in the number of reported cases of resistance [4], have led to a general consensus that new efforts for detecting novel antifungal entities remain a priority. In this context, the study of plants with history of ethnopharmacological use for ailments related to fungal infections, can serve two goals: validation of the use of traditional medicines and finding new leads [5]. Polygonum L. genus (Polygonaceae) is represented in Argentina by 21 species and some of them have been used to treat affections related with fungal infections, such as skin ailments and vaginal diseases [6]. Previous studies of this genus reported that P. punctatum possessed antifungal properties against yeasts and dermatophytes [7]. With the aim of contributing to the correct ethnopharmacological use of this genus, in a previous work we described the antifungal properties of P. acuminatum [8] and in this work we describe those of P. persicaria (species not studied up to now) and the bio-guided isolation

A

CHO

CHO

H

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2

34

5

6

7

89

10

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13 14

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CHO

CHO

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34

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89

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13 14

15

(2) B

7

6

5

4a

8a

8

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2

O1

H3CO

OH O

1´

H

6´5´

4´

3´2´

HH

(3)

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3´

2´

1´

6´

5´H3CO

OH

OCH3

´

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2

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4

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6

O

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(4)

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O (5)

Figure 1: A) Sesquiterpene [polygodial (1) and isopolygodial (2)] and B) flavonoids [pinostrobin (3), flavokawin B (4) and cardamonin (5)] isolated from P. persicaria DCM extract.

of two sesquiterpene dialdehydes: polygodial (1), isopolygodial (2), and three flavonoids: pinostrobin (3), flavokawin B (4) and cardamonin (5) (Figure 1). Compounds 1 and 2 were previously isolated from Drymis spp. [9,10], P. punctatum [7] and P. acuminatum [8], while compounds 3-5 were previously isolated from Boesenbergia pandurata, Myrica pensilvanica, P. ferrugineum and Piper spp [11-13]. Compounds 1-5 were evaluated for their antifungal activities with the microbroth dilution assay recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institutes (CLSI)


931 - 933

932 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Derita M. et al.

Table 1: Antifungal activity (MICs in µg/mL) of P. persicaria extracts.

Ca: Candida albicans ATCC 10231; Sc: Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 9763; Cn: Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC 32264; Afu: Aspergillus fumigatus ATCC 26934; Afl: Aspergillus flavus ATCC 9170; An: Aspergillus niger ATCC 9029; Mg: Microsporum gypseum C 115; Tr: Trichophyton rubrum C 113; Tm: Trichophyton mentagrophytes ATCC 9972. I: Inactive = MIC > 1000 µg/mL. Table 2: Antifungal activity (MICs in µg/mL) of compounds isolated from P. persicaria.

Compounds Antifungal activity (MICs in µg/mL) Ca Sc Cn Afu Afl An Mg Tr Tm

1 3.90 15.6 7.8 250 250 250 62.5 7.8 7.8 2 250 125 125 250 250 250 62.5 62.5 31.2 3 250 250 250 125 125 250 62.5 62.5 62.5 4 I I 250 250 125 250 125 125 125 5 250 250 250 250 250 250 62.5 15.6 15.6

Standards drugs Ketoconazole 0.50 0.50 0.25 0.12 0.50 0.25 0.04 0.02 0.02 Amphotericin 1.00 0.50 0.25 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.12 0.07 0.07 Terbinafine - - - - - - 0.04 0.01 0.04

Ca: Candida albicans ATCC 10231; Sc: Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 9763; Cn: Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC 32264; Afu: Aspergillus fumigatus ATCC 26934; Afl: Aspergillus flavus ATCC 9170; An: Aspergillus niger ATCC 9029; Mg: Microsporum gypseum C 115; Tr: Trichophyton rubrum C 113; Tm: Trichophyton mentagrophytes ATCC 9972. I: inactive = MIC > 250 µg/mL).

[14] and results are shown in Table 2. They were active against yeasts, Aspergillus spp. and dermatophytes with MICs between 3.90 - 250 µg/mL As it can be observed in Table 2, the five compounds isolated from P. persicaria, drimanes as well as flavonoids, all showed antifungal activity. Among them, polygodial (1) showed the best activity against yeasts and dermatophytes with MICs between 3.9 to 62.5 µg/mL and it was almost inactive against species of Aspergillus genus. Its epimer, isopolygodial (2), showed a lower antifungal activity (MICs between 31.2 to 250 µg/mL), suggesting that the C-9 configuration plays an important role in the antifungal activity, as we have been found in a previous paper [8]. Regarding flavonoids 3-5, there is not a clear difference among the antifungal activities of them against yeasts and Aspergillus spp. Nevertheless, chalcone 5 showed a high antifungal activity against T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes with MICs = 15.6 µg/mL, eight times higher than the activity showed by chalcone 4 against the same strains. This striking difference in activity against Trichophyton spp. could be attributed to the phenolic OH present in compound 5 which is absent in 4. These results show that the antifungal activity of P. persicaria could be attributed to polygodial but it is clear that the rest of the isolated compounds could contribute to the antifungal behavior of this traditional used species. In addition, these results validate the ethnopharmacological use of P. persicaria to treat affections related to fungal infections in the Argentinean traditional medicine and add a new evidence that the ethnopharmacological approach is

useful in guiding the discovery of antifungal compounds against dermatophytes, as it was demonstrated in a recent survey among seven Latinaoamerican countries [15]. Experimental

Extracts preparation and compounds isolation: Air-dried aerial parts of each species (100 g) were powdered and successively macerated (3×24 h each) with Hexane (Hex), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH) with mechanical stirring to obtain the corresponding extracts, after filtration and evaporation. Bioassay-guided fractionation of DCM extract allowed us to isolate the compounds responsible for the antifungal activity. 1.1 g of P. persicaria DCM extract were submitted to column chromatography using mixtures of Hex: AcOEt in increasing polarity as elution solvents. We obtained 10 fractions; three of them were actives (fractions 6-8). From 150 mg of fraction 6, by repeated column chromatography, we obtained 55 and 30 mg of compounds 1 and 2 respectively. From 170 mg of fraction 7, by repeated column chromatography, we obtained 50, 46 and 25 mg of compounds 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Additionally, from 70 mg of fraction 8, we obtained 10 mg of compound 5. All the compounds were characterized by UV-visible, IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Antifungal assay: For the antifungal evaluation, strains from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Rockville, MD, USA) and Centro de Referencia en Micología, CEREMIC [C, Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Suipacha 531 (2000)-Rosario, Argentina] were used: Candida albicans (Ca) ATCC 10231, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) ATCC 9763, Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) ATCC 32264, Aspergillus

Species Extract Antifungal activity (MICs in µg/mL)

P. persicaria

Ca Sc Cn Afu Afl An Mg Tr Tm

Hex I I 1000 I I I 1000 500 1000 DCM 1000 500 500 1000 1000 1000 125 62.5 31.2 EtOAc 1000 1000 1000 I I I 1000 500 1000 MeOH I I I I I I I I I

Standards drugs Ketoconazole 0.50 0.50 0.25 0.12 0.50 0.25 0.04 0.02 0.02 Amphotericin 1.00 0.50 0.25 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.12 0.07 0.07 Terbinafine - - - - - - 0.04 0.01 0.04

Ethnopharmacological use of Polygonum Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 933

flavus (Afl) ATCC 9170, Aspergillus fumigatus (Afu) ATTC 26934, Aspergillus niger (An) ATCC 9029, Trichophyton rubrum (Tr) C 110, Trichophyton mentagrophytes (Tm) ATCC 9972 and Microsporum gypseum (Mg) C 115. Strains were grown on Sabouraud-chloramphenicol agar slants for 48 h at 30 ºC, maintained on slopes of Sabouraud-dextrose agar (SDA, Oxoid) and subcultured every 15 days to prevent pleomorphic transformations. Inocula of cell or spore suspensions were obtained and quantified following reported procedures (CLSI).[14] Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of each extract or compound was determined by using broth microdilution

techniques according to the guidelines of CLSI for yeasts: document M27-A2 and for filamentous fungi, M38A. For the assay, stock solutions of extracts or pure compounds (100 µL) were two-fold diluted with the culture medium. A volumen of 100 µL of inoculum suspension [adjusted to 1–5 × 104 cells/spores as Colony Forming Units (CFU/mL)] was added to each well with the exception of the sterility control where sterile water was added to the well instead. Ketoconazole (Sigma Chem. Co., St. Louis, MO), Terbinafine (Novartis) and Amphotericin B (Sigma) were used as positive controls. Acknowledgments - CONICET, ANPCyT, UNR, ERASMUS MUNDUS, UNIBO.

References [1] Pfaller M, Diekema D. (2007) Epidemiology of invasive candidiasis: a persistent public health problem. Clinical Microbiology

Reviews, 20, 133-163 [2] Weitzman I, Summerbell R. (1995) The dermatophytes. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 8, 240-259 [3] Hsueh P, Lau Y, Chuang Y, Wan J, Huang W, Shyr J, Yan J, Yu K, Wu J, Ko W, Yang Y, Liu Y, Teng L, Liu Ch, Luh K. (2005)

Antifungal susceptibilities of clinical isolates of Candida species, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus species from Taiwan: Surveillance of multicenter antimicrobial resistance on Taiwan program data from 2003. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 49, 512-517

[4] White T, Holleman S, Dy F, Mirels L, Stevens D. (2002) Resistance mechanisms in clinical isolates of Candida albicans. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 46, 1704-1713

[5] Verpoorte R. (2000) Pharmacognosy in the new millennium: leadfinding and biotechnology. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 52, 253-262

[6] Del Vitto L, Petenatti E, Petenatti M. (2003) Materia Medica Vegetal. Plantas medicinales nativas y exóticas empleadas en fitomedicinas, homeopáticos, galénicos. Servicio Técnico Herbario UNSL, San Luis, pp. 1-63

[7] De Almeida Alves T, Lacerda Ribeiro F, Kloos H, Zani C. (2001) Polygodial, the fungitoxic component from the Brazilian medicinal plant Polygonum punctatum. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 96, 831-833

[8] Derita M, Leiva M, Zacchino S. (2009) Influence of plant part, season of collection and content of the main active constituent, on the antifungal properties of Polygonum acuminatum Kunth.. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 124, 377-383

[9] Cechinel Filho V, Schlemper V, Santos A, Pinheiro T, Yunes R, Mendes G, Calixto J, Delle Monache F. (1998) Isolation and identification of active compounds from Drymis winteri barks. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 62, 223-227

[10] Muñoz-Concha D, Vogel H, Yunes R, Razmilic I, Bresciani L, Malheiros A. (2007) Presence of polygodial and drimenol in Drymis populations from Chile. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 35, 434-438

[11] Hodgetts K. (2001) Approaches to 2-substituted chroman-4-ones: synthesis of (-)-pinostrobin. Tetrahedron Letters, 42, 3763-3766. [12] Burke B, Nair M. (1986) Phenylpropene, benzoic acid and flavonoids derivatives from fruits of Jamaican Piper species.

Phytochemistry, 25, 1427-1430 [13] López S, González Sierra M, Gattuso S, Furlán R, Zacchino S. (2006) An unusual homoisoflavanone and a structurally-related

dihydrochalcone from Polygonum ferrugineum. Phytochemistry, 67, 2152-2157 [14] CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute). (2002) Methods M 27-A2, Vol. 22 (15): 1-29 and M 38-A, Vol. 22 (16): 1-27.

Wayne Ed. [15] Svetaz L, Zuljan F, Derita M, Petenatti E, Tamayo G, Cáceres A, Cechinel Filho V, Giménez A, Pinzón R, Zacchino S, Gupta M.

(2010) Value of the ethnomedical information for the discovery of plants with antifungal properties. A survey among seven Latin American countries. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 127, 137-158

On the Isomerization of ent-Kaurenic Acid Julio Rojasa, Rosa Apariciob, Thayded Villasmilc, Alexis Peñac and Alfredo Usubillagab*

aPostgrado de Quimica de Medicamento, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanálisis, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela

bInstituto de Investigaciones, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanálisis, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela

cPostgrado Interdisciplinario de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela

[email protected]


Kaurenic acid (1a) is a tetracyclic diterpene that has an exocyclic double bond at Isokaurenicacid (2a) has an endocyclic 15double bondThis compound has been isolated from Espeletia tenore (Espeletinae), a resinous plant from the Venezuelan Andes, but its occurrence is rare. In order to obtain a larger amount of 2a, the isomerization of 1a, which is easily obtained from other Espeletinae, was tried. Kaurenic acid methyl ester (1b) was treated with dil. HCl in CH3Cl/EtOH, after 6 h under reflux a yield of 41.5% isokaurenic acid methyl ester (2b) was obtained but 35.7% 16-ethoxy-kauran-19-oic acid methyl ester (3b) had formed as a byproduct. Treating 1b with CF3COOH in refluxing CH2Cl2 permitted to obtain a yield of 66.6 % of 2b in 4 h and only traces of 16-hydroxy-kauran-19-oic acid methyl ester (3a) as a byproduct. Both isomers were separated on a silica gel column impregnated with 20% AgNO3. Treating 2b with KOH in refluxing DMSO yielded pure isokaurenic acid, no back isomerization was observed. Keywords: Ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid, ent-kaur-15-en-19-oic acid, CF3COOH, methyl esters, silver nitrate chromatography.

Ent-kaurenic acid (1a, Figure 1) is a tetracyclic diterpene that has been reported to have antimicrobial [1] and antiparasitic activity [2]. It also shows cytotoxicity against several cancer cell lines [3]. The occurrence of kaurenic acid, which has an exocyclic double bond at Δ16, is widespread in the plant kingdom, while the occurrence of its isomer ent-kaur-15-en-19-oic acid (2a), also called isokaurenic acid, is rare. This substance (2a) was first obtained by Ekong and Ogan by lithium reduction of Xylopic acid [4a], but 2a has been isolated as a natural product from Espeletia tenore, a midget Espeletiinae from the Venezuelan Andes [4b]. Since the quantity of isokaurenic acid that could be obtained from E. tenore is small, isomerization of kaurenic acid was studied in order to obtain it in sufficient quantity to explore its biological properties. Double bond migration in olefins could be base-catalyzed or acid-catalyzed [5a,5b]. Base-catalyzed isomerization can be effected in homogeneous solution or in the presence of basic heterogeneous catalysts. Isomerization of 1b was tried with sodium on alumina according to Shabtai and Gil-Av [6], but no reaction was observed after 24 hours. Isomerization was also attempted treating 1b with iodine in benzene solution under reflux, according to Barnes and MacMillan [7] but only 10.6% of 2b was obtained after 6 hr.

COOR

1a R= H1b R= CH3

COOR

2a R= H2b R= CH3

COOCH3

3a R= OH3b R= OC2H5

R

Figure 1

1

4

8

11 13

15

1617

19

20

Since it had been observed that, during isolation of the acidic fraction of some Espelettinae, treatment with HCl produced traces of isokaurenic acid, isomerization of 1b in CHCl3/EtOH solution was tried adding 5 drops of HCl:H2O (10:1) at room temperature. The course of the reaction was followed by gas chromatography. As it is shown on Table 1, after one hr of reaction 35.4% of the original amount of 1b had isomerized into 2b, while the relative concentration of 1b had diminished to 55.6%, but at the same time 9.0% of ent-16α-ethoxy-kauran-19-oic acid (3b) had formed as a by-product. After 4 hr of reaction a maximal yield of 2b was achieved (46.4%), but after 6 hr the relative concentration of 2b had diminished and settled at 41.4%. At the same time the by-product (3b) represented 35.7% of the reaction mixture. Since formation of 3b was undesirable, isomerization was tried using CF3COOH in dry CH2Cl2.The course of the reaction is shown on Table 2. After 1.0 hr of reaction


935 - 938

936 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Rojas et al.

Table 1: Acid-isomerization of ent-kaurenic acid using HCl in CHCl3/EtOH.

Time (hr) % 2b % 1b % 3b

0 -------- 100 ------

1 35.4 55.6 9.0 2 46.4 35.3 18.2 4 41.8 24.7 33.5

6 41.5 22.8 35.7

54.4% of isomerization had been achieved. After 2.0 hr the yield was 63.5%. After 4.0 hr the reaction had arrived to equilibrium where relative concentration of 2b was 66.6% and concentration of 1b was down to 33.3%. But after 4.0 hr it was observed that 0.1% of 3a had been formed, probably caused by the presence of traces of water. Table 2: Acid-isomerization of ent-kaurenic acid using CF3COOH.

Time (hr) % 2b % 1b % 3b

0 -------- 100 ------

1 54.4 45.6 0 2 63.5 36.5 0 3 66.2 33.8 t

4 66.6 33.3 0.1

t : traces Figure 2 shows the increase of 2b as a function of time and the abatement of kaurenic acid methyl ester concentration (1b) to end up with a constant concentration mixture made up of 66.6% 2b and 33.3% 1b. Absolute exclusion of water would hinder the formation of 16-hydroxy-kauran-19-oic acid methyl ester (3a). But from a practical point of view two hours of reaction is enough to obtain a good yield (63.5%) of the desired product. Separation of both isomers is accomplished over a silica gel column impregnated with 20% silver nitrate. Taking into consideration that silver nitrate chromatography is required to separate both isomers, the methyl ester of kaurenic acid (1b) was used instead of the free acid (1a). Isokaurenic acid (2a) was recovered refluxing 2b with KOH in DMSO solution. According to Hubert and Reimlinger [5b] the acid catalyzed isomerization takes place via carbonium ions. In the case of kaurenic acid, presence of an acid causes the formation of a carbonium ion at C-16. The catalyst acts as a proton donor and acceptor. Migration of the double bonds occurs because a proton is transferred to the C-17 exocyclic methylene moiety, which becomes a methyl group, and at the same time, a proton is lost from C-15 generating a Δ15 double bond. But this process is reversible and the reaction proceeds until it reaches a thermodynamic equilibrium. In this case a Δ15 double bond is thermodynamically more stable and therefore its formation is enhanced leading to the migration of 2/3 of the original exocyclic double bond to a Δ15 position. The rate of formation of 3a increases with reaction time. After 72 h under reflux the yield of 3a was 13%.

Figure 2

Experimental

General procedures: Melting points were determined on a Fisatom 430 D apparatus and are uncorrected. IR spectra were measured on a Shimadzu Affinity instrument as KBr discs. NMR spectra were recorded with a Bruker Avance 400 MHz instrument for solutions in CDCl3,

1H, 13C, DEPT, H-H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC experiments were performed. GC was made on a Perkin Elmer Autosystem gas chromatograph equipped with FID detector. A 5% phenylmethyl polysiloxane capillary column was used (30 m, 0.25 mm i.d., film thickness 0.25 m). The oven temperature was programmed from 250°C to 300°C at 10°C/min., and kept isothermal at the higher temperature for 10 min. The injector and detector temperatures were 200°C and 300°C respectively. The carrier gas was helium at 0.9 mL/ min. The samples (1.0 L) were injected using a split ratio of 1:10. For mass spectrometry an Agilent MSD 5973 instrument equipped with a DB-5MS capillary column (30 m, 0.25 mm, 0.25 m film).The oven temperature program was the same used for GC analysis. Injector temperature, carrier gas, and sample injection conditions were also the same but a split ratio of 1:50 was used. Analytical TLC was performed on Merck aluminum-backed silica gel foils (F254). Flash chromatography was performed on Merck silica gel Grade 9385 (230-400 mesh) by gradient elution with hexane-EtOAc or hexane-diethyl ether mixtures. Kaurenic isomers were separated on a silica gel column impregnated with 20% AgNO3. Isolation of kaurenic acid (1a): Espeletia semiglobuta was collected at Paramo of Piedras Blancas in February 2009. A voucher specimen (AU-30) was deposited at the MERF Herbarium. The leaves (10 Kg) were air dried, ground and extracted with a hexane-diethyl ether mixture (3:1) at room temperature. The extract was shaken with 0.5 N NaOH solution. The aqueous layer was made acidic by addition of dil. HCl and shaken with hexane to recover the acid fraction. Kaurenic acid was purified by flash chromatography over silica gel using hexane and hexane-diethyl ether (9:1) as solvent. Chromatographic fractions were inspected by TLC, fractions containing pure kaurenic acid were combined and crystallized Pure kaurenic acid

Isomerization of Kaurenic acid Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 937

(13.5 g) was obtained, mp 175-178°C (lit [8] 179-181). It was compared with an authentic sample (TLC, 1H-NMR) [4b]. Kaurenic acid methyl ester (1b): A solution of kaurenic acid (1a, 20 mmol) was dissolved in Et2O and mixed with freshly distilled diazomethane (about 30 mmol) obtained from nitrosomethylurea [9a,9b]. After 24 h at room temperature the solvent and excess diazomethane were distilled off at low pressure. Kaurenic acid methyl ester (1b) crystallized from hexane, MP 75°C. GC retention time 3.80 min. MS (EI, 70 eV): m/z (%) = 316.2 (51), 302 (35), 284 (62), 257 (199), 241 (79), 213 (33), 187 (2), 121 (45), 91 (47). Attempted isomerization of 1b with sodium on alumina: The catalyst was prepared according to Shabtai and Gil-Av [6]. Alumina was heated at 300oC during 24 h . Pretreated alumina (5.0 g) was mixed with 1.0 g of sodium at 140°C with stirring under argon atm. The catalyst was cooled at 2-3°C and a solution of 1b (500 mg) in dry hexane was added. Samples were taken after continuous stirring at 1.0 h, 6.0 h, and 24 h, and analyzed by GC-MS after 1.0 h, 6.0 h, and 24 h, but no isomerization occurred and only the peak of 1b, with a retention time of 3.79 min., was observed on the gas chromatogram. Isomerization of 1b with iodine in benzene solution: Kaurenic acid methyl ester (1b, 300 mg) was dissolved in dry benzene containing 20 mg of iodine and it was heated under reflux for 6 hr. The solution was cooled and shaken twice with aqueous sodium thiosulphate. The organic layer was taken to dryness. A 5 mg sample of the solid was dissolved in diethyl ether and analyzed by GC. It was observed that after six hours of reaction only 10.6% of 1b had isomerized into 2b which had a retention time of 3.55 min. Isomerization of 1b with diluted HCl in CHCl3/EtOH: Kaurenic acid methyl ester (2.0 mmol) was dissolved in a mixture 50 mL of CHCl3 and 10 mL of EtOH. After addition of 5 drops of 10% HCl, the mixture was heated under reflux. Aliquot samples (5 mL) were taken at 1h, 2h, 4h, and 6 h, washed with dil. NaHCO3, and with H2O. The organic layer was dried over Na2SO4 and evaporated to dryness. Samples (5 mg) were dissolved in Et2O and analyzed by GC. Results are shown on table 1. Isolation of ent-16-ethoxy-kauran-19-oic acid methyl ester (3b): The rest of the solution (40 mL) of the previous isomerization reaction was washed with dil. NaHCO3 and H2O. The chloroform layer was treated with dry Na2SO4, filtered, and mixed with 1 g of silica gel. CHCl3 was evaporated under vacuum and the silica gel containing the product of isomerization was added to the top of a flash column charged with 12 g of silica gel. The column was eluted with hexane which yielded a mixture of 1b and 2b.

When both isomers had eluted the column was treated with hexane-EtOAc (10:1) to elute 3b.

MP: 140°C. IR (cm-1): 2981, 2932, 2854, 1724, 1466, 1443, 1234, 1157, 1068, 987. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 0.77 (1H, dt, J = 4; 14 Hz, H-1a), 0.81 (3H, s, H-20), 0.96 (1H, m, H-9), 1.02 (1H, dd, J= 2; 14 Hz, H-5), 1.10 (3H, t, J = 7 Hz, Me), 1.17 (3H, s, H-18), 1.26 (3H, s, H-17), 1.32 (1H, m, H-15a), 1.38 (1H, m, H-14a), 1.5 (2H, m, H-12), 1.51 (2H, m, H-11), 1.52 (1H, m H-3a), 1.53 (2H, m, H-2), 1.75 (1H, m, H-3b), 1.78 (2H, m, H-6), 1.84 (1H, m, H-1b), 2.02 (1H, bs, H-13), 2.15 (2H, m, H-7), 3.31 (2H, q, J = 7 Hz, OCH2), 3.63 (3H, s, OMe). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): 178.2 (COO), 83.9 (C-17), 57.1 (C-5), 56.8 (OCH2), 56.2 (C-9), 55.2 (C-15), 51.2 (OCH3), 44.9 (C-4), 43.9 (C-8), 42.3 (C-14), 44.0 (C-13), 40.9 (C-1), 39,6 (C-10), 38.3 (C-7), 37.2 (C-3), 28.9 (C-18), 26.8 (C-12), 22.3 (C-6), 19.3 (C-2), 19.2 (C-17), 18.2 (C-11), 16.7 (CH3), 15.5 (C-20). MS (EI, 70 eV): m/z (%) = 362 (4), 347 (34), 316 (85), 274 (100), 257 (55), 217 (54), 121 (70). Isomerization of 1b with CF3COOH in CH2Cl2: To a solution of kaurenic acid methyl ester (5.0 mmol) in dry CH2Cl2 (100 mL) 10 drops of trifluoroacetic acid were added and the mixture was heated under reflux in an argon atmosphere. Aliquot samples (5 mL) were taken at 1h, 2h, and 4h. They were washed with H2O; the organic layer was dried over Na2SO4 and evaporated to dryness. Samples (5mg) were dissolved in Et2O and analyzed by gas chromatography. Table 2 shows the results of this reaction as a function of time. To recover the isokaurenic acid methyl ester the rest of the reaction mixture was washed with H2O, dried over Na2SO4, filtered, and the solvent was evaporated to dryness. The reaction product was dissolved in hexane and chromatographed on a column of silica gel impregnated with 20% of AgNO3. The column was eluted with hexane; 100 mL fractions were taken and inspected by GC. Fractions 6-12 eluted pure 2b (722 mg). MP 74-75°C. GC retention time 3.55 min. It was identical to an authentic sample obtained by methylation of 2a isolated from Espeletia tenore [4b] (IR, 1H NMR, MS). Fractions 13-18 eluted a mixture of 1b and 2b (330 mg), and fractions 19-27 pure 1b (275 mg).To a solution of 500 mg of 2b in 50 mL of DMSO 300 mg of KOH were added and the mixture heated under reflux for 2 h. The solution was cooled; 50 mL of H2O was added, and taken to pH 3.0 by addition of dil. HCl. The solution was then shaken with 100 mL of hexane. The hexane layer was shaken twice with 20 mL of H2O, dried over Na2SO4, and the solvent distilled under vacuum. The isokaurenic acid (455 mg) was crystallized from hexane, MP 169-171°C. Identical to 2a isolated from Espeletia tenore (IR, 1H NMR )[4b]. A sample (5 mg) was methylated and examined by GC. Only one peak was observed at 3.55 min (100%).

938 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Rojas et al.

Isolation of ent-16-hydroxy-kauran-19-oic acid methyl ester (3a): To a solution of kaurenic acid methyl ester (2.0 mmol) in CH2Cl2 five drops of trifluoroacetic acid were added and the mixture was heated under reflux. After 72 h. the reaction mixture was cooled and shaken with H2O. The organic layer was dried over Na2SO4, filtered, and evaporated to dryness. A 5 mg sample was dissolved in Et2O and inspected by GC. The gas chromatogram showed peaks at 3.54 (2b, 60%), 3.79 (1b, 27%), and 4.94 min (3a, 13%). Flash chromatography over a silica gel column afforded 42 mg of 3a.

MP: 159-160°C. IR (KBr, cm-1): 3412, 2982, 2953, 2868, 1728, 1424, 1157, 925. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 0.77 (1H, dt, J = 4; 14 Hz, H-1a), 0.80 (3H, s, H-20), 0.96 (1H, m, H-9), 1.01 (1H, m, H-5), 0.97 (1H, m, H-3a), 1.15 (3H, s, H-18), 1.35 (3H, s, H-17), 1.40 (1H, m, H-2a), 1.42 (1H, m, H-14a), 1.5 (2H, m, H-11), 1.53 (2H, m, H-15), 1.57 (1H, m, H-7a), 1.58

(1H, m, H-14b), 1.75 (2H, m, H-6), 1.80 (1H, bs, H-13), 1.82 (1H, m, H-2b), 1.84 (1H, m, H-1b), 1.89 (1H, m, H-7b), 3.63 (3H, s, OCH3). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): 174.3 (COO), 79.7 (C-16), 58.1 (C-15), 57.3 (C-5), 56.3 (C-9), 51.4 (OCH3), 49.2 (C-13), 45.6 (C-8), 44.1 (C-4), 42.4 (C-7), 41.0 (C-1), 39.8 (C-10), 38.4 (C-3), 37.9 (C-14), 29.0 (C-18), 27.1 (C-12), 24.8 (C-17), 22.4 (C-6), 19.4 (C-2), 18.6 (C-11), 15.7 (C-20). MS (EI, 70 eV): m/z (%) = 334 (11), 316 (100), 302 (26), 276 (67), 257 (73), 217 (30), 180 (32), 121 (85). Acknowledgments – This work was possible thanks to the financial support of Mision Ciencia (Grant 2007000881). The authors are indebted to Dr. Andres Leon for IR spectra and to Dr. Ali Bahsas and Dr. Sonia Koteich for NMR analyses.

References

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[2] Alves TMA, Chaves PPG, Santos LMST, Nagem TJ, Murta SMF, Cevarolo IP, Romanha AJ, Zani CI. (1995) A diterpene from Mikania obtusata, active on Trypanosoma cruzi. Planta Medica, 61, 85-86.

[3] Fatope MO, Audo OT, Takeda O, Zeng L, Shi G, Shimada H, McLaughlin JL. (1996) Bioactive ent-kaurene diterpenoids from Annona senegalensis. Journal of Natural Products, 59, 301-303.

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[6] Shabtai J, Gil-Av E. (1963) A convenient method for the preparation of 1-methylcyclobutene. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 28, 2893-2894.

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[8] Henrick CA, Jefferies PR. (1964) The chemistry of the Euphorbiaceae. VII. The diterpenes of Ricinocarpus stylosus Diels. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 17, 915-933.

[9] (a) Amstutz ED, Myers MM. (1957) Nitrosomethylurea from acetamide. In Organic Syntheses. Blatt AH (Ed). John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Collective Vol. II, 462-463. New York; (b) Arndt F (1957) Diazomethane. In Organic Syntheses. Blatt AH (Ed). John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Collective Vol. II, 165-166. New York

Aristolactams from roots of Ottonia anisum (Piperaceae) André M. Marquesa, Leosvaldo S. M. Velozoa, Davyson de L. Moreirab, Elsie F. Guimarãesc and Maria Auxiliadora C. Kaplana

aNúcleo de Pesquisas de Produtos Naturais (NPPN), Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bloco H, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). CEP: 21941-590 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

bDepartamento de Produtos Naturais, Far-Manguinhos, FIOCRUZ. CEP: 21041-250 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

cInstituto de Pesquisa Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. CEP: 22.460-030 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil [email protected]


The Piperaceae species are known worldwide for its medicinal properties and its chemical compounds. In Brazil, many species of this family are distributed mainly in Amazon Region and in the Atlantic Forest. The genus Ottonia is known as source of amides, flavonoids, arylpropanoids and terpenes with record biological activities. Six aristolactams, including, aristolactam BII, piperolactam C, goniothalactam, stigmalactam, aristolactam AII and aristolactam BIII were isolated from roots of this species. GC-MS, 1H NMR and NOESY techniques were used to characterize these compounds. This is the first report about the occurrence of aristolactams in the Ottonia anisum Sprengel. Keywords: Piperaceae, Ottonia anisum, aristolactams, alkaloids. The family Piperaceae is composed approximately by 2000 species with wide tropical and subtropical distribution and great representation in Central and South Americas, occurring in Mexico, Panama, Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina and from North to Southern Brazil. The Piper species are mostly tropical plants of worldwide occurrence and are represented by ca. 700 species. In Brazil, 260 species are distributed mainly in Amazon Region and in the Atlantic Forest of the country [1a-c]. The phytochemical investigation of Piper has led to the isolation of a large number of bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, amides, propenylphenols, piperolides, flavonoids, chromenes, prenylated benzoic acid derivatives and lignoids. Furthermore, literature records registered the occurrence of interesting secondary metabolites in species of the genus Peperomia (benzoic acid derivatives and seconeolignans), Ottonia (amides, flavonoids and arylpropanoids) and Pothomorphe (catechol derivatives) [2a-e]. The chemistry of Piperaceae from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, has been addressed with great success. Previous phytochemical investigations of Piperaceae species from Brazilian Atlantic Forest performed by our research group led to the isolation of several compounds, such as kaplanin, lhotzchromene and blandachromenes I and II [3a-c]. In order to continue with the phytochemical studies of native Piperaceae species from Southeast Brazil, Ottonia anisum have been successfully studied [4]. The O. anisum root extracts were chemically investigated to afford six aristolactams. This is the first work regarding the presence

of aristolactams in Ottonia species. Aristolactams belong to a large and important group of naturally occurring alkaloids that possess the phenanthrene lactam skeleton [5]. The phenanthrene chromophore group is found in the Aristolochiaceae together with the aristolochic acids and 4,5-dioxoaporphines alkaloids. Aristolactams have been reported from plants of the Annonaceae, Monimiaceae, Menispermaceae, Piperaceae and Saururaceae families [6a,b]. The phenanthrene lactam core is frequently found in biologically active natural products [7a-d]. Among them, aristolactams and aporphines constitute an important alkaloid group due to their unique structural features and potent biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, to treat arthritis, gout, rheumatism, antiPAF, antimycobacterial, and neuro-protective [8a-e]. Major secondary compounds from non polar root extracts of O. anisum were isolated by chromatographic techniques and identified as 3,4-dimethoxy-aristolactam (aristolactam BII, 1), 2,3,4-trimethoxy-aristolactam (piperolactam C, 2), 6-hydroxy-3,4-dimethoxy-aristolactam (stigmalactam, 3, 6-hydroxy-2,3,4-trimethoxy-aristolactam (goniothalactam, 4), 3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-aristolactam (aristolactam AII, 5), 3,4,6-trimetoxy-aristolactam (aristolactam BIII, 6) (Figure 1). These compounds 1-6 were identified by comparison of physical and spectroscopic data (MS and NMR) with literature records [9a-c]. Compound (1) was obtained as a yellow needle crystalline solid. The molecular formula was confirmed by GC-MS measurement


939 - 942

940 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Moreira et al.

NH

OR1

R2

R3

R4

12

3

4

5

6

78

9

Figure 1: Aristolactams isolated from O. anisum. Arrows show the NOESY correlations.

m/z [M+] 279, suggesting the Cl7Hl3NO3. The 1H NMR spectrum of compound (1) showed signals related to six aromatic protons, a broad D2O-exchangeable proton at 10.67 and protons of two methoxy groups attached to aromatic ring at 4.06 (3H, s) and 4.04 (3H, s). The signal registered at 9.17 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) was assigned to H-5, and the signals at 7.52 (2H, m) and 7.94 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) corresponding to H-6, H-7 and H-8 respectively (Table 1). A singlet was identified at 7.86 (1H, s) corresponding to H-2. The NOESY spectrum of compound (1) showed correlations between H-2/CH3O-3, CH3O-3/CH3O-4, CH3O-4/H-5, as well as between H-8/H-9 (Figure 1). Significant correlations between H-5 ( 9.17) and H-6 ( 7.58), H-7 ( 7.58) and H-8 ( 7.94) were also observed. Considering these data as well as literature records, the structure of compound (1) was identified as aristolactam BII. The NMR analysis of the compounds (2-6) led us to conclude that these constituents have the same aristolactam skeleton of compound (1). Compound (2) was isolated as a yellow powder. The GC-MS established the molecular formula that was confirmed by m/z [M+] 309. The 1H NMR spectrum of compound (2) showed signals related to five aromatic protons, a broad D2O-exchangeable proton at 10.96 and protons of three methoxy groups attached to aromatic ring at 3.92 (3H, s), 4.17 (3H, s) and 4.42 (3H, s). The signals at 9.12 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) was assigned to H-5, and the signals at 7.52 (2H, m) corresponding to H-6, H-7 besides 7.94 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) assigned to H-8. The NOESY spectrum of (2) confirms the spatial correlation of the protons between CH3O-2/CH3O-3, CH3O-3/CH3O-4, CH3O-4/H-5, as well as between H-8/H-9. NOESY correlations between H-5, H-6, H-7 and H-8 were also observed (Figure 1). These data confirmed compound (2) as piperolactam C. Compound (3) was isolated as yellow powder. GC-MS analysis for compound (3) showed a molecular ion at m/z [M+] 295. The 1H NMR spectrum of compound (3) showed five aromatic protons, a broad D2O-exchangeable proton at 10.64 and two methoxy groups attached to aromatic ring at 4.02 (3H, s) and 4.04 (3H, s). Signal at 8.57 (1H, d, J = 3 Hz) was assigned to H-5, and the signals at 7.08 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) and 7.76 (1H, d, J = 6.0 Hz) were assigned to H-7 and H-8, respectively.

A singlet was at 7.86 (1H, s) corresponds to H-2. The NOESY spectrum of compound (3) showed the methoxyl groups attached to C-3 and C-4 due to the spatial proximity of H-2/CH3O-3, CH3O-3/CH3O-4, CH3O-4/H-5. NOESY correlations between H-7 and H-8 were also observed, as well as between H-8/H-9 (Figure 1) confirming (3) as goniothalactam. Compound (4) was isolated as brownish yellow needles. The mass spectrum m/z [M+] 325 established the molecular formula C18H15NO5. The 1H NMR spectrum of compound (4) showed signals related to four aromatic protons, a broad D2O-exchangeable proton at 10.79 and three methoxy groups attached to aromatic ring at 3.93 (3H, s), 4.04 (3H, s) and 4.38 (3H, s). The signal at 8.58 (1H, d, J = 3 Hz) assigned to H-5, and the signals at 7.08 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) and 7.79 (1H, d, J = 6.0, Hz) corresponding to H-7 and H-8 respectively. The NOESY spectrum was quite similar to the compound (2), showing the spatial correlation between the methoxyl groups at C-2, C-3 and C-4. These data are in accordance with stigmalactam, 4. The compound (5) was isolated as a pale yellow powder. The same aristolactam skeleton was observed by the MS and NMR analysis. The mass spectrum m/z [M+] 265 established the molecular formula C16H11NO3. The 1H NMR spectrum of compound (5) showed signals related to six aromatic protons, a broad D2O-exchangeable proton at 10.69 and a single methoxy group attached to aromatic ring at 4.03 (3H, s). The signal at 9.25 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) assigned to H-5, the signals at 7.96 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) corresponding to H-8 and the signals at 7.54 (2H, m) corresponding to H-6 and H-7. Spatial correlations were found between the hydroxyl group at C-3 and the H-2 and CH3O-4. NOESY correlations between H-5, H-6, H-7 and H-8 were also confirmed, as well as between H-8/H-9. Analysis of GC-MS, 1H NMR and NOESY spectral data showed chemical shifts very similar to the analogous previous analized compounds and allowed to confirmed (5) as aristolactam AII. Compound (6) was isolated as a yellow green powder with m/z [M+] 265 obtained from GC-MS. The 1H NMR spectrum of compound (6) showed signals related to five aromatic protons, a broad D2O-exchangeable proton at 7.67 and three methoxy groups attached to aromatic ring at 3.96 (3H, s), 4.18 (3H, s) and 4.45 (3H, s). The signals at 8.65 (1H, d, J = 3 Hz) was assigned to H-5, and the signals at 7.15 (1H, dd, J = 6.0, 3.0 Hz) and 7.77 (1H, d, J = 6.0 Hz) corresponding to H-7and H-8, respectively. A singlet observed at 7.80 was assigned to H-2. NOESY correlations between the methoxyl group at 3.96 and H-5 and H-7 was confirmed. This is in agreement with the aristolactam skeleton and suggested that the signal at 3.96 refers to the methoxyl group located at position C-6, confirming compound (6) as aristolactam BIII. Nowadays, many communities in the North of Brazil still remain using O. anisum popularly in the treat toothache

(1) R1=R4=H; R2=R3=OCH3; (2) R1=R2=R3=OCH3; R4=H; (3) R1=H; R2=R3=OCH3; R4=OH; (4) R1=R2=R3= OCH3; R4=OH; (5) R1=R4=H; R2=OH; R3=OCH3; (6) R1=H; R2=R3=R4=OCH3;

Aristolactams from Ottonia anisum Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 941

Table 1: 1H NMR spectroscopic data of compounds 1-5 in DMSO-d6 and compound 6 in CDCl3, H J (Hz).

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 9.17 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 9.12 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 8.57 (1H) d (3.0) 8.58 (1H) d (3.0) 9.25 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 8.65 (1H) d (3.0) 7 7.58 (1H) m 7.52 (1H) m 7.08 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 7.08 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 7.54 (1H) m 7.15 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 8 7.94 (1H) dd, (6.0, 3.0) 7.94 (1H) dd, (6.0, 3.0) 7.76 (1H) d (6.0) 7.79 (1H) d (6.0) 7.96 (1H) dd (6.0, 3.0) 7.77 (1H) d (6.0) 9 7.13 (1H) s 7.12 (1H) s 7.07 (1H) s 7.15 (1H) s 7.09 (1H) s 7.07 (1H) s R1 7.86 (1H) s 3.92 (3H) s 7.86 (1H) s 3.93 (3H) s 7.82 (1H) s 7.80 (1H) s R2 4.06 (3H) s 4.42 (3H) s 4.04 (3H) s 4.04 (3H) s - 4.45 (3H) s R3 4.04 (3H) s 4.17 (3H) s 4.02 (3H) s 4.38 (3H) s 4.03 (3H) s 4.18 (3H) s R4 7.58 (1H) m 7.52 (1H) m - - 7.54 (1H) m 3.96 (3H) s N-H 10.67 (1H) s 10.96 (1H) s 10.64 (1H) s 10.79 (1H) s 10.69 (1H) s 7.67( 1H) s

and as local anesthetic, even if a survey of the literature data shows that some of natural compounds have carcinogenic and nephrotoxic properties. Aristolactams are known to be nephrotoxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic [8b,d] [10a-f]. However, naturally occurring aristolactams such as cepharanone B (aristolactam BII), aristolactam BIII, piperolactam A and goniothalactam have shown potent inhibitory activity against human cancer cells. For example, aristolactam BII inhibits T and B lymphocyte proliferation as well as shows cytotoxic activity, while aristolactam FI (piperolactam A,) displays inhibitory effects on NO generation by RAW264 [5]. Several synthetic aristolactam derivatives exhibited potent antitumor activities against a broad array of cancer cell lines with submicromolar range and some are equally potent toward multidrug resistant cell lines compared to the commercially available drug [8a,d]. It is noteworthy that the methoxy-substituted compounds are more potent than the hydroxyl-substituted ones. The tetra-methoxy substituted phenanthrene lactam has highly potent cytotoxic activity [11]. Although the cytotoxicity of aristolactams is well known, structure-activity relationships have not been explored mainly as a consequence of the synthetic difficulties associated with preparing a diverse array of aristolactam analogues. Therefore, it is important the continuous knowledge about the native Piperaceae species of Brazil since many of them have been used in folk medicine to treat many conditions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of aristolactams in the genus Ottonia. Experimental

Plant material: Branches and roots of Ottonia anisum Sprengel were collected in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil in april of 2007. A Voucher specimen was identified by Dr. Elsie Franklin Guimarães and is deposited at the RB Herbarium of Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, under the number RB393494. Chromatographic materials: Sephadex LH-20 (Pharmacia) was used for column chromatographic separation. Silica gel PF254 (Merck) was used for TLC preparative/purification. All compounds were visualized on analytical TLC under UV light (254 and 365 nm) and by spraying with ceric sulfate solution followed by heating.

Extraction and Isolation: Air-dried and powdered roots (650 g) were extracted with MeOH. The solvent was evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure to give the MeOH extract (15g) which was partitioned successively between n-hexane, followed by dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Hexane and dichloromethane fractions were combined providing about 2g that were subjected to a column chromatography on Sephadex LH 20, eluted with a MeOH/CHCl3 (7:3) system furnishing 30 fractions. The last 10 fractions were combined furnishing 200 mg of a very strong UV fluorescence fraction. This sample was subjected to preparative normal phase TLC eluted with hexane/ethyl acetate (3:2) yielding six fractions with different UV fluorescence color. Aristolactam 1 (17.0 mg), 2 (7.0 mg), 3 (4.0 mg), 4 (2.0 mg), 5 (4.5 mg) and 6 (3.0 mg) were isolated and analyzed by GC-FID, GC-MS and 1H and NOESY NMR techniques. GC-FID analysis: Qualitative analyses were carried out on a GC 2010 Shimadzu apparatus with a DB-1MS fused silica capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 m film thickness). The operating temperatures used were: injector 260oC, detector 290oC and column oven 60°C up to 290oC (10oC min-1). Hydrogen at 1.0 mL min-1 was used as carrier gas. GC-MS analysis: Qualitative analysis was carried out on a GC-MS QP 5000 Shimadzu machine with a ZB-5MS fused silica capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 m film thickness) under the same experimental conditions reported for GC-FID analysis. The aristolactams mass spectra were matching with WILEY 275 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST 3.0) libraries provided with the computer controlling the GC–MS system. The results were also confirmed by comparison of data of the isolated compounds with mass and fragmentation reported in the literature [9a-c]. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: The pure six constituents obtained were analyzed by 1H NMR and NOESY recorded on a Varian VNMRS 500 spectrometer. Chemical shifts were determined in DMSO-d6 and CDCl3, using TMS as internal standard. The signals of NMR analysis were compared with literature data [9a-c]. Acknowledgments – This work was supported by CNPq.

942 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Moreira et al.

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Anti-angiogenic Activity Evaluation of Secondary Metabolites from Calycolpus moritzianus Leaves Laura Leporea, Maria J. Gualtieria, Nicola Malafrontea, Roberta Cotugnoa, Fabrizio Dal Piaza, Letizia Ambrosioa, Sandro De Falcob and Nunziatina De Tommasia*

aDipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università di Salerno, Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy

bAngiogenesis Lab, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics ‘Adriano Buzzati-Traverso’, CNR, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131 Napoli, Italy

[email protected]


Angiogenesis is a crucial step in many pathological conditions like cancer, inflammation and metastasis formation; on these basis the search for antiangiogenic agents has widened. In order to identify new compounds able to interfere in the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 (VEGFR-1, also known as Flt-1) recognition by VEGFs family members, we screened Calycolpus moritzianus (O. Berg) Burret leaves extracts by a competitive ELISA-based assay. MeOH and CHCl3 extracts and several their fractions demonstrated to be able to prevent VEGF or PlGF interaction with Flt-1, with an inhibition about 50% at concentration of 100 g/mL. Phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of the active fractions led to the isolation of flavonoids, and terpenes. Keywords: Calycolpus moritzianus, Angiogenesis, VEGFR1/Flt-1, VEGF and PlGF, bioassay-oriented study. In the last decade the inhibition of angiogenesis and vascular targeting has been the focus of new treatment strategies against the cancer. Among the long list of growth factors involved in the angiogenic process, VEGF-A has been considered for years the most important mediator of tumor angiogenesis [1]. Consequently, several strategies have been developed to inhibit the release of this growth factor, or to interfere in its interaction with receptors, VEGF receptor 1 (Flt-1) and VEGF receptor 2 (Flk-1 in mouse, KDR in human) [2]. Recent data support the concept that tumor infiltration by bone marrow-derived myeloid cells confers resistance to current antiangiogenic drugs targeting primary VEGF-A and its receptors (VEGF(R)s) [3]. For this reason, novel targets out of VEGF-A have been studied to diversify antiangiogenic treatments and to overcome resistance [4]. Genetic and pharmacological studies have identified Flt-1 and Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) as possible therapeutic targets for anticancer therapy [5]. Furthermore, has been proven that a combination of lower amount of VEGF(R)s inhibitors and compounds able to block PlGF showed equal antitumor efficacy compared to the standard dose of VEGF(R)s [5]. These findings suggested that molecules able to inhibit the activity of both PlGF and VEGF-A driven angiogenesis may be an opportunity for patients with cancer who may suffer excessive or prohibitive adverse effects from VEGF(R)s inhibitors.

Figure 1: Inhibitory effect of C. moritzianus leaves extracts were assayed on PlGF/Flt-1 (A) and VEGF/Flt-1 interaction (B). The extracts were used at 500-100-20 µg/mL. As control a specific inhibiting peptide was used (CP). The white bar refers to ELISA experiment carried out without inhibitors. Each experiment was performed three times and average values ± SD were reported.

Accordingly to these data, the research of new natural compounds which may inhibit both PlGF and VEGF-A activity, has been the target of the present study. We carried out a screening of Calycolpus moritzianus (O. Berg) Burret leaves extracts by a competitive ELISA-based assay [6]. We aimed to identify natural molecules as inhibitors of PlGF and VEGF-A recognition by Flt-1.


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Figure 2: Inhibitory properties of plant fractions from MeOH extract were assayed on PlGF/Flt-1 interaction (A) and VEGF/Flt-1 interaction (B). The fractions were tested at 500-100-20 µg/mL. As control a specific inhibiting peptide was used (CP). The white bar refers to ELISA experiment carried out without inhibitors. Each experiment was performed three times and average values ± SD were reported.

Figure 3: Inhibitory activity of compounds isolated from active methanolic fractions assayed at concentration of 100 µg/ml on PlGF/Flt-1 (A) and VEGF/Flt-1 (B). As control a specific inhibiting peptide was used (CP). The white bar refers to ELISA experiment carried out without inhibitors. Each experiment was performed three times and average values ± SD were reported. Several extracts from C. moritzianus leaves have been tested at the doses of 0.5, 0.1, and 0.02 mg/mL. Methanol and chloroform residues exhibited a good activity in the inhibition on both PlGF/Flt-1 and VEGF-A/Flt-1 interaction, with a binding reduction higher than 60% at 20 µg/mL (Figure 1).Therefore these extracts were submitted to a bioassay-oriented fractionation. C. moritzianus MeOH extract was fractioned by sephadex column chromatography giving 9 fractions (A-I), while CHCl3 extract was separated using silica gel column chromatography giving 7 fractions (AA-GG). The effect of the obtained fractions was tested on both PlGF/Flt-1 and VEGF-A/Flt-1, leading to the results reported in Figure 2-4. C. moritzianus MeOH extract fractions were assayed in dose-dependent experiments at concentration ranging between 500 and 20 µg/mL on PlGF/Flt-1; the active frs. D-F and H were then assayed on VEGF-A/Flt-1 at concentration of 100 and 20 µg/mL. Among the MeOH fractions, Fr. H revealed the highest dose-dependent activity for PlGF/Flt-1 inhibition, provoking a reduction of its Flt-1 binding to 20% at 500 µg/mL and to 60% at 100 µg/mL, while at dose 100 µg/mL a 25% reduction of VEGF-A/Flt-1 interaction was observed. Also D, E, F, I fractions exhibited a moderate inhibition for PlGF/Flt-1 complex, even if only Fr. D revealed to be able to inhibit also hVEGF-A / Flt-1 complex, leading to a binding reduction of 60% at 100 µg/mL (Figure 2). The active fractions were studied in order to identify the compounds responsible for this inhibitory activity. Chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses of active Frs. D-F indicated the presence of flavonoidic derivatives

as main components, which were identified as quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 1 [7], kampferol-3-O-β-D- glucopyranoside 2 [7], quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 3 [8], kaempferol-3-O-β-D-rhamnopyranoside 4 [9], quercetin-3-O-β-D-rhamopyranoside 5 [9], and quercetin 6 [10]. The main compound identified in Fr. H was quercetin (85% w/w abundance). All isolated compounds were identified by means of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS analysis, and by comparison of their data with those reported in the literature. Among the pure compounds assayed, only quercetin showed a moderate activity (60% inhibition of PlGF/Flt-1 interaction at 100 µg/mL), compounds 1, 3, 5 its glycosides were inactive (Figure 3). These data suggest that the glycosylation at C-3 and C-7 of quercetin core is fatal for the activity. To better investigate a structure-activity relationship we tested also kaempferol aglycon of compounds 2, 4. Kaempferol was inactive in our test. The structures of quercetin and kaempferol are very similar except for the substituent at C-3’; the different activity observed for these compounds indicated that the presence of OH group at C-3’ influence the resultant activity. Fractions obtained from C. moritzianus CHCl3 extract were assayed on PlGF/Flt-1 and VEGF-A/Flt-1 interaction by a competitive ELISA screening at concentration of 100 and 20 µg/mL. Data in Figure 4 showed that the most active fraction was Fr. AA which revealed a moderate activity for both the growth factors causing a reduction of their Flt-1 binding to 40% for PlGF and 60% for VEGF at dose 100 µg/mL.

Antiangiogenic metabolites from Calycolpus moritzianus Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 945

Figure 4: Inhibitory properties of chloroformic extract fractions were assayed on PlGF/Flt-1 interaction (A) and VEGF/Flt-1 interaction (B). The fractions were used at 100-20 µg/mL. As control a specific inhibiting peptide was used (CP). The white bar refers to ELISA experiment carried out without inhibitors. Each experiment was performed three times and average values ± SD were reported.

Figure 5: Inhibitory activity of compounds 7-12 assayed at concentration of 100-20 µg/mL on PlGF/Flt-1 (A) and VEGF/Flt-1 (B). As control a specific inhibiting peptide was used (CP). The white bar refers to ELISA experiment carried out without inhibitors. Each experiment was performed three times and average values ± SD were reported. Nonetheless BB showed a moderate inhibition for both PlGF / Flt-1 and VEGF / Flt-1 interaction with a binding reduction of about 40% at dose 100 µg/mL. Chromatographic separation of AA and BB fractions allowed to obtain the pure components: rosifoliol 7 [11], platanic acid 8 [12], oleanolic acid 9 [13], (-)-4,10-di-epi-5β,11-dihydroxyeudesmane 10 [14], 4,5-dioxoseco-γ-eudesmol 11 [15], and ursolic acid 12 [13], all identified by means of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS analysis, and a comparison of their data with those reported in the literature. The isolated pure compounds were tested in dose dependence manner on both PlGF/Flt-1 and hVEGF/Flt-1 systems (Figure 5). Only compound 8 was moderately able to inhibit PlGF/Flt-1 recognition; anyway the inhibition activity showed by this compound cannot explain by itself the activity of the original fraction . On the basis of our results, we could hypothesize that the inhibition activity of PlGF and VEGF interaction with Flt-1 receptor by the C. moritzianus CHCl3 extracts and fractions may be due to the presence of a combination of compounds acting synergistically or as vehicles enhancing the biological activity. However, we cannot rule out that the activity of the extracts and fractions could be due to a very minor compound not isolated. Experimental

General experimental procedures: The instrumentation used in this work is described in our previous paper [13]. Plant material: The leaves of C. moritzianus were collected in Venezuela in 2008 and identified by Ing. Juan Carmona of Herbarium (MERF), Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanalisis - Universidad de Los Andes, Merida; where a voucher specimen n.761 is deposited.

Extraction and isolation: The air-dried powdered leaves of C. moritzianus (890 g) were defatted with n-hexane and extracted successively by exhaustive maceration (3 x 1 L, for 48 h) with CHCl3, CHCl3-MeOH (9:1), and MeOH. The MeOH extract (5 g) was chromatographed over a sephadex LH-20 column (100 x 5 cm) with MeOH as the eluent. A total of 110 fractions were collected (15 mL each) and combined according to TLC analysis [silica 60 F254 gel-coated glass sheets with n-BuOH-AcOH-H2O (60:15:25) and CHCl3-MeOH-H2O (40:9:1)] to give nine pooled fractions (A-I). Fraction D (106 mg) was purified by RP-HPLC with a C18 μ-Bondapak column (30 cm x 7.8 mm, flow rate 2 mL/min) using MeOH-H2O (35:65) to obtain compound 1 (4.0 mg, tR = 20 min), and 2 (15.0 mg, tR = 26 min). Fraction E (95 mg) was purified by RP-HPLC with a C18 μ-Bondapak column (30 cm x 7.8 mm, flow rate 2 mL/min) using MeOH-H2O (35:65) to obtain compound 2 (5.0 mg, tR = 26 min). Fractions F (90 mg) was separately purified by RP-HPLC using MeOH-H2O (2:3) to give compounds 3 (16 mg, tR = 10 min), 4 (6 mg, tR = 16 min), and 5 (2 mg, tR = 20 min). Fraction H (20 mg) was identified as quercetin. The CHCl3 extract (5.0 g) was submitted to silica gel flash column chromatography eluting with CHCl3 followed by increasing concentrations of MeOH (between 1% and 70%). The following volumes of solvents were used: 4.2 L of CHCl3, 1 L of CHCl3-MeOH (99:1), 4.3 L of CHCl3-MeOH (49:1), 1 L of CHCl3-MeOH (95:5), 0.5 L of CHCl3-MeOH (9:1), 0.5 L of CHCl3-MeOH (1:1), 0.5 L of CHCl3-MeOH (3:7), and 0.3 L of MeOH. Fractions of 30 mL were collected and analyzed by TLC on silica 60 F254 gel-coated glass sheets eluting with CHCl3 or mixtures CHCl3-MeOH, 99:1, 49:1, 95:5, 9:1, 4:1, and grouped into seven fractions (AA-GG). Fraction AA (95 mg) was subjected to RP-HPLC on a C18 μ-Bondapak column

946 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Lepore et al.

(30 cm x 7.8 mm, flow rate 2.0 mL/min) with MeOH-H2O (73:27) to yield compounds 7 (4 mg, tR = 10 min), 8 (10 mg, tR = 16 min) and 9 (2 mg, tR = 34 min). Fractions BB (70 mg) and was purified by RP-HPLC with MeOH-H2O (37:13) to give compounds 10 (3.5 mg, tR = 16 min), 11 (8 mg, tR = 4 min), 12 (1.5 mg, tR = 26 min). ELISA-based assays: The ELISA based assay for plant extract, fractions and pure compounds screening was performed as described elsewhere [6].

Plant extracts, fractions and compounds 1-13 dissolved in DMSO (Sigma) were properly diluted and added to the wells pre-mixed with ligand. For dose-dependent experiments, concentration ranging between 20 and 500 µg/mL were used. Acknowledgements - Authors are grateful to Ing. Forestal Juan Carmona of Herbarium (MERF), Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanalisis - Universidad de Los Andes, Merida for the help in collecting the plant material.

References

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[2] (a) Liekens S, De Clercq E, Neyts J. (2001) Angiogenesis: regulators and clinical applications. Biochemical Pharmacology, 61, 253-270; (b) Luttun A, Tjwa M, Carmeliet P. (2002) Placental growth factor (PlGF) and its receptor Flt-1 (VEGFR-1): novel therapeutic targets for angiogenic disorders. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 979, 80–93.

[3] Kaplan RN, Riba RD, Zacharoulis S, Bramley AH, Vincent L, Costa C, Mac Donald DD, Jin DK, Shido K, Kerns SA, Zhu Z, Hicklin D, Wu Y, Port JL, Altorki N, Port ER, Ruggero D, Shmelkov SV, Jensen KK, Rafii S, Lyden D. (2005) VEGFR1-positive haematopoietic bone marrow progenitors initiate the pre-metastatic niche. Nature, 438, 820–827.

[4] Loges S, Schmidt T, Carmeliet P. (2009) Antimyeloangiogenic" therapy for cancer by inhibiting PlGF. Clinical Cancer Research, 15, 3648-3653.

[5] (a) Fischer C, Mazzone M, Jonckx B, Carmeliet P. (2008) FLT1 and its ligands VEGFB and PlGF: drug targets for anti-angiogenic therapy? Nature Reviews Cancer, 8, 942-956. (b) Fischer C, Jonckx B, Mazzone M, Zacchigna S, Loges S, Pattarini L, Chorianopoulos E, Liesenborghs L, Koch M, De Mol M, Autiero M, Wyns S, Plaisance S, Moons L, van Rooijen N, Giacca M, Stassen JM, Dewerchin M, Collen D, Carmeliet P. (2007) Anti-PlGF inhibits growth of VEGF(R)-inhibitor-resistant tumors without affecting healthy vessels. Cell, 131, 463–475.

[6] (a) Lepore L, Malafronte N, Condero FB, Gualtieri MJ, Abdo S, Dal Piaz F, De Tommasi N. (2011) Isolation and structural characterization of glycosides from an anti-angiogenic extract of Monnina obtusifolia H.B.K. Fitoterapia, 82, 178-183; (b) Ponticelli S, Braca A, De Tommasi N, De Falco S. (2008) Competitive ELISA-based screening of plant derivatives for the inhibition of VEGF family members interaction with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1. Planta Medica, 74, 401-406.

[7] Brahim LF, El-Senousy WM, Hawas UW. (2007) NMR spectral analysis of flavonoids from coronarium. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, 43, 659-662.

[8] Li M, Han X, Yu B. (2003) Facile synthesis of flavonoid 7-O-glycosides. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 68, 6842-6845. [9] Lin A, Chang F, Wu C, Liaw C, Wu Y. (2005) New cytotoxic flavonoids from Thelypteris torresiana. Planta Medica, 71, 867-870. [10] Morales-Escobar L, Braca A, Pizza C, De Tommasi N. (2007) New phenolic derivatives from Vernonia mapirensis Gleason.

ARKIVOC 7, 349-358. [11] Beagley B, G. Pritchard RG, Ramage R and Southwell I. (1982) A (+)-2-(3R,6S,10R)-6,10-dimethylbicyclo[4.4.0]dec-1-en-3-yl-

2-propanol, rosifoliol Acta Crystallographica, B38, 1391-1393. [12] Fujioka T, Kashiwada Y, Kilkuskie RE, Cosentino LM, Ballas LM, Jiang JB, Janzen WP, Chen IS, Lee K. (1994) Anti-AIDS

agents, 11. Betulinic acid and platanic acid as anti-HIV principles from Syzigium claviflorum, and the anti-HIV activity of structurally related triterpenoids. Journal of Natural Products, 57, 243-247.

[13] Bisio A, Romussi G, Russo E, Cafaggi S, Schito A. M, Repetto B, De Tommasi N. (2008) Antimicrobial activity of the ornamental species Salvia corrugata, a potential new crop for extractive purposes. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56, 10468-10472.

[14] Su Wen-C, Fang Jim-M, ChengYu-S. (1995) Sesquiterpenes from leaves of Cryptomeria japonica. Phytochemistry, 39, 603-607. [15] Barrero AF, Arteaga P, Quilez JF, Rodriguez I, Herrador MM. (1997) Sesquiterpene Glycosides and Phenylpropanoid Esters from

Phonus arborescens (L.) G. Lopez (Carthamus arborescens L.). Journal of Natural Products, 60, 1026-1030.

Chemical and Biological Activity of Leaf Extracts of Chromolaena leivensis Ruben D. Torrenegra G. and Oscar E. Rodríguez A. Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología, Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadadas y Ambientales U.D.C.A, Bogota, Colombia [email protected]; [email protected]


The flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone, 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone and 3,5,7-trihydroxy-6-methoxyflavone were isolated from the leaves of C. leivensis. Preliminary observations in K562 cells (human erythroleukemia) using the trypan blue test, showed a 90% viability at a concentration of 100 g/mL; however, further testing of the flavonoids at concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 g/mL showed toxicity affecting the morphology of human erythroleukemia cells (K562) and human melanoma cells (A375). Induction of apoptosis was produced by 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone at 72 hours after treatment with arrest in the G2 / M phase of the cell cycle. The A375 cells treated with 50 µg/mL of 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone for 24, 48 and 72 hours, display effects on the behavior of the cell cycle. The flavonoid 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone has activity on the mitochondrial membrane at concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 µg/mL, at time intervals of 8 to 12 hours. The flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone at a concentration of 25 g/mL increased the expression of costimulatory molecules corresponding to the phenotype presented by mature dendritic cells with differentiation markers CD40, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR. The two flavonoids at concentrations between 0.39 and 100 g/mL slightly increased the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence and in the absence of phytohemagglutinin. These flavonoids at concentrations of 50 and 100 g/mL slightly increased the proliferation of fibroblasts. Keywords: Chromolaena leivensis, flavonoids, cytotoxicity, apoptosis. Chromolaena species are invasive and cosmopolitan with morphological diversity given by adaptations to different environments and are considered weeds. This genus is constituted by 202 species of which only 13 have undergone chemical studies, and only a few studies have included biological activity. There are no known reports on the species Chromolaena leivensis, C. perglabra, C. tacotana, C. subscandens, C. opadoclinia, C. odorata, C. arnottiana, C. morii, C. Collina, C. connivens, C. glaberrima, C. pseudoinsignis and C. chasleae. Compounds such as sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, flavonoids, cyclic fatty acids, sesquiterpene lactones, germacranolides, have been identified from Chromolaenas. A sesquiterpene lactone was identified from the dichloromethane extract of Chromolaena opadoclina [1]. 5,3-dihydroxy-6, 7,4’-trimethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-6,7, 3’,4’-tetramethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy,6,7,3',4’,5’-penta-methoxyflavone and a common derived 3,4-dihydroxy-acetophenone have been identified in Chromolaena arnottiana [2]. The heliangolide 4’-dihydrochromolaenid and a sesquiterpene lactone were found in Chromolaena glaberrima [3]. The acid 7α-acetoxy-trans-communic was identified In Chromolaena collina and in Chromolaena morii, germacrane D, squalene, flavonols and a fatty acid type prostaglandin were found [5b].

Many studies on biological activity have been conducted in Chromolaena odorata and a few in C. hirsuta, C. moritziana C. perglabra, C. bullata and C tacotana. Among the tested biological activities the following are highlighted: pesticide, insect repellent, antiprotozoal, insecticidal, trypanocidal, antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antioxidant, mutagenic, proliferative agent of human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Taleb et al. [6] evaluated the antiprotozoal effect of total extracts and purified flavonoids from Chromolaena hirsuta and determined antiprotozoal activity against trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi and amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis; the crude extracts significantly reduced parasite viability and the flavonoids showed an antiproliferative effect on these. Phan found that phenolic compounds of Chromolaena odorata, p-hydroxybenzoic acid and p-coumaric acid, flavones, flavanones and chalcones protect skin cells from oxidative damage and repair skin conditions [7]. Bouda observed the effect of essential oils from leaves of Chromolaena odorata on the mortality of Sitophilus Curculionidae (Coleoptera) with a LD50 of 6.78%[8]. Thang evaluated the antioxidant effect of extracts of Chromolaena odorata on human dermal fibroblasts by measuring the protectant effect against damage from hydrogen peroxide and hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase [9]. Phan showed that Eupolin extract


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948 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Torrenegra G. & Rodríguez A.

Table 1: Effect of the flavonoids on cell viability at 24h of treatment.

CELL VIABILITY Trypan blue

FLAVONOID -g % TO 24 h 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone-100 94.4 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone-50 100 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone-100 89 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone-50 100

Table 2: Concentrations that affect cell morphology.

EFFECT ON MORPHOLOGY Direct microscopic observation

CELL-K562 [g/24 H]

CELL-K562 [g/48 H]

CELL-A375 [g/24H]

3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavanone 25 25 100 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavone 100 100 50

Table 3: Percentage of cells in each phase of the cell cycle.

EFFECT ON CELL CYCLE, A375 CELLS FLAVONOID - mg G0/G1 -

% S -% G2/M -

% SUB G1-

% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavone-50 75.9 19.39 4.62 5.99 CONTROL(-) DMSO 54.21 26.3 19.49 0.62 CONTROL (+) G2/M VINC 8.63 16.27 75.10 2.29

Table 4: Percentage of depolarized cells at several concentrations of each flavonoid after 8h and 12h of treatment.

DEPOLARIZATION OF MEMBRANE MITOCHONDRIAL, JC-1 FLAVONOID-g-time % DEPOLARIZED

3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone 25-8H 9.5 50-8H 10.1 100-8H 19.8 25-12H 9.5 50-12H 13.8 100-12H 21.7 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavone 25-8H 18.4 50-8H 77.3 100-8H 95.4 25-12H 32.1 50-12H 72.8 100-12H 97.4 CONTROL(-) DMSO 8H 19.6 12H 11.8 EtOH 8H 13.0 12H 13.0

adhesion complex and fibronectin in human keratinocytes [10]. They found increased expression of integrin b1 and b4 induced by the extract at concentrations of 0.1 and 1 g/mL, but the expression was reduced at higher doses of Eupolin (10 to 150 g/mL). Other researchers [11] have studied the proliferation of fibroblasts and endothelial cells treated with hydroethanolic leaves extracts of Chromolaena odorata (Eupolin). The greatest growth of fibroblasts and endothelial cells was found at concentrations of 10 g/mL and 100 g/mL of Eupolin extract, but it was found to be toxic at concentrations exceeding 250 g/mL.

Table 5: Percentage of viability of normal cells at several concentrations of each flavonoid and control + Vincristine and DMSO.

MONONUCLEAR CELL 24H

100

g/mL 50

g/mL 12,5 g/mL

6,25 g/mL

Ethanol 23% 23% 22% 24% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavanone 24% 28% 23% 23% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavone 13% 20% 21% 22% Vincristine 26% 22% 24% 23% DMSO 25% 23% 24% 25%

Table 6: Percentage of viability of normal cells at several concentrations of each flavonoid and control + Vincristine and DMSO.

MONONUCLEAR CELL 24H

100

g/mL 50

g/mL 12,5 g/mL

6,25 g/mL

Ethanol 23% 23% 22% 24% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavanone 24% 28% 23% 23% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavone 13% 20% 21% 22% Vincristine 26% 22% 24% 23% DMSO 25% 23% 24% 25%

Table 7: Percentage of viability of fibroblasts at several concentrations of the flavonoids and control + Vincristine after 24h of treatment

FIBROBLASTS 24H

100

g/mL 25

g/mL 12,5 g/mL

6,25 g/mL

vincristine 26% 28% 26% 30% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavanone 40% 53% 45% 55% 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy flavone 41% 39% 40% 42%

The species Chromolaena perglabra, C. tacotana, C. bullata, C. subscandens, C. leivensis and C. scabra are found in the Cundiboyacense region of Colombia, and C. barranquillensis is found in the Atlantic coast., These species have not been studied at depth with respect to their biological activities, specifically as antiparasitic agents against Chagas and Leishmania and their cytotoxic and antitumor potential. In this investigation we studied the production of secondary metabolites in the leaves of C. leivensis and isolated the flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone, 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone and 3,5,7-trihydroxy-6-methoxyflavone, the first two compounds were tested for their activity on cancer cell lines. Using the trypan blue test, it was observed in K562 cells (erythroleukemia) viability percentages of 90% using a concentration of 100 g/mL, which indicates that flavonoids at these concentrations are not cytotoxic. The flavonoids tested at concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 g/mL showed toxicity affecting the morphology of human erythroleukemia cells (K562) and human melanoma cells (A375). Induction of apoptosis was produced by the flavonoid 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavone at 72 hours of treatment with arrest in G2/ M. In A375 cells treated with 50 g/mL of the flavonoids for 24,

Secondary metabolites in the leaves of C. leivensis Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 949

48 and 72 hours, it was observed that the flavonoid 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone influences the behavior of the cell cycle. The flavonoid 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavone have activity on mitochondrial membrane at concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 g/mL, at time intervals of 8 to 12 hours. It was also observed that the flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone at a concentration of 25 g/mL increased the expression of costimulatory molecules corresponding to the phenotype presented by mature dendritic cells with differentiation markers CD40, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR. The two flavonoids at concentrations between 0.39 and 100 g/mL slightly increased the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence and in the absence of phytohemagglutinin. It was also determined that fibroblast proliferation increased slightly at concentrations of 50 and 100 g/mL of these flavonoids. Experimental

Materials were collected in the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia; a control sample was sent to the National Herbarium of Colombia for identification and was determined to be Chromolaena leivensis (Hieron). King & H. Rob. with the number COL-535 219 Colombian National Herbarium. The extraction was carried out in Soxhlet with 95% ethanol (4L) with a yield of 31.04%. 200 g of extract was mixed with silica gel (1:2) and extracted solid - liquid with petroleum ether (3L), toluene (2L), dichloromethane (2L), ethyl acetate (2L) and methanol (3L), successively, with yields of 2.66% for petrol, 29.09% for Toluene, 15.68% for CH2Cl2, 14.66% for AcOEt and 30.08% for MeOH. Five grams of the toluene fraction were subjected to column chromatography with silica gel (100 g silica gel Merck Kieselgel), eluting with petroleum ether, toluene and methanol in various proportions. By fractional crystallization three flavonoids were isolated and identified as 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone, 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone [13] and 3,5,7-trihydroxy-6-methoxyflavone.[14]. Cell viability: Cell viability was measured using trypan blue, a negatively charged chromophore that interacts with cell membranes whose integrity has been altered. Living cells exclude the dye while dead cells allow entry and are stained. The effect of flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone on cell populations with concentrations less than or equal to 100 g/mL were analysed at 24 and 48 hours. The data are listed in Table 1. Evaluation of cell cycle distribution: To demonstrate the effect of flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone on the cell cycle in the A375 tumor cell line, cells were synchronized in G1 phase by total withdrawal of fetal bovine serum for 3 days. Once synchronized, the cells were grown in twelve-well plates at a density of 400,000 cells/mL and incubated in the presence and absence of the test compounds. After

the incubation period, samples were analyzed in a flow cytometer, using Cell Quest Pro program and subsequent analysis was performed by the Modfit program V. 2.0. (FACSCalibur, Beckton Dickinson). The calibration parameters were established, and the linearity of the laser was measured for further analysis with the program Modfit. The data are shown in Table 3. Mitochondrial membrane depolarization: The iodide of 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolyl carbocyamine (JC-1) is a lipophilic cationic compound sensitive to changes in mitochondrial membrane potential. In healthy cells the tagged mitochondria emits red fluorescence. The negative charge established by the intact mitochondrial membrane allows the JC-1, which has delocalized positive charge to enter the mitochondrial matrix where it accumulates. When it reaches a critical concentration it forms J-aggregates that emit red fluorescence. In apoptotic cells, the membrane potential of mitochondria declines, and the JC-1 cannot accumulate within the organelle and remains in the cytosol as a monomer emitting green fluorescence. The aggregate red form has a maximum absorption / emission 585/590 nm, while for the green monomer is 510/527 nm. The test was performed using the cationic lipophilic fluorochrome JC-1, at concentration of 10 g/mL, from a diluted stock solution in DMSO and kept at 4°C. The K562 cells (1X106) were treated with flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone in 24 well plates and read at 4, 8 and 12 hours. The cells were then incubated for 10 minutes at 37°C and read immediately using a flow cytometer, using the Cell Quest Pro program (FACSCalibur, Beckton Dickinson). The data obtained are shown in Table 4. Dendritic cells analysis: Peripheral Blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained and washed in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 1% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The viability and cell numbers were assessed by trypan blue staining and Neubauer cell counting chamber, respectively. The CD14+ cells were incubated in RPMI 1640 in the presence of 35 g/mL of interleukin (IL-4) and 50 g/mL growth factor granulocyte and monocyte GM-CSF (R&D system) for 5 days of culture, verifying their morphology by light microscopy. At day 5 of culture, DCs were treated with different concentrations (12, 25 and 50 g/mL) of flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, and 1 μg/mL of lipopoly- saccharide (LPS) as a positive control for differentiation . The expression of surface markers was assessed by flow cytometry after 48 hours using antibodies against CD40, CD83, CD86 and HLADR. The data obtained showed proliferation of dendritic cells. Evaluation of the effect of the flavonoids on the viability of PBMNC and fibroblasts: The effect of flavonoids 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone and 3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone on cell viability of peripheral

950 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Torrenegra G. & Rodríguez A.

blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) cells was analyzed by seeding the cells in 96-well plates at a density of 200,000 cells/well in 200 L of RPMI 1640 without phenol red supplemented with 10% FBS and stimulated for 12 hours with the mitogen PHA (250 L/100 mL) and then placed in contact with different concentrations of each flavonoid. Cells treated with DMSO (vehicle) were used as a control. Fibroblasts were analyzed in a similar manner. Briefly, cells were seeded at a density of 15,000 cells/well in 200 L of medium in a 96-well plate and allowed to adhere for 24 hours; different concentrations of the flavonoids were added and incubated for 24 hours (37°C, 5% CO2, 95% humidity). After incubation with the flavonoids, 110 L of medium was added to 10 L of 12

mM MTT and incubated for 4 hours (37°C, 5% CO2, 95% humidity) protected from light. After this time, the crystals of formazan resulting from the metabolism of MTT by mitochondria of viable cells were dissolved with 100 L of SDS-HCl 0.01M. The plates were incubated again under the same conditions for 4 hours. The color intensity was read by absorbance at 540 nm in an ELISA reader (Labsystems Multiskan MCC/3340). Acknowledgments - This work was supported by funds from Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales, UDCA. Thanks to Dr Fernando Echeverri,Universidad de Antioquia by NMR spectra and Dr. Victoria Ramsauer, East Tennessee State University .

References

[1] El-Sayed NH, Misk IM, Whittemore AT, Mabry TJ. (1988) Sesquiterpene lactones from Chromolaena opadoclinia. Phytochemistry, 27, 3312-3314.

[2] De Gutiérrez AN, Catalán AN, Díaz JG, Herz W. (1995) Sesquiterpene lactones, a labdane and other constituents of Urolepis hecatantha and Chromolaena arnottiana. Phytochemistry, 39, 795-800.

[3] Ahmed AA, Whittemore AT, Mabry TJ. (1985) A heliangolide from Chromolaena glaberrima. Phytochemistry, 24, 605-606. [4] Bohlmann F, Zdero C, Fiedler L, Robinson H, King RM. (1981) A labdane derivative from Chromolaena collina and a

p-hydroxyacetophenone derivative from Stomatanthes corumbensis. Phytochemistry, 20, 1141-1143. [5] Bohlmann F, Gupta R, King K, Robinson HM. (1981) Prostaglandin-like fatty acid derivative from Chromolaena morii.

Phytochemistry, 20, 1417-1418. [6] Taleb SH, Salvador MJ, Balanco JM, Albuquerque S, De Oliveira DC. (2004) Antiprotozoal effect of crude extracts and flavonoids

isolated from Chromolaena hirsuta (Asteraceae). Phytotherapy Research, 18, 250-254. [7] Phan TT, Hughes MA, Cherry GW. (2001) Effects of an aqueous extract from the leaves of Chromolaena odorata (Eupolin) on the

proliferation of human keratinocytes and on their migration in an in vitro model of reepithelialization. Wound Repair and Regeneration, 9, 305-313.

[8] Bouda H, Tapondjou LA, Fontem DA, Gumedzoe M. (2001) Effect of essential oils from leaves of Ageratum conyzoides, Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata on the mortality of Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). Journal of Stored Products Research, 37, 103-109.

[9] Thang PT, Patrick S, Teik LS,Yung CS. (2001) Anti-oxidant effects of the extracts from the leaves of Chromolaena odorata on human dermal fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocytes against hydrogen peroxide and hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase induced damage. Burns, 27, 319-327.

[10] Phan TT, Allen J, Hughes MA, Cherry G, Wojnarowska F. (2000) Upregulation of adhesion complex proteins and fibronectin by human keratinocytes treated with an aqueous extract from the leaves of Chromolaena odorata (Eupolin). European Journal of Dermatology, 10, 522-527.

[11] Phan TT, Hughes MA, Cherry GW. (1998) Enhanced proliferation of fibroblasts and endothelial cells treated with an extract of the leaves of Chromolaena odorata (Eupolin), an herbal remedy for treating wounds, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, 101, 756-765.

[12] Mabry TJ, Mabry H. (1975) The Flavonoids. Edited by Harborne JB, Chapman and Hall, 1204 p. [13] Goel RN, Seshardri TR. (1958) New synthesis of tamaraxetin, alpinone and izalpinin. Proceeding of the Indian Academy of

Sciences section A, 47, 191-195. [14] Asakawa J, Genjida F, Suga T. (1971) Four new flavonoids isolated from Alnus Seboldina. Bulletin of the Chemical Society of

Japan, 44, 297.

Citrus bergamia Juice: Phytochemical and Technological Studies Patrizia Picerno, Francesca Sansone, Teresa Mencherini, Lucia Prota, Rita Patrizia Aquino, Luca Rastrelli and Maria Rosaria Lauro* Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università di Salerno, Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy [email protected]


Fresh juice from bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso) has been studied to evaluate the polyphenolic composition by HPLC-DAD analysis and total polyphenols content by UV method. The main constituent, Naringin, has been selected as analytical and biological marker of the juice. Juice has been loaded onto maltodextrin matrix by spray-drying. The produced maltodextrin/juice powder (BMP) showed neither significant change in total polyphenols content nor decrease in antioxidant properties with respect to fresh juice. Moreover, BMP displayed high in vitro dissolution rate of the bioactive constituents in water and in simulated biological fluids. BMP appears as promising functional raw material for food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. With this aim, a formulation study to develop tablets (BMT) for oral administration has been also performed. The produced solid oral dosage form preserved high polyphenols content, showed complete disaggregation in few minutes and satisfying dissolution rate of the bioactive constituents in simulated biological fluids. Keywords: Citrus bergamia Risso, fresh juice, polyphenols content, Naringin, maltodextrin/juice powder, tablets, in vitro disaggregation and dissolution tests. Bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso) is a natural hybrid fruit derived from bitter orange and lemon. The plant grows almost exclusively in the Reggio Calabria region (South Italy). Bergamot is used for production of essential oil obtained from the peel, and its fruit juice is considered a waste product of the industrial process [1a-1e]. Bergamot juice has drawn attention for its polyphenolic, mainly flavonoids content [2a-2c], being an attractive raw material for the food and nutraceutical industry. It is well known that the consumption of polyphenol-rich products, mainly due to their antioxidant properties, is beneficial for human health [3a,3b]. Flavonoids from citrus fruits have many health benefits including anticancer, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as effects on capillary fragility, and inhibition activity on human platelet aggregation [4a,4b]. In recent studies [5a,5b], bergamot juice has been shown to be effective in the prevention of diet-induced hyperlipidemia. Moreover, it is able to enhance the antioxidant values of others industrial juices, acting as synergistic compound for the synthetic additives normally used [6]. Despite these beneficial effects, the unprocessed fresh bergamot juice, showing penetrating smell and bitter taste, involves practical difficulties for an industrial use. Alterations of the functional and organoleptic properties of polyphenols can take place during the storage period due to constituents release and degradation/oxidative process

[7,8]. A convenient way to increase the shelf-life and to improve the organoleptic characteristics of a plant derivative is to transform it into a stable dry powder form [9a,9b]. Spray-drying is a micro-encapsulation technique appropriate for sensitive components such as polyphenols, and commonly used in pharmaceutical and food industry [10]. Food ingredients and additives in spray-dried powder form have reduced bulk weight and size, long-last biological stability, and are suitable for transportation and handling. Common carriers for spray-drying process include carbohydrates, gums, semisynthetic cellulose derivatives and synthetic polymers [11]. Currently, maltodextrins, water soluble modified starch derivatives, are used alone or in combination with other materials in food and drug processing of plant extracts, aromatic additives, carotenoids and vitamins [12a-12c]. Maltodextrins have multifaceted functions including bulking, caking resistance, film formation, binding of flavour and fat as well as reduction of oxygen permeability of wall matrix. Moreover, as one of the administration problems of the bergamot juice is the bitter taste, maltodextrins are also able to sweeten the final product. This paper reports on the evaluation of polyphenol components and antioxidant properties of fresh bergamot juice, as well as on the production and characterization of powders obtained loading the fresh juice onto malto-dextrins as carrier (BMP) by spray-drying. Moreover, a

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formulation study to develop tablets containing BMP for oral administration has been performed. Characteristics of the tablets (BMT) were evaluated in term of disintegration time and active compounds release in water and simulated biological fluids. Hand-squeezed crude bergamot juice was analyzed by HPLC-DAD method. As shown in the chromatogram (Figure 1A) the eluted constituents were three flavanone neohesperidosides, Neoeriocitrin (1), Naringin (2), Neohesperedin (3), and a flavone neohesperidoside, Neodiosmin (4) (Figure 1B). Each compound was identified by comparison of retention time, MS and UV spectra with those of standards. In agreement with literature data [2a-2c], compounds (1-3), were found as the most abundant flavonoids in the bergamot juice (0.6 ± 0.01, 0.6 ± 0.01, and 0.4 ± 0.01 mg/mL, respectively). To produce the powder form, an aqueous liquid feed, containing both maltodextrins and bergamot juice, was prepared and processed by spray-drying technique, as described in the experimental section. The production yield of Bergamot-Maltodextrin Powder (BMP) was very high (90%). The presence of maltodextrin, having high water solubility, significantly reduced apparent viscosity of the feed dispersion favouring the atomization and drying of the liquid feed [12b]. Moreover, increasing temperature during the spray-drying process, maltodextrins are able to induce the rapid formation of a glassy surface which allows air expansion inside particles, favouring the increase of particles diameter [12b]. For this reason, smallest and lightest particles which are normally lost with the exhaust of the spray dryer are reduced, and the yield increases. On the other hand, a low viscosity liquid feed led to a low retention of core material because of the delay in the formation of a semi-permeable layer by the internal components during drying [12b,13].

Polyphenol content of both unprocessed juice (actual polyphenol content, APCB) and BMP (APCBMP) was determined by UV method (5.49 and 3.57%, respectively). These values led to calculate the effectively loaded juice (actual juice content, AJCBMP 32.7%) as described in the experimental section. AJCBMP was reasonable with respect to the theoretical juice content (TJC 50.0%). Consequently, the loading efficiency (LE) value, calculated as the ratio of AJC to TJC, was 65.4%.

The functional stability of juice, before and after the spray-drying process, was evaluated as free-radical scavenging activity using the DPPH test [14]. The antioxidant activity of bergamot juice, expressed as EC50, (130 ± 5 and 140 ± 12 g/mL, respectively) was at the same level and remained quite unaltered after the spray-drying process. The process conditions used did not determine significant loss of antioxidant activity. To evaluate the dissolution/ release profile of juice from the powder, its solubility in each dissolution medium was previously detected as described in the experimental section. Solubility of BMP resulted 4.0 g/L in water, 3.4 g/L in simulated gastric fluid

(GF) and 4.0 g/L in simulated intestinal fluid (IF), respectively. Sink conditions, which describe a dissolution system sufficiently dilute so that the dissolution process is not impeded by saturation of the solution, resulted 1.0 g/L. The in vitro dissolution/release profiles of active compounds from the BMP in each dissolution medium (water, GF and IF) are reported in Figure 2. After 5 minutes a high amount (about 90%) of juice was dissolved/released both in water and simulated intestinal fluid; and about 60% in GF, in agreement with solubility results previously reported. The complete dissolution (about 100%) was achieved after 30 minutes in both water and IF, and after 2 hours in GF (Figure 2). These results are very interesting, because the high water solubility of the powder, displaying high in vitro dissolution rate with complete release of the active compounds in all dissolution media. Formulation of BMP into tablets meets the challenge to retain the original properties of powder during compression. This was achieved by keeping low the compression pressure and using the direct compression procedure instead of wet granulation, thus avoiding lengthy granulation steps and exposure to solvents used in wet granulation [15]. BMP itself was used both as a directly compressible binder and as diluent. Bergamot juice is rich in sugars which can act as binder, and maltodextrins, used as carrier, which may also act as diluent in the tablets preparation [15]. Moreover, CMC was used as disintegrant and directly compressible filler, and magnesium stearate as a lubricant. The final formulation of bergamot-maltodextrin tablets (BMT) is reported in the experimental section. Each BMT resulted 8-mm tick (Figure 3) and their disintegration time (see experimental section) was in about 15 minutes. Figure 3 shows the dissolution profiles of BMT in three different dissolution media. In 5 minutes, about 20% and 30% of juice was dissolved in water and IF, respectively. In the same time only 5% was dissolved in GF. 90% of dissolution was obtained in 90 minutes in IF, and in 150 minutes, a total release was observed in all dissolution media. Release of juice from the BMT resulted slower than from the BMP, probably due to the enhancement of binding forces of sugars, contained in the juice, during the compression. Any how, this effect was balanced by the presence of CMC which promotes the disintegration of tablets and enhancement of the active compounds dissolution rate. In conclusion, the obtained water-soluble powder BMP is able to preserve the polyphenols content and antioxidant activity of unprocessed juice. Furthermore, the spray-dried powder is suitable for the production of oral dosage tablets (BMT) by directly compression as well as for manufacturing raw material functional food, and for pharmaceutical and food supplements products. Experimental

Chemicals: HPLC grade methanol (MeOH), formic acid (HCOOH) and the reagents used for the extractions were purchased from Carlo Erba (Rodano, Italy). HPLC grade water (18mΩ) was prepared using a Millipore Milli-Q

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Figure 1: 1A ) HPLC-DAD chromatogram of C. bergamia juice. In increasing retention order: Neoeriocitrin (1), Naringin (2), Neohesperidin (3), Neodiosmin (4); detection wavelength: 284 nm; 1B) compounds isolated from bergamot juice.

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Figure 2: in vitro BMP dissolution profiles. Figure 3: BMT picture and in vitro dissolution profiles. purification system (Millipore Corp., Bedford, MA). Neoeriocitrin, Naringin, Neohesperidin, Neodiosmin, and Folin-Ciocalteau’s phenol reagent were provided from Sigma Chemical Co. (Milan, Italy). Maltodexstrins D.E. 16, magnesium stearate and microcrystalline cellulose from Acef, Italy. Instruments: HPLC analysis was carried out on an Agilent 1100 series system equipped with a Model G-1312 pump, and Rheodyne Model G-1322A loop (20 μl), and a DAD G-1315 A detector. Peaks area were calculated with an Agilent integrator. ESI-MS was performed on a Finnigan LC-Q Deca instruments (Thermoquest, San Jose, CA) equipped with Xcalibur software. To produce the juice-maltodexstrin powder a Mini Spray Dryer B-191 Büchi (Laboratoriums-Tecnik, Flawil, Switzerland) was used. Dissolution test was carried out by SOTAX AT Smart Apparatus (Basel, CH) on line with a spectrophotometer (UV/Vis spectrometer Lambda 25, Perkin Elmer Instruments, MA, USA). Balance Crystal 100 CAL – Gibertini (max 110 g d=0,1 mg;+ 15°C/30°C). Mixer Galena Top (Ataena, Tecno-Pro srl, Italy). Alternative compression apparatus GP1, Costamac srl, Casatenovo (LC) Italy. Plant material: Citrus bergamia fruits Risso were collected in February 2009 from plants growing in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Bergamot juice was prepared by hand squeezing fresh fruits, immediately after collection. It was filtered through steel sieves of 1 mm and stored at -20°C until required for our study. Sample preparation for HPLC and UV analyses: Unprocessed bergamot juice and processed spray dried

juice (BMP) were extracted according to Pernice et al. 2009 [6] with slight modifications. 2 mL of bergamot juice was extracted whit 10 mL methanol, agitated and sonicated for 10 min. Juice was centrifuged for 10 min at 4000 rpm; supernatant was collected, while the pellets was extracted a second time using the same procedure. Supernatants were combined and centrifuged for 10 min at 2000 rpm. The concentration of solid material was 20.4 mg/mL. HPLC-DAD analysis: A part of supernatant was separated by HPLC using a 3.9 × 300 mm i.d. C18 μ-Bondapack column. The mobile phase consisted in water (solvent A) containing 0.1% formic acid, and methanol (solvent B). The elution gradient was as follows: 0→5 min, 15→30% B; 5→10 min, 30→35% B, 10→20 min, 35→50% B, 20→30 min, 50→75% B; 30→35 min, 75→95% B; 35→40 min, 100% B. The flow rate was 1.0 mL min−1 with a DAD detector set at 284 nm. Elution yielded four major compounds (Figure 1): Neoeriocitrin (1, tR 12.6 min), Naringin (2, tR 15.1 min), Neohesperidin (3, tR 16.6 min), and Neodiosmin (4, tR 18.4 min), in according to data reported in literature [2c]. Identification of constituents was carried out by comparison of their retention times, UV and MS spectra data with those of standard compounds, and confirmed by co-injections. Bergamot-powder (BMP) production by Spray drying: 200 g of maltodextrins (16 D.E.) were dissolved in 200 mL of fresh bergamot juice, with a 1:1 polymer/juice weight ratio. The liquid feed was spray dried under the following process conditions: inlet temperature 120°C; outlet temperature 69-71°C; spray flow feed rate 5 mL/min; nozzle diameter 0.5 mm; drying air flow 500 l/h, air pressure 6 atm, aspirator 100%. In order to keep

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homogeneity, while feed was pumping into the spray dryer, the suspension was gently stirred using a magnetic stirring. Each preparation was carried out in triplicate. Spray-dried bergamot-maltodextrin powder (BMP) was collected and stored under vacuum for 48h at room temperature until the characterization.

Quantitative HPLC analysis: HPLC equipment and conditions were the same used for the qualitative analysis. Unprocessed juice and BMP were subjected to extraction as reported in Sample preparation. Reference standard solutions of Neoeriocitrin, Naringin and Neohesperedin were prepared at three concentration levels in the range 0.25-1.0 mg/mL. Standard curves were analyzed using the linear least-squares regression equation derived from the peak area (R2>0.9999) corresponding to each compound. Results were expressed as mg/mL of compound ± standard deviation.

Total polyphenol content: Actual phenol content of bergamot unprocessed juice (APCB) and BMP (APCBMP), were determined by UV/Vis spectrometry at λ 284 nm. Each analysis was made in triplicate. APC was expressed in percentage as total Naringin (N) equivalents (mg N/100 mL juice). Yield of the process and loading efficiency: Production yield was gravimetrically determined and expressed as the weight percentage of the final product compared to the total amount of the materials sprayed.

Theoretical juice content (TJC) was calculated as percentage of juice content compared to the initial total content of all feed components before spray-drying. Actual juice content (AJC), theoretical polyphenol content (TPC) and loading efficiency (LE) were calculated as reported in the following formula:

AJC% = APCBMP / APCB x 100 TPC% = APCB x loaded juice/ feed components

LE% = AJC/TJC x 100

BMP Solubility: Solubility of the powder was determined in distilled water and in simulated biological fluids (gastric fluid, pH 1.2, and intestinal fluid, pH 7.5 without enzymes) prepared according to USP 31 (2008) [16] at the conditions reported elsewhere [8]. Concentration of juice in the media was determined by UV/Vis spectrometry at λ 284 nm and expressed as Naringin equivalents. Each analysis was made in triplicate. Naringin calibration curves in the same solvents were previously worked out. Proportionality

between absorbance and concentration was verified in the range 1 g/L to 5 g/L (R2>0.999).

Bleaching of the Free-radical 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH Test): Free radical scavenging activity of unprocessed juice and BMP was determined using the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) method [14]. Results were expressed as amount (g/mL) of antioxidant necessary to decrease the DPPH initial concentration by 50% (EC50) ± standard deviation (SD). Tocopherol (EC50 10.1±1.3g/mL) was used as a positive control in the test.

Tablets products: Ingredients and their relative amounts used for the formulation of Bergamot-maltodextrin-tablet (BMT) were: BMP 1000 mg, magnesium stearate 10 mg, and microcrystalline cellulose (CMC) 5 mg. The ingredients were mixed until uniformity. The resultant mixture was compressed using round double concave punches of 10 mm diameter.

In vitro dissolution test: In vitro dissolution/release tests were carried out according with the Farmacopea Ufficiale Italiana (F.U.I. XII, 2009) [17]. Release profile of BMP and BMT were determined in water, phosphate buffer at pH 6.8 (simulated intestinal fluid without enzymes) and hydrochloric acid buffer pH 1.2 (simulated gastric fluid without enzymes). Samples were analyzed spectrophotometrically at λmax 284 nm. Briefly, 1000 mg of BMP or one BMT were placed in six dissolution vessels containing 1000 mL of dissolution medium on a dissolution test apparatus n.2: paddle, 100 rpm at 37°C±0.5°C. All the dissolution tests were made in triplicate; only the mean values are reported (standard deviations < 5%). Amount of juice dissolved was measured as Naringin equivalents. Results are graphically expressed as the dissolution rate (in percentage) with respect to the time (in minutes).

In vitro disintegration time: Test was carried out according with the Farmacopea Ufficiale Italiana (F.U.I. XII, 2009) [18]. A modified dissolution apparatus (paddle type) was used. The disintegration fluid was HCl pH 1.0 (1000 mL) at the temperature of 37±0.5°C with a stirring of 100 rpm. Six tablets were placed individually in six sinkers and disintegration time was determined as the point at which the tablet disintegrated completely and passed through the screen of the sinker.

References

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[2] (a) Gattuso G, Barreca D, Caristi C, Gargiulli C, Bellocco E, Toscano G, Leuzzi U. (2006) Flavonoids glycosides in bergamot juice (Citrus bergamia Risso). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 3929-3935; (b) Gattuso G, Barreca D, Caristi C, Gargiulli C, Leuzzi U. (2007) Distribution of flavonoids and furocoumarins in juices from cultivars of Citrus bergamia Risso. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 55, 9921-9927; (c) Calabrò ML, Galtieri V, Cutroneo P, Tommasini S, Ficarra P, Ficarra R. (2004) Study of the extraction procedure by experimental design and validation of a LC method for determination of flavonoids in Citrus bergamia juice. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 35, 349-363.

[3] (a) WCRF / AICR (World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research) (2007) Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. AICR: Washington DC; (b) Scalbert A, Williamson G. (2000) Dietary intake and bioavailability of polyphenols. The Journal of Nutrition, 130, 2073S-2085S.

[4] (a) Benavente-García O, Castillo J. (2008) Update on uses an properties of Citrus flavonoids: new findings in anticancer, cardiovascular, and anti-inflammatory activity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56, 6185-6205; (b) Middleton E. Jr, Kandaswami C, Theoharides TC. (2000) The effects of plant flavonoids on mammalian cells: implications for inflammation, heart disease, and cancer. Pharmacological Reiews. 52, 673-751.

[5] (a) Trovato A, Taviano MF, Pergolizzi S, Campolo L, De Pasquale R, Miceli N. (2010) Citrus bergamia Risso e Poiteau juice protects against renal injury of diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats. Phytotherapy Research, 24, 514-519; (b) Leopoldini M, Malaj N, Toscano M, Sindona G, Russo N. (2010) On the inhibitor effects of Bergamot juice flavonoids binding to the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) Enzyme. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58, 10768–10773.

[6] Pernice R, Borriello G, Ferranca R, Borrelli RC, Cennamo F, Ritieni A. (2009) Bergamot: a source of natural antioxidants for functionalized fruit juices. Food Chemistry, 112, 545-550.

[7] Wang Y, Zhaoxi, L, Fengxia L, Xiaomei B. (2009) Study on microencapsulation of curcumin pigments by spray drying. European Food Research and Technology, 229, 391-396.

[8] Sansone F, Picerno P, Mencherini T, Villecco F, D’Ursi AM, Aquino RP, Lauro MR. (2011) Flavonoid microparticles by spray drying: influence of enhancers of the dissolution rate on properties and stability. Journal of Food Engineering, 103, 188-196.

[9] (a) Laine P, Kylli P, Heinonen M, Jouppila K. (2008) Storage stability of microencapsulated cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) phenolics. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56, 11251-11261; (b) Shu B, Yu W, Zhao Y, Liu, X. (2006) Study on microencapsulation of lycopene by spray drying. Journal of Food Engineering, 76, 664-669.

[10] Cal K, Sollohub K. (2010) Spray drying technique. I: Hardware and process parameters. Journal of Pharmaceutical Science, 99, 575-86.

[11] Chiu T Y, Chiu P C, Chien J T, Ho G H, Yang J, Chen BH. (2007) Encapsulation of lycopene extract from tomato pulp waste with gelatine and poly(-glutamic acid) as carrier. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 55, 5123-5130

[12] (a) Sadeghi A, Shahidi F, Mortazavi SA, Mahalati MN. (2008) Evaluation of different parameters effect on maltodextrin production by–amylase termamyl 2-x. World appliance Sciences Journal, 3, 34-39; (b) Pierucci AP, Andrade LR, Farina M, Pedrosa C, Rocha-Lehao MHM. (2007) Comparison of -tocopherol microparticles produced with different wall materials: pea protein a new interesting alternative. Journal of Microencapsulation, 24, 201-213; (c) Bae KE, Lee SJ. (2008) Microencapsulation of avocado oil by spray drying using whey protein and maltodextrin. Journal of Microencapsulation, 25, 549-560.

[13] Rè MI. (1998) Microencapsulation by spray-drying. Drying Technology, 16, 1195-1236. [14] Mencherini T, Picerno P, Scesa C, Aquino R. (2007) Triterpene, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds from Melissa officinalis.

Journal of Natural Products, 70, 1889-1894. [15] Kamalpreet S, Kapoor. VR. (2010) Development of taste masked oral formulation of ornidazole. Indian Journal Pharmaceutical

Sciences, 72, 211–215. [16] USP 31. (2008) Drug Release Test, Method A for Enteric Coated Articles. United States Pharmacopeia, 31st Revision. [17] FUI XII. (2009) Saggio di dissoluzione per forme solide a rilascio convenzionale. Farmacopea Ufficiale Italiana, XII edition, pp

345-346. [18] FUI XII. (2009) Saggio di disaggregazione per compresse non rivestite. Farmacopea Ufficiale Italiana, XII edition, p 891.

Phenolic Derivatives from the Leaves of Martinella obovata (Bignoniaceae) Carolina Arevaloa*, Ines Ruiza, Anna Lisa Piccinellib, Luca Camponeb and Luca Rastrellib aDepartamento de Control Químico, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma – Tegucigalpa, Honduras

bDipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy [email protected]


A new phenolic derivative, 4-methoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (1), has been identified together with uncommon 3,4-dimethoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (2) and 3-hydroxy, 4-methoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (3) from the leaves of Martinella obovata (Kunth) Bureau & K. Schum., an Honduran species used in folk medicine for the treatment of eyes diseases. Verbascoside, isoverbascoside, leucoceptoside A, vitexin, isovitexin, luteolin 8-C-β-D-glucopiranoside and spireoside were also found. All structures were elucidated on the basis of mass spectrometry and 2D NMR techniques. Keywords: Bignonaceae, Martinella obovata, Phenolic apiosides, 1D and 2D NMR. The Bignoniaceae family includes about 120 genera and 800 species, growing mainly in Africa, Central and South America. Species of the Bignoniaceae are used for many purposes, such as horticulture, timber, dyes and medicine. The best-known medicinal use of the Bignoniaceae is the application of bark preparations of various species of Tabebuia as cancer cures [1]. However, members of the family have been sparsely chemically investigated [2].

Martinella (Bignoniaceae) is a tropical genus consisting of nine species. Root extracts of the Martinella iquitosensis vine, found in Amazonian lowland rainforests, are used by indigenous peoples to treat various eye ailments, including inflammation and conjunctivitis [3]. This medicinal use may be attributed, at least in part, to the presence guanidine alkaloids which have been demonstrated to be modest antibiotics and micromolar binders of several G-protein coupled receptors [4]. A predominance of information regarding M. obovata use comes from Amazon Indian tribes of Peru, where this liana, uniformly called “yuquilla”, is often cultivated as the preferred treatment for eye diseases. In general, the thick fleshy root bark, with the rough outside part scraped off, is pounded and the resultant juice strained through cloth. One or two drops of this juice placed into the eyes is said to have an immediate effect on inflammation. However, there are no data in the literature concerning the possible pharmacological effects and the chemical constituents; this is the first chemical investigation of M. obovata leading to the isolation of 10 phenolic compounds.

OMe

O

OHO

OHHO OH

O

OHO

HO

R1

1; R1 = H2; R1 = OMe3; R1 = OH

Figure 1. Compounds 1-3 isolated from the leaves of Martinella obovata The ESIMS in negative mode of compound 1 exhibited a quasi-molecular ion peak at m/z 417 [M-H]- and a high resolution measurement indicated the molecular formula, C18H26O11, in accordance with 13C NMR data. Major fragments at m/z 285 and 123 were assigned to the loss of a pentose unit (132 amu) and the successive loss of an hexose unit (162 amu). The 1H NMR spectrum of 1 exhibited a set of AAXX coupling system at H 7.09 (2H, d, J=8.5, H-2, H-6), and H 7.01 (2H, d, J=8.5, H-3, H-5), a methoxy signal at H 3.85 (3H, s, OMe-3), and two anomeric proton signals at 5.01 (1H, d, J=2.5 Hz, H-1'') and 4.78 (1H,d, J=8.0 Hz, H-1'). The 13C-NMR spectrum of 1 revealed 19 carbon signals, including one benzene ring carbon signal, a set of hexose carbon signals, a set of pentose carbon signals, and a methoxy signal. NMR data were in agreement with a 1,4-disubstitution of benzene ring. The nature of the terminal sugar unit as β-D-apiofuranosyl was deduced by the following evidence: the 1H NMR spectrum indicated an anomeric signal at δ 5.01 (H-1'', d, J = 2.0 Hz); in the 1D TOCSY experiment, selective excitation of the signal at δ 5.01 led


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Table 1: 1H and 13C NMR (600 MHz) Data for Compound 1in CD3ODa.

1 Position δ 1H (JHH in Hz) δ13C 1 ----- 149.6 2 7.09 (d, 8.5) 116.8 3 7.01 (d, 8.5) 114.4 4 ----- 154.6 5 7.01 (d, 8.5) 114.4 6 7.09 (d, 8.5) 116.8 Glu 1' 4.78 (d, 8.0) 102.8 2' 3.28 (dd, 7.5, 9.5) 74.3 3' 3.43 (t, 9.5, 9.5) 78.3 4' 3.34 (t, 9.5, 9.5) 70.9 5' 3.30 (m) 77.3 6' 3.70 (dd, 12.0, 3.5)

3.56 (dd, 12.0, 5.0) 69.0

Api 1'' 5.01 (d, 2.0) 110.3 2'' 4.03 (d, 2.0) 77.4 3'' ----- 80.5 4'' 3.82 (d, 10.0)

4.05 (d, 10.0) 75.4

5'' 3.61 (2H, s) 66.2 OCH3 3.85 56.4 aChemical shift values are in ppm from TMS, and values in Hz are presented in parentheses. All signals were assigned by DQFCOSY, HSQC and HMBC experiments.

to the the enhancement only of H-2'' (δ 4.03, d, J = 2.0 Hz); and the multiplicity of H-2'' may be derived only from the presence of a quaternary carbon at C-3'' characteristic of an apiofuranosyl structure. The 13C NMR spectrum gave 11 carbon signals for the sugar moiety, of which three methylenes were ascribable to C-4'' (δ 75.4) and C-5'' (δ 66.2) of an apiofuranosyl unit and to C-6' (δ 69.0) of a glucopyranosyl unit, respectively. Analysis of the correlated 13C NMR signals in the HSQC spectrum and of the resonances of the quaternary carbon signal (δ 80.5, C-3'') matched well with a terminal β-D-apiofuranosyl linked to an inner β-D-glucopyranosyl. C-6' of the glucopyranosyl unit was shifted downfield (β-effect) demonstrating the (1→6) linkage between the apiosyl and glucosyl units. The interglycosidic linkage was also confirmed unambiguously to be at C-6’’ based on the HMBC cross-peak, between H-1'' and C-6'. Correlations due to long-range HMBC couplings were also observed between H-1' and C-1.Therefore, the structure of 1 was determined as 4-methoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (1). Comparison with the NMR spectral showed that the NMR signals in 2 were similar to those of 1, except for the presence of an extra O-methyl, suggesting that 2 was a 1,3,4- trisubstituted benzene with two methoxyl groups and one apiofuranosyl(1→6)-glucopyranosyl group. The location of these groups was verified by HMBC and NOE spectra. Therefore, compound 2 was concluded to be 3,4-dimethoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside reported previously only in two species Symplocos caudata (Symplocaceae) [5] and Tabebuia impetiginosa (Bignoniaceae) [6]. Compound 3 has the molecular formula C18H26O12, as deduced from ESIMS analysis. The 1H and 13C NMR

spectra indicated the presence of 1,2,4-trisubstituted aromatic ring, with one methoxyl group as well as a -D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranosyl unit. The spectroscopic data of compound 3 suggested the same skeleton as compound 2, but lacking a methoxyl group. The complete assignment was established by the resonance of C-3 () shifted upfield by 3.6 ppm and of C-4 (144.7) and C-2 () shifted downfield by ca. 2.4 and 1.6 ppm with respect to dimethoxylated model (2). The 3-hydroxy, 4-methoxy substitution was also confirmed by HMBC experiments, the correlation peaks of H-2/C-6, C-4; H-6/C-2, C-4, H-5/ C-1, C-3; CH3O–/ C-4; H-1'/C-1 and H-1''/C-6' indicated that benzene ring was substituted at C-1 with the apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-glucopyranosyl unit and the methoxyl group was located at the C-4. Therefore, the structure of 3 was determined as 3-hydroxy, 4-methoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside, reported previously only in the Indonesian medicinal plant Fagara rhetza (Rutaceae) [7]. The structures and molecular formulas of compounds 4-10 were determined from their ESIMS spectra, as well as from 1D and 2D 1H and 13C NMR data and by comparison of their NMR data with those in the literature. Compound 4 was identified as verbascoside by HPLC comparison with authentic standard and according to its 1H, 13C NMR, and ESI-MS data [8]. The structure of isoverbascoside (5) was confirmed using 1H and 13C NMR. The 1H NMR spectrum of isoverbascoside was similar to that of verbascoside, except for differences in the chemical shifts of H-4' (verbascoside, 4.81; isoverbascoside, 3.41) and 2H-6 (verbascoside, 3.63 and 3.84; isoverbascoside, 4.34 and 4.50) in their glucosyl moiety. The 13C NMR chemical shifts of isoverbascoside were close to those of verbascoside, but slight differences were observed in the shifts at C-3', C-4', and C-6' (verbascoside, 81.66, 70.69, 62.49; isoverbascoside, 84.45, 70.94, 65.20) [9]. Compound 6 showed ESI-MS and 1H and 13C NMR data superimposable with those reported in the literature for leucoceptoside A [10]. Compounds 7-9 were identified as the flavones vitexin, isovitexin and luteolin 8-C-β-D-glucopiranoside, compound 10 as the flavonol spireoside on the basis of their spectroscopic data and specifically by comparison of their NMR data with those in the literature [11]. Experimental

General Experimental Procedure: A Bruker DRX-600 NMR spectrometer, operating at 599.19 MHz for 1H and at 150.86 MHz for 13C, was used for NMR experiments; chemical shifts are expressed in (parts per million) referring to the solvent peaks H 3.34 and C 49.0 for CD3OD; coupling constants, J, are in Hertz. DEPT, 13C, DQF-COSY, HSQC, HMBC and NOESY NMR experiments were carried out using the conventional pulse sequences as described in the literature. Electrospray

Phenolic compounds from Martinella obovata Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 959

ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS) was performed using a Finnigan LCQ Deca instrument from Thermo Electron (San Jose, CA) equipped with Xcalibur software. Instrumental parameters were tuned for each investigated compound: capillary voltage was set at 3 V, the spray voltage at 5.10 kV and a capillary temperature of 220°C and the tube lens offset at - 60 V was employed; specific collision energies were chosen at each fragmentation step for all the investigated compounds, and the value ranged from 15-33% of the instrument maximum. Data were acquired in the MS1 scanning mode (m/z 150-700). All compounds were dissolved in MeOH : H2O (1:1) and infused in the ESI source by using a syringe pump; the flow rate was 5 L/min. Exact masses were measured by a Q-TOF premier (Waters, Manifold, MA, USA) instrument. Chromatography was performed over Sephadex LH-20 (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden) employing MeOH as solvent. Column chromatography was carried out employing Silica gel RP18 (0.040–0.063 mm; Carlo Erba) and MeOH:H2O gradients. HPLC separations were performed on a Waters 590 series pumping system equipped with a Waters R401 refractive index detector and a Kromasil C18 column (250 x 10 mm i.d., 10m, Phenomenex). HPLC-grade methanol was purchased from Sigma Aldrich (Milano, Italy). HPLC-grade water (18 mΩ) was prepared by a Milli-Q50 purification system (Millipore Corp., Bedford, MA). TLC analysis was performed with Macherey-Nagel precoated silica gel 60 F254 plates. Plant Material: The leaves of M. obovata (Kunth) Bureau & K. Schum. were collected in Pico Bonito, Francisco Morazan, Honduras, in August 2005. The plant was identified by Dr. Cirilo Nelson. A voucher specimen was deposited in the herbarium of the Botanical Department of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, (Voucher No. 314). Extraction and Isolation Procedure of Compounds 1-10: Dried and powdered leaves (1 kg) of M. obovata were extracted for a week, three times, at room temperature using solvents of increasing polarity; namely, petroleum ether, chloroform, and methanol. Part (3 g) of MeOH extract was chromatographed on a Sephadex LH-20 column (100 cm x 5.0 cm) using CH

3OH as mobile phase

and a flow rate of 1 mL/min to furnish 6 fractions (I-VI). Fraction II and III (258.4 mg) were purified by RP-HPLC (40% CH3OH) to give 2 (9.5 mg) and 3 (4.9 mg) and 1 (9.2 mg). Fr. IV (184.1 mg) was purified by RP-HPLC (35% CH3OH) to give 4 (16.8 mg), 5 (6.4 mg) and 6 (3.8 mg). Finally Fr. V and VI containing flavones were purified with 70:30 MeOH-H2O to yield compounds 7 (15.1 mg), 8 (12.2 mg), 9 (6.1 mg) and 10 (7.2 mg).

4-methoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (1) White amorphous solid. [α]D: -58.9 (c 0.20, MeOH). UV/Vis λmax (MeOH) nm (log ε): 202 (4.42), 223 (3.85), 279 (3.42). 1H and 13C NMR (600 MHz, CD3OH): see Table 1 ESI-MS m/z 417 [M-H]-, m/z 285 [M-132]- and m/z 123 [M-132-162]- HREIMS m/z 418.3560 (calcd for C18H26O11, 418.6570). 3,4-dimethoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (2) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [4]. ESI-MS m/z 447 [M-H]-, m/z 315 [M-132]- and m/z 153 [M-132-162]- HREIMS m/z 448.2560 (calcd for C19H28O12, 448.4430). 3-hydroxy, 4-methoxyphenol 1-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1->6)-O--D-glucopyranoside (3) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [7] ESI-MS m/z 433 [M-H]-, m/z 301 [M-132]- and m/z 139 [M-132-162]- HREIMS m/z 434.3177 (calcd for C18H26O12, 434.7100). Verbascoside (4) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [8]. ESI-MS m/z 621 [M-H]-. Isoverbascoside (5) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [9]. ESI-MS m/z 621 [M-H]-. Leucosceptoside A (6): 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [10]. ESI-MS m/z 635 [M-H]-.

Vitexin (7) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [11]. ESI-MS m/z 431 [M-H]-. Isovitexin (8) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [11]. ESI-MS m/z 431 [M-H]-. Luteolin 8-C--D-glucopiranoside (9) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [11]. ESI-MS m/z 447 [M-H]-. Spireoside (10) 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those previously reported [11]. ESI-MS m/z 463 [M-H]-.

References

[1] Gentry AH. (1992) A synopsis of Bignoniaceae ethnobotany and economic botany. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 79, 53-64.

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[2] (a) Von Poser GL, Schripsema J, Henriques AT, Jensen SR. (2000) The distribution of iridoids in Bignoniaceae. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 28, 351-366; (b) Frederic M, Hay AE, Corno L, Gupta MP, Hostettmann K. (2007) Iridoid glycosides from the stems of Pithecoctenium crucigerum. Phytochemistry, 68, 1307-1311.

[3] Gentry AH, Cook K. (1984) Martinella (Bignoniaceae): a widely used eye medicine of South America. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 11, 337−343.

[4] Witherup KM, Ransom RW, Graham AC, Bernard AM, Salvatore MJ, Lumma WC, Anderson PS, Pitzenberger SM, Varga SL. (1995) Martinelline and Martinellic Acid, Novel G-Protein Linked Receptor Antagonists from the Tropical Plant Martinella iquitosensis (Bignoniaceae). Journal of American Chemical Society, 117, 6682-6685.

[5] Jiang J, Feng Z, Wang Y, Zhang P. (2005) New Phenolics from the Roots of Symplocos caudata Wall. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 53, 110-113

[6] Warashina T, Nagatani Y, Noro T. (2006) Constituents from the Bark of Tabebuia impetiginosa. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 54, 14-20.

[7] Shibuya H, Takeda Y, Zhang RS, Tanitame A, Tsai YL, Kitagawa I. (1992) Indonesian medicinal plants. IV. On the constituents of the bark of Fagara rhetza (Rutaceae). (2). Lignan glycosides and two apioglucosides. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 40, 2639-2646.

[8] Sticher O, Lahloub MF (1982) Phenolic glycosides of Paulownia tomentosa bark. Planta Medica, 46, 145-148. [9] Kawada T, Asano R, Makino K, Sakuno T. (2002) Synthesis of isoacteoside, a dihydroxyphenylethyl glycoside. Journal of Wood

Science, 48, 512-515. [10] Miyase T, Koizumi A, Ueno A, Noro T, Kuroyanagi M, Fukushima S, Akiyama Y, Takemoto T. (1982) Studies on the acyl

glycosides from Leucoseptrum japonicum (Miq.) Kitamura et Murata. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 30, 2732-2737. [11] (a) Agrawal PK. (1989) Carbon-13 NMR of Flavonoids. Elsevier, London; (b) Harborne JB. (1994) The flavonoids: Advances in

Research since 1986. Chapman & Hall, New York.

Phenolic Chemical Composition of Petroselinum crispum Extract and Its Effect on Haemostasis Douglas S. A. Chavesa#, Flávia S. Frattanib, Mariane Assafimb, Ana Paula de Almeidac,d,e, Russolina B. Zingalib and Sônia S. Costaa* aNúcleo de Pesquisas de Produtos Naturais, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21 941-902, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

bInstituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21 941-902, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

cDepartamento de Ciências Químicas, Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, 4050-047, Porto, Portugal

dCentro de Química Medicinal da Universidade do Porto (CEQUIMED-UP), 4050-047, Porto, Portugal

eLaboratório de Estudo Químico e Farmacológico de Produtos Naturais, Universidade Severino Sombra, 27 700-000, Vassouras, RJ, Brazil

# Present address: Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, 23890-000, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil

[email protected]; [email protected]


From the aqueous extract (Pc) of Petroselinum crispum (Mill) flat leaves specimens were isolated and identified the flavonoids apigenin (1), apigenin-7-O-glucoside or cosmosiin (2), apigenin-7-O-apiosyl-(1→2)-O-glucoside or apiin (3) and the coumarin 2’’,3’’-dihydroxy-furanocoumarin or oxypeucedanin hydrate (4). The inhibitory activity toward clotting formation and platelet aggregation was assessed for Pc flavonoids (1) and (2), and the coumarin (4). Pc showed no inhibition on clotting activity when compared with the control. On the other hand, a strong antiplatelet aggregation activity was observed for Pc (IC50 = 1.81 mg/mL), apigenin (IC50 = 0.036 mg/mL) and cosmosiin (IC50 = 0.18 mg/mL). In all cases ADP was used as inductor of platelet aggregation. Our results showed that Pc, apigenin and cosmosiin interfere on haemostasis inhibiting platelet aggregation. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report for the cosmosiin antiplatelet aggregation in vitro activity.

Keywords: Petroselinum crispum, parsley, flavonoids, cosmosiin, cardiovascular disease, haemostasis, platelet aggregation. The species Petroselinum crispum, known as parsley, is an aromatic herb from Apiaceae family that has been employed in food, pharmaceutical, perfume and cosmetic industries [1]. Widespread in all continents, parsley may be one of the oldest herbs used as condiment in food. Previous studies on the chemical composition of parsley have revealed the presence of flavonoids [2-5], coumarins [6-8] and terpenes [9,10]. In popular medicine, parsley is used to treat various illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, thrombosis and strokes [11,12]. In Morocco and Brazil, parsley is widely employed against cardiovascular diseases [12-14].

The ethnopharmacological knowledge is useful to identify potential therapeutic targets from medicinal plants. Substances from vegetal kingdom, which have already contributed with several compounds in prophylaxis and treatment of a large variety of pathologies, have been investigated for their potential as antithrombotic agents [15,16].

Aspirin, an antiplatelet agent and warfarin, an oral anticoagulant were developed from secondary metabolites. However, aspirin consumption can increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and other adverse effects [16]. Antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs are used to treat cardiovascular diseases and strokes preventing or slowing down blood clots formation and enlargement of existing blood clots. [17]. According to World Health Organization (WHO), in the next 20 years there will be 24 million deaths from cardiovascular diseases [18]. The current spending with antithrombotic treatment is extremely high [19]. Many antithrombotic substances from synthetic or semi-synthetic origin or derived from natural products are currently under clinical evaluation (phases I, II, III or IV). About 450 substances are considered promising candidates as new antithrombotic drugs in the Stroke Trials Registry [20].


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962 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Chaves et al.

Compounds R Rt

min UV

λ max (nm) [M-H+]

m/z 1 H 13.98 256; 336 269.18 2 β-D-Glc 12.91 256; 337 433.26 3 β-D-Api (1→2)-O-Glc 21.52 268; 339 563.30 4 ------- 33.78 249; 265; 315 305.20

Figure 1: Compounds identified in the aqueous extract of Petroselinum crispum (Pc) based on HPLC-DAD, ESI and NMR analyses. This study led to the isolation of known 5,7,4’-trihydroxy-flavone (apigenin), apigenin 7-O-glucoside (cosmosiin), apigenin 7-O-apiosyl-(1→2)-O-glucoside (apiin) and 2’’,3’’-dihydroxyfuranocoumarin (oxypeucedanin hydrate) identified according to reported NMR data [21,22]. These flavones and the coumarin derivative were previously described for this species [4,6]. Two other flavones diosmetin apiosyl-glucoside and diosmetin apiosyl-glucoside isomer were identified with basis on HPLC-DAD chromatogram and comparison with literature data [4]. Apiin is the most abundant flavonoid in parsley, while apigenin is the minor component as reported previously in the literature [3]. In experiments assessing the intrinsic pathway (aPTT), and the extrinsic pathway (PT) of coagulation, Pc extract, apigenin, cosmosiin and oxypeucedanin hydrate did not show any significant activity, since the clotting time was not significantly increased. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the antiplatelet aggregation effect observed for Pc, apigenin and cosmosiin, respectively. A strong antiplatelet aggregation activity was observed for Pc (IC50 = 1.81 mg/mL), apigenin (IC50 = 0.036 mg/mL) and cosmosiin (IC50 = 0.18 mg/mL). Our results confirm the already known antiplatelet activity reported for Pc and apigenin [12,23]. Cosmosiin exhibited a significant antiplatelet activity, although less active than apigenin. We can deduce from our findings that the presence of glycosylation decreases the activity of cosmosiin, since the apigenin skeleton is common to both structures [24]. Studies on the medicinal species P. crispum (Pc) showed that its aerial parts aqueous extract was able to inhibit platelet activity induced by ADP [13]. In these studies, a crude extract at 10 mg/mL inhibited the platelet aggregation by 78%. In our study we observed that Pc leaves extract significantly inhibited (IC50 = 1.81 mg/mL) the platelet aggregation induced by ADP in human platelet–rich plasma. Moreover, at concentrations 2.6 times lower (3.80 mg/mL) than that used by Mekhfi et al. (2004) we obtained a higher platelet aggregation inhibition (94.4%) [13].

A possible explanation for the difference in these results should be due to the different extraction procedures employed in both studies. We prepared a decoction from fresh leaves at 10% (w/v), while Mekhfi et al. (2004) prepared an infusion at 5.5% (w/v) without mention if fresh or dried aerial parts were used. The variety of P. crispum was not mentioned by those authors, while we used the flat leaf specimens. Furthermore, other factors such as cultivation conditions, sunlight exposure and season may lead to differences in the production of bioactive secondary metabolites [25].

Figure 2: Inhibitory effect of Petroselinum crispum (Pc) aqueous extract on the platelet aggregation in vitro induced by ADP (5 µM) using human platelet-rich plasma (n = 3).

Figure 3: Inhibitory effect of apigenin on the platelet aggregation in vitro induced by ADP (5 µM) using human platelet-rich plasma (n = 3).

Figure 4: Inhibitory effect of cosmosiin on the platelet aggregation in vitro induced by ADP (5 µM) using human platelet-rich plasma (n = 3).

Flavonoids and other phenolic substances are able to interfere in the platelet system. Apigenin was shown to block the inducer collagen and ADP in platelet-rich plasma [24,26]. A diet rich in phenolic compounds may favorably contribute for reducing risks of cardiovascular diseases through several mechanisms. Several studies on the cardiovascular protective effect of flavonoids have been reported, suggesting that both apigenin and luteolin may act as competitors with the receptor of thromboxane A2 (TXA2), an inducer of platelet aggregation [27]. We can observe that some flavonoids, particularly flavones, may be related to the in vitro inhibitory effect of

O

OH

RO

OH

OH

OO O

OOH

OH

1 - 3 4

Phenolic composition of P. crispum and haemostasis Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 963

platelet aggregation induced by ADP [12,13]. Our results showed that Pc extract, apigenin and cosmosiin interfere on haemostasis inhibiting platelet aggregation. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report for the cosmosiin in vitro-antiplatelet aggregation activity. The study of apiin and the coumarin oxypeucedanin hydrate effect on the coagulation process is undergoing in our laboratories. Experimental

Chemical General: Melting points were determined using a Koppler melting point apparatus. Optical rotations were measured on a Jasco P-2000 digital polarimeter. All 1D and 2D experiments were performed on a Varian 400 MHz spectrometer. The NMR spectra were recorded in DMSO-d6. ESI-MS spectra were recorded on a tandem – triple quadrupole m/z 30-3000. HPLC separation was performed using a Shimadzu liquid chromatograph LC-10AD equipped with an UV SPD-10A wavelength detector. The reversed-phase column used was Merck C18 (5 µm, 250 mm, 2.5 mm) with mobile phase consisted of water containing phosphoric acid 0.01% (eluent A) and methanol (eluent B). The samples were run for 44 minutes at 1 mL/min and absorbance was monitored between 200 – 500 nm. The gradient used was 0 – 5 min (100 – 65% A), 5 – 15 min (65 – 55% A), 15 – 25 min (55 – 52% A), 25 – 35 min (52 – 45% A), 35 – 40 min (45 – 20% A), 40 – 42 min (20 – 0% A) and 42 – 44 min (0 – 100% A). Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed on silica gel 60 F254 (Merck) eluted with n-butanol/acetic acid/water (BAW) 8:1:1, visualized under UV light (254 and 365 nm) and developed with ceric sulfate solution for flavonoids. Coumarin was detected using 5% potassium hydroxide solution in ethanol. Plant material: Leaves from Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Nym.ex A.W. Hill (flat leaf specimens) were collected out of blooming season from specimens grown in an experimental garden at Severino Sombra University (Vassouras, RJ, Brazil). A voucher specimen (RFA – 31241) was classified by Dr. Ricardo C. Vieira and deposited in the herbarium of the Institute of Biology, UFRJ, Brazil. Extraction and isolation: Fresh leaves (160 g) were triturated using a food processor and extracted with distilled water (10% w/v) by decoction (10 minutes). After the extract filtration, a spontaneous precipitation at room temperature yielded a solid that was separated by centrifugation. This precipitate (1.6 g) was re-suspended in methanol and chromatographed over Sephadex LH-20 (30 x 1.5 cm; MeOH) yielding 2 fractions: a minor methanol-soluble fraction (396.2 mg) and a methanol-insoluble one (1.2 g). Each fraction was purified over Sephadex LH-20 (23 x 0.7 cm; MeOH/H2O 1:1) affording cosmosiin (2), for the soluble fraction, as a yellow powder (23.4 mg) and apiin (3), for the insoluble fraction as a white powder (676.8 mg). After the precipitate separation

the extract was filtered (Whatman filter paper Nr.1), frozen at -20°C and lyophilized (1.8 g). After its re-suspension in water, the resulting solution was partitioned successively with ethyl acetate (3 x 300 mL) and n-butanol (3 x 300 mL). The ethyl acetate fraction (301.0 mg) was chromatographed over Sephadex LH-20 (23 x 0.7 cm; ethanol) affording three fractions. The second fraction (64.8 mg) showed a yellow crystalline solid (22.3 mg) that was separated by centrifugation and identified as apigenin (1). The third fraction was purified on an RP-2 column (30 x 1.2 cm; H2O/EtOH), followed by a Sephadex LH-20 chromatography (23 x 0.7 cm; MeOH/H2O 1:1), affording oxypeucedanin hydrate (4) as a brown powder (15.4 mg). Biological In vitro determination of activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and prothrombin time (PT): Blood samples were centrifuged (2000 x g, 10 min), and the platelet-poor plasma was stored at -20°C until use). aPTT and PT were measured on an Amelung KC4A coagulometer as follows. For aPTT tests, cephalin plus kaolin (aPTT reagent, BioMériaux, RJ, Brazil) were incubated for 1 min with 50 µL of pre-warmed plasma (37°C) and P. crispum (Pc), apigenin, cosmosiin and oxypeucedanin hydrate at various concentrations (suspension in PBS buffer). The reaction was started by addition of 100 µL of pre-warmed CaCl2 (25 mM). For PT tests, 50 µL of pre-warmed plasma was incubated with Pc extract, apigenin, cosmosiin and oxypeucedanin hydrate at various concentrations (suspension in PBS buffer) for 2 min (37°C) and reaction was started by addition of 100 µL of pre-warmed thromboplastin with calcium (PT reagent, BioMériaux, RJ, Brazil). Apiin was not evaluated since it is insoluble in water. Platelet aggregation assays: Human blood was collected in EDTA 0.2 M (9:1 v/v). Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was prepared by centrifugation (500 x g, 10 min) at room temperature. The platelet-poor plasma (PPP) was prepared by centrifugation of the PRP (2000 x g, 10 min) at room temperature). In some cases, experiments were performed using washed platelets as described [28]. Platelet aggregation was monitored by the turbidimetric method on a Chrono-Log aggregometer. PRP (400 µL) was incubated (37°C, 1 min) with continuous stirring at 900 rpm. Platelet aggregation was induced by ADP (2-10 mM). P. crispum extract (Pc), apigenin, cosmosiin and oxypeucedanin hydrate at various concentrations (suspension in PBS buffer) or vehicle (0.5% DMSO v/v) was added to PRP samples 1 min before addition of the agonist. Supplementary data: Compounds from Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Nym.ex A.W. Hill, an aromatic herb popularly known as parsley. Acknowledgments: Authors gratefully acknowledge CNPq and CAPES for financial support. We also thank

964 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Chaves et al.

Dr. R. C. Vieira (IB, UFRJ, Brazil) and Dr. Jean-Pierre Férézou (ICMMO, Université Paris-Sud, France). We

thank CEQUIMED (FCT, I&D 4040) for allowing Ana Paula de Almeida to collaborate in this study.

References

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[2] Chaves DSA, Almeida AP, Assafim M, Frattani F, Zingali RB, Costa SS. (2007) Chemical study and potential antithrombotic evaluation of medicinal species Petroselinum crispum (APIACEAE). Drugs of the Future, 32, 66-67.

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[5] Hudson CS. (1949) Apiose and the glycosides of the parsley plant. Advances in Carbohydrate Chemistry, 4, 57-74. [6] Cherng, J-M, Chiang W, Chiang L-C. (2008) Immunomodulatory activities of common vegetables and spices of Umbelliferae and

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[23] Navarro-Núñez L, Lozano ML, Palomo M, Martínez C, Vicente V, Castillo J, Benavente-García O, Diaz-Ricart M, Escolar G, Rivera J. (2008) Apigenin inhibits platelet adhesion and thrombus formation and synergizes with aspirin in the suppression of the arachidonic acid pathway. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56, 2970-2976.

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[25] Muzitano MF, Bergonzi MC, De Melo GO, Lage CL, Bilia AR, Vincieri FF, Rossi-Bergmann B, Costa SS. (2011) Influence of cultivation conditions, season of collection and extraction method on the content of antileishmanial flavonoids from Kalanchoe pinnata. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 133, 132-137.

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[28] Soslau G, Class R, Morgan DA, Foster C, Lord ST, Marchese P, Ruggeri ZM. (2001) Unique pathway of thrombin-induced platelet aggregation mediated by glycoprotein-Ib. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276, 21173-21183.

Bioactivities of Chuquiraga straminea Sandwith María Elena Mendiondoa, Berta E. Juáreza, Catiana Zampinia,b, María Inés Islaa,b and Roxana Ordoñeza,b,* aFacultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo.UNT. Fundación Miguel Lillo. CONICET Miguel Lillo 205/251. (4000).San Miguel de Tucumán. Tucumán. Argentina

bINQUINOA. CONICET. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. UNT. Ayacucho 471. San Miguel de Tucumán. Tucumán. Argentina [email protected]


Methanolic extracts of Chuquiraga straminea Sandwith, subfamily Barnadesioideae (Asteraceae) showed the presence of quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity was determined. The total extracts showed antioxidant activity by DPPH and ABTS method (SC50 14.5 to 34.9 µg/mL). A significantly positive correlation was observed between the antioxidant activity and the total phenolics (R2>0.93). The extracts were active against ten methicillin resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from nosocomial infection (MIC values between 200 to 800 μg/mL). These preliminary studies are highly interesting as they open new ways for further applications in the treatment of infections by methicillin resistant S. aureus. Keywords: Flavonoids, Chuquiraga straminea, Antioxidant activity, Antimicrobial activity. From an estimated 250,000 higher plants in the world only 5-15% have been studied for a potential therapeutic value. The Argentinian flora offers great possibilities for the discovery of new compounds with medicinal uses. The genus Chuquiraga is represented in Argentina by 15 species distributed in arid regions between the Andes and Patagonia. Previous reports indicated that the flavonoids identified in the species of Chuquiraga genus are identical, so the compounds are useful as phylogenetic micromolecular markers in the genus [1]. Chuquiraga straminea is a medium xerophytic shrub. Its distribution is in southern Argentina, from northwestern Chubut province to eastern Neuquen province. It inhabits in Patagonian phytogeographic province between 600 and 1000 meters above sea level (masl). This species has been employed as traditional medicine by native people, either as building and crafts material and forage [2]. It is reported that phenolic compounds from herbs are active against many human pathogenic bacteria and fungi and have antioxidant activity [3-5]. Recently, there has been considerable interest in the use of such antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds from natural sources, not only in pharmaceutical industry but also for the preservation of foods and improving the shelf life of food products, for increasing the stability of fats and oils and to control the plant diseases of microbial origin. Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen associated with serious community and hospital acquired diseases and

has long been considered a major problem of Public Health. The aim of this study was to investigate antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of C. straminea extracts obtained from aerial parts and flowers. Extracts were analyzed for their contents of phenolic compounds (total phenols, flavonoids). A relationship between antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activities and the content of phenolic compounds was evaluated. The content of total phenols and flavonoids of flower and aerial parts extracts from C. straminea are given in Table 1. The amount of total phenolic compounds extracted ranged from 1.56 to 2.74 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/mL extract. The C. straminea aerial parts extracts contained the highest amounts of phenolic compounds. Table 1: Phenolic compounds of C. straminea extracts.

Alcoholic Extracts

Phenolic compounds (mg GAE/mL)

Flavonoids (mg QE /mL)

Compounds isolated

Flowers

1.56±0.04

0.12±0.01

quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol, kaempferol-

3-O-glucoside and kaempferol-3-O-

rutinoside Aerial Parts

2.74±0.08 0.14±0.01

Kaempferol, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside were identified in the extracts. The flavonoid


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966 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Mendiondo et al.

Figure 1: Residual scavenging activity (% RSA) of samples on DPPH (A) and ABTS (B) radicals at a phenolic compounds concentration until of 50 µgGAE/mL. () C. straminea flower extract (SC50DPPH=34.9±1.2 and SC50ABTS= 31.0±1.1 µgGAE/mL) and (♦) C. straminea aerial parts extract (SC50 DPPH= 18.0±0.7µg and SC50ABTS= 14.5±0.8µg GAE/mL). glycosides are comparable with those previously isolated, by us from other argentine species belonging to Chuquiraga genus, [1,6]. Antioxidant activity: Free radical species play a critical role in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases as well as in neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and aging. The C. straminea extracts were effective as ABTS [2,2`-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6 sulfonic acid) diammonium salt] and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical-scavengers. The results obtained are represented in Figure 1 (SC50 values denote the sample concentration required to scavenge 50% ABTS or DPPH free radicals). Aerial parts extracts were the most effective radical-scavengers with SC50 of 18.0±0.7 and 14.5±0.79 µg GAE/mL for DPPH and ABTS respectively, flowers extracts result also active with SC50 of 34.5±1.2 and 31.0±1.1 µg GAE/mL for DPPH and ABTS radicals, respectively. A significantly positive correlation was observed between the antioxidant potential determined by ABTS and DPPH assays, and the total phenolics (R2>0.93).Contact autography, indicated that more than one compounds with antioxidant activity in all crude extracts. The flavonoids could be the more active metabolites in this plant specie. Antimicrobial activity: The antibiotic resistant clinical S. aureus strains assayed in this work were isolated from human infections from a local hospital. By means of bioautographic assay was qualitatively demonstrated that several phenolic compounds in the methanolic extracts were active against methicillin resistant and sensitive S. aureus strains. Table 2 show the antimicrobial activity of C. straminea methanolic extracts against ten S. aureus antibiotic resistant and sensitive strains. The two methanolic extracts of C. straminea were active against all methicillin resistant and sensitive S. aureus strains (MRSA and MSSA, respectively) and the observed

Table 2: Antibacterial activities of C. straminea extracts against sensitive and antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains.

MRSA: methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MSSA: methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, MRSCN: methicillin resistant Staphylococcus coagulase negative, MSSCN: methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus coagulase negative, ATCC: American Type Culture Collection. r and s, resistance or susceptibility to antibiotics. Met, methicillin; Oxa, oxacillin; Gen, gentamicin; Van, vancomycin. MIC was defined as the lowest concentration of extract that had restricted growth to a level <0.05 at 550nm. MBC (minimal bactericidal concentration) was defined as the lowest extract concentration at which 99.9% of the bacteria have been killed. differences between minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values with respect to the control strain were not significant. Similar behavior was observed for methicillin sensitive and resistant Staphylococcus coagulase negative (MSSCN and MRCN, respectively). All nosocomial strains were sensitive to extracts and vancomycin, a glycopeptidic antibiotic. In most cases the extracts showed bactericidal effect. The reported data in the present work for S. aureus was similar to those obtained for other Chuquiraga species that grow in arid regions of Argentine [5]. Up to the present, there are limited reports about the bioactivities of C. straminea. The ethnobotanical data indicated that this species was used by mapuches and tehuelches as the main therapeutic tool in traditional

C. straminea extracts MIC/MBC (μgGAE/mL) Strain Phenotype

Flowers Aerial parts MRSA F2 Metr Oxar Genr 400/400 800/>800 MRSA F7 Metr Oxar GenrVans 400/800 800/>800 MRSA F31 Metr Oxar GenrVans 800/>800 800/>800 MSSA F13 Mets Oxas GensVans 200/400 800/>800 MSSA F16 Mets Oxas GensVans 400/400 400/>800 MSSA F24 Mets Oxas GensVans 400/400 400/>800 MRSCN F22 Metr Oxar Genr Vans 400/800 800/>800 MRSCN F27 Metr Oxar Genr Vans 800/>800 800/>800 MSSCN F29 Mets Vans 400/800 400/>800 MSSCN F30 Mets Vans 400/800 800/>800 ATCC 29213 Control strain 400/400 800/800

A B

Bioactivity of Chuquiraga straminea Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 967

medicine as antiinflammatory and antiseptic on skin infection [2]. According with our results the C. straminea extracts could serve as good candidates for the development of new antimicrobial and antioxidant agents and/or standardized phytomedicines. Experimental

Plant material: The plant was collected in the province of Neuquén, Department Collan Cura. Grow in patches on the slope of Piñon Cerrito, on rocky ground. A voucher specimens is deposited at the Fundación Miguel Lillo Herbarium (LIL 605812). Preparation of plant extracts: The aerial parts (flowers and leaves) of C. straminea were dried and extracted with methanol 80%. The solvent was evaporated at reduced pressure and then, resuspended in DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide) for avoid the extraction solvent interference in the biological screening. Determination of total phenolics compounds (TPC) and flavonoids: TPC was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method [7] and gallic acid was used as standard. The results were expressed as mg GAE/mL extract. Flavonoid content was determined according to Woisky and Salatino [8] and quercetin was used as standard. The results were expressed as mg QE/mL extract. Compounds identification: The extracts were chromatographed bidimensionally according to Mabry [9] using TBA (tert-butanol-acetic acid-water 3:1:1) and 15% AcOH as development solvents. Eluted spots were analyzed by paper and thin layer chromatography in different solvent systems. The plates were observed under ultraviolet light, in the absence and presence of ammonia and natural product reagent. Spectral data with shift reagents, NaOMe (sodium methoxide), AlCl3 (aluminum trichloride), HCl (hydrochloric acid), NaOAc (sodium acetate), H3BO3 (boric acid) were used. Free radical scavenging activity

The DPPH method: The reduction capability of extracts was measured by DPPH method according to Zampini et al [10]. DPPH solution (1.5 mL of 300 μM in 96% ethanol) was incubated with the samples (5-50 μg GAE). The reaction mixture was shaken and incubated during 20 min. at room temperature. Then, absorbance was measured at 515 nm. The percentage (%) of radical scavenging activity (RSA) was calculated using the following equation: RSA % = [(A0 - As)/A0] x 100. Where A0 is the absorbance of the control and As is the absorbance of the samples at 515 nm. SC50 values denoted the sample concentration required to scavenge 50% DPPH free radicals.

The ABTS method: Antioxidant capacity assay was carried out by the improved ABTS method as described Re [11]. ABTS•+ radical cation was generated by reacting 7 mM ABTS and 2.45 mM potassium persulfate after incubation at room temperature (23 ºC) in the dark for 16 h. ABTS•+ solution (1mL; absorbance of 0.7 ± 0.02 at 734 nm) was added to 5-50 μg GAE of each tested sample and mixed thoroughly. The reactive mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature and the absorbance was recorded at 734 nm, 1 min. after initial mixing and up to 6 min. Results were expressed in terms of percentage (%) of radical scavenging activity (RSA) at 6 minute and SC50 values denoted the sample concentration required to scavenge 50% ABTS free radicals. Autographic assay: For rapid visualization of antiradical activity, 5 μg of extracts were applied on silica gel 60 F254 TLC plates. Mixtures of chloroform-ethyl acetate (80:20; v/v) was used as mobile phase. Then, the plates were dried overnight and covered with 3 mL of soft medium (agar 0.9%) containing 1mL ABTS•+ (7 mM ABTS and 2.45 mM potassium persulfate) or DPPH (1mg/mL). Plates were incubated at room temperature during 1 minute in the dark. Active samples appeared as light spots against a green-blue or purple background for ABTS or DPPH assay, respectively [12]. Microorganism: The microorganisms used in this study consisted of ten Staphylococcus aureus strains recovered from clinical samples obtained from the Hospital Nicolás Avellaneda, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina: methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (n=3), methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) (n=3), methicillin resistant S. coagulase negative (MRSCN) (n=2) and methicillin sensitive S. coagulase negative (MSSCN) (n=2). A reference strain was included in the study: S. aureus ATCC 29213. Antimicrobial activity

Bioautographic assays: Extracts (25 μg) were seeded on TLC plates and the components were separated using chloroform-ethyl acetate (80:20; v/v) as development solvents. Then, the plates were dried overnight in a sterile room and were covered with 3 mL of soft medium (BHI with 0.6% agar) containing 1 x 105 colony forming units (CFU) of S. aureus (F7) incubated at 35C for 20 h. Next, the plates were sprayed with a 2.5 mg/mL MTT solution (3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium) in PBS (10 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7, with 0.15 M NaCl) to determine cellular viability. Plates were incubated at 35C for 1h in the dark for color development [13]. Broth microdilution susceptibility assay: This assay was performed in sterile 96-well microplates. The extracts were transferred to each microplate well in order to obtain two-fold serial dilutions of the original extract (25 to 800 µg/mL). The inoculum (100 µL) containing 5×105 CFU

968 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Mendiondo et al.

was added to each well. A number of wells were reserved in each plate for sterility control (no inocula added), inocula viability (no extract added), and solvent effect (DMSO) [14]. Plates were aerobically incubated at 35°C. After incubation for 16-20 h, bacterial growth was indicated by the presence of turbidity and a pellet on the well bottom. A cytotoxicity assay was also carried out. After the broth microdilution susceptibility assay, 20 L of methylthiazolyltetrazolium chloride solution (MTT) (12 mg/mL in PBS) was added to the wells and incubated for 1 h. Cellular viability was determined by absorbance at 550 nm. MIC was defined as the lowest concentration of extract that had restricted growth to a level <0.05 at 550nm (no macroscopically visible growth). To confirm MIC and to establish MBC, 10 µL of each culture medium was removed from each well with no visible growth and inoculated in Müller Hinton Agar plates. After 16-20 h of aerobic incubation at 35°C, the number of surviving organisms was determined.

MBC was defined as the lowest extract concentration at which 99.9% of the bacteria have been killed. MIC values were also determined for different commercial antibiotics. Resistance was defined for each case: methicillin (Met, MIC > 16 μg/mL), oxacillin (Oxa, MIC > 16 μg/mL), gentamycin (Gen, MIC > 100 μg/mL) and vancomycin (Van, MIC > 6 μg/mL) for S aureus strains. All experiments were carried out in triplicate. Statistical analysis: Data are represented as mean ± standard deviation. The statistical tests were carried out by analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) and the post-test of Turkey, using a probability level of less than 5% (p < 0.05). Acknowledgments - This research was partially supported by Grants from Consejo de Investigación de la Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (CIUNT, Tucumán, Argentina) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET; Buenos Aires, Argentina).

References

[1] Mendiondo ME, Juarez BE, Seeligmann P. (2000) Flavonoid profiles of some Argentine species of Chuquiraga (Asteraceae). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 28, 283-285.

[2] González S, Morales S (2004) Plantas medicinales utilizadas en comunidades rurales del Chubut, Patagonia-Argentina. Boletín Latinoamericano de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas, 3, 58-62.

[3] Arias ME, Gómez, JD, Vattuone MA, Isla MI. (2004) Antibacterial activity of ethanolic and aqueous extract of Acacia aroma Gill ex Hook. Life Science, 75, 191-202.

[4] Zampini IC, Vattuone M, Isla MI. (2005) Antibacterial activity against antibiotic-resistant Gram negative human pathogenic bacteria of hydroxychalcone isolated from Zuccagnia punctata Cav. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 102, 450-456.

[5] Zampini IC, Cuello S, Alberto MR, Ordoñez RM, D’ Almeida R, Solorzano E, Isla MI. (2009) Antimicrobial activity of selected plant species from “the Argentine Puna” against sensitive and multi-resistant bacteria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 124, 499–505.

[6] Juárez BE, Mendiondo ME. (2002) Flavonoid Chemistry of Chuquiraga (Asteraceae). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 30, 371-373.

[7] Singleton VL, Orthofer R, Lamuela-Raventos RM. (1999) Analysis of total phenols and other oxidation substrates and antioxidants by means of Folin Ciocalteu reagent. Methods in Enzymology, 299, 152-178.

[8] Woisky R, Salatino A (1998) Analysis of propolis: some parameters and procedures for chemical quality control. Journal Apiculture Research, 37, 99-105.

[9] Mabry TJ, Markham KR, Thomas MB. (1970) In The systematic identificaction of flavonoids. Springer-Verlag, New York, Chapter 5. [10] Zampini IC, Meson Gana J, Ordoñez RM, Sayago JE, Nieva Moreno MI, Isla MI. (2008) Antioxidant and xanthine oxidase

inhibitory activities of plan species from the Argentine Puna (Antofagasta, Catamarca). Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants, 21, 95-110

[11] Re R, Pellegrini N, Proteggente A, Pannala A, Yang M, Rice Evans C. (1999) Antioxidant activity applying an improvement ABTS radical cation decoloration assay. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 26, 1231-1237.

[12] Zampini I, Ordoñez R, Isla MI. (2010) Autographic assay for the rapid detection of antioxidant capacity of liquid and semisolid pharmaceutical formulations using ABTS+immobilized by gel entrapment. AAPSPharm Sci Technology, 11, 1159-1163.

[13] Nieva Moreno MI, Isla MI, Cudmani NG, Vattuone MA, Sampietro AR. (1999) Screening of antibacterial activity of Amaicha del Valle (Tucumán, Argentina) propolis. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 68, 97-102.

[14] CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, formerly National Committee for Clinical and Laboratory Standards, NCCLS). (2006) Methods M27-A2 and M-38A, 2nd ed.; Wayne, PA. Ed.; Vol. 22 (15), 1-29; (16), 1-27.

Free Radical Scavenging Activity, Determination of Phenolic Compounds and HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS Profile of Campomanesia adamantium Leaves

Aislan C.R.F. Pascoala, Carlos Augusto Ehrenfriedb, Marcos N. Eberlinc, Maria Élida Alves Stefanellob and Marcos José Salvadora,* aPharmacy School, Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

bDepartament of Chemistry, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, 81531-990, Brazil

cThomson Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Institute of Chemistry, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

[email protected]


Numerous diseases are induced by free radicals via lipid peroxidation, protein peroxidation and DNA damage. It has been known that a variety of plant extracts have antioxidant activity to scavenge free radicals. Campomanesia adamantium (Myrtaceae) is a small tree with edible fruit, commonly known as “guavira” or “guabiroba-branca” that has been used in popular medicine as depurative anti-diarrhoeic, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic and to liver diseases. In this study, the antiradical activities of ethanol crude extract of the leaves from C. adamantium and the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions obtained by partition, were determined using DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical) and ORAC-FL (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) assays. The total phenol content in the samples was estimated by Folin Ciocalteau method (FCR). In an initial evaluation the ethanolic extract and the fractions ethyl acetate and butanol have shown levels of phenolic compounds between 15- 74 mg GAE/g in FCR assay, showed DPPH free-radical scavenging activity with SC50 in the range of 7.77-13.35 µg/mL and demonstrated antioxidant capacity between 2648-3502 µmol TE/g of extract and fractions in the ORAC-FL assay. HPLC-DAD and ESI-MS analysis revealed were that the extract of the leaves of C. adamantium studied appears to contain flavonoids as major constituents, including isoquercetrin and quercetin that exhibit proven antioxidant activity. Keywords: radical scavenger, DPPH, Myrtaceae, Campomanesia adamantium, HPLC- DAD/ESI-MS. The organic and inorganic molecules and atoms that contain one or more unpaired electrons, with independent existence, can be classified as free radicals [1]. Free radicals are responsible for lipid peroxydation occurred during production and storage of nutrients [2], and are directly involved in some cancers, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes [3], Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis and others human pathologies [4]. The radicals O2• and their reduction products, H2O2, and especially the radical OH•, are some of those responsible for cell damage by promoting lipid peroxidation, with damage to mitochondria, lysosomes and cell membrane itself, leading to cell death. In animal, different biochemical routes involve free radicals formation, but in these cases defense mechanisms against the oxidative process propagation are also involved. These mechanisms do not show a constant efficacy [3]. However, exogenous antioxidant compounds act as an auxiliary function in this defense processes. Antioxidants block the free radicals formation through different ways and establish important control function in some oxidative stress diseases [4] and in food conservation [5]. Thus, new natural antioxidants, mainly those isolated

from medicinal plants, acquire great pharmacological importance and the research on these classes of compounds has been increased in the last years [6-8]. The genus Campomanesia (Myrtaceae) comprises around 30 species of shrubs or small trees, aromatic, distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical South America [9]. Most species produce edible fruits that are widely used to make liqueur, juices and jellies [10]. Several species are considered medicinal and have been used in folk medicine mainly against digestive problems and diarrhea [11]. Campomanesia adamantium Camb. is a small tree, known as “guavira” or “guabiroba-branca”, largely spread in Brazil. It can be found growing wild in the Midwest, Southeast and South regions of Brazil, and frequently is cultivated in home gardens for its fruits [12]. Its leaves and fruits have been used against rheumatism, liver and urinary diseases [13]. Previous phytochemical studies in Campomanesia have reported the identification of quercetin, myricetin and rutin in C. xanthocarpa [14] and β-triketone type compounds, named champanones in C. lineatifolia [15]. Recently it was reported the isolation of


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flavonoids in C. adamantium [16,17] as well as the antioxidant activity of extracts and fractions [17,18]. However, these studies were carried on specimens growing in Midwest region that can have a chemical profile different from those growing in other regions of country. These facts prompted us to investigate the antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extract and fractions of C. adamantium from South region of Brazil and, characterize the major constituents responsible for antioxidant activity. The samples analyzed in the present study showed a total phenol content in the range of 15.78 – 74.83 mg GAE/g extract (Table 1). Phenolic compounds are recognized as one of most important class responsible for antioxidant capacity in plants [19]. Ethanol extract, ethyl acetate and butanol fractions exhibited antioxidant activity concentration-dependent in DPPH assays, with SC50 varying from 7.77 to 13.35 µg/mL. The highest antioxidant activity was exhibited by butanol fraction. In ORAC-FL kinetic assay, based on hydrogen transfer mechanism, the extracts showed antioxidant capacity between 2648 and 3502 µM of TROLOX equivalent per gram of extract (Table 1) In comparison with previous studies [16,18], our extracts and fractions showed higher antioxidant activity and there were chemical differences between C. adamantium leaves analyzed in this study of South region of Brazil and C. adamantium growing in Midwest region of Brazil [16-18]. The chalcones were previously reported in C. adamantium growing in Midwest region of Brazil [16], while the flavonols isoquercetrin, myricetin, quercitrin and quercetin are being reported for the first time in this plant. Myricetin had been already identified in C. xanthocarpa [14]. Table 1: Total phenol content and antioxidant capacity by the DPPH and ORAC assays of ethanol extract of Campomanesia adamantium leaves and its fractions ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and butanolic (BuOH).

*Experimental positive controls.

-: not evaluated. aMean (%RSD, relative standard deviation) of triplicate assays. bTotal phenolics data expressed as milligrams of gallic acid equivalents per gram (mg of GAE/g) of extract or fractions. cDPPH assay data expressed as SC50 (concentration that inhibited 50% of the DPPH radical) in micrograms per milliliters (µg/mL). dORAC data expressed as micromol of Trolox equivalents per gram (µmol of TE/g) of extract or fractions. eORAC data expressed as relative Trolox equivalent, mean (%RSD, relative standard deviation) of triplicate assays

The ESI-MS technique has been applied in the analyze of several complex matrix, such as wine, oil, beer and extracts from natural sources. In this study, the samples presented high content of phenolic compounds and were

analyzed by ESI (-)-MS [20-21]. The analysis by ESI(-)-MS showed that major constituents in the samples of C. adamantium leaves, including the crude ethanol extract and TLC yellow spot sample, were coincided with the mass of the chalcones 2’,4’-dihydroxy-6’-methoxy-chalcone, 2’,4’-dihydroxy-5’-methyl-6’- methoxychalcone and, 2’,4’-dihydroxy-3’,5’-dimethyl-6’-methoxychalcone together with the flavonols isoquercitrin, quercitrin, quercetin, and myricetin (Table 2, Figure 1). Structural analysis of single ions in the mass spectra from extract and fractions were performed by ESI-MS/MS. The compounds were identified by comparison of their ESI-MS/MS fragmentation spectra with fragmentation spectra of the authentic standard samples (compounds 1, 5, 6 and 7) and with literature data [21]. To confirm the presence of the flavonoid isoquercitrin were made the HPLC-UV/DAD analysis of standard isoquercitrin and of the crude extract. We noted the formation of a peak with a retention time coincident with the same pattern and absorption peaks. Furthermore, the identity of major constituent isoquercitrin was also confirmed through co-elution with authentic standard sample. These results are enough to confirm that one of the major constituents and the responsible for antioxidant activity is the flavonoid isoquercitrin, since that the same mass was also found in the analysis of TLC spot yellow sample that was reveled with solution of DPPH. Thus, the results of the present study suggest that the antioxidant capacity of C. adamantium is correlated to the content of flavonoids, including isoquercitrin, which is present in the crude ethanolic extract and TLC spot yellow sample. Moreover, this activity presents a positive correlation with the total phenolic soluble content measured by FCR assay. However, further investigations are necessary to confirm if this plant and its constituents represent a source of powerful antioxidant products useful in vivo. Experimental

Plant Material: The leaves of Campomanesia adamantium were collected from wild specimen growing in Curitiba, Paraná State, Brazil (25o25’48’’ S, 49o16’15’’ W) at 934 m of altitude. The plant was identified by Dr. Armando Carlos Cervi, which deposited a voucher specimen at the herbarium of UFPR (UPCB 60503). Extracts preparation: The powder was subjected to the process of maceration with ethanol at a ratio of powder / solvent of 1:5 (weight / volume). The ethanolic crude extract was suspended in methanol/water (9:1, v/v) and fractionated by liquid-liquid extraction with hexane and ethyl acetate. The hydroalcoholic phase remaining was partitioned with n-butanol and water to afford an n-butanol-soluble portion. This procedure yielded the fractions of hexane (Hex), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and butanol (BuOH).

Samples Phenol contenta

(mg of GAE/g)b DPPH assay,

SC50a (µg/mL)c

ORAC a (µmol TE/g) d

Ethanol extract 35.04(5.48) 13.00 (5.03) 2648 (1.77) d EtOAc fraction 74.83(10.77) 13.35 (16.85) 3150 (6.66) d BuOH fraction 15.78(15.29) 7.77 (5.00) 3502 (5.71) d Quercetin* - 12.80 (2.00) 5.62 (0.89) e Isoquercitrin* - - 5.21 (1.60) e Trolox* - 2.55 (1.40) -

Antioxidant activity and HPLC/ESI-MS profile of C. adamantium Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 971

Table 2: Compounds identified in ethanol extract from the leaves of Campomanesia adamantium and its fractions using ESI(-)-MS/MS.

+: detected; -: not detected

Radical scavenging activity by DPPH assay: The antiradical activity of extract and fractions of EtOAc and BuOH were determined using the stable 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) [22]. Fifty microliters of a 250 μM DPPH solution in ethanol was added to a range of solutions of different concentrations (seven serial 3-fold dilutions to give a final range of 100 to 1.6 μg mL-1) of extracts to be tested in ethanol (10μL). Absorbance at 517 nm was determined 20 min after the addition of each of the compounds tested, and the percentage of activity was calculated. Quercetin and Trolox were used as positive controls. The antioxidant activity was expressed as the SC50 value in μg mL-1. All samples were tested in triplicate.

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity by ORAC assay: The antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extract and AcOEt and BuOH fractions were assessed through the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) [23]. In this assay, measures the antioxidant scavenging activity against peroxyl radicals using fluorescein as the fluorescent probe. ORAC assays were carried out on a Synergy-2 multi-detection microplate reader system. The temperature of the incubator was set at 37 °C. The data were expressed as micromoles of Trolox equivalents (TE) per gram of extract or fraction on dry basis (μmol of TE/g) and as relative Trolox equivalent for pure compounds. The analyses were performed in triplicate.

Quantitative determination of total soluble phenols: The dried ethanolic extract and its EtOAc and BuOH fractions, dissolved in ethanol, were analyzed for their total soluble phenolic content according to the Folin-Ciocalteau colorimetric method [24]. The results were expressed as milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of

extract or fraction (mg of GAE/g). The analyses were performed in triplicate. Separation and analysis of antioxidants on thin layer chromatography: The sample was applied on TLC and eluted with BAW (butanol: acetic acid: water), after that we sprayed with a solution 500 µg/mL of DPPH in ethanol. After solvent evaporation (about 5 minutes), the potential anti-free radical was verified by the appearance of yellow spots on violet background, according to the described in the literature [25]. The yellow spot was scraped, dissolved in methanol, filtered and this was called TLC yellow spot sample. HPLC-UV/DAD/ESI-MS profile: The TLC yellow spot sample, crude extracts and fractions of C. adamantium leaves were diluted in a solution containing 50% (v/v) methanol (chromatographic grade), 50% (v/v) deionized water and, 0.5% of ammonium hydroxide (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). In the fingerprinting ESI-MS analysis, the general conditions were: source temperature of 100 oC, capillary voltage of 3.0 kV and cone voltage of 30 V. For measurements were performed according to the described in the literature [20,21]. Structural analysis of single ions in the mass spectra from extract and fractions were performed by ESI-MS/MS. The ion with the m/z of interest was selected and submitted to 25 eV collisions with argon in the collision quadrupole. The compounds were identified by comparison of their ESI-MS/MS fragmentation spectra. HPLC analyses were conducted using a RP-18 column (Lichrospher“, 5 μm, 225\4.6 mm, Merck). The mobile phase consisted of a linear gradient combining solvent A

ESI-MS ions (m/z) Compounds Campomanesia adamantium samples Deprotonated ions [M-H]- m/z MS/MS ions m/z Ethanol

extract EtOAc fraction

BuOH fraction

TLC yellow spot

1 + + + + 463 25 eV: 463→301, 255, 151 2 + + - + 447 25 eV: 447→301 3 + - - + 317 25 eV: 317→287 4 + + + - 301 25 eV: 301→271, 255 5 + + - + 269 25 eV: 269→253, 226, 198, 184, 177, 165, 150, 139,

122, 108, 97, 94, 65 6 + + - + 283 25 eV: 283→268, 240, 198, 179, 164, 136, 108, 79 7 + + - + 297 25 eV: 297→282, 254, 191, 178, 163, 150, 134, 122

Figure 1: Structure of the compounds identified in ethanol extract from the leaves of Campomanesia adamantium of the South of Brazil and its fractions

1 Isoquercitrin R1=H, R2=glucose 2 Quercitrin R1=H, R2=rhamnose 3 Myricetin R1=OH, R2=H 4 Quercetin R1=R2=H

5 2’,4’-dihydroxy-6’-methoxychalcone R3=R4=H 6 2’,4’-dihydroxy-5’-methyl-6’-methoxychalcone R3=CH3, R4=H 7 2’,4’-dihydroxy-3’,5’-dimethyl-6’-methoxychalcone R3=R4=CH3

OOH

OH O

OR2

OH

R1

OH

R3

OOH

R4

OH O

CH3

972 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Pascoal et al.

(acetonitrile) and solvent B (water/acetic acid, 99:1, v/v, pH 2.88) as follows: 15% A (15 min), 15-40% A (5 min), 40-60% A (5 min), 60-100% A (5 min), 100-15% A (5 min), 15% A (5 min). The analyses were carried out in triplicate at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/ min and an injection volume of 20 μL. UV-DAD detector was set to record between 200 and 600 nm, and the UV chromatograms were measured at 254 and 350 nm. The samples were crude extract and isoquercitrin standard sample at 1mg/mL.

Statistical analysis: Data are reported as mean (%RSD, relative standard deviation) of triplicate determinations. The statistical analyses were carried out using the Microsoft Excel 2002 software package (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA) Acknowledgments - The authors are grateful to Dr. Armando C. Cervi (UFPR) for plant identification and to FAPESP, CNPq and FAEPEX-UNICAMP for financial support.

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peel and seed extracts using in vitro models. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 50, 81-86 [3] Yildrin A, Mavi A, Kara AA. (2001) Determination of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Rumex crispus L. extracts.

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 49, 4083-4089. [4] Allison AC, Cacabelos R, Lombardi VRM, Álvarez XA, Vigo C. (2001) Celastrol, a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory

drug, as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 25, 1341-1357.

[5] Skerget M, Kotnik P, Hadolin M, Hras AR, Simonic M, Knez Z. (2005) Phenols, proanthocyanidinis, flavones and flavonols in some plant materials and their antioxidant activities. Food Chemistry, 89, 191-198.

[6] Rodrigues PA, Morais SM, Marques MMM, Aguiar LA, Nunes-Pinheiro DCS. (2008) Atividade antioxidante e gastroprotetora de produtos naturais em animais experimentais. Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais, 10, 116-123.

[7] Ndhlala AR, Moyo M, Van Staden J. (2010) Natural Antioxidants: Fascinating or Mythical Biomolecules? Molecules, 15, 6905-6930.

[8] Wojcik M, Burzynska-Pedziwiatr I, Wozniak LA. (2010) A review of natural and synthetic antioxidants important for health and longevityy. Current Medicinal Chemistry, 17, 3262-3288.

[9] Landrum LR, Kawazaki ML. (1997) The genera of Myrtaceae in Brazil: an illustrated synoptic treatment and identification keys. Brittonia, 49, 508-536.

[10] Lorenzi H, Bacher L, Lacerda M, Sartori S. (2006) Frutas Brasileiras e exóticas cultivadas: de consumo in natura, 1st Ed., Instituto Plantarum de Estudos da Flora, Nova Odessa, Brazil, 186 p.

[11] Cruz AVM, Kaplan MAC. (2004) Medicinal uses of species from Myrtaceae and Melastomataceae families in Brazil. Floresta e Ambiente, 11, 47-52.

[12] Legrand CD, Klein RM. (1977) Mirtáceas – Campomanesia. In: Flora Ilustrada Catarinense. Reitz R. (Ed), Herbário Barbosa Rodrigues, Itajaí, Brazil, 604-607.

[13] Scalon SPQ, Lima AL, Scalon-Filho H, Vieira MC. (2009) Seed germination and initial growth of Campomanesia adamantium Camb. seedlings: effects of washing, temperature and biostimulant. Revista Brasileira de Sementes, 31, 96-103.

[14] Schmeda-Hirschmann G. (1995) Flavonoids from Calycorectes, Campomanesia, Eugenia and Hexachlamys species. Fitoterapia, 66, 373-374.

[15] Bonilla A, Duque C, Garzon C, Takaishi Y, Yamaguchi K, Hara N, Fujimoto, Y. (2005) Champanones, yellow pigments from the seeds of champa (Campomanesia lineatifolia). Phytochemistry, 66, 1736-1740.

[16] Coutinho ID, Coelho RG, Kataoka VMF, Honda NK, Silva JRM, Vilegas W, Cardoso CAL. (2008) Determination of phenolic compounds and evaluation of antioxidant capacity of Campomanesia adamantium leaves. Eclética química, 33, 53-60.

[17] Pavan FR, Leite CQF, Coelho RG, Coutinho ID, Honda NK, Cardoso CAL, Vilegas W, Leite SRA, Sato DN. (2009) Evaluation of anti-mycobacterium tuberculosis activity of Campomanesia adamantium (Myrtaceae). Química Nova, 32, 1222-1226.

[18] Coutinho ID, Kataoka VMF, Honda NK, Coelho RG, Vieira MC, Cardoso CAL. (2010) The influence of seasonal variation in levels of flavonoids and antioxidant activity of the leaves of Campomanesia adamantium. Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy, 20, 322-327.

[19] Pietta PG, Simonetti P, Gardana C, Mauri PL. (2000) Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) of Ginkgo biloba flavonol and Camellia sinensis catechin metabolites. Journal of Pharmaceutical Biomedical Analysis, 23, 223-226.

[20] Roesler R, Catharino R, Malta L, Eberlin MN, Pastore G. (2007) Antioxidant activity of Annona crassiflora: Characterization of major components by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Food Chemistry, 104, 1048-1054.

[21] Tiberti LA, Yariwake JH, Ndjoko K, Hostettmann K. (2007) On-line LC/UV/MS analysis of flavonols in the three apple varieties most widely cultivated in Brazil. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical. Society, 18, 100-105.

[22] Cuendet M, Hostettman K, Potterat O, Dyatmko W. (1997) Iridoid glucosides with free radical scavenging properties from Fagraea blumei. Helvetica Chimica Acta, 80, 1144-1152.

[23] Salvador MJ, Ferreira EO, Mertens-Talcott SU, Castro WV, Butterweck V, Derendorf H, Dias DA. (2006) Isolation and HPLC quantitative analysis of antioxidant flavonoids from Alternanthera tenella Colla. Zeitschrift Fur Naturforschung C, 61, 19-25.

[24] Piccinelli AL, De Simone F, Passi S, Rastrelli L. (2004) Phenolic constituents and antioxidant activity of Wendita calysina leaves (burrito), a folk Paraguayan tea. Journal Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 52, 5863-5868.

[25] Mohamad H, Abas F, Permana D, Lajis NH, Ali AM, Sukari MA, Hin TYY, Kikuzaki H, Nakatani N (2004) DPPH free radical scavenger components from the fruits of Alpinia raffesiana Wall. Ex. Bak. (Zingiberaceae). Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C, 59, 811-815.

Activity of Cuban Propolis Extracts on Leishmania amazonensis and Trichomonas vaginalis Lianet Monzote Fidalgo*, Idalia Sariego Ramosa, Marley García Parraa, Osmany Cuesta-Rubiob, Ingrid Márquez Hernándezb, Mercedes Campo Fernándezb, Anna Lisa Piccinellic and Luca Rastrellic aParasitology Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kourí”, Havana City, Cuba bDepartment of Pharmacy, Institute of Pharmacy and Food, University of Havana, Cuba cDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Via Ponte Don Melillo 84135, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy [email protected]


In this paper we analyzed the antiprotozoal effects of eighteen Cuban propolis extracts (brown, red and yellow type) collected in different geographic areas, using Leishmania amazonensis (as a model of intracellular protozoa) and Trichomonas vaginalis (as a model of extracellular protozoa). All evaluated propolis extracts caused inhibitory effect on intracellular amastigotes of L. amazonensis. However, cytotoxicity on peritoneal macrophages from BALB/c mice was observed. Only five samples decreased the viability of T. vaginalis trophozoites at concentrations lower than 10 g/mL. No correlation between the type of propolis and antiprotozoal activity was found. Cuban propolis extracts demonstrated activity against both intracellular and extracellular protozoa model, as well as the potentialities of propolis as a natural source to obtain new antiprotozoal agents. Keywords: Propolis, antiprotozoal, Leishmania amazonensis, Trichomonas vaginalis. Propolis is a resinous hive product that honey bees produce employing parts of plants as buds, leaves, exudates or resins, and beeswax. Its chemical composition is highly variable and depends greatly according to the plants found around the hive [1a]. Cuban propolis has shown significant differences in its chemical composition with respect to propolis from temperate zone. They also vary significantly among themselves and can be clearly divided into three groups: brown Cuban propolis type (BCP type) has shown to be rich in polyisoprenylated benzophenones, red type (RCP type), containing isoflavonoids as the main constituents, and yellow type (YCP type) with a variety of triterpenoids as the major chemical components [1b]. Diverse pharmacological activities of propolis have been explored, such as: anti-inflammatory and anti-tumoral effect [2a]. Up to now, antimicrobial properties have been widely investigated; including antibacterial [2b], antiviral [2c] and antifungal activity [2d]. Antiparasitic activities have also been reported against Trypanosoma cruzi [2e] and Giardia duodenalis [2f]. However, only a few studies have been carried out for the antileishmanial [3a-3c] and antitrichomonocidal activity [4a]. In Cuba, propolis has displayed therapeutic potentialities as antipsoriatic, anti-inflamatory, analgesic [4b], antibacterial [4c] and antitumoral [4d]. Scarce reports can be found about its antiparasitic activity. Thus, its biological potentiality has not been explored totally.

In the present work, we analyzed the antiprotozoal effects of brown, red and yellow Cuban propolis extracts collected in different geographic areas, using Leishmania amazonensis (as a model of intracellular protozoa) and Trichomonas vaginalis (as a model of extracellular protozoa. Leishmania are protozoa that cause leishmaniasis [5a]. The disease is endemic in 88 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia and Southern Europe. Approximately 350 million people are thought to be at risk with a worldwide prevalence of 12 million and annual incidence of 2 million new cases [5b].

All propolis samples caused inhibition growth against L. amazonensis, with IC50 < 27 µg/mL; although a high toxicity on peritoneal macrophage from BALB/c mice was observed (Table 1). The better selectivity was showed by BCP-1, a propolis sample that exhibited a high content of nemorosone [1b]. However, other BCP samples containing also high content of this compound exhibited higher values of IC50. BCP-16 and RCP-29 showed unspecific action. In general, RCP was the most active (IC50 average of 13.9 µg/mL) and the most cytotoxic (CC50 average of 37.2 µg/mL). There are a number of studies documenting the antiprotozoal activity of flavonoids [6a-6e]. These compounds have shown activity against Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma cruzi or Giardia intestinalis. Four flavonoids detected in RCP including biochanin A, 3,8-dihydroxy-9-methoxy-pterocarpan, formononetin, and liquiritigenin have shown


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Table 1: Antileishmanial activity and cytotoxicity of Cuban propolis extracts.

Propolis extracts IC50†

(µg/mL) ± SD‡ CC50

§

(µg/mL) ± SD‡ SIƒ

BCP-1 7.8 ± 0.9 51.8 ± 4.5 7 BCP-4 23.4 ± 0.9 70.0 ± 4.4 3 BCP-5 21.2 ± 2.4 52.0 ± 0.3 2 BCP-16 33.9 ± 1.7 43.8 ± 0.7 1 BCP-17 22.5 ± 0.7 47.3 ± 0.8 2 RCP-9 12.5 ± 1.8 25.0 ± 1.5 2 RCP-29 17.8 ± 1.5 23.8 ± 2.3 1 RCP-35 14.6 ± 0.7 50.1 ± 2.2 3 RCP-37 11.8 ± 1.5 47.7 ± 2.2 4 RCP-45 17.2 ± 2.7 51.2 ± 0.1 3 RCP-72 9.5 ± 1.2 25.6 ± 0.2 3 YCP-2 13.3 ± 2.2 50.7 ± 1.5 4 YCP-18 20.2 ± 0.3 31.7 ± 3.2 2 YCP-39 13.0 ± 0.5 31.8 ± 2.4 2 YCP-41 19.9 ± 2.2 52.1 ± 0.4 3 YCP-48 15.4 ± 1.1 50.4 ± 0.4 3 YCP-50 20.7 ± 1.4 91.0 ± 0.6 4 YCP-60 26.4 ± 0.4 66.0 ± 4.1 3

Pentamidine 1.3 ± 0.1 11.7 ± 1.7 9 †: IC50: Concentration of drug that caused 50 % of inhibition growth. ‡: SD: Standard deviation. §: CC50: Concentration of drug that caused 50 % of mortality.ƒ: SI: Selectivity index = CC50 / IC50

inhibitory activity against parasites mentioned above. These observations correlate well with the in vitro studies obtained herein due to these flavonoids are among the major components of RCP. Previously, Ayres et al. reported the activity of Brazilian propolis on L. amazonensis promastigotes and amastigote form [3a]. In this sense, Machado et al. compared the antileishmanial activity of Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis against four different species of Leishmania (L. amazonensis, L. braziliensis and L. chagasi from New World and L. major from Old World). They also observed significant differences in the leishmanicidal activities with IC50 values that ranged from 2.8 to 229.3 µg/mL [3b]. Duran et al., demonstrated that propolis samples from Turkey also reduced the proliferation of L. tropica promastigotes [3c]. It is very interesting to note that all these results were obtained employing propolis samples from different geographical origins containing very dissimilar chemical constituents. On the other hand, T. vaginalis is a flagellated protist that causes trichomoniasis, a common but overlooked sexually transmitted human infection, with approximately 170 million cases occurring annually worldwide [7]. Only five propolis extracts showed activity against T. vaginalis; while thirteen were inactive (Table 2). A high contrast was observed since only some samples belonging to each propolis type caused an important inhibition growth of trophozoites. In this sense, YCP samples were the most active, which should be corroborate using in vivo models of infection. A previous report demonstrated that propolis possesses in vitro anti-trichomonas activity [4a]. In both protozoa, the reference drug caused better activity, which is logical since the pentamidine and metronidazol are pure compounds and propolis extracts are complex mixture of substances. Chemical studies revealed that BCP has shown nemorosone as the main component and

Table 2: Activity of Cuban propolis extracts on T. vaginalis.

Propolis extracts IC50† (µg/mL) ± SD‡

BCP-1 6.2 ± 0.3 BCP-4 > 200 BCP-5 > 200 BCP-16 > 200 BCP-17 > 200 RCP-9 > 200 RCP-29 8.9 ± 0.1 RCP-35 > 200 RCP-37 > 200 RCP-45 > 200 RCP-72 > 200 YCP-2 3.7 ± 0.7 YCP-18 9.1 ± 0.8 YCP-39 > 200 YCP-41 > 200 YCP-48 3.2 ± 0.1 YCP-50 > 200 YCP-60 > 200

Metronidazol 0.4 0.04

†: IC50: Concentration of drug that caused 50 % of inhibition growth. ‡: SD: Standard deviation. contained also other prenylated benzophenone derivatives such as garcinielliptone I, hyperibone B and propolone B, C and D [8a]. RCP is composed by isoliquiritigenin, liquiritigenin, biocanin A, formononetin, vestitol, neovestitol, isosativan, medicarpin, homopterocarpin and vesticarpan, mainly [8b]; while YCP samples are rich in triterpenoids including lanosterol, - and -amyrin, -amyrin acetate, -amyrone, germanicol and germanicol acetate, lupeol and lupeol acetate, cycloartenol, lanosterol acetate and 24-methylene-9,19-cyclolanostan-3β-ol [8c].

Although Cuban propolis has been characterized and grouped into three different types according its main chemical components, we could not correlate its antiparasitic activity against both protozoa with the chemical composition. Promissory results were found in some samples of each type of propolis, but this activity has not been shown by all samples belonging to a same group. This apparent contradiction can indicate that the antiparasitic activity can be associated to compounds that are present in a minor percentage in the sample or due to interaction of different compounds that act as synergistic and enhance the effects or interact as antagonist, which provoke the lost of activity in some samples of the same type. This unresolved situation is very common in products that exist in the nature as complex mixture of substances, which can interact and change the expected pharmacological activity. Further experiments with the compounds obtained from all types of propolis can be developed in order to elucidate the responsible of the high antiparasitic activity showed in some cases.

In conclusion, some Cuban propolis extracts exhibited activity against both intracellular and extracellular protozoa model. Our results corroborated the high potentiality of propolis as a natural source of new antiprotozoal agents with a wide spectrum of activity. This study also confirms that both the chemical composition of propolis and its biological potentiality should be evaluated during the quality control process of this natural product.

Activity of propolis on Leishmania and Trichomonas Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 975

Experimental

Propolis samples: Eighteen samples of Cuban propolis were provided by “La Estación Experimental Apícola”, Havana, Cuba, between October 2003 and December 2004. Samples were collected in nine provinces of Cuba including Eastern, Central and Western regions (Table 3). Propolis samples were extracted by maceration with methanol (10 mL, 3 times) for 1 hour at room temperature employing agitation. Extracts were filtered on paper filters and the solvent was evaporated at 40ºC under reduced pressure to obtain dry extracts. Each sample was characterized and classified using a combination of NMR, HPLC-PDA and HPLC-ESI/MS techniques as previously was described [1b]. Cuban propolis samples used in this study, their origin and classification are reported in table 3. The extracts were dissolved in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO, BDH, Poole, England) at 20 mg/mL and stored at 4ºC. Table 3: Cuban propolis samples used in this study, classification and origin.

Samples Province (Municipality) Samples Province (Municipality)

BCP-1 Ciudad Habana (Jardín Botánico)

RCP-39 Pinar del Río (Candelaria)

BCP-4 Granma (Buey Arriba) RCP-41 Pinar del Río (Bahía Honda)

BCP-5 Guantánamo (Imías) RCP-48 Matanzas (Unión de Reyes)

BCP-16 Las Tunas (Puerto Padre) RCP-50 Matanzas (Unión de Reyes)

BCP-17 Guantánamo (Salvador) RCP-60 Holguín (Báguanos)

RCP-9 Pinar del Río (Cabo de San Antonio)

YCP-2 Ciudad Habana (Jardín Botánico)

RCP-29 Villa Clara (Manicaragua) YCP-18 Ciudad Habana (Jardín Botánico)

RCP-35 Pinar del Río (La Coloma)

YCP-39 Pinar del Río (Candelaria)

RCP-37 Pinar del Río (Güanes) YCP-41 Pinar del Río (Bahía Honda)

RCP-45 Matanzas (Jagüey Grande)

YCP-48 Matanzas (Unión de Reyes)

RCP-72 Ciego de Ávila YCP-50 Matanzas (Unión de Reyes)

RCP-2 Ciudad Habana (Jardín Botánico)

YCP-60 Holguín (Báguanos)

RCP-18 Ciudad Habana (Jardín Botánico)

Parasites culture: The strain of L. amazonensis (MHOM/77BR/LTB0016) was kindly provided by the Department of Immunology, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil. The parasites were routinely isolated from mouse lesions and maintained as promastigotes at 26ºC in Schneider’s medium (Sigma Chem Co, St. Louis, Mo, US), containing 10% heat-inactivated foetal bovine serum (Sigma), 200 U penicillin/mL and 200 g streptomycin/mL (Sigma). The parasites were not used after the fifth passage. For examining the effect of these propolis samples on T. vaginalis, the isolate C173, axenized from a symptomatic woman suffering of trichomoniasis, was used [9a]. Parasites were cultured in TYI-S-33 supplemented with heat-inactivated bovine serum at final concentration of 10%, under anaerobic conditions, at 37C.

Activity of propolis samples on L. amazonensis amastigotes: Peritoneal macrophages were harvested from normal BALB/c mice in RPMI medium (Sigma) and plated at 106/mL in Lab-Tek 16 chamber slides (Costar, Naperville, US) and incubated at 37ºC and 5% CO2 for 2 hours. Non-adherent cells were removed and stationary-phase L. amazonensis promastigotes were added at a 4:1 parasite/macrophage ratio. The cultures were incubated for 4 hours and washed to remove free parasites. Propolis was added at a concentration ranging from 100 to 12.5 g/mL for 48 hours. The cultures were then fixed with absolute methanol, stained with Giemsa, and examined under light microscopy [9b]. The number of intracellular amastigotes was determined by counting the amastigotes residents on 100 macrophage per each sample, and the results were expressed as percent of reduction of the infection rate (%IR) in comparison to that of the controls [%IR = 100 – (infection rate of the treated culture/infection rate of the untreated culture x 100)]. The infection rates were obtained by multiplying the percentage of infected macrophages by the number of amastigotes per infected macrophages [9c]. Cytotoxicity of propolis samples on macrophage: Peritoneal macrophages were collected from normal BALB/c mice in RPMI medium supplemented with antibiotics, and seeded at 30000 cell/well. The cells were incubated for 2 hours at 37ºC in 5% CO2. Non-adherent cells were removed and dilutions of propolis in 1 L DMSO were added to 200 L medium at 10% HFBS and antibiotics. The macrophages were treated by eight concentrations of the product ranging from 200 to 1.7 g/mL for 48 hours. The viability was determined using the colorimetric assay with 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) (SIGMA, St. Louis, MO, USA). MTT solutions were prepared at 5 mg/mL, filtered and sterilized at the moment of use, 15 L was added to each well. After incubation for 4 hours the formazan crystals were dissolved by addition of 100 L DMSO. The optical density was determined using an EMS Reader MF Version 2.4-0, at a test wavelength of 560 nm and a reference wavelength of 630 nm [9d]. Activity of propolis samples on T. vaginalis trophozoites: The assay was performed in 96 well microtiter plates. First, 99 µL of TYI-S-33 medium were added, followed of 1µL of the dilution of the propolis in DMSO. The assayed concentrations of the propolis varied from 200 until 1.6 µg/mL. Finally 100 µL of the parasites suspension (25 x 104 trichomonas/mL) were seeded. Plates were incubated during 46 hours, in a candle jar at 37C. Each product concentration and controls were tested in quadruplicate and the experiment was repeated three times. To determine the viability of the parasites the medium was aspirated and replace by one lacking ascorbic acid and L-cysteine, followed of the addition of 20 µL of MTT to each well. MTT was prepared as explained above. After a period of incubation of 2 hours, the plates were centrifuged (5 min,

976 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Monzote et al.

800 x g), and the supernatant medium was aspirated from the wells, as completely as possible, without disturbing the formazan crystals or the cells on the plastic surface. DMSO (100 µL) was added to each well to dissolve the formazan crystals, the plates were shaked for 1 min and immediately the optical density was determined at 560 nm, using 630 nm as the reference wavelength.

Statistical analysis: The 50 % inhibition concentration (IC50) value was determined from the lineal concentration-response curves in each parasite evaluation. The 50 % cytotoxic concentration (CC50) was obtained from dose-response curves fit to data by means of the equation for the sigmoidal Emax model [9e]. Selectivity indices (SI) were then calculated through of division the CC50 for host cells by the IC50 for L. amazonensis [9f].

References

[1] (a) Bankova V, De Castro SL, Marcucci MC. Propolis: recent advances in chemistry plant and plant origin. (2000) Apidologie, 31, 3-15; (b) Cuesta-Rubio O, Piccinelli AL, Fernandez MC, Hernández IM, Rosado A, Rastrelli L. (2007) Chemical characterization of Cuban propolis by HPLC-PDA, HPLC-MS, and NMR: the brown, red, and yellow Cuban varieties of propolis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 55, 7502-7509.

[2] (a) De Castro SL. Propolis: biological and pharmacological activities. Therapeutic uses of this bee-product. (2001) Annal Review of Biomedical Science, 3, 49-83; (b) Duran N, Koc A, Oksuz H, Tamer C, Akaydin Y, Kozlu T, Celik M. (2006) The protective role of topical propolis on experimental keratitis via nitric oxide levels in rabbits. Molecular Cellular Biochemistry, 281, 153-61; (c) Gekker G, Hu S, Spivak M, Lokensgard JR, Peterson PK. (2005) Anti-HIV-1 activity of propolis in CD4(+) lymphocyte and microglial cell cultures. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 102, 158-63; (d) Sforcin JM, Fernandez A, Lopes CA, Funari SR, Bankova V. (2001) Seasonal effect of Brazilian propolis on Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis. Journal of Venomous Animal Toxins, 7, 139-144; (e) Dantas AP, Salomão K, Barbosa HS, De Castro SL. (2006) The effect of Bulgarian propolis against Trypanosoma cruzi and during its interaction with host cells. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 101, 207-211; (f) Freitas FS, Shinohara L, Sforcin JM, Guimara S. (2006) In vitro effects of propolis on Giardia duodenalis trophozoites. Phytomedicine, 13, 170–175.

[3] (a) Ayres DC, Marcucci MC, Giorgio S. (2007) Effects of Brazilian propolis on Leishmania amazonensis. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 102, 215-20; (b) Machado GM, Leon LL, De Castro SL. (2007) Activity of Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis against different species of Leishmania. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; 102, 73-77; (c) Duran G, Duran N, Culha G, Ozcan B, Oztas H, Ozer B. (2008) In vitro antileishmanial activity of Adana propolis samples on Leishmania tropica: a preliminary study. Parasitology Research, 102, 1217-1225.

[4] (a) Xu BH, Shi MZ. (2006) An in vitro test of propolis against Trichomonas vaginalis. Zhongguo Ji Sheng Chong Xue Yu Ji Sheng Chong Bing Za Zhi, 24, 477-8; (b) Ledón N, Casacó A, González R, Merino N, González A, Tolón Z. (1996) Efectos antipsoriásico, antiinflamatorio y analgésico del propóleo rojo colectado en Cuba. Revista Cubana Farmacia, 30, 28-32; (c) Cuesta O, Cuellar A, Rojas N, Aquino R, Velez H, Rastrelli L. (1999) A polyisoprenylated benzophenone from Cuban propolis. Journal of Natural Products, 62, 1013-1015; (d) Popolo A, Piccinelli AL, Morello S, Cuesta-Rubio O, Sorrentino R, Rastrelli L, Pinto A. (2009) Antiproliferative activity of Brown Cuban Propolis extract on Human Breast Cancer Cells. Natural Product Communications, 4, 1711-1716.

[5] (a) Bailey MS, Lockwood DNJ. (2007) Cutaneous leishmaniasis. Clinics in Dermatology, 25, 203-211; (b) Desjeux P. (2001) The increase in risk factors for leishmaniasis worldwide. Transactions Royal of Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 95, 239-243.

[6] (a) Khaomek P, Ichino C, Ishiyama A, Sekiguchi H, Namatame M, Ruangrungsi N, Saifah E, Kiyohara H, Otoguro K, Omura S, Yamada H. (2008) In vitro antimalarial activity of prenylated flavonoids from Erythrina fusca. Journal Naturat Medicine, 62, 217-220; (b) Sartorelli P, Carvalho CS, Reimão JQ, Ferreira MJ, Tempone AG. (2009) Antiparasitic activity of biochanin A, an isolated isoflavone from fruits of Cassia fistula (Leguminosae). Parasitology Research, 104, 311-314; (c) Khan IA, Avery MA, Burandt CL, Goins DK, Mikell JR, Nash TE, Azadegan A, Walker LA. (2000) Antigiardial activity of isoflavones from Dalbergia frutescens bark. Journal of Natural Products, 63, 1414-1416; (d) Takahashi M, Fuchino H, Sekita S, Satake M, Kiuchi F. (2006) In vitro leishmanicidal constituents of Millettia pendula. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 54, 915-917; (e) Kraft C, Jenett-Siems K, Siems K, Gupta MP, Bienzle U, Eich E. (2000) Antiplasmodial activity of isoflavones from Andira inermis. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 73, 131-135.

[7] Global Prevalence and incidence of selected curable sexually transmitted infections (World Health Organization, Geneva, 2001), www.who.int/docstore/hiv/GRST/006.htm

[8] (a) Márquez IH, Campo M, Cuesta-Rubio O, Piccinelli AL, Rastrelli, L. (2005) Polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives from Cuban propolis. Journal of Natural Products, 68, 931-934; (b) Piccinelli AL, Cuesta-Rubio O, Márquez IH, Campo MF, de Simone F, Rastrelli L. (2005) Isoflavonoids isolated from Cuban propolis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53, 9010-9016; (c) Márquez IH, Cuesta-Rubio O, Campo MF, Rosado A, Montes de Oca RP, Piccinelli AL, Rastrelli L. (2010) Studies on the constituents of Yellow Cuban Propolis: GC-MS determination of triterpenoids and flavonoids. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58, 4725–4730.

[9] (a) Rojas L, Fraga J, Sariego I. (2004) Genetic variability between Trichomonas vaginalis isolates and correlation with clinical presentation. Infection Genetic and Evolution, 4, 5-8; (b) Caio E, Lima D, Kaplan MAC, Nazareth M, Rossi-Bergmann B. (1999) Selective effect of 2’,6’-dihydroxy-4’methoxychalcone isolated from Piper aduncum on Leishmania amazonensis. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 43, 1234-1241; (c) Delorenzi JC, Attias M, Gattass CR, Andrade M, Rezende C, Da Cunha A, Henriques A, Bou-Habib DC, Saraiva BEM. (2001) Antileishmanial activity of an indole alkaloid from Peschiera australis. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 45, 1349-1354; (d) Sladowski D, Steer SJ, Clothier RH, Balls M. (1993) An improve MTT assay. Journal of Immunology Methods, 157, 203-207; (e) Bodley AL, McGarry MW, Shapiro TA. (1995) Drug cytotoxicity assay for African Trypanosomes and Leishmania Species. Journal Infection Diseases, 172, 1157-1159; (f) Tiuman TS, Ueda-Nakamura T, Cortez DAG, Dias Filho BP, Morgado-Díaz JA, de Souza W, Nakamura CV. (2005) Antileishmanial activity of parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Tanacetum parthenium. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 49, 176-182.

Antioxidant Capacity and Phenolic Content of four Myrtaceae Plants of the South of Brazil Marcos José Salvador*a, Caroline C. de Lourençoa, Nathalia Luiza Andreazzaa, Aislan C.R.F. Pascoala and Maria Élida Alves Stefanellob aInstituto de Biologia, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Curso de Farmácia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brasil

bDepartamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), 81531-990, Curitiba, PR, Brasil [email protected]


Antioxidant compounds can be useful to prevent several degenerative diseases or as preservative in food and toiletries. Species of the Myrtaceae family are able to accumulate phenolic substances and those are closely related to the antioxidant activity due to their capacity to scavenge free radicals, protect against lipid peroxidation and quench reactive oxygen species. These facts prompted us to investigate the antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extracts of the leaves of four Myrtaceae plants collected of the south of Brazil: Eugenia chlorophylla O. Berg., Eugenia pyriformis Cambess, Myrcia laruotteana Cambess and Myrcia obtecta (Berg) Kiacrsk. The antioxidant potential was performed using the DPPH (a single electron transfer reaction based assay) and ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, a hydrogen atom transfer reaction based assay) assays. Moreover, the total soluble phenolic content was also measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. A preliminary evaluation of the ethanolic extracts of these Myrtaceae plants revealed high levels of phenolic compounds (343.7-429.3 mg GAE) as well as high antioxidant activity according to both methods (1338 a 3785 µmol of TE/g of extract in ORAC and SC50 in the range of 1.70 and 33.7 µg/mL in the DPPH). The highest antioxidant activity obtained by DPPH assay was exhibited by ethanol extract of the leaves of E. pyriformis (1.70 g/mL), followed by extracts of M. laruotteana (3.38 g/mL) and M. obtecta (6.66 g/mL). In comparison with controls, in the DPPH assay, the extract of E. pyriformis was more active than trolox (SC50 = 2.55 g/mL), while the extracts of M. laruotteana and M. obtecta were more actives than quercetin (SC50 = 7.80 g/mL). In the ORAC assay, all species also show good antioxidant capacity (1000 µmol of TE/g). Initial HPLC-UV/DAD and ESI-MS confirmed the presence of phenolic acids constituents in the ethanol extracts. The results indicate the presence of compounds possessing promising antioxidant/free-radical scavenging activity in the analyzed extracts of Myrcia and Eugenia plants of the south of Brazil.

Keywords: Myrtaceae, Myrcia, Eugenia, radical scavenger, DPPH, HPLC-UV/DAD, ESI-MS. Antioxidant compounds can be useful to prevent several degenerative diseases or as preservative in food and toiletries products. Currently there is an increasing interest in searching natural antioxidants to replace synthetic compounds, which can be dangerous for human health. Thus many plants have been screened for a possible source of non-toxic and effective antioxidants [1-3]. Compounds with antioxidant activity are generally phenolics and the free radical-scavenging is a suitable method for preliminary search of them in plants [4]. Myrtaceae is an important family in Brazil, with more than 1000 species over the country. Myrcia and Eugenia, with around 400 and 350 species, respectively, are the major genera [5]. Many species produce edible fruits and, some have an essential ecological role in the conservation of Brazilian biodiversity [6]. Screening for antioxidant activity of Myrtaceae has been focused on its edible fruits [7-9], with only one report on leaves [10]. The aim of this work was evaluate the antioxidant capacity of leaves of Eugenia chlorophylla O. Berg., Eugenia pyriformis Cambess, Myrcia laruotteana and Myrcia obtecta (Berg) Kiacrsk.

The selected plants are trees, growing in Southern region of Brazil [11]. Previous studies have reported the essential oil composition of these plants (12-17], identification of the flavonoids myricitrin, rutin and quercitrin in the leaves of E. pyriformis [18] and the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the fruits of E. pyriformis [7,19-20]. No phytochemical reports were found on E. chlorophylla, M. laruotteana and M obtecta. In this study, the phytochemical screening showed the presence of triterpenes/sterols, phenolic compounds, tannins and saponins in all samples. Theses results are in agreement with previous reports of flavonoids, triterpenes and phenolic compounds in Eugenia and Myrcia [21-26]. The ethanol extracts showed a total phenol content in the range of 343.7-429.3 mg GAE/ g extract (Table 1). Phenolic compounds (including simple phenols, tannins and flavonoids) are recognized as one of most important class responsible for antioxidant capacity in plants [27].


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All samples exhibited antioxidant activity concentration-dependent in DPPH assays, with SC50 varying from 1.70 to 33.72 μg/mL. In DPPH assays the highest antioxidant activity was exhibited by ethanol extract of the leaves of E. pyriformis (1.70 μg/mL), followed by extracts of M. laruotteana (3.38 μg/mL), M. obtecta (6.66 μg/mL) and E. chlorophylla (33.72 μg/mL). In comparison with controls, the extract of E. pyriformis was more active than trolox (SC50 = 2.55 μg/mL), while the extracts of M. laruotteana and M. obtecta were more actives than quercetin (SC50 = 7.80 μg/mL) (Table 1). Moreover, in ORAC-FL kinetic assay the extracts showed a good antioxidant capacity with value between 1338.58 and 3785.70 µM of Trolox equivalent per gram of extract (µM of TE/g). In accordance to literature data, samples with values ≥1000.00 µM of TE/g can be considered samples with good antioxidant capacity in this assay [28,29]. In ORAC-FL assays, highest antioxidant activity was exhibited by ethanol extract of the leaves of M. laruotteana, followed by extracts of E. chlorophylla, E. pyriformis and M. obtecta (Table 1).

Table 1: Total phenol content and antioxidant capacity by the DPPH and ORAC assays of ethanol extracts of Myrtaceae plants.

aMean value (%RSD, relative standard deviation) of triplicate assays. bTotal phenolics data expressed as milligrams of gallic acid equivalents per gram (mg of GAE/g). cDPPH assay data expressed as SC50 (concentration that inhibited 50% of the DPPH radical) in micrograms per milliliters (µg/mL). dORAC data expressed as micromol of Trolox equivalents per gram (µmol of TE/g). eORAC data expressed as relative Trolox equivalent, mean (%RSD, relative standard deviation) of triplicate assays. *Experimental positive controls.

-: not evaluated.

The differences in best antioxidant capacity of the species studied among the two assays happens due to differences of sensibility and on the basis of the chemical reactions involved in each test: ORAC is a hydrogen atom transfer reaction based assay (HAT) and DPPH is a single electron transfer reaction based assay (ET). It is apparent that the hydrogen atom transfer reaction is a key step in the radical chain reaction. Therefore, the HAT based method is more relevant to the radical chain-breaking antioxidant capacity. Overall, there are a multitude of ET-based assays for measuring the reducing capacity of antioxidants. The assays are carried out at acidic (FRAP and DPPH), neutral (TEAC and ORAC), or basic (total phenols assay by Folin-Ciocalteau reagent, FCR assay) conditions. The pH values have an important effect on the reducing capacity of antioxidants. At acidic conditions, the reducing capacity

may be suppressed due to protonation on antioxidant compounds, whereas in basic conditions, proton dissociation of phenolic compounds would enhance a sample’s reducing capacity [28,29]. Thus, the results documented in this study demonstrated that all extracts analyzed showed antioxidant capacity (measured by DPPH and ORAC assays) and this activity present a positive correlation with the total phenolic content (measured by FCR assay). Moreover the caffeic and chlorogenic acids presented considerable antioxidant (Table 1) capacity and were detected in some of the extracts studied (Table 2). Phenolic compounds has been presented as important substances in combating free radical production mainly due to its chemical structure and redox capacity, allowing them to act as reducing agents, hydrogen donating, neutralizing free radicals [30], chelating of transition metals and inhibiting lipid peroxidation [31]. In biological systems this capacity confers pharmacological properties to this compounds that act preventively against diseases related to oxidative stress. The results for E. pyriformis corroborate previous work that reported the inhibition of xanthine oxidase, an enzyme responsible by super-oxide anion production [32] and antioxidant activity of fruits [7,19]. The ESI-MS fingerprints technique with direct infusion [33-35] was used to characterize the presence of compounds with potent free-radical scavenging activity in this work. The extracts were analyzed by direct insertion both in the negative and positive ion modes. However, ESI(+)-MS fingerprints produce by far the most characteristic mass spectra; hence only the ESI(-)-MS data will be presented and discussed. This method in the negative ion mode provides a sensitive and selective method for the identification of polar organic compounds with acidic sites, such as the phenolic organic acids. Deprotonated forms of the compounds of interest were then selected and dissociated and their ESI-MS/MS were compared to those of standards. Chlorogenic acids are esters of trans-cinnamic acids (coumaric, caffeic, ferulic, and 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic) with quinic acid. The trans-cinnamic acids can be esterified at one or more of the hydroxyls at positions 1, 3, 4, and 5 of quinic acid, originating series of positional isomers. In HPLC-UV/DAD and ESI-MS analysis the Myrcia samples presented m/z 353 as base peaks (bp) in negative ionization mode mass spectra and UV spectra characteristics of caffeoylquinic derivatives (UV max: ≈298 and 325 nm) which, when taken together, suggest positional isomers of a quinic acid (QA) esterified with a single caffeoyl (CAF) unit. The product ion spectra obtained by negative ion MS/MS for precursor ions m/z 353 were different from each other, and comparison with

Sample Ethanol extract

Phenol contenta (mg of GAE/g of extract

or fraction)b

DPPH assay, SC50a

(µg/mL)c ORAC assaya

(µmol of TE/g)d

Eugenia chlorophylla 429.3 (5.2) 33.72 (2.25) 2197.20 (1.12)Eugenia pyriformis 396.2 (4.5) 1.70 (1.19) 1456.50 (4.92)Myrcia laruotteana 401.4 (2.5) 3.38 (3.38) 3785.70 (2.67)

Myrcia obtecta 343.7 (4.9) 6.66 (5.30) 1338.58 (4.85)Quercetin* - 7.80 (2.00) 5.62 (0.89)e

Caffeic acid* - 10.80 (2.60) 2.86 (2.02)e

Chlorogenic acid* - 12.15 (1.80) 2.65 (1.50)e Trolox* - 2.55 (1.40) -

Antioxidant capacity of four Myrtaceae plants Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 979

Figure 1: ESI-MS fingerprints of ethanol extracts from the leaves of four Myrtaceae plants of the South of Brazil (a: Eugenia chlorophylla; b: Eugenia pyriformis; c: Myrcia obtecta; d: Myrcia laruotteana). Table 2: Compounds identified in ethanol extracts from the leaves of four Myrtaceae plants of the South of Brazil using ESI(-)-MS/MS.

ESI-MS ions (m/z) Compound Myrtaceae plants Deprotonated ions [M-H]- m/z MS/MS ions m/z ECE EPE MOE MLE Caffeic acid - + + + 179 15 eV: 179→135 Quinic acid + + + + 191 25 eV: 191→173, 127, 111, 93, 85 Ferulic acid - + - - 195 15 eV: 193→178, 149, 134 Chlorogenic acid (5-O-(E)-caffeoylquinic acid) - - + + 353 15 eV: 353→191, 179, 173 +: detected; -: not detected. (ECE: Eugenia chlorophylla; EPE: Eugenia pyriformis; MOE: Myrcia obtecta; MLE: Myrcia laruotteana).

Caffeic acid

Ferrulic acid

Quinic acid

Chlorogenic acid

Figure 2: Phenolic organic acids identified in antioxidant ethanol extracts from the leaves of four Myrtaceae plants of the South of Brazil. the caffeoylquinic acids (CQA) identification keys [36,37] led to the individualization of three CQA positional isomers. The product ion spectrum for m/z 353 showed m/z 191 (bp) and m/z 179 at 4% ri. The greater relative intensity of m/z 179 in the product ion spectrum, led to the

identification of peak as 5-O-(E)-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA). Furthermore, the identity of this compound was also confirmed through co-elution with a 5-CQA authentic standard. In the ESI-MS fingerprints of the samples of Myrtaceae extracts (Figure 1, Table 2) the following components were identified in their deprotonated forms: caffeic acid (m/z 179), quinic acid (m/z 191), ferulic acid (m/z 193), and chlorogenic acid 5-CQA (m/z 353), figure 2. The content of phenolic compounds in the extracts, possibly could explain the high antioxidant activity verified for these extracts of Myrtaceae.

The investigation by direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) provided important information about bioactive components present in the Myrtaceae extracts, that are widely reported as potent antioxidants, probably explaining the antioxidant activity of the studied extracts [35, 38-40].


Experimental

Plant Material: The leaves of Eugenia chlorophylla O. Berg. (I), Eugenia pyriformis Cambess (II), Myrcia laruotteana Cambess (III) and Myrcia obtecta (Berg) Kiacrsk. (IV) were collected in Curitiba, Paraná State, Brazil. Voucher specimens were deposited at the herbarium of Universidade Federal do Paraná (UPCB 53304, 16741, 53303 and 60504, respectively). Extracts preparation and chemical analysis: Dried and powdered leaves of each plant (50 g) were extracted with ethanol (3 X 300 mL) at room temperature. The solvent was removed under reduced pressure to give the crude extracts (E. chlorophylla 5.4%, E. pyriformis 5.7%, M. laruottena 14.1% and M. obtecta 21.4%), which were used in DPPH assays. Phytochemical Analysis: Phytochemical tests for sterols/triterpenes, phenolic compounds, tannins, saponins and alkaloids were carried on according usual methodology [41]. Quantitative determination of total soluble phenols: The extracts, dissolved in methanol, were analyzed for their total soluble phenolic content according to the Folin-Ciocalteau colorimetric method [42-43], using gallic acid as reference. The results were expressed as milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of extract or fraction (mg of GAE/g). The analyses were performed in triplicate. Radical scavenging activity using the DPPH method: The antiradical activity of extracts was determined using the stable 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) [44]. The test was performed in 96-well microplates. Fifty microliters of a 250 μM DPPH solution in MeOH was added to a range of solutions of different concentrations (seven serial 3-fold dilutions to give a final range of 100 to 1.6 μg mL-1) of extracts to be tested in MeOH (10μL). Absorbance at 517 nm was determined 30 min after the addition of each of the compounds tested, and the percentage of activity was calculated. Quercetin and 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid (Trolox) were used as positive controls. All samples were tested in triplicate. The antioxidant activity of each sample was expressed as the SC50 value, which is the concentration in μg mL-1of each extract that scavenged 50% of the DPPH radicals. All of the results are expressed as mean of three different trials. Evaluation of antioxidant capacity by ORAC assay: The antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extract was assessed through the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. This assay measures antioxidant scavenging activity against peroxyl radicals using fluorescein as the fluorescent probe. ORAC assays were carried out on a Synergy HT multi-detection microplate reader system. The temperature of the incubator was set at

37°C. The procedure was carried out according to the method established by Ou and co-workers [29] with modifications [45]. The data were expressed as micromoles of Trolox equivalents (TE) per gram of extract on dry basis (μmol of TE/g) and as relative Trolox equivalent for pure compounds. Quercetin and 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid (Trolox) were used as positive controls. The analyses were performed in triplicate. HPLC analysis: HPLC analyses were conducted using a RP-18 column (Lichrospher, 5 μm, 225\4.6 mm, Merck). The mobile phase consisted of a linear gradient combining solvent A (acetonitrile) and solvent B (water/acetic acid, 99:1, v/v, pH 2.88) as follows: 15% A (15 min), 15-40% A (5 min), 40-60% A (5 min), 60-100% A (5 min), 100-15% A (5 min), 15% A (5 min). The analyses were carried out in triplicate at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/ min and an injection volume of 20 μL. UV-DAD detector was set to record between 200 and 600 nm, and the UV chromatograms were measured at 254 and 330 nm. The samples were analyzed at 1 mg/mL. The standard sample of quinic acid and chlorogenic acid (5-O-(E) caffeoylquinic acid) were also analyzed and then used for co-elution with authentic standard. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry fingerprinting: Crude extracts of Myrtaceae plants were diluted in a solution containing 50% (v/v) chromatographic grade methanol and 50% (v/v) deionized water and 0.5% of ammonium hydroxide (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). In the fingerprinting ESI-MS analysis, the general conditions were: source temperature of 100 oC, capillary voltage of 3.0 kV and cone voltage of 30 V. For measurements in the negative ion mode, ESI(-)-MS, 10.0 L of concentrated NH4OH were added to the sample mixture having a total volume of 1000 L yielding 0.1% as final concentration. For measurements in the positive ion mode ESI(+)-MS, 10.0 L of concentrated formic acid were added giving a final concentration of 0.1%. ESI-MS was preformed by direct infusion with a flow rate of 10 L min mL-1 using a syringe pump (Harvard Apparatus). Structural analysis of single ions in the mass spectra from extract was performed by ESI-MS/MS. The ion with the m/z of interest was selected and submitted to 15–45 eV collisions with argon in the collision quadrupole. The collision gas pressure was optimized to produce extensive fragmentation of the ion under investigation. The compounds were identified by comparison of their ESI-MS/MS fragmentation spectra with literature data [33-35]. Statistical analysis: Data are reported as mean (%RSD, relative standard deviation) of triplicate determinations. The statistical analyses were carried out using the Microsoft Excel 2002 software package (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA)

Antioxidant capacity of four Myrtaceae plants Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 981

Acknowledgments - The authors are grateful to Dr. Armando C. Cervi, from Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Paraná, for plant identification

and to FAPESP, CNPq and FAEPEX-UNICAMP for financial support.

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(Phyllostachys edulis). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 49, 4646–4655. [41] Harbone JB. (1998) “Phytochemical Methods. A guide to modern techniques of plant analysis”, Chapman & Hall, London. [42] Piccinelli AL, De Simone F, Passi S, Rastrelli L. (2004) Phenolic constituents and antioxidant activity of Wendita calysina leaves

(burrito), a folk Paraguayan tea. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52, 5863-5868. [43] Aquino SD, Angioni M, Schirru S, Agabbio M. (2001) Quality and physiological changes of film packaged ‘Malvasio’ mandarins

during long term storage. Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie 34, 206-214. [44] Cuendet M, Hostettman K, Potterat O, Dyatmko W. (1997) Iridoid glucosides with free radical scavenging properties from

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Cytotoxicity of Active Ingredients Extracted from Plants of the Brazilian “Cerrado” Veronica CG Soaresa, Cibele Bonacorsib, Alana LB Andrelad, Lígia V Bortolotie, Stepheny C de Campose, Fábio HR Fagundesd,e, Márcio Piovanie, Camila A Cotrima, Wagner Vilegasc and Marcos H Toyamaf aInstitute of Biology, UNICAMP, Campinas, Sao Paulo, 13083-862. Brazil bDepartment of Microbiology, UNESP, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, 14801-902. Brazil cInstitute of Chemistry,UNESP, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, 14801-970. Brazil dDepartment of Pharmacy, Unianchieta, Jundiai, Sao Paulo, 13207-270. Brazil eDepartment of Pharmacy, UNIP, Jundiai, Sao Paulo, 13214-525.Brazil fInstitute of Biology, UNESP, Campus Litoral Paulista, Sao Vicente, Sao Paulo,11330-150. Brazil

[email protected]


Cytotoxicity assays are needed for the screening of natural products with potential anti-inflammatory. The purpose of this study was to compare the basal cytotoxicity of active ingredients extracted from plants of the Brazilian “cerrado”. The viability was assayed with the neutral red uptake assay in Mac Coy cells after 24h of exposition. The dose evaluated was 50 µg/µL. The test substances were: cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, vannilic acid, homogentisic acid, scandenin, palustric acid, diosgenin, cabraleone. Studies of cytotoxicity demonstrated that all active compounds evaluated have low toxicity in vitro. The substances showed cell viability above 60% for the concentration used. However, the cinnamic acid, sacandenin and palustric acid showed highest toxicity with a 50% reduction in cell viability for the dose of 50 µg/µL. Cytotoxic screening results are useful to estimate the best concentrations of those compounds with potential anti-inflammatory without their cause cell death. Keywords: Natural products, Cytotoxicity, Brazilian Cerrado. The Cerrado is one of the world's threatened biodiversity hotspots [1a]. About 60% of its vegetation has already been removed [1b] and the remaining areas are isolated in forest fragments [2a]. Due to the devastation many natural compounds with potential biological activities were lost.

Screenings of natural compounds using cytotoxicity assays offer the advantage of evaluate several compounds simultaneously. The comparative sensitivity of cells to toxicity tests that evaluate direct-acting and indirect-acting cytotoxicants may be important to explaining their mode of action [2b]. Natural products with low cytotoxicity activities constitute an excellent alternative search for complementary treatments for inflammatory disease.

The values obtained from the cytotoxicity test performed on cells MacCoy can be used as parameters for doses used in trials of anti-inflammatory activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the basal cytotoxicity of active compounds extracted from plants of the Brazilian “cerrado” and find those whose toxicity is low to further anti-inflammatory assays. Due to this purpose dose of 50 µg was used. The percentage of cell viability was established for each of the compounds evaluated and the results are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Viability was performed with the neutral red uptake assay in Mac Coy cells after 24h of exposure to the test substances.

Natural Products (50 µg/mL nm (±SD)* (%)Control + 0.519 ± 0.010 100%Cinnamic acid 0.155 ± 0,015 30% Scandenin 0.207 ± 0.012 40% Palustric acid 0.249 ± 0.016 48% Homogentisic acid 0.259 ± 0.013 50% Diosgenin 0.404 ± 0.014 78% p-coumaric acid 0.415 ± 0.013 30% Cabraleone 0.337 ± 0.012 65% Syringic acid 0.337 ± 0.015 65% Vannilic acid 0.363 ± 0.016 70% Chlorogenic acid 0.415 ± 0.013 80%

* Values presented with standard deviation.

The compounds showed cell viability above 60% for the concentration used. However, the cinnamic acid, scandenin and palustric acid showed highest toxicity with a 50% reduction in cell viability for the dose of 50 µg.

The natural products obtained from the Brazilian cerrado show large potential for pharmaceutical product development. Some researches have shown the use of these compounds as an alternative for the treatment of cancer [3]. In addition, the potential of these products mighty be exploited to treat other inflammatory disorders such as physiological dysfunctions. Several xanthones,


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coumarins, terpenoids and phenolic compounds were isolated from plants Brazilian cerrado and with remarkable activities including antiHIV [4], antibacterial [5], trypanocidal [6], and anticancer against the cell lines KM12 (colon adenocarcinoma), U251 (glioma), PC3 (prostate), and K562 and HL60 (leukemia) [7-9a]. Our results agree with those previously reported. According to the results, all the products have shown low cytotoxicity.

The differences between the chemical structures of the substances evaluated, was the determining factor for difference of cytotoxicity. Complex structures (diosgenin, cabraleone) showed less toxic, possibly because these compounds are not able to go into de cells. Structures with coumarin ring were the most toxic (cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid) Glycoside radical (acid chlorogenic) usually shows low toxicity due to the presence of hydroxyls that make difficult the transport of the compounds to into the cells. Natural compounds with low toxicity and potential as anti-inflammatory drugs have been a source of research, once the search for new drugs with fewer side effects has increased significantly.

Experimental

Chemical and culture media: Neutral red was purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). Fetal bovine serum (FBS) was obtained from Cultilab (Campinas, SP, Brazil). Dulbecco´s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) was obtained from Instituto Adolfo Lutz (São Paulo, SP Brazil). Cell Line: Mac Coy mouse fibroblast cell line (CCL1; American Type Culture Collection, USA, from Cell

Culture Section of the Adolfo Lutz Institute, São Paulo, Brazil) was maintained in Eagle medium with 7.5% fetal bovine serum at 37ºC.

Cytotoxicity assay: After trypsinization, 0.2 mL aliquots of Eagle, containing approximately 104-105 cells/mL were transferred to 96-well microtiter tissue-culture plates and incubated at 37°C. After 24 hr, the medium was removed and the cells were covered in unmodified medium (control) or in medium modified with various concentrations of the test compound. After incubating for another 24 hr, the medium was removed and the plates were prepared for the neutral red (NR) assay [9b]. After brief agitation, the plates were transferred to a microplate reader (Spectra (Shell) & Rainbow (Shell) Reader, Tecan Austria GMBH) and the optical density of each well at 620 nm was measured, using a 540 nm filter. All experiments were performed at least four times, using three wells for each concentration of chemical tested. The cytotoxicity data was standardized by determining absorbance and calculating the corresponding chemical concentrations [9c].

Compounds: The test substances were obtained after maceration of different plants species from Brazilian cerrado, resulted in hexane, dichloromethane, ethanol and hydro-ethanol extracts, depending on extraction procedures. The substances, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, chloro-genic acid, syringic acid, vannilic acid, homogentisic acid, scandenin, palustric acid, diosgenin, cabraleone were obtained using methods described by dos Santos [9d]. Acknowledgments - Financial Support: FAPESP, CNPq.

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[9] (a) Suffredini IB, Paciência MLB, Varella AD, Younes RN. (2007) In vitro cytotoxic activity of Brazilian plant extracts against human lung, colon and CNS solid cancers and leukemia. Fitoterapia, 78, 223–226; (b) Borenfreund E, Puerner JA. (1985) Toxicity determined in vitro by morphological alterations and neutral red absorption. Toxicology Letters, 24, 119-124; (c) Barile FA. (1994) In vitro cytotoxicology. New York: CRC Press, 96p; (d) dos Santos LC, da Silva MA, Rodrigues CM, Carbone V, Napolitano A, Bassarello C, Mari A, Piacente S, Pizza C, Vilegas W. (2009) Characterization of flavonoid and naphthopyranone derivatives from Eriocaulon ligulatum using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Natural Product Communications, 4, 1651-1656.

Propagation and Conservation of Native Forest Genetic Resources of Medicinal Use by Means of in vitro and ex vitro Techniques Sandra Sharry, Marina Adema, María A. Basiglio Cordal, Blanca Villarreal, Noelia Nikoloff, Valentina Briones and Walter Abedini Centro Experimental de Propagación Vegetativa (C.E.ProVe)Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. CICPBA. Diagonal 113 N° 469 (1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina [email protected]


In Argentina, there are numerous native species which are an important source of natural products and which are traditionally used in medicinal applications. Some of these species are going through an intense extraction process in their natural habitat which may affect their genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to establish vegetative propagation systems for three native forestal species of medicinal interest. This will allow the rapid obtainment of plants to preserve the germplasm. This study included the following species which are widely used in folk medicine and its applications: Erythrina crista-galli or “seibo” (astringent, used for its cicatrizant properties and for bronchiolitic problems); Acacia caven or “espinillo” (antirheumatic, digestive, diuretic and with cicatrizant properties) and Salix humboldtiana or “sauce criollo” (antipyretic, sedative, antispasmodic, astringent). The methodology included the micropropagation of seibo, macro and micropropagation of Salix humboldtiana and the somatic embryogenesis of Acacia caven. The protocol for seibo regeneration was adjusted from nodal sections of seedlings which were obtained from seeds germinated in vitro. The macropropagation through rooted cuttings of “sauce criollo” was achieved and complete plants of this same species were obtained through both direct and indirect organogenesis using in vitro cultures. The somatic embryogenesis for Acacia caven was optimized and this led to obtain a high percentage of embryos in different stages of development. We are able to support the conservation of native forest resources of medicinal use by means of vegetative propagation techniques. Keywords: Micropropagation, native forest species, macropropagation, somatic embryogenesis. Medicinal plants have been used since ancient times as new therapeutic agents and their uses have been transmitted from generation to generation, either in oral or written forms, up to the present, and this is known as the “traditional therapeutic practice”, the use of extracts or active principles of plants, which has been essential to take care of people’s health in the first level of attention. The developed countries as well as the developing ones have increased the use of medicinal plants or their products [1]. Medicinal plants have played a vital role in societies including Argentina for centuries. Most of these plants are wild plants which were available in some forest ecosystems. With the intensity of development and clearing of land many of these wild plants used for medicinal purposes are no longer available in their natural habitat. Now we can address this environmental situation by ex situ conservation and propagation of medicinal plants for its sustainable utilization using new and traditional techniques.

In Buenos Aires province (Argentina), there are different native forest species of medicinal interest and some of them are Salix humboldtiana or “sauce criollo”, Erythrina crista-galli or “seibo” and Acacia caven or “espinillo”. Salix humboldtiana is distributed in river banks or islands, sometimes in sandy places, too. The different parts of the plant contain salicin. The bark is used in folk medicine as a quinine substitute (it contains glucosides). The decoction of this bark is used “against intermittent fever” (rubber). The bark is bitter and has febrifugal, tonic, sedative and spasmodic properties. It is also astringent [2]. Erythrina crista-galli has several important pharmacological uses. It is an astringent and a sedative to heal wounds (3% of bark decoction). It is antihemorrhoidal and used for vaginal lavage in candidiasis cases (bark). It is disinfectant and deodorant, it has cicatrizant properties and it is ahemostatic, emollient for colds, coughs, catarrh, bronchitis and asthmatic pains (the leaves are smoked in a pipe or rolled up like a cigar). It has narcotic, sedative and hypnotic properties: this is attributed to the most inner part


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of the bark when it is used in an infusion (it contains several alkaloids). This plant is also used for muscular and rheumatic pains (a balm prepared with its bark and flowers in 70% of alcohol). The leaves are used as antihemorrhoidal for external use and they are antiseptic and astringent [2]. Acacia caven or “espinillo” is a medicinal plant that lives in South America and it is not tropical. It grows in the arid highlands in the centre and north of the country as well as on the islands in the Paraná River, in very humid areas. The parts of the plant which are used for medicinal purposes are its leaves, stems and seeds. The leaves of this medicinal plant have cicatrizant properties, and the seeds are used as a digestive. The leaves and stems have antiphlogistic and sedative properties (http//www.tusplantasmedicinales.com/). Vegetative reproduction keeps the parental genotype and its characteristics are preserved in its off springs. Thus, the genotypes of selected trees which are propagated vegetatively reproduce identically and form clones. Grafts, cuttings and layering are the traditional methods of vegetative propagation [3]. In the last few years the use of in vitro culture techniques in trees has facilitated the clonation of select phenotypes, the preservation and the manipulation of vegetal material. These techniques allow the multiplication of clones in a short period of time, in any season of the year and in a limited space [4]. By using these techniques, the long time it takes a plant to reach maturity, the low viability of seeds, and the difficulties some species have to propagate by traditional methods can be reduced [5]. Besides, hundreds of clones from the same species can be reproduced in vitro. Later, they are taken to a plant nursery and then, they are cultivated in fields where they will develop and finally become a product with a specific economic interest (http://www.biologia.org/). The aim of this study was to establish vegetative propagation systems for three native trees of medicinal interest: Salix humboldtiana (sauce criollo), Erythrina crista-galli (seibo) and Acacia caven (espinillo). This will help to obtain plants to conserve germplasm in a rapid way. Macropropagation of Salix humboldtiana: The substrate with the mixture of soil, perlite and vermiculite (6:3, 5:0, 5) was adequate to place the Salix humboldtiana cuttings. The cuttings rooted 15 days after they were placed in water. 90% of the cuttings which were treated with IBA rooted, and 75% of them originated complete plants (Figure 1). In vitro culture of Salix humboldtiana: The culture media used for callus, shoot and root induction were adequate. Callus with de novo shoots (indirect organogenesis) were obtained approximately 35 days after the leaves were cultured. The shoots formed roots 25 days later. In this way, vitroplants were obtained and they became acclimatized successfully.

Figure 1 a-b: Macropropagation of Salix humboldtiana. Plants obtained by rooting of cuttings.

Figure 2a-f: In vitro culture of Salix humboldtiana. a. In vitro seedlings of Salix humboldtiana obtained from immature embryos. b. Calli obtained from the seedling leaves. c. Shoots formed from calli. d. Shoots from nodal sections. e. Induction of roots from microcuttings. f. Whole plants under greenhouse conditions (acclimatization and hardening).

The percentage of contamination of the nodal sections which grew from fully grown plants was of 80-90% when they were treated with 50% of sodium hypochlorite during 25 minutes and of 60% when they were treated with 50% of sodium hypochlorite during 45 minutes. The WPM culture medium without growth regulators was the best one to obtain preformed shoots and whole plantlets. The first shoots were observed approximately 20 days later, and the roots, 25-30 days after they were cultured in vitro. The culture media with BAP promote the formation of callus on the base of the microcuttings. This callus turned out to be organogenic and the production of shoots was induced by using cytokinins (Figure 2). Micropropagation of Erythrina crista-galli : Growth of the preformed shoots was induced in MS with 1 mg.L-1

of BAP and 0.5 mg.L-1 of NAA. These shoots were subcultured in a WPM medium with 0.1 mg.L-1 of IBA where they elongated. Whole plants were obtained in a WPM rooting medium with 0.1 mg.L-1 of NAA. These plants were acclimatized under controlled light and temperature conditions (16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness, T 21°C +/-2°C) (Figure 3). Somatic embryogenesis of Acacia caven: Direct and indirect somatic embryogenesis were obtained on the

Vegetative propagation systems for three medicinal plants Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 987

Figure 3a-d: Micropropagation of Erythrina crista-galli. a. In vitro seedlings. b. Shoot elongation from stem section. c. Induction of roots. d. Acclimatization of whole plants.

Figure 4a-e: Somatic embryogenesis of Acacia caven.a. Mature fruits of Acacia caven. b y c Seeds in chemical scarification. d. Somatic embryos in a globular and heart stage formed fron cotyledons. e. Embryos in torpedo and cotiledonar stage.

culture medium and the PGR concentration (1 mg.L-1 of 2,4 D and 0.1 mg/L-1 of BAP) used. The somatic embryos occur directly over the cotyledons, on their adaxial side, or indirectly from the formation of the callus after 6 months of culture. Somatic embryos were observed in different stages of development, and this showed there is no synchronicity in their maturation (Figure 4). The somatic embryos in a globular stage were subcultured on MS medium free from PGR, and they germinated there. 30% of them were converted into complete plants. Conclusion: When the vegetative propagation techniques of the species mentioned before are adjusted, they contribute to the preservation of the forest genetic resources. Excellent opportunities for scientific research are generated by installing germplasm banks with a wide range of genetic material. This becomes very important if we consider that these species have a great importance in the medicinal use and among others. These studies pretend to be preliminary stages to achieve the production of native plants of medicinal interest, without the degradation of the genetic base of this resource, which is vitally important for the preservation of the forest resources. Experimental

This study has been developed at the Centro Experimental de Propagación Vegetativa (C.E.Pro.Ve.) in the Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales at Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. In order to reach the objectives, we used vegetative propagation strategies for each species.

For Salix humboldtiana or “sauce criollo”, we used micro and macropropagation systems. Macropropagation was done through the rooting of cuttings with the exogenous application of growth regulators and the optimization of their nutritional requirements. The micropropagation was done through the use of in vitro plant tissue culture techniques, following the direct and indirect organogenic pathways. For Erythrina crista-galli or “seibo” and Acacia caven or “espinillo” we used micropropagation following the pathway of organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. Mother plants which were in good sanitary conditions, optimal growth, and adaptability to the particularities of the local site were chosen as a donating source for the different explants. The methodology included: Macropropagation of Salix humboldtiana: Between 100 and 150 plant stem cuttings with single node each were cut of approximately 30 cm long and from 0.8 to 1.5 cm in diameter. They were treated superficially with 1000 mg. L-1 of Bennomyl fungicide for 3 hours in order to avoid the presence of fungi. After that, the bases of the cuttings were dippedin 50 mg. L-1 of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for 24 hours to induce rooting. The control was not treated with IBA. Then, they were placed in running water for 15 days and they were planted in plastic flowerpots N° 14 (1500 cm3) with a mixture of soil, perlite and vermiculite (6:3.5:0.5) as substrate [6]. The pots were arranged in randomized block design and replicated three times. In vitro culture of Salix humboldtiana: Explants were nodal sections with internodes (microcuttings) from adult plants and leaves from in vitro seedlings obtained from

988 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Sharry et al.

immature embryos. The embryos were surface sterilized with 10% of commercial sodium hypochlorite (55% active chlorine) for 5 minutes in order to place them in vitro, and later obtain the seedlings. The leaves from the seedlings were placed on Murashige & Skoog (MS) [7] basal medium at full strength supplemented with 1 mg.L-1 of benzyl amino purine (BAP) and 0.5 mg.L-1 of naftalen acetic acid (NAA), 2% sucrose and 7.5 g. L-1 agar. Calli were subcultivated on MS medium at full strength with 1mg/L-1 of BAP and 1 mg.L-1 of NAA. The nodal sections or microcuttings of adult “sauce” plant were washed with running water for 5 minutes, and they were surface disinfected with 2000 mg/ L-1 of Bennomyl fungicide for 3 hours and 50% of commercial sodium hypochlorite (55% active chlorine) for 25 and 45 minutes. For shoot induction, the following culture media were tested: Woody Plant Medium (WPM) without growth regulators and WPM supplemented with 0.1; 0.5; 1; 1.5; and 2 mg.L-1 of the 6- benzilaminopurine (BAP). The cultures were maintained in the culture room under a regime of 16 h photoperiod (intensity - 40 µEcm-2/min/sec) at 21°C +/-2°C. All experiments were conducted at least three times with 15 replicates each. Shoots from both explants were placed in a rooting medium with the macro and micronutrients of WPM [8] supplemented with 0.1 mg.L-1 of Indolebutyric acid (IBA) (Table 1). Table 1: Culture media used to the differents explants (leaves and nodal sections) of Salix humboldtiana.

Basal media Growth regulator

mg.L-1 Type of explant

MS complete BAP/ANA 1:0.5 Leaves MS complete BAP/ANA 1:1 Leaves

WPM IBA 0,1 Shoots WPM BAP 0.1; 0.5; 1; 1.5 y 2 Nodal sections WPM - - Nodal sections

Micropropagation of Erythrina crista-galli: In order to induce the shoot proliferation nodal sections from in vitro germinated seedlings were used as source of explants. Different culture media with different growth regulators were tested. The explants were cultured in MS medium in a complete, half, and a quarter concentrations, with the addition of different growth regulators: 1 and 2 mg.L-1 of BAP, 0.5 mg.L-1 of NAA, 1mg.L-1 of IBA, 2% sucrose and 7.5 g.L-1 of agar, alone or combined. Cultures were incubated at 21°C +/-2°C with a 16 hours photoperiod. Somatic embryogenesis of Acacia caven: In this case, cotyledons from mature seeds were used as explants. These seeds were treated with 98% of sulfuric acid in order to scarification for two hours and they were washed with running water for 10 minutes. Then, they were disinfected with 70% of ethanol during 5 minutes and 20% of sodium hypochlorite (55% active chlorine) for 30 minutes. After that, they were washed 3 times with distilled water under a laminar flow hood and they were put in sterile water during 7 days in order to soften the seed coat and obtain the cotyledons. The latter were sowed in a Murashige & Skoog (MS) basal medium, at half concentration of macro and micronutrients, supplemented with 1 or 2 mg.L-1 of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2.4-D) and 0.1 mg.L-1 of BAP, 3% of sucrose and 7.5 g. L-1 agar (Table 2). The cotyledons were placed with their abaxial side in contact with the culture medium and were maintained in the culture room under complete darkness at 21°C +/-2°C. Table 2: Culture media used in the somatic embryogenesis of Acacia caven.

Explants Media

PGR

Condition 2.4D (mg.L-1)

BAP (mg.L-1)

Cotyledon (Control) MS/2 0 0 25 +/- 2°C in the darkness.

Cotyledon MS/2 1 0.1 Cotyledon MS/2 2 0.1

References

[1] García González M. (2000) Plantas medicinales científicamente validadas. II Congreso de Ciencias “Exploraciones dentro y fuera del aula”. Fundación CIENTEC. INBioparque, Santo Domingo, Heredia, Costa Rica.

[2] Lahitte HB, Hurrell JA. (1994) Flora arbórea de la Isla Martín García nativa y naturalizada. Reserva Natural y Cultural. Provincia de Buenos Aires. República Argentina. ISSN 0325-1225. Serie informe Nº 47. 27-229

[3] Hartmann HT, Kester DE. (1998) Propagación de plantas. Ed. CECSA. México, D.F. Parte II. 220, 221-760 [4] Mroginski L, Sansberro P. y Flaschland E. (2010) Herramientas básicas. En: Biotecnología y Mejoramiento Vegetal II. Ediciones

INTA-Eds: Gabriela Levitus, Viviana Echenique, Clara Rubinstein, Esteban Hopp, Luis Mroginski. [5] Neumann K. (2009) Plant Cell and Tissue Culture - A Tool in Biotechnology: Basics and Application (Principles and Practice),

Springer. [6] Abedini W, Adema M, Herrera J, Sharry S, Villarreal B, Nikoloff N. (2008) Recursos Forestales nativos de la provincia de Buenos

Aires: la Biotecnología como una estrategia de conservación. III Congreso Nacional de Conservación de la Biodiversidad. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UBA. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. CD ROM

[7] Murashige T, Skoog F. (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiologia Plantarum, 15, 473-497.

[8] Lloyd G, McCown B. (1980) Commercially feasible micropropagation of mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia, by use of shoot tip culture. Combined Proceedings International Plant Propagation Society, 30, 421–427.

Genotoxic Evaluation of a Methanolic Extract of Verbascum thapsus using Micronucleus Test in Mouse Bone Marrow Franco Matías Escobara, María Carola Sabinia, Silvia Matilde Zanona, Laura Noelia Cariddia, Carlos Eugenio Tonnb and Liliana Inés Sabinia aDepartamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales.Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Río Cuarto, Córdoba. Argentina

bINTEQUI-CONICET, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis. Argentina [email protected]


Verbascum thapsus L. is a medicinal plant and has been used to treat numerous pulmonary diseases, asthma, inflammatory disease, spasmodic coughs and migraine headaches. Several studies have demonstrated that different extracts of V. thapsus present antimicrobial activity. Thus, the goal of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic and cytotoxic activities of a methanolic extract of Verbascum thapsus, using micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow. No toxicity in bone marrow was detected in the extract-treated groups. The methanolic extract of V. thapsus at doses of 100, 300 and 500 mg / kg, did not produce a significant increase in the frequency of MNPCE in bone marrow and neither altered the relationship PCE / NCE respect to negative control. These cytogenotoxic findings contribute the preclinical knowledge of methanolic extract of V. thapsus and provide security in its use as herbal medicine. Keywords: Verbascum thapsus L., methanolic extract, micronucleus, bone marrow, genotoxicity. The use of medicinal plants in therapy or as dietary supplements remounts centuries ago, but it has increased substantially in the last decades [1a,1b]. The popularity of herbal medicines is related to their easy access, therapeutic efficacy, relatively low cost, and assumed absence of toxic effects. Widespread public opinion is that being a natural product, herbal medicines are harmless and free from adverse effects. However, the safety of their use has recently been questioned due to the reports of illness and fatalities [2a-2c]. Considering the complexity of herbals in general and their inherent biological variation, it is now necessary to evaluate their safety, efficacy and quality [1b]. Thus, an assessment of their mutagenic and cytotoxic potential is necessary to ensure the relatively safe use of plant-derived medicines. Scrophulariaceae is an important family of plants comprising over 200 genera and about 2500 species. It includes Mimulus, Penstemon, Digitalis, Veronica and Verbascum [3a]. Different members have been valued for their curative properties and are widely employed in domestic and regular medicine. At least 250 species of Verbascum are known. Among the species traditionally used in medicine, the most important is Verbascum thapsus L., commonly known as mullein, common

mullein, great mullein [3b]. V. thapsus is distributed worldwide. In Argentina this species is abundant however; it is considered an exotic plant. Many studies carried out with plants collected in other countries, have shown that different extracts have antimicrobial, antitumor and cytotoxic activities [4a-4c]. Therefore, given the abundance of the species in Córdoba province, Argentina, cytotoxic and antiviral properties of methanolic extract of V. thapsus were investigated. The results of these previous studies have indicated that the extract markedly inhibits Herpes suis virus type 1 at non cytotoxic concentrations [5a,5b]. Since this information is hopeful, it is necessary to define the cytogenotoxic potential to ensure the use of the extract at safe levels. The aim of this study was to determine the genotoxic and cytotoxic activities of a methanolic extract of Verbascum thapsus, using micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow. Evaluation of micronucleus induction is the primary in vivo test in a battery of genotoxicity tests and is recommended by the regulatory worldwide agencies to be conducted as part of product safety assessment. The results of micronucleus (MN) test in BALB/c mice treated with different doses of the extract are summarized in Table 1. In all cases these results are expressed as mean (± standard deviation).


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Table 1: Mean of polychromatic erythrocytes with micronuclei (MNPCE) observed in bone marrow cell of female (F) and male (M) BALB/c mice treated with a Verbascum thapsus methanolic extract, and respective controls.

Treatments Dose mg/kg

Number of MNPCE per animal MNPCE

(mean ± SD) PCE/NCE

(mean ± SD)

F1 F2 F3 M1 M2 M3

Negative control (saline) 0 2 3 3 2 2 2 2.50 ± 0.55 1.69 ± 0.14 V. thapsus methanolic extract 100 1 2 5 1 3 1 2.17 ± 1.60 1.77 ± 0.12 V. thapsus methanolic extract 300 3 1 3 1 2 2 2.00 ± 0.89 1.79 ± 0.23 V. thapsus methanolic extract 500 5 1 1 2 1 2 2.00 ± 1.55 1.74 ± 0.15 Positive control (cyclophophamide) 20 11 14 11 13 9 12 11.7 ± 1.7* 1.69 ± 0.10

Thousand cells were analyzed per animal, for a total of 6000 cells per group. SD = Standard deviation. * p< 0.001, statistically significant difference from saline group (ANOVA. Tukey`s test).

Figure 1: A photomicrograph of mice whole bone-marrow smear showing nucleated as well as enucleated cells (PCEs and NCEs). One the polychromatic erythrocyte also contains micronuclei.

Examples of polychromatic and normochromatic erythrocytes unaltered, normal, and the presence of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes are shown in Figure 1. The percentage frequency of MN in the groups treated with 100, 300 and 500 mg / kg of methanolic extract, which were 2.17 (±1.60), 2.00 (±0.89), 2.00 (±1.55) respectively, showed no significant differences from the saline-treated group: 2.5 (±0.55). However, there was a significant increase in the frequency of micronucleus in PCE from the positive control group treated with cyclophosphamide (Figure 2). No citotoxicity in bone marrow was detected in the extract-treated groups. Statistical analysis of the proportion PCE / NCE revealed no differences in any study group. There were no sex-dependent changes in any treatment. V. thapsus methanolic extract contains iridoid glycosides (laterioside, harpagoside, ajugol, picroside IV), three iridoid ((+)-genipin, α-gardiol and β-gardiol), one phenylethyl glycoside (verbacoside), two sesquiterpenes (buddlindeterpene A and buddlindeterpene B), one diterpene (buddlindeterpene C), and one biflavonoid (amentoflavone) [6].

Figure 2: Frequency of Micronucleated Polychromatic Erythrocytes (MNPCE) induced in bone-marrow cells of female (F) and male (M) BALB/c mice treated with a V. thapsus methanolic extract: negative control (saline solution), positive control (cyclophosphamide 20 mg/kg body weight). Values are shown as mean ± SD.

Therefore, the results obtained in the present study allow concluding that the methanolic extract of Verbascum thapsus does not contain genotoxic and cytotoxic compounds since its administration in mice at doses of 100, 300 and 500 mg/kg, showed no evidence of genotoxicity or cytotoxicity in vivo. The extract did not produce a significant increase in the frequency of MNPCE in bone marrow and neither altered the relationship PCE / NCE respect to negative control. These cytogenotoxic findings contribute the preclinical knowledge of methanolic extract of V. thapsus and provide security in its use as herbal medicine. Experimental

Plant material and extraction: Aerial parts of Verbascum thapsus L. were collected in San Luis province, Argentina. The plant material was identified by Ing. Luis A. del Vitto. A voucher specimen (N° #514) was preserved and deposited in herbal library of the “Herbario de la Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina”. The leaves were dried and chopped finely using a blender. Eight hundred grams of dried material were successively extracted with 3.5 L of the following solvents: n-hexane, chloroform and methanol at room temperature for 48 h. The evaporation of the extracts in vacuum at 40ºC yielded

Contro

l (-)

100 m

g/kg

300 m

g/kg

500 m

g/kg

Contro

l (+)

0

5

10

15

20

25

Female

Male

MN

PCE

/ 10

00 P

CE

MNPCE

NCE

PCE NCE

Genotoxic evaluation of a methanolic extract of Verbascum thapsus Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 991

the hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts. The methanolic extract was dissolved in saline solution and subsequently diluted to appropriate working concentrations. Animal’s treatments: Two months old male/female BALBc mice weighing ca. 20 g were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of V. thapsus methanolic extract (volume 0.2 ml). Three doses were selected (100, 300 and 500 mg/kg) considering previous citotoxicity data obtained with Vero cells. Cyclophosphamide (Sigma) at 20 mg/kg and saline solution were used as positive and negative controls respectively. Mouse bone marrow micronuclei assay: Six mice per dose were sacrificed at 24 h post-injection and femurs were removed. Femurs were prepared for the boned-marrow micronucleus test as previously described [7a].

Slides were stained with May-Grünwald and Giemsa solutions [7b] which maximized the differentiation between the polychromatic (PCE) and normochromatic (NCE) erythrocytes. To determine index of genotoxicity the number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE) was obtained at an average of 1000 PCE, counted per animal per dose. In order to evaluate any cytotoxic effect of extract, the ratio of PCE/NCE was determined in the same sample. Statistical significance was determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA), applying software GraphPad Prism 5.0. Acknowledgments - The authors are grateful to CONICET, MinCyT of Córdoba, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto and PICTOR program, BID 1728 /OC-AR for financial support. We also would like to thank Ing. Luis A. del Vitto for taxonomic determination of the plant specimen.

References

[1] (a) Woods PW. (1999) Herbal healing. Essence, 30, 42-46; (b) WHO (World Health Organization). (2002) Drug Information Herbal Medicines. Vol. 16. World Health Organization, Geneva.

[2] (a) Stewart MJ, Moar JJ, Steenkamp P, Kokot M. (1999) Findings in fatal cases of poisoning attributed to traditional remedies in South Africa. Forensic Science International, 101, 177-183; (b) Ernst E. (2002) Toxic heavy metals and undeclared drugs in Asian herbal medicines. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 23, 136-139; (c) Veiga-Junior VF, Pinto AC, Maciel MAM. (2005) Medicinal plants: safe cure? Química Nova, 28, 519-528.

[3] (a) Grieve M. (1981) A Modern Herbal Vol 2. Dover Publications: New York, 562-566; (b) Turker AU, Gurel E. (2005) Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.): Recent Advances in Research. Phytotherapy Research, 19, 733-739.

[4] (a) McCutcheon AR, Ellis SM, Hancock REW, Towers GHN. (1992) Antibiotic screening of medicinal plants of the British Columbian native peoples. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 37, 213-223; (b) McCutcheon AR, Roberts TE, Gibbons E, Ellis SM, Babiuk LA, Hancock REW, Towers GHN. (1995) Antiviral screening of British Columbian medicinal plants. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 49, 101-110; (c) Turker AU, Camper ND. (2002) Biological activity of common mullein, a medicinal plant Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 82, 117-125.

[5] (a) Escobar F, Gallotti V, Salas M, Sabini C, Giordano O, Contigiani M, Sabini L. (2008) Comparative assays of cytotoxicity induced by extracts of Verbascum thapsus. Biocell, 32, 108; (b) Escobar F., Konigheim BV, Aguilar J, Sabini C, Giordano O, Contigiani M, Sabini L. (2008) Preliminary studies of antiherpetic activity exerted by extracts of Verbascum thapsus. Biocell, 32, 109.

[6] Hussain H, Aziz S, Miana GA, Ahmad VU, Anwar S, Ahmed I. (2009) Minor chemical constituents of Verbascum thapsus. Biochemical Systematic and Ecology, 37, 124-126.

[7] (a) Schmid W. (1975) The micronucleus test. Mutation Research, 31, 9-15; (b) Cole RJ, Taylor NA, Cole J, Arlette CF. (1979) Transplacental effect of chemical mutagens detected by micronucleus test. Nature, 277, 317-318.

Study of Antiviral and Virucidal Activities of Aqueous Extract of Baccharis articulata against Herpes suis virus Cristina Vanesa Torres, María Julia Domínguez, José Luis Carbonari, María Carola Sabini, Liliana Inés Sabini and Silvia Matilde Zanon Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisico-Químicas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Río Cuarto, Córdoba. Argentina [email protected]

Received: December 10th, 2010; Accepted: March 16th, 2011 Baccharis articulata is native of América and traditionally used for the treatment of digestive disorders and urinary infections. Cytotoxicity of aqueous extracts of B. articulata was investigated in Vero cells. As the maximal non cytotoxic concentration has been established, this concentration has been used to evaluate antiviral and virucidal activities against Herpes suis virus type 1, member of the same subfamily of Herpes simplex virus. Aqueous extracts of B. articulata exhibited more than 95% of virucidal activity. These findings support their potential application as a disinfectant or antiseptic with low toxicity and provide a valuable knowledge to ethnopharmacology properties of Baccharis articulata. Keywords: cytotoxicity, virucidal, antiviral activity, aqueous extract, Baccharis articulata, Herpes suis virus. Baccharis articulata, commonly known as carqueja, frequently found in the hills region of Cordoba province of Argentina, exhibit antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-HIV and antifungal abilities, [1a-1c]. In treatment of herpetic infections one or more drugs currently available were used, but both continuous use and self-medication promote the development of resistance and tolerance of these viruses [2]. This background encouraged the study of cytotoxic, antiviral and virucidal activities of aqueous extracts of B. articulata against Herpes suis type 1, virus closely related to Herpes simplex types 1 and 2.

The aim of the present study was to determine concentration of aqueous extracts that do not affect monolayer cell and to be used in later assays. Therefore cytotoxic effect on Vero cells of aqueous extracts was evaluated by daily microscopic observation of treated cells to determine the MNCC (Maximal Non Cytotoxic Concentration). The MNCC values were 1000 µg/mL and 600 µg/mL for cold aqueous extract (CAE) and hot aqueous extract (HAE), respectively. The cultures exposed to extract concentrations lower than MNCC exhibited morphology similar to control cultures. The cytotoxic effect was characterized by retraction cell and disruption of cell monolayer. Virucidal and antiviral assays performed at different stages of virus replication revealed percentages of inhibition shown in Table 1. The CAE inhibited 25 and 33% viral replication when the extract was added at 1000 µg/mL (MNCC) during the viral adsorption and later that step, respectively. The HAE, at 600 µg/mL, demonstrated to exert the inhibitory activity

Table 1: Cytotoxic effect and inhibition of viral replication of aqueous extracts of Baccharis articulata.

Cytotoxicity Antiviral activity (%) Virucidal (%) MNCC* A B C MNCC MNCC 2X

CAE 1000 g/mL 25.6 33 0 31.5 97.8 HAE 600 g/mL 54 6.8 11 80 96

* Maximal non-cytotoxic concentration, A: viral adsorption, B: post-viral adsorption, C: pre-treatment cell.

(54%) during the stage of viral adsorption and penetration. This value showed that Herpes suis virus were more sensitive at HAE than CAE of B. articulata.

Only the pre-treatment of Vero cells with HAE slightly interfered Herpes suis type 1 adsorption to cellular receptor. Therefore, both extracts would not induce antiviral state in the cells and neither would interfere to the mechanism of endocytosis used in the entry of virus into the cell. The CAE and HAE demonstrated to exert strong extracellular virus inactivation mostly when the assays were carried out with extracts at double concentration of MNCC (97.8 and 96% respectively). Results obtained in this work allow concluding that the aqueous extracts of B. articulata exert slight antiviral activities against Herpes suis virus type 1.

It is known that plant aqueous extracts, among other components, contain anthocyanins, saponins, polypeptides and terpenes [3a]. Studies on the chemical composition of B. articulata have reported presence of several terpenes such as articulina, germacrene and ɑ-pinene [3b]. These compounds in other plant species (Glyptopetalum sclerocarpum, Thymus vulgaris) have exhibited antiviral


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activity [3a,3c]. As a consequence they could be responsible of the antiviral activity demonstrate in this work. Furthermore, additional studies are needed in order to identify which compounds could be responsible for this effect and how they exert antiviral action.

Experimental

Plant material: Baccharis articulata was collected in the hills of Cordoba, Argentina. Taxonomic identification was performed by Prof. Margarita Grosso of the Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. A specimen of the plant was deposited (Nº RCV 1810) in the Herbarium. Dried aerial parts (branch and leaf) (15 g) were submitted to extraction with 700 mL of cold water at 4°C for 2 days (cold aqueous extract, CAE) and at 70°C for 2 days (hot aqueous extract, HAE). The extracts were filtered and lyophilized.

Viruses and cells: Vero cells (African green monkey kidney) were grown in Eagle´s minimum essential medium (MEM) supplemented with 8% FCS, 1% gentamicin and 1% L-glutamine and maintained at 37ºC in 5% CO2

atmosphere. Herpes suis virus type 1 strain RC/79 was isolated in Río Cuarto in 1979 [4a].

Cytotoxicity assays: Confluent cell monolayers cultivated in 96-well culture plates were treated with different concentrations of extracts and incubated at 37ºC for 72 h. At this time, maximal non cytotoxic concentration (MNCC) was determined by microscopic observation.

Antiviral assays: The antiviral activity of tested extracts was evaluated at different stages of viral replication by plaque reduction method. Virus titres were calculated by plaque forming units per mL (PFU/mL) [4b]. The percentage of inhibition was calculated as the ratio between virus titres in treated cells and in untreated cells.

During adsorption and viral penetration: Monolayer cells grown in 24-well culture plates were incubated for 90 min with Herpes suis virus type 1 (105 PFU/mL) in combination or not with extract at MNCC. Then, residual

virus was discarded. The cells were overlaid with an overlay medium containing 1% of methylcellulose. The plates were further incubated at 37ºC for 72 h. Later cell monolayer was fixed with 10% formalin. The virus plaques formed on Vero cells were stained with 1% crystal violet. Percentage of viral inhibition was determined.

Post-adsorption and penetration of virus: Confluent monolayer of Vero cells grown in 24-well culture plates were infected with Herpes suis type 1 (105 PFU/mL) and incubated at 37ºC for 90 min. After residual virus was removed, the cells were covered with the overlay medium containing 1% of methylcellulose and extract at MNCC, and incubated at 37ºC for 72 h. Percentage of viral inhibition was determined.

Pretreatment: Monolayer cells grown in 24-well culture plates were incubated for 2 h with extract at MNCC. After the extract was discarded, culture cells were inoculated with Herpes suis type 1 (105 PFU/mL) and incubated at 37ºC for 90 min. The remainder virus was discarded and the cells were incubated with the overlay medium containing 1% of methylcellulose at 37°C for 72 h. Percentage of viral inhibition was determined.

Virucidal activity assay: Viral suspensions (105 PFU/mL) were incubated with extract at MNCC and at double concentration. After incubation of virus at 37°C for 2 h, monolayer cells grown in 24-well culture plates were infected with treated virus. The infected cells were incubated at 37°C for 90 min. The remainder virus was discarded and the cells were incubated with overlay medium containing 1% of methylcellulose at 37°C for 72 h. Percentage of viral inactivation was determined.

Acknowledgments - The authors thank Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto and PICTOR program, BID 1728 /OC-AR for financial support. We are grateful to Prof. Margarita Grosso for help in identification of the plant specimen.

References

[1] (a) Palacios PS, Wilson EG, Debenedetti SL. (1999) HPLC analysis cafeilquínicos acid present in three species of Baccharis. Dominguezia, 15, 39; (b) De Oliveira SQ, Dal-Pizzol F, Gosmann G, Guillaume D, Moreira JC, Schenkel E. (2003) Antioxidant activity of Baccharis articulata extracts: isolation of new compound with antioxidant activity. Free Radical Research, 37, 555-559; (c) Vivot Lupi EP, Sanchez Brisuela CI, Casik Jeifetz F, Sequin Acosta CJ. (2009) Screening of antifungal activity of extracts of plant species in Entre Ríos. Revista Cubana de Farmacia, 43, 74-84.

[2] Kimberlin DW, Whitley RJ. (1996) Antiviral resistance: Mechanisms, Clinical Significance and Future Implications. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 37, 403-421

[3] Ambrogi A, Giraudo J, Busso J, Bianco O, Bagnat E, Segura de Aramburu M, Ramos B, Ceriatti F. (1981) Primer diagnóstico de la enfermedad de Aujeszky en cerdos en la República Argentina. Gaceta Veterinaria. Buenos Aires, Tomo XLIII, 357, 58-64

[4] Dulbecco, R. (1962) Production of plaques in monolayer tissue culture by single particles of an animal virus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 38, 747-752

Evaluation of Cytogenotoxic Effects of Cold Aqueous Extract from Achyrocline satureioides by Allium cepa L test María C. Sabinia*, Laura N. Cariddia, Franco M. Escobara, Romina A. Bachettia, Sonia B. Sutila, Marta S. Contigianib, Silvia M. Zanona and Liliana I. Sabinia

aDepartamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina

bInstituto de Virología “José María Vanella”. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Córdoba, Argentina [email protected]


Achyrocline satureioides (“marcela del campo”) is native to America. Numerous investigations have reported several bioactive properties such as anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial and antiviral. Nowadays, few medicinal plants have been scientifically evaluated to test its safety, efficacy and potential benefits, despite the great public interest in these herbs. The aim of this work was to evaluate the cytotoxic and genotoxic activities of cold aqueous extract obtained from A. satureioides using Allium cepa L test. The results demonstrated the absence of genotoxicity of the extract. Only higher concentrations induced cytotoxicity but interestingly this effect was reversible and was not associated with mutagenicity. The contribution of this research provides assurance of safety in the application of Achyrocline satureioides in treatment of microbial diseases and other pathologies helping to define selective toxicity. Keywords: Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) DC, Allium cepa L test, cytogenotoxicity, cold aqueous extract. Asteraceae (Compositae) family includes some of the oldest and most valued plants for medicinal purposes [1a]. It is known that certain genus of this family contain toxic compounds such as tannic, cyanide, formic and malic acid [1b]. Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) DC. is a relevant species that belongs to the family Asteraceae. This plant, commonly known as “marcela del campo”, is native to America and extends throughout the continent, as well as Europe and Africa. In our country it is often found in the hills of Córdoba, San Luis and Buenos Aires [2]. Numerous investigations have reported several bioactive properties, such as anti-inflammatory [3a], sedative [3b], hepatoprotective [3c], antioxidant [3d,3e], immunomodulatory and antimicrobial [3f], antitumoral [3g], antiviral [3h,3i,3j] and photoprotective [3k]. Nowadays, few medicinal plants have been scientifically evaluated to test its safety, efficacy and potential benefits, despite the great public interest in these herbs [4]. Regulatory worldwide authorities require information on the genotoxic potential of new drugs as part of the safety evaluation process. Allium cepa L test allows assessment of toxicity of substances in terms of macroscopic parameters such as growth and form of roots and, evaluation of genotoxicity from microscopic parameters such as types and frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and abnormal cell divisions.

For all previously described, it is of paramount importance to know the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of extracts from A. satureioides. In order to evaluate the cytotoxic and genotoxic activities of cold aqueous extract (CAE) obtained from Achyrocline satureioides experiments were performed using Allium cepa L test with modifications. Table 1 summarizes the results of the effects of CAE of A. satureioides on root of Allium cepa. Taking into account the number of bulbs roots, the different concentrations of CAE induced normal development, similar to control. The analysis of length of roots treated with CAE for 5 days showed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) among all treatments vs. negative control and absence of dose-response relationship. The inhibition of roots length was ≥ 50% (p<0.05) for all tested concentrations. Considering the bulbs treated for 2 days (with reversion), there were no significant differences between treatments of 0.5 and 2 mg/mL vs. negative control. By the contrary, there were significant differences for the remaining concentrations of CAE compared to negative control (Figure 1). The average root length for treatment of 2 days with CAE (with reversion) was always higher than of 5 days, although there was no statistically significant difference within the same concentration considered. The concentration of 0.5 mg/mL was the exception because it


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Table 1: Macroscopic parameters analyzed in roots of Allium cepa L after treatment with different concentrations of CAE of A. satureioides for 5 and 2 days.

Ha: hook; Geb: gelling; Nec: necrosis; Tud: tumor.

0

10

20

30 2 days (with reversion)

Concentration (mg/mL)

5 days

C- C+ 0.5 1 2 3 4

Roo

ts le

ngth

(m

m)

Figure 1: Roots length of bulbs of Allium cepa L treated with different concentration of CAE of A. satureioides for 5 days vs. 2 days (with reversion).

showed a statistical difference (p<0.001), indicating the recovery of the roots by mineral water action, after treatment with the extract. This result suggests that bulbs would have the ability to recover from damage induced by this concentration of extract. Respect to macroscopic abnormality, the study revealed the presence of hooks and tumours in negative control with low frequency. These spontaneous changes are normal and concordant with other authors [5a,5b]. Positive control, paracetamol (acetaminophen 0.3 mg/mL), showed a high incidence of root hooks and also induced the appearance of tumours. None of the roots treated with CAE induced the development of hooks. The results of all treatments with the extract were markedly different to the effect caused by paracetamol. Gelling and necrosis were present with varying frequency, having the first one the highest incidence. Roots treated with extract did not show significant values in the number of tumours. Pigmentation was observed in most of roots treated due to intense colour of extract. Statistical analysis of mitotic index of bulbs treated with CAE did not show significant difference between negative control and treatments with 0.5 and 1 mg/mL, for 2 days (MI 1) and 5 days (MI 2). So, these concentrations did not exert toxicity. In contrast, there were significant differences between negative control and treatments of 2, 3 and 4 mg/mL. These concentrations would exert an

C- 0.5 1 2 3 4 C- 0.5 1 2 3 4 C- 0.5 1 2 3 4 C+0

2

4

6

8

10

MI 1 MI 2

MI 3 C+

Treatment (mg/mL)

Mit

otic

Ind

ex (

%)

Figure 2: Comparison of mitotic indices 1, 2 and 3 of the roots of the Allium cepa bulbs treated with different concentrations of CAE of Achyrocline satureioides. inhibition of cell division. For the MI 2, the trend of the curve revealed a drastic reduction for MI% at the concentrations 2, 3 and 4 mg/mL. This behaviour could be due to these concentrations are extremely toxic when they are used for 5 days. The values of MI 3 (treatment with reversion) did not show statistically significant differences between treatments, neither between these treatments and negative control, indicating the ability of roots to recovery of the toxic action of CAE. The comparative analysis of MI 1 vs. MI 3, for each concentration, showed significant difference (p<0.5), indicating that the damage was reversed (Figure 2). Analysis of phases index for bulbs treated for 2 and 5 days showed that cell division in roots treated with 0.5 and 1 mg/mL was similar to negative control. By the contrary, cell cycle stages were modified in the bulbs treated with 2, 3 and 4 mg/mL. Prophase was the most observed phase, demonstrating an arrest of cell division at this stage. Application of CAE at these concentrations would be affecting the formation of chromosomes and avoiding their placement in equatorial plane of the cell. Statistical analysis of the results obtained in treatment with reversion did not show significant differences in phase index of treated roots vs. negative control, indicating the reversion of the changes induced by CAE of A. satureioides. These results point out that mitosis was normally developed as it confirms by the value of MI 3, (Figure 3).

PARAMETER

TREATMENTS (n = 4 bulbs)

C (-) C (+) CAE (mg/ml) for 5 days

C (-) C (+) CAE (mg/ml) for 2 days

0.5 1 2 3 4 0.5 1 2 3 4Mean root number 54 37 67 41 46.5 60.5 56 48.5 34.5 43.5 62.5 39 38 39.5

Mean root length (mm) ± SEM

20.41 ±2.00

13.97 ±0.65

10.03 ±0.62

7.78 ±0.56

8.42 ±0.72

7.51 ±0.60

6.61 ±0.45

25.91 ±2.63

17.55 ±0.94

18.98 ±1.48

11.51 ±0.64

13.07 ±1.03

7.91 ±0.66

10.95 ±0.86

Abnormalities

Ha 8 32 11 0 2 10 3 10 20 7 5 10 6 4 Geb 0 0 0 10 14 16 25 0 0 0 15 6 15 37 Nec 0 0 16 17 6 4 0 0 0 12 17 1 0 18 Tud 10 5 2 0 0 0 1 9 5 0 1 3 0 0

Cytogenotoxic evaluation of the extract of Achyrocline satureioides Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 997

0

50

100

C- 0,5 1 2 3 4

Treatment

Ph

as

e in

de

x (

%)

0

50

100

Treatment

C- C+ 0,5 1 2 3

Ph

as

e in

de

x (

%)

0

50

100

C- 0,5 1 2 3 4

Treatment

Metaphase index

Anaphase indexProphase index

Telophase index

Ph

as

e in

de

x (

%)

Figure 3: Phase index of cell division in roots treated with CAE of Achyrocline satureioides (A) MI 1, (B) MI 2, and (C) MI 3.

Microscopic evaluation of cells showed physiological and clastogenic aberrations as previously described [6]. The physiological aberrations observed were c-mitosis and, sticky and delayed chromosomes, while the other ones presented chromosomal bridges. These alterations were found more often in roots with normal cell division. Similar figures to apoptotic bodies were observed in inter-phase cells treated for 2 and 5 days with CAE, (Figure 4). This study demonstrated the absence of genotoxicity of CAE from A. satureioides. High concentrations of the extract induced citotoxicity but this effect was reversible and was not associated with mutagenicity. The contribution of this research provides assurance of safety in the application of Achyrocline satureioides in treatment of microbial diseases and other pathologies helping to define selective toxicity. Nowadays, studies referred to chemical characterization of CAE from A. satureioides are in progress.

Figure 4: Microphotographs of meristematic cells of root tips of Allium cepa. Squash preparations, stained in acetocarmine and observed in light microscope. (A) A typical view of different size, shape and basophility of nuclei and interphase and mitotic phases; (B) cells with sticky chromosomes; (C) cells with delayed chromosomes; (D) cells with chromosomal bridges; (E) physiological aberrations: c-mitosis; (F) figures similar to apoptotic bodies in interphase cells.

Experimental

Plant material: Healthy plants of A. satureioides species were collected manually from Villa Jorcoricó, southern Córdoba hills in 2009. The plant material was identified by Dr. Luis Del Vitto, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina. A voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of the University of San Luis (Nº 6362). Obtention of cold aqueous extract: Dried aerial vegetal parts (15 g) were submitted to extraction with 700 mL of cold water at 4°C for 2 days. The mixture was filtered and lyophilized. This extract was identified as cold aqueous extract (CAE). Determination of genotoxic activity of cold aqueous extract from A. satureioides by the Allium cepa test: Allium test as described [7a,7b,7c] was developed with some modifications. Qualitative and quantitative changes, macro and microscopic, induced by treatment with CAE in plant cells were assessed. Onion root tips of Allium cepa L grown in mineral water, in darkness, with aeration and constant temperature of 25 ± 0.5 °C were employed. CAE was assayed at 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 mg/mL of mineral water. Positive (paracetamol 0.3 mg/mL) and negative (mineral water) controls were included in the system. Extract concentrations were applied for different times: 2 and 5 days, and 2 days followed by 3 days with water (reversion). At the end of each treatment, 2-3 root tips from these bulbs were cut and fixed in a mixture of absolute alcohol:glacial acetic acid (3:1, v/v). These roots were hydrolyzed in 1N HCL for 5 minutes after which they were washed in distilled water. Two root tips were then squashed on each slide, stained with acetocarmine for 10 min and cover slips carefully

C

A

B

B C D E

F F

A A A A

998 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Sabini et al.

lowered on to exclude air bubble. The cover slips were sealed on the slides with clear fingernail polish as suggested by [8]. These roots were reserved for evaluating the cytogenetic abnormalities (microscopic). Six slides were prepared for each concentration and controls (at 1000 cells per slide) were analyzed at ×1000 magnification for induction of chromosomal aberration. The mitotic index was calculated as the ratio between the number of cells in division and 1000 observed cells. In addition, phases indices were also calculated [7a,7c]. The percentage frequency of aberrant cells was calculated based on the number of aberrant cells per total cells scored at each concentration of the extract, [5b,7c,9].

Previously, macroscopic changes of the roots in terms of root number, length and presence of abnormalities, were evaluated. Statistical significance was determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GraphPad Prism 5.0 software. Acknowledgments - The authors thank to CONICET, MinCyT of Córdoba, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto and the PICTOR programme, BID 1728 /OC-AR, for providing financial support. The authors are also grateful to Dr Luis Del Vitto for taxonomic classification of the plant specimen.

References

[1] (a) Paulsen E. (2002) Contact sensitization from Compositae containing herbal remedies and cosmetics. Contact Dermatitis, 47, 189–198; (b) Duke JA. (2000) Toxins: their toxicity and distribution in plant genera. In: Handbook of medicinal herbs, pp. 525-568.

[2] Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA). (2004) Estudios en domesticación y cultivos de especies medicinales y aromáticas nativas. Estación experimental Las Brujas. Ruta 48 km 10, Rincón del Colorado, Canelones, Uruguay.

[3] (a) De Souza K, Bassani VL, Schapoval E. (2007) Influence of excipients and technological process on anti-inflammatory activity of quercetin and Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) D.C. extracts by oral route. Phytomedicine, 14, 102-108; (b) Hnatyszyn O, Moscatelli V, Rondina R, Costa M, Arranz C, Balaszczuk A, Coussio J, Ferraro G. (2004) Flavonoids from Achyrocline satureioides with relaxant effects on the smooth muscle of Guinea pig corpus cavernosum. Phytomedicine, 11, 366-369; (c) Kadarian C, Broussalis AM, Miño J, Lopez P, Gorzalczany S, Ferraro G, Acevedo C. (2002) Hepatoprotective activity of Achyrocline satureioides (LAM). Pharmacology Research, 45, 57-61; (d) Arredondo M, Blasina F, Echeverry C, Morquio A, Ferreira M, Abin-Carriquiry J, Lafon L, Dajas F. (2004) Cytoprotection by Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) D. C. and some of its main flavonoids against oxidative stress. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 91, 13-20; (e) Polydoro M, Souza KC, Andrades ME, Da Silva EG., Bonatto F, Heydrich J, Dal-Pizzol F, Shapoval EE, Bassani VL, Moreir JC. (2004) Antioxidant, a pro-oxidant and cytotoxic effects of Achyrocline satureioides extracts. Life Sciences, 74, 2815–2826; (f) Calvo D, Cariddi N, Grosso M, Demo M, aldonado A. (2006) Achyrocline satureioides (LAM.) DC (Marcela): Actividad antimicrobiana sobre Staphylococcus spp. y efectos inmunomoduladores sobre linfocitos humanos. Revista Latinoamericana de Microbiología, 48, 247-255; (g) Ruffa MJ, Ferraro G., Wagner ML, Calcagno ML, Campos RH, Cavallaro L. (2002) Cytotoxic effect of argentine medicinal plant extracts on human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 79, 335-339; (h) Zanon SM, Ceriatti FS, Rovera M, Sabini LI, Ramos BA. (1999) Search for antiviral activity of certain medicinal plants from Córdoba, Argentina. Revista Latinoamericana de Microbiología, 41, 59-62; (i) Bettega JMR, Teixeira H, Bassani VL, Barardi CRM, Simões CM. (2004) Evaluation of the antiherpetic activity of standardized extracts of Achyrocline satureioides. Phytotherapy Research, 18, 819-23; (j) Sabini MC, Escobar FM, Tonn CE, Zanon SM, Contigiani MS, Sabini LI. (2010) Evaluation of antiviral activity of aqueous extracts from Achyrocline satureioides against Western equine encephalitis virus. Natural Product Research, DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2010.490216; (k) Morquio A, Rivera-Megret F, Dajas F. (2005) Photoprotection by topical application of Achyrocline satureioides (‘Marcela’). Phytotherapy Research, 19, 486-90.

[4] Calixto JB. (2000) Efficacy, safety, quality control, marketing and regulatory guidelines for herbal medicines (phytotherapeutic agents). Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 33, 179-189.

[5] (a) Fiskesjö G. (1994) Allium test II: Assessment of a chemical genotoxic potential by recording aberrations in chromosomes and cells divisions in root tips of Allium cepa. Environmental Toxicology and Water Quality, 9, 235-241; (b) Bidau CJ, Amat AG., Yajia M, Martí D, Riglos GA, Silvestroni A. (2004) Evaluation of the genotoxicity of aqueous extracts of Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. (Aquifoliaceae) using Allium Test. Cytologia, 69, 109-117.

[6] Rani G, Kaur K, Wadhwa R, Kaul SC, Nagpal A. (2005) Evaluation of the anti-genotoxicity of leaf extract of Ashwagandha. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 43, 95-98.

[7] (a) Fiskesjö G. (1985) The Allium test as a standard in environmental monitoring. Hereditas, 102, 99-112; (b) Fiskesjö G, Levan A. (1993) Evaluation of the first ten MEIC chemicals in the Allium test. ATLA, 21, 139-149; (c) Fiskesjö G. (1997) Allium test for screening chemicals; evaluation of cytological parameters. Plants for Environmental Studies, CRC, Lewis Publishers, New York, pp. 307-333.

[8] Grant WF, (1982) Chromosome aberrations assays in allium report of the USEPA gene tox program. Mutation Research, 99, 273-291.

[9] Bakare AA, Mosuro AA, Osibanjo O. (2000) Effect of simulated leachate on chromosomes and mitosis in roots of Allium cepa (L). Journal of Environmental Biology, 21, 263-271.

Toxic Plants Used in Ethnoveterinary Medicine in Italy

Lucia Viegi* and Roberta Vangelisti Dipartimento di Biologia, Unità di Botanica generale e sistematica, Pisa University,Via L. Ghini 5, 56126 Pisa, Italy [email protected]


This study was conducted to document the use of toxic or potentially toxic plants for the treatment of ailments in livestock and pets in ethnoveterinary practice in Italy. More than 250 of the entities used (81% for curative purposes) can be toxic unless dosed appropriately. Many (55%) are dietary supplements. The list included 186 species (45%) for internal and 175 (55%) for external use, many used in places where animals are kept. The species belong to 71 families, among which the Fabaceae predominate. The purpose of the study was to provide information that can be validated and associated with correct determination, permitting even potentially dangerous plants to be used in veterinary practice. Keywords: Toxic plants, ethnoveterinary medicine, Italy. The number of plants used in Italy to treat domestic animals was previously reported to be 260 [1] and is now more than 500 [2a-c]. These plants include fungi, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Most are dietary supplements, chosen for their positive effect on growth and ease of administration. Many are used for prevention, but more than 60% of all uses are curative. Some plants are valued against parasites and as repellents, others for their toxic effects on fish. Other plants are considered to have magic properties. In this study we analyze use of toxic and potentially toxic plants in ethnoveterinary medicine in Italy.

Bibliographic and unpublished data in our database were examined and screened for toxic and potentially toxic plants. Shepherds and farmers generally avoid administering such plants, though many were used traditionally and considered relatively safe. More than 250 toxic or potentially toxic plants were identified, about 50% of all species used in ethnoveterinary medicine. Most (81%) are used for curative purposes and can be toxic if not appropriately dosed. A good number (55%) are dietary supplements. 186 species (45%) are used internally and 175 externally (55%) (Table 1). The active ingredients, largely glycosides and alkaloids, are listed in Table 2. The types of animals treated were cattle (23.93%), sheep (10.73%), poultry (9.5%), horses (7.83%), pigs (6.38 %), goats (5%), dogs and cats (3.19%), rabbits (2.18%) and animals in general (27%). Many plants were used in places where animals are kept, such as stables, chicken houses, drinking troughs (3.92%) (e.g. Alnus glutinosa, Artemisia absinthium, Datura stramonium, Nerium oleander, Sambucus ebulus, S. nigra).

Toxic plants belong to 71 families, 62 of which are Angiosperms, one Gymnosperm, seven Pteridophytes, one fungus (Amanitaceae). The most common families were Fabaceae, followed by Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae, Labiatae, Euphorbiaceae, Apiaceae and Liliaceae. This differs slightly from the general statistics for ethnoveterinary medicine, which indicate species of the family Asteraceae to be the most numerous [3a,3b], as found in the Mediterranean area in general [4]. The toxic or potentially toxic species identified had largely curative uses. The main methods of administration were as such, decoction, crushed and macerated. The main active ingredients were glycosides and alkaloids, with saponins and triterpenoids accounting for more than 13%, followed by tannins, volatile oils, terpenoids and resins [5a-5d]. In many species, the toxic substances are not distributed throughout the plant: many are concentrated in certain organs while the rest of the plant is innocuous; sometimes substances are influenced by the vegetative period or age of the plant. Toxic substances are often more abundant in certain phases of the life cycle, usually in seeds and juvenile plants, and in certain phases of the vegetative cycle, usually spring. Sometimes plants can be toxic if not appropriately dosed, if infected by fungi, if they accumulate harmful substances or if combined with conventional remedies [6a-6c]. Toxic plants were certainly used with caution in ethnoveterinary traditions, because loss of an animal was a serious event. Their use cannot be encouraged. The aim of the present study was to provide information that can be validated and associated with correct determination, permitting even potentially dangerous plants to be used in


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veterinary practice. The study is part of a series concerned with the enormous heritage of empirical experience and knowledge still traceable in Italy. Such documentation is useful to save animal lives, for phytochemical-

pharmacological research and for the conservation of native flora. Benefits may range from local to European community level.

Table 1: Uses and examples of toxic or potentially toxic plants used in ethnoveterinary medicine in Italy.

Internal use Vermicides Ichthyotoxic Flea, mouse and mole repellents Pesticides and repellents Agrostemma githago Amanita muscaria Anemone hortensis Crocus neapolitanus Daphne mezereum Dryopteris filix-mas Euphorbia dendroides, E. lathyris Eucalyptus resinifer Helleborus sp.pl. Ilex aquifolium Ligustrum vulgare Glechoma hederacea Mercurialis annua Papaver rhoeas, P. somniferum Polypodium australe, P. vulgare Polystichum setiferum Rhamnus sp.pl. Ricinus communis Veratrum album

Allium sativum Artemisia absinthium, A. vulgaris Calamintha nepeta Cucurbita pepo Dryopteris filix-mas Fraxinus ornus Glechoma hederacea Juglans regia Mercurialis annua Polypodium australe Ruta angustifolia, R. chalepensis R. graveolens Santolina insularis Sempervivum tectorum Verbascum thapsus

Achillea ligustica Anthirrinum majus Conium maculatum Cyclamen repandum Daphne gnidium Euonymus europaeus Euphorbia characias, E. dendroides, E. helioscopia, E. lathyris, E. paralias, E. pinea, E. pithyusa Juglans regia Marrubium vulgare Oenanthe crocata Pistacia lentiscus Plumbago europaea Sambucus sp. Solanum nigrum Teucrium chamaedrys Thapsia garganica Urginea maritima Verbascum pulverulentum, V. sinuatum, V. thapsus

Aconitum napellus Alnus glutinosa Artemisia absinthium Calamintha nepeta Conium maculatum Delphinium consolida, D. staphysagria Ficus carica Laburnum alpinum L. anagyroides Lupinus albus Ruscus aculeatus Ruta graveolens Tanacetum vulgare Veratrum album

Colchicum autumnale, Anemone hortensis Colchicum autumnale Cestrum parqui Daphne laureola Delphinium consolida Euphorbia helioscopia Helichrysum italicum Veratrum album

Table 2: Active principles of toxic or potentially toxic plants used in ethnoveterinary medicine in Italy.

% no. of species Notes (active compounds and the no. of species that contain them) Glycosides 25.82 110 coumarin and furocoumarin (11); saponinic glycosides (15) Alkaloids 19.48 83 Saponins and triterpenoids 13.38 57 saponins (non saponinic glycosides) (51) Tannins 8.92 38 Volatile oils, terpenoids, resins 8.22 35 resins (5) Organic acids 6.10 26 oxalates (13) Pigments (flavonoids) 4.23 18 Diterpenoids 3.29 14 Phytoestrogens 3.05 13 phytoestrogens, phytosterols Nitrates and nitrites 2.11 9 Lignans and lignins 2.11 9 Toxic if infected with fungus or in cases of accumulation 1.88 8 Enzymes 1.41 6 thiaminase, urease, ficin

References

[1] Viegi L, Pieroni A, Guarrera PM, Vangelisti R. (2003) A review of plants used in folk veterinary medicine in Italy as basis for a databank. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 89, 221-244.

[2] (a) Viegi L, Camarda I, Piras G. (2005) Some aspects of ethnoveterinary medicine in Sardinia (Italy). Proceed. IV International Congress of Ethnobotany (ICEB 2005), 21-26 August, Istanbul, Turkey, 135-136; (b) Bullitta S, Piluzza G, Viegi L. (2007) Plant resources used for traditional ethnoveterinary phytotherapy in Sardinia (Italy). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 54, 1447-1464; (c) Felicioli A, Giusti M, Vangelisti R, Viegi L. (2008) Plants used as antiparasitic in italian ethnoveterinary medicine. Parassitologia, 50, Suppl. 1, 210.

[3] (a) Fossati F, Bianchi A, Favali MA. (1999) Farmacopea popolare del parmense: passato e presente. Informatore Botanico Italiano, 31, 171-176; (b) Barbini S, Tarascio M, Sacchetti G, Bruni A. (1999) Studio preliminare sull'etnofarmacologia delle comunità ladino dolomitiche. Atti Colloquio S.B.I. "Botanica Farmaceutica ed etnobotanica alle soglie del duemila: passato e futuro a confronto", Genova, 9-11 aprile 1999. Informatore Botanico Italiano, 31, 181-182.

[4] Pieroni A, Giusti ME, de Pasquale C, Lenzarini C, Censorii E, Gonzáles-Tejero MR, Sánchez-Rojas CP, Ramiro-Gutiérrez J, Skoula M, Johnson C, Sarpaki A, Della A, Paraskeva-Hadijchambi D, Hadjichambis A, Hmamouchi M, El-Jorhi S, El-Demerdash M, El-Zayat M, Al-Shahaby O, Houmani Z, Scherazed M. (2006) Circum-Mediterranean cultural heritage and medicinal plant uses in traditional animal healthcare: a field survey in eight selected areas within the RUBIA project. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2, 16-28.

[5] (a) Debelmas AM, Delaveau P. (1978) Guide des Plantes Dangereuses. Ed. Maloine, Paris; (b) Maugini E. (1994) Manuale di Botanica Farmaceutica, VII edizione, Piccin, Padova; (c) Lorgue G, Lechenet J, Rivière A. (1999) Tossicologia clinica veterinaria. C. Giraldi Ed.; (d) Frohne D, Pfänder HJ. (2004) Poisonous plants. 2nd Edition. Manson Publishing Ltd, London

[6] (a) Bruneton J. (1999) Toxic Plants Dangerous to Humans and Animals. Lavoisier Publishing, Paris; (b) Frohne D, Pfänder HJ. (2004) Poisonous plants. 2nd Edition. Manson Publishing Ltd, London; (c) Wynn SG, Fougère BJ. (2007) Veterinary Herbal Medicine. Mosby, Elsevier.

Diagnosis of Public Programs focused on Herbal Medicines in Brazil Ely Eduardo Saranz Camargoa, Mary Anne Medeiros Bandeirab and Anselmo Gomes de Oliveirac

aPrograma de Pós-graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho-Unesp, Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú, km 01, 14801-902, Araraquara, SP. Brazil

bUniversidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Farmácia, Odontologia e Enfermagem, Rua Alexandre Baraúna, 949, Fortaleza, CE

[email protected]


The present study is aimed to diagnose the current public programs focused on herbal medicines in Brazil by means of in loco visits to 10 programs selected by means of questionnaires sent to 124 municipalities that count on herbal medicine services. The main purpose of the implementation of program programs is related to the development of medicinal herbs. 70% of them are intended for the production of herbal medicines and 50% are aimed to ensure the access of the population to medicinal plants and or herbal medicines. The initiative of the implementation of these programs was related to the managers (60%). The difficulties in this implementation were due to the lack of funding (100%) of the programs. In 60% of the programs, the physicians did not adhere to herbal medicine services due to the lack of knowledge of the subject. Training courses were proposed (80%) to increase the adhesion of prescribers to the system. Some municipalities use information obtained from patients to assess the therapeutic efficiency of medicinal plants and herbal medicines. Of the programs underway, cultivation of medicinal plants was observed in 90% and 78% of them adopt quality control. In most programs, this control is not performed in accordance with the legal requirements. The programs focused on medicinal plants and herbal medicines implemented in Brazil face some chronic problems of infrastructure, management, operational capacity and self-sustainability, which can be directly related to the absence of a national policy on medicinal plants and herbal medicines. Keywords: Medicinal plants, herbal medicines, public health. The use of medicinal plants dates back thousands of years. However, the traditional allopathic medicine faces increased competition from alternative treatments due to the production of herbal medicines in accordance to the standards recommended by the legislation these days [1a]. The development of quality assurance within the pharmaceutical industry involves the concern with the production of seeds, planting, harvesting, drying, extraction, production practices and storage of drugs, and all these processes must be carried out according to a strict quality control, pre-clinical and clinical trials and data record. Quality assurance has enabled the health professionals to prescribe safely herbal medicines that the population has been taking for quite a long time [1b].

The use of medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes (both the traditional and popular usage of these plants and their use based on scientific evidence) is a common practice nowadays. The use of plants to mitigate symptoms or cure diseases has been a very common practice for long, especially because the resources used in the production of drugs are not available according to the needs of the population, or else, many of these drugs are currently

being developed. These historical aspects of the use of medicinal plants clarify the importance of the interaction between local communities and their natural environment to the entire society in the present and in the future [1c]. At the same time, there is the urgent need to investigate the abundant biodiversity and, particularly, the medicinal flora, its proper and rational use, in order to find out how medicinal plants can be used by the population for medicinal purposes in an efficient and safe way [2a].

Data generated from the questionnaires completed has demonstrated the existence of well-structured programs, and the activities carried out within these programs involved pharmaceutical care, corroborating the expansion and effectiveness of the National Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices at the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System) [2b]. Thus, visits to 10 programs focused on herbal medicines were scheduled and had excellent results, as demonstrated in the previously described research. [2c]. The visits were conducted from December 2008 to December 2009 and were aimed to collect information on the activities developed within the scope of the programs, as well as information on their


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implementation, difficulties faced and solutions encountered to ensure the maintenance of the referred programs. The programs selected for visit were carried out in all the Brazilian regions as follows: 1 in the Southern region, 5 in the Southeastern region, 2 in the Center-West region, 1 in the Northeastern region and 1 in the Northern region. The selection was based on the data generated from the questionnaires sent to 124 Brazilian municipalities. It was found that in all programs visited (10) the main purpose of their implementation was the development of medicinal plants. In 70% of them the purpose was the production of herbal medicines, 50% were aimed to ensure the access of the population to these medicinal drugs and only one program (10%) was aimed to decrease the healthcare costs incurred by the population. 60% of the programs stemmed from the initiative of municipal governments, 50% were suggested by experts, 20% by users and 30% had different origins. The same results were obtained when the initiatives were carried out by more than one group. Regarding the inclusion of herbal medicine in pharmaceutical care programs in the municipalities, such inclusion was found to occur in 70% of them and in 30% of them it did not occur. These findings may have a direct influence on the maintenance of the programs, since funding issues can compromise the survival of those programs not included in the pharmaceutical care programs of the municipalities.

The difficulties in the implementation of these programs included: lack of funding (100%), poor adhesion by prescribers (60%), lack of space (70%) lack of qualified professionals (40%) and 1 (10%) mentioned the lack of interest of the population. Still regarding the difficulties encountered, it was found that 90% of the programs were funded by the municipality and 40% were funded by the state, but only 1 (10%) was exclusively funded by the state. Regarding the cultivation of medicinal plants, only 1 (10%) did not count on a garden and raw material for herbal medicines was obtained from suppliers. The selection of the medicinal species cultivated was based on literature research (100%), an in 80% of them it was also based on popular knowledge and in 40% the local species were used. Only 1 (10%) program did not count on a herbal medicine workshop, being focused on the distribution of medicinal plants. In all the programs that

involved herbal medicine handling a pharmacist was the technical responsible person, according to the country’s legislation. 7 out of these professionals (80%) are registered with their respective regional board of pharmacy and only 2 (20%) were not registered with their regulatory bodies. The pharmaceutical forms handled in the programs are distributed according to the number of quotations in the herbal medicine workshops: 67% of the programs deliver solutions, 22% suspensions, 55% capsules, 78% dyes, 11% elixirs, 89% syrups, 89% creams, 55% ointments and 44% liquid soaps. It has also been found that 78% of the programs that handle herbal medicines performed quality control.

The distribution of medicinal plants and herbal medicines is performed by the pharmacist in all the cases, and in some of them, it is also performed by physicians (50%), nurses (50%), technicians (40%), other professionals, such as dentists, biologists and nutritionists (20%). Therefore, in 80% of the total programs visited there was some kind of follow-up of patients taking medicinal plants or herbal medicines, 20% did not have any kind of follow-up service. However, in some of the programs that reported follow-up services, the evaluation was not recorded. Regarding efficiency assessment, 80% of the programs performed this assessment and 20% of them did not perform any efficiency assessment.

80% of the programs provide training courses to the professionals involved in herbal medicines and 20% of them do not count on any kind of training courses or activities. However, it was found that all the programs visited had educational activities targeted at the local community. One issue that has been greatly discussed with the coordinators of the programs visited was the partnership with universities or other institutions, both public and private, Only 3 (30%) of them have established partnerships, mostly with universities, and 70% have no kind of partnership. Nevertheless, most programs had tried unsuccessfully to establish partnerships, and the main reason for this was the lack of funding. Finally, the results obtained in this study conclude that herbal medicine is getting considerable attention and has become a valuable asset that ensures the access of the population to basic health care.

References

[1] (a) Brasil. (2010) Ministério da Saúde. Agencia Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Resolução de Diretoria Colegiada (RDC) no. 10, de 09 de março de 2010. Dispõe sobre a Notificação de Drogas Vegetais Junto a Agencia Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Diário Oficial de União, Brasília; (b) Goodman LS, Gilman AG, Hardman JG. (2003) As Bases Farmacológicas Da Terapêutica. 10a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Mc GrawHill, 2003, 1436 p; (c) Brasil. (2006) Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Ciência, Tecnologia e Insumos Estratégicos. Departamento de Assistência Farmacêutica. A fitoterapia no SUS e o programa de pesquisa de plantas medicinais da central de medicamentos/ Ministério da Saúde, Secretaria de Ciência, Tecnologia e Insumos Estratégicos, Departamento de Assistência Farmacêutica. – Brasília: Ministério da Saúde. 148p. – “serie B. textos básicos de saúde”.

[2] (a) Alzugaray D. (1988) Enciclopédia da plantas medicinais, Editora três Ltda São Paulo; (b) Brasil. (2006) Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Atenção a Saúde. Departamento de Atenção Básica. Política nacional de práticas integrativas e complementares no SUS – PNPIC-SUS/Ministério da Saúde, Secretaria de Atenção a Saúde, Departamento de Atenção Básica. – Brasília: Ministério da Saúde, 92 p. – “serie B. texto básico de saúde”; (c) Camargo EES. (2010) Avaliação dos programas de plantas medicinais e medicamentos fitoterápicos, visando subsidiar sua reorientação no sistema único de saúde. Tese (Doutorado em Ciências Farmacêuticas) Universidade Estadual Paulista. Araraquara – SP, 230p

Identification of Thiosildenafil in a Health Supplement Marcello Nicoletti Dep. Enviromental Ecology, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy

[email protected]


The presence of a sildenafil derivative, the thiosildenafil, in an herbal product has been evidenced first by HPTLC and later determined by isolation and analysis of spectroscopic data. The analyzed product is nowadays marketed as dietary supplement containing herbal extracts and claimed for male and female sexual improvement. This report is noteworthy since it is clear that adulterated materials can cause serious health problems if they are consumed as herbal “natural” products, generally considered deprived of toxicity by the consumers. The use of a simple and reliable method, based on HPTLC, to determine synthetic adulterations is reported in this paper.

Keywords: thiosildenafil, sildenafil, dietary supplement, HPTLC, NMR. The presence of synthetic drugs in the formulation of herbal products in order to improve the efficacy has been reported in several cases. The case seems to be very important in adulteration of herbal products marked as “natural” in cases of erectile dysfunction, since an abuse can be very dangerous for patients who unwittingly consume a synthetic potent drug instead of a botanical. In the recent years, in particular, several cases have been reported about such herbal products produced in China [1-3]. The reported monitoring aspects were essentially based on the analytical analyses concerning the detection of the adulterants that in these cases are synthetic selective inhibitors of cyclic guanosine monophosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5). Such active principles are the well known registered drugs, but also a plethora of analogues obtained by minor modifications to the basic structure of PDE-5 inhibitors was found. The reason of this proliferation is mainly due to the intention to escape analytical controls. Therefore, several efforts were focused on the best analytical tool to catch the adulterant, since first HPLC determination [4], followed by NMR [5], LC/MS and LC/MS/MS [6], until the recent 2D and 3D DOSY 1H NMR [7]. In this paper we report a further case of adulteration and propose the use of HPTLC as simple, direct and low cost method to detect such and other adulterants, also in case of their presence in complex herbal mixtures. Whereas sildenafil citrate (Viagra®, manufactured by Pfizer), vardenafil hydrochloride (manufactured by Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis®, manufactured by Lilly) are well known compounds approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, the analogues usually are not subjected to any control. In any case whereas registered products are

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5

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prescription drugs and must be used under medical supervision, herbal products are self administered and generally regarded as being harmless because of their natural origin. Confusion between the two categories is therefore very dangerous.

Recently, a survey of the analysis of the presence of synthetic PDE-5 inhibitors in dietary supplements has been reported [3]. Among the seventeen considered commercial formulations of herbal drugs or dietary supplements marketed for sexual dysfunction, eight resulted adulterated, containing sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil, hydroxyhomosildenafil and/or thiomethisosildenafil.

We were able to examine the content of an herbal supplement heavily marketed in internet sites as Sensual Tea or Jinshenkang, commercialized as able to rapidly solve any sexual problem of females and males. The product, also marketed in Italy, came from Spain, where now the product has been removed from the market. First, a HPTLC in dichloromethane: methanol (9:1, v/v) in a horizontal chamber (Camag 20X10) after saturation with the same mobile phase was performed. The plate showed a great spot very strong at UV lamp at 250 nm; its position and its intensity, in comparison with the other spots due to components of the herbal extracts, were an evident clue of the adulteration. Direct HPTLC comparison with sildenafil, verdenafil and tadalafil excluded the identity with these substances. Also densitometry analysis confirmed the differences.


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Easily, extraction with ethyl acetate afforded a complete remove of the substance from the product and NMR spectrum of the extract resulted in a highly pure compound identified as thiosildenafil, by comparison with reported data and analysis of 2D spectra. In particular, making a 1H-NMR comparison with sildenafil [3], it is diagnostic the upfield shift (δH = + 0.12) of the N-Me, due the influence of the thiocarbonyl. The LC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of thiosildenafil, as well as a little quantity of sildenafil, probably as remaining product of the conversion into the thioderivative. Quantitative determination was obtained by the NMR method proposed by Balyssac [1] and gave for each package a quantity equal to that of a tablet of Viagra. Independently, HPLC analysis was performed confirming the non identity with previous compounds and affording similar quantitative results. Herbal products spiked with synthetic drugs are dangerous to consumers and noxious for future correct developing of use of natural products. Controls must be based on simple, viable and low cost analyses. Therefore, HPTLC is a strong candidate to be used in the detection of anomalous constituents in botanicals to obtain easy clues of the adulteration. Experimental

HPTLC in silica gel 60 in dichloromethane: methanol (9:1, v/v) developed in a horizontal chamber (Camag 20X10). Deposition with CAMAG Linomat IV, TLC scanner 3 WINCATS software. For the densitometric analysis a Camag TLC scanner 3 linked to winCATS software was used after multi-wavelength scanning between 250 and 400 nm. NMR by BRUKER AM400 at 400 MHz for 1H NMR and 100 MHz for 13C NMR. Spectra were recorded

in CDCl3 using CHCl3 signal (7.23 and 77.0 ppm) as internal reference. MS by hyphenated LC/MS LXQ Thermo Electron. Samples and extraction: The analyzed samples were imported from Spain and sold as a dietary supplement in package containing white granules. The reported content of the granules was mainly sugar and a series of herbal extracts. Sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil were obtained from corresponding marketed products. HPTLC analysis: The granules of a package (40 g) were grounded and extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL) for 4 h. After filtration over 0.45 m filter, the filtrate was evaporated and dissolved in 50 mL of ethyl acetate/H2O 1:1 (v/v). The content of the organic phase was directly used for analysis, including HPTLC using sildenafil and vardenafil as reference standards. At UV lamp at 350 nm the Rf value of the unknown constituent (0.81) resulted significantly higher than those of the two reference compounds (0.79 and 0.74 for sildenafil and vardenafil, respectively). The layers, treated with H2SO4 2N spray reagent and subsequent worming at 110°C, showed other minor spots at lower RF, probably due to the natural products. For complete identification and improve the quality of spectroscopic analyses, pure thiosildenafil was obtained after silica gel CC in CHCl3:MeOH 40:1 of the above organic phase. Thiosildenafil: The ethyl acetate extract was evaporated and the residue directly examined by NMR. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) and ITMS data were in accordance with reported ones [7].

References [1] Balayssac S, Trefi S, Gilard V, Malet-Martino M, Martino R, Delsuc M-A. (2009) 2D and 3D DOSY 1H NMR, a useful tool for

analysis of complex mixtures: Application to herbal drugs or dietary supplements for erectile dysfunction. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 50, 602-612.

[2] Blok-Tip L, Zomer B, Bakker F, Hartog KD, Hamzink M, ten Hove J, Vredenbregt M, de Kaste D. (2004) Structure elucidation of sildenafil analogues in herbal products. Food Additives and Contamination, 21, 737-748.

[3] Singh S, Prasad B, Savaliya AA, Shah RP, Gohil VM, Kaur A (2009) Strategies for characterizing sildenafil, vardenafil, tadalafil and their analogues in herbal dietary supplements, and detecting counterfeit products containing these drugs. Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 28, 13-26.

[4] Daraghmeh N, Al-Omari M, Badwan AA, Jaber AMY. (2001) Determination of sildenafil citrate and related substances in the commercial products and tablet dosage form using HPLC. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 25, 483-491.

[5] Wawer I, Pisklak M, Chilmonczyk Z. (2005) 1H, 13C, 15N NMR analysis of sildenafil base and citrate (Viagra) in solution, solid state and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 38, 865-870.

[6] Park HJ, Jeong HK, Chang MI, IM MH, Jeong JY, Choi DM, Park K, Hong MK, Youm J, Han SB, Kim DJ, Park JH, Kwon SW. (2007) Structure determination of new analogues of verdenafil and sildenafil in dietary supplements. Food Additives and Contaminations, 24, 122-129.

[7] Trefi S, Gilard V, Balayssac S, Malet-Martino M, Martino R. (2009) The usefulness of 2D DOSY and 3D DOSY-COSY 1H NMR for mixture analysis: application to genuine and fake formulations of sildenafil (Viagra). Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry, 47, S163-173.

Hypolipidemic Effect of Seed Oil of Noni (Morinda citrifolia) Diana C. Pazosa, Fabiola E. Jiménezb, Leticia Garduñoa, V. Eric Lópezb and M. Carmen Cruzb,* aDepartamento de Farmacia, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CP 11340, México DF, México

bCentro de Investigación en Biotecnología Aplicada, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CP 90700, Tepetitla, Tlaxcala, México [email protected], [email protected]


Morinda citrifolia, has been reported to posses different biological activities and almost all parts of this have been studied phytochemically. However there are few studies on the seeds of fruit. The objective of present study was investigated the effect to Noni Seed Oil (NSO) on serum lipid levels in normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic induced mice. We find that administration of noni oil causes a reduction in total cholesterol and triglycerides levels in both models. However hypolipidemic effect is higher when hyperlipidemia is presented. Keywords: Morinda citrifolia seed oil, Atherogenic Index, Linolenic acid, hypolipidemic effect, tyloxapol. Morinda citrifolia L. (Rubiaceae) commonly known as noni, is an evergreen tree may reach heights of 3 to 8 m tall. Its leaves range from 10 to 45 cm long and it bears tubular white flowers and a green fruit. This fruit turns yellow and then white as it ripens, has a pungent odor and contains seeds of about 3 mm in length. This plant is native to Asia, Australia and Polynesia [1]. The plant is used in the treatment of arthritis, headaches, digestive problems, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, and angina pectoris among others [2]. The Leaves, steam, root, fruit and seeds of noni are used in various forms such as capsules, teas, juice and oil [2,3]. Due to the great popularity of this plant many phytochemical studies have been carried out in which have reported compounds as iridoids, anthraquinones phenolics, glycosides of fatty acids and alcohols, cumarins, flavonoids, alkaloids and terpenes [4]. Regarding the biological activity of this specie, the antimicrobial effect was the first observed property [5], however other effects like antitubercular [6], hypoglycemic [7], anti-inflammatory [8], antitumor [9] and analgesic [10] have been reported. Among these one evaluated the toxicity and nutritional value, as well as the determination of the fatty acid composition to assess if it is usable as edible vegetable oil. Seeds constitute 2.5% of the whole fruit and are considered a waste in the industrial process for making juice [3]. Although anthraquinones and fatty acids such as arachidonic and palmitoleic have been isolated from these seeds, it has not been established whether they show any biological activity [1].

Hyperlipidemic is defined as elevated lipid levels in plasma, and represent one of the factors associated with cardiovascular diseases, which are a worldwide death cause [11-13]. Treatment of dyslipidemia reduces cardiovascular events. The modern pharmacological therapy for abnormal lipids is effective but is expensive and it is associated with side-effects leading to patient incompliance. For this reason, our work evaluates the effect of NSO on lipid levels (total cholesterol (chol), triglyceride (Tg), high density lipoprotein (chol-HDL), in normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic mice. Castelli’s Atherogenic Index (AI) was calculated for determined risk factor of cardiovascular disease with noni seed oil consumed. Table 1: Gas chromatographic retention times (Rt) and molecular weights of fatty methyl esters from NSO.

Compound Rt (min) M+ (amu) % Methyl palmitate 38.5 270 9.4 Methyl palmitoleate 39.2 268 0.7 Methyl stearate 42.5 298 4.2 Methyl oleate 43.1 296 15.9 Methyl linoleate 44.2 294 67.8

Analysis of NSO

The total yield of oil for two extractions of dried seeds was 12%. GC-MS analysis of the FAME (fatty acid methyl esters) prepared by transesterification procedure indicated the presence of five fatty acids with the relative composition shown in Table 1. The FAME showed mass spectra with molecular ions at m/z 270, 268, 298, 296 and 294, corresponding to the retention times of 38.5, 39.2, 42.5, 43.1, 44.2 min. These times indicated the presence of palmitic (C16), palmitoleic (C16:1), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1)


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Table 2: Hypolipidemic effect produced by NSO in normolipidemic mice.

Doses (mg/kg/day)

Total-Chol (%) Tg (%) chol-HDL (%)

CONTROL 100±2.1 100±0.18 100±1.58

NSO 150 4.16±1.07 11.26±0.17 -13.91±1.49

NSO 300 -11.01±1.73 -12.2±0.22 -10.36±2.11

NSO 600 -19.09±2.69 -33.7±0.19 -22.42±3.2

Table 3: Hypolipidemic effect produced by NSO in hyperlipidemic mice male.

Doses (mg/kg/day)

Total-chol (%) Tg (%) chol-HDL (%)

CONTROL 100±6.6 100±1.08 100±0.95 NSO 150 -22.13±1.72 -74.2±0.09* 33.54±1.06

NSO 300 5.73±7.16 -64.97±0.31 39.54±1.49

NSO 600 -15.57±1.8 -31.79±0.24 42.85±1.29

* Represents significant difference when compared with the control when analyzed by ANOVA ± standard error.

and linoleic (C18:2) fatty acids respectively, being the principal component linoleic acid. However further studies are necessary to determine the exact chemical composition. Biological assay: Data on the effect on lipid-lowering activity of the three parameters evaluated are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. All animals showed good health during the period of administration. At necropsy no changes were found in the organs of the treated animals. Animals administered with 600 mg/Kg (Table 2) registered the most important effect with a reduction of -19.09% and -33.7% for total cholesterol and triglycerides respectively. These results suggest a hypolipidemic activity of seed oil and a relationship between dose and effect. Treatment of ICR mice with Triton WR 1339 (tyloxapol) resulted in a significant elevation in total serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides respect to control. Tyloxapol is a non-ionic surfactant being widely used to explore possible mechanism of lipid lowering drugs, it causes drastic increase in serum triglycerides and cholesterol levels due to increase in hepatic cholesterol synthesis particularly by the increase in HMG Co-A (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl Co-A) activity and by the inhibition of lipoprotein lipase responsible for hydrolysis of plasma lipids [14]. The Table 3 shows data about the use of NSO in hyperlipidemic mice. The lowest reduction values for cholesterol (-22.15%) and triglycerides (-74.2%) were obtained with dose of 150 mg/kg, exhibiting the best hypolipidemic effect. Not relationship dose-effect in cholesterol was observed. Nevertheless for triglycerides is notorious inverse relationship dose-effect. Significant inhibition of lipid levels increase by noni seed oil of Morinda citrifolia in this model is indicative of the

Figure 1: Castelli’s Atherogenic index for normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic mice treated with different doses of NSO.

inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis by inhibition of HMG Co-A. However, the failure of NSO to cause complete inhibition indicates the involvement of additional mechanisms. Various indices have been used for the diagnosis and prognosis of cardiovascular disease, one of them was reported by Castelli [11]. Castelli’s Atherogenic index (AI) is total cholesterol/HDL ratio and it is considered that a value below than four units represents a low risk of cardiovascular disease [11-13]. AIs were calculated for the different groups, being that it is smaller for normolipidemic group when administered NSO (Figure 1). While for the hyperlipidemic group a slight decrease regarding the control is observed only at dose of 300 mg/Kg. However the values for this group stay below the one it limits. We find that the administration of noni oil causes a hypolipidemic effect, mainly evident when hyperlipidemia occurs. The results from this study rationalize the medicinal use of noni seed oil in dislipidemia. However further studies are required to prove efficacy of noni seed oil in dyslipidemia and to prove that it can be used as a potential medicine for cardiovascular diseases. The main constituent of noni seed oil is linoleic acid, however hypolipidemic activity may be due to the presence of other compounds in oil. Experimental

Extraction seed oil (NSO): The noni fruit was obtained from Córdoba Veracruz, México. The seeds were obtained from fresh fruits. The batch of seeds were washed and dried at room temperature. Dried seeds were ground and extracted by maceration with food-grade hexane at 1:5 ratio at room temperature for 24 h. The extract was filtered and the solvent removed by distillation under reduced pressure. The crude oil was used in the bioassay.

Hypolipidemic effect of Morinda citrifolia seed oil Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1007

Oil analysis: Fatty acid composition was determined for gas chromatography (GC) of methyl ester obtained after transesterification of the crude oil [15] on a Hewlett-Packard 5890 Series II Gas Chromatograph equipped with a 5971A Mass Selective detector and using an HP-Innowax capillary column (30 m x 0.2 mm x 0.25 μm thick coating). Helium was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL/min with the injector set to split mode at 250ºC. The oven was programmed from 100 to 140°C at 1.5°C/min and then from 140 to 250°C at 5°C/min and held at 250ºC for 10 min. The detector was operated at 70 eV in scanning mode over the range of 50–550 amu. Mass spectra were compared with data in NIS library and % of fatty acid was calculated for integration value for chromatogram. Hypolipidemic Evaluation: Hypolipidemic activity was studied in (ICR) male mice weighing 25-30g (Birmex, S. A., Mexico City). All animals were housed in hanging metal cages and maintained at 24±2 ºC and 50±10% relative humidity, with 12 h light/dark cycle. They were fed on standard pellet diets (Rodent Diet 5001, PMI Nutrition International, Inc. Brenwood, MO) and drinking water was freely available. All animals appeared healthy throughout the dosing period, maintaining normal food intake and weight gain. At sacrifice, no gross abnormalities were observed in any treated mice. All animals were treated in accordance with ethical principles and regulations specified by the Animal Care and Use Committee of our institution and the standards of the National Institutes of Health of Mexico. The mice were randomly divided into groups of six animals. Hyperlipidemia was induced in the mice by

administration of Triton WR 1339 (Tyloxapol) was dissolved in water at 400 mg/Kg. The seed oil was administered 1h before and 22 and 48 h after the tyloxapol injection [16]. Mice were treated with the oil seed suspended in a 1:4.5:4.5 tween 80: mineral oil: saline solution and administered orally by an incubation needle at doses of 150, 300 or 600 mg/Kg/day for 28 days. Animals receiving the vehicle were used as the non-cholesterol control group. For tyloxapol-treated mice blood samples were taken 48 h after injection. On the other hand, animals receiving treatment for 28 days were fasted for 12 h before sacrifice. Blood samples were collected by periorbital plexus bleeding and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 15 min. Total cholesterol (Col), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (col-HDL), and triglycerides (Tg) levels were determined in the serum, using a Wiener lab, Selectra 2000 automatic analyzer. All data are expressed as the percentage of the cholesterol group control (the mean± standard error) by using Student 9t test. P values less than 0.05 considered statistically significant. Castelli Atherogenic index (AI) were calculated using the equation IA= Total cholesterol/HDL-chol [11]. Acknowledgments – We thank SIP/IPN by financial support (20090806). D.C-P is grateful to PIFI-IPN for the scholarships awarded. M.C-C, L-C., and V.E.-L are fellows of the EDI/IPN and COFAA/IPN programs.

References [1] Dixon AR, McMillan H, Atkin NL. (1999) Ferment this: the transformation of noni, a traditional Polynesian medicine (Morinda

citrifolia, Rubiaceae). Economic Botany, 53, 51-68. [2] (a) Potterat O, Hamburger M. (2007) Morinda citrifolia (Noni) Fruit-phytochemistry. Pharmacology, Safety. Planta Medica, 73,

191-199; (b) McClatchey, W. (2002) From Polynesian healers to health food stores: changing perspectives of Morinda citrifolia (Rubiaceae). Integrative Cancer Therapies, 1, 110-120.

[3] West JB, Jarakae JC, Westendorf J. (2008) A new vegetable oil from noni (Morinda citrifolia) seeds. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 43, 1988-1992.

[4] (a) Sang S, Ho C-T. (2006) Chemical Components of Noni (Morinda Citrifolia) Root. American Chemical Society, 14, 185-194; (b)Wang M, Kikuzaki, KC, Boyd CD, Maunakea A, Fong SFT, Ghai GR, Rosen RT, Nakatani N, Ho CT. (1999) Novel trisaccharide fatty acid ester identified from the fruits of Morinda citrifolia (Noni) Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 47, 4880–4882.

[5] Locher CP, Burch MT, Mower HF, Berestecky H, Davis H, Van Polel B, Lasure A, Vander Berghe DA, Vlieti-Nick AJ. (1995) Anti-microbial activity and anti-complement activity of extracts obtained from selected Hawaiian medicinal plants. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 49, 23–32.

[6] Saludes JP, Garson MJ, Franzblau SG. Aguinaldo AM. (2002) Antitubercular constituents from the hexane fraction of Morinda citrifolia L. (Rubiaceae). Phytotherapy Research, 16, 683–685.

[7] (a) Nayak BS. Marshall JR, Isitor G Adogwa A. (2011) Hypoglycemic and hepatoprotective activity of fermented fruit juice of Morinda citrifolia (noni) in diabetic rats. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. doi:10.1155/2011/875293; (b) Madaeva Rao US, Subramanian S. (2009) Biochemical evaluation antihyperglycemic and antioxidative effects of Morinda citrifolia extract studied in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Medicinal Chemistry Research, 18, 433-446.

[8] (a) McKoy, MLG, Thomas EA, Simon OR. (2002) Preliminary investigation of the anti-inflammatory properties of an aqueous extract from Morinda citrifolia (Noni). Pharmacological Society, 45, 76–78; (b) Akihisa T, Matsumoto K, Tokuda H, Yasukawa K,

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Seino K, Nakamoto K, Kuninaga H, Suzuki T, Kimura Y. (2007) Anti-inflammatory and potential cancer chemopreventive constituents of the fruits of Morinda citrifolia (Noni). Journal of Natural Products, 70, 754-757.

[9] (a) Hirazumi A, Furusawa E. (1999) An immunomodulatory polysaccharide- rich substance from the fruit juice of Morinda citrifolia (Noni) with antitumor activity. Phytotherapy Research, 13, 380–387; (b) Hirazumi A, Furusawa E, Chou S C, Hokama Y. (1996) Immunomodulation contributes to the anticancer activity of Morinda citrifolia (noni) fruit juice. Proceedings of the Western Pharmacology Society, 39, 7-9.

[10] Younos C, Rolland A, Fleurentin J, Lanhers MC, Misslin R, Mortier F. (1990) Analgesic and behavioral effects of Morinda citrifolia. Planta Medica, 56, 430–434.

[11] Orgaz NT, Hijano VS, Martínez LS, López BJ, Díaz PJ. (2007) “Guía del paciente con trastornos lipídicos”, Editorial Instituto Nacional de Gestión sanitaria, 1-19.

[12] Ángel MG, Ángel RM. (2006) Interpretación clínica del laboratorio. Séptima edición. Editorial Médica Panamericana, 86, 150, 156.

[13] Castelli TGW, Hjortland CM, Kannel BW, Dabwer RT. (1977) High density lipoprotein as a protective factor against coronary heart disease. The American Journal of Medicine, 62, 707-714.

[14] Kuroda M, Tanzawa K, Tsujita Y, Endo A. (1977) Mechanism for elevation of hepatic cholesterol synthesis and serum cholesterol levels in Triton WR- 1339-induced hyperlipidemia. Biochimica Biophysica Acta, 489, 119-125.

[15] Halket J. (1993) Derivatives for Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. In Handbook of Derivatives for Chromatography, Blau K. and Halket J. (Eds.). John Wiley, Chichester, 317.

[16] Silva RM, Santos FA, Maciel MA, Pinto AC, Rao VSN. (2001) Effect of trans-dehydrocrotonin, a 19-nor-clerodane diterpene from Croton cajucara on experimental hypertrigliceridemia and hypercholesterolaemia induced by Triton WR 1339 (Tyloxapol) in Mice. Planta Medica, 67, 763-765.

Composition of Egyptian Nerolì Oil Ivana Bonaccorsia*, Danilo Sciarronea, Luisa Schipillitia, Alessandra Trozzib, Hussein A. Fakhryc and Giovanni Dugoa aDipartimento Farmaco-chimico, Università di Messina, V.le Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy

bDipartimento Farmaco-biologico, Università di Messina, V.le Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy

cA. Fakhry & Co. 1081 Cornich El-Nil Cairo 11451, Egypt [email protected]

Received: November 10th, 2010; Accepted: March 3rd, 2011

The bitter orange flower oil (or nerolì) is an essential product, largely used in perfumery. Nerolì is obtained by hydrodistillation or steam distillation, from the flowers of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium L.). Since a long time nerolì production is limited and its cost on the market is considerably high. The annual production in Tunisia and Morocco is ca. 1500 Kg, representing more than 90% of the worldwide production. A small amount of nerolì is also produced in Egypt, Spain and Comorros (not exceeding 150 kg totally). Due to the high cost, the producers and the users have tried to obtain less expensive products, with odor characters close to that of nerolì oil to be used as substitute and sometimes as adulterants of the genuine oil. In this study are investigated five samples of Egyptian nerolì oils produced in 2008 and 2009, in the same industrial plant, declared genuine by the producer. For all the samples the composition was determined by GC/FID and by GC/MS-LRI; the samples were also analyzed by esGC to determine the enantiomeric distribution of twelve volatiles and by GC-C-IRMS for the determination of the 13CVPDB values of some mono and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, alcohols and esters. The analytical procedures allowed to quantitatively determining 86 components. In particular the variation of the composition seems to be dependent on the period of production. In fact, the amount of linalool decreases from March to April while linalyl acetate presents an opposite trend, increasing in the same period. The RSD determined for the 13CVPDB are very small (max. 3.89%), ensuring the authenticity of all samples. The results are also discussed in function of the limits provided by the European Pharmacopoeia (EP) (2004), AFNOR (1995) and ISO (2002) regulations for genuine nerolì oils. Keywords: Nerolì oil, Citrus aurantium L., GC, GC/MS-LRI, GC-C-IRMS, es-GC.

The oil of nerolì is obtained by hydrodistillation or by steam distillation of the flowers of bitter orange (C. aurantium L.). Nerolì, rose and jasmine are often cited as “the three pearls of perfumery”. Nerolì is the classic ingredient of the most famous and prestigious perfumes and eau de cologne. It is also used as flavor ingredient in food and beverages. In traditional Chinese medicine the extracts from bitter orange flowers are used to treat digestive problems and insomnia. Nerolì is the product of a laborious work: the flowers, which bloom between the end of April and the beginning of June are collected manually during the first hours of the day; one worker can collect about 20 Kg per day for a period of 20 days; the flowers are hydro- or steam-distilled with a yield ranging from 0.08% at the beginning of the season to a maximum of 0.13% under the most favorable conditions. The production in the European Mediterranean Countries (mainly France) is subject to a strong decrease, mainly for the specialized working cost necessary to collect the flowers, and for the contraction of the cultivated fields of bitter orange.

The annual world production of nerolì is today less than 2000 Kg; most of it is concentrated in Morocco and in Tunisia. Small amounts of nerolì, about 150 Kg/year, are produced in Egypt, Spain, and Comorros. The market price of nerolì is considerably high and the organic product can be sold at more than 4,500 USD/Kg. It is therefore predictable that this oil can be subject to adulteration by the addition of less valuable natural products, such as the oils obtained from flowers of citrus different from C. aurantium, or by addition of leaf oils or of synthetic compounds. The adulteration of nerolì oil is not easily identifiable, mainly because the reference data available in literature, relative to oils produced industrially and extracted in laboratory [1-3], ranges widely and is also probably affected by the geographic origin of the trees. Based on the rules AFNOR (Association Francaise de Normalization) [4a], ISO (International Organization for Standardization) [4b] and EP (European Pharmacopeia) [5], some of the results available in literature should not indicate genuine samples. Very few results are available in literature on the enantiomeric distribution of volatiles determined in nerolì oils [6-10]. In the authors knowledge the IRMS analysis was never performed before on nerolì.


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1010 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Bonaccorsi et al.

Usually essential oils quality assessment is obtained by traditional chromatographic techniques (GC-FID, GC-MS, Es-GC, HPLC) as recently reported by our research group [11], recognized for their validity in the quality control field. Advanced chromatographic techniques have been also exploited for different essential oils as fast GC/MS [12] and multidimensional GC-GC for quantitative [13] and enantiomeric ratio assessment [14,15]. Recently has gained importance the Gas Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) that, determining small differences in the isotopic carbon composition of the matrices, can be exploited to discriminate between products of different origin [10,16-18a]. In this regards GC-C-IRMS can be an useful tool in the flavour and fragrance authenticity control, unveiling illicit essential oils production methods, such as the oils adulteration by the addition of synthetic or natural compounds, different from the genuine ones [18b,19,20]. To our knowledge nerolì oil was never investigated by IRMS. It is therefore particularly interesting to provide information useful for the genuineness assessment of nerolì, also in function of the geographic origin. The present article reports the results relative to the composition of five samples of Egyptian nerolì produced in 2008 and 2009, to the enantiomeric distribution and the isotopic ratio of selected components. The samples analyzed are described below:

Sample Description 1 hydrodistilled from Egypt (2008) 2 steam-distilled March 23th 2009 3 steam-distilled March 28th 2009 4 steam-distilled April 7th 2009 5 steam-distilled April 9-11th 2009

Table 1 reports the composition determined by GC-FID, of the samples analyzed. To facilitate comparison with information already available in literature the results are here reported as raw peak area %. The correction factors (C.F.) for each class of substances determined by GC-FID are however reported in Table 1 to provide complete information to the reader. In the case of distilled oils, as nerolì, the volatile fraction should represent the whole oil. The quantitative results obtained from triplicates show CV% values always below 5%. The 86 components identified by GC/MS with the use of LRI as filters interactively applied during the mass spectral identification process [21] represent about 99% of the whole oils. In comparison with literature information this study led to the identification of numerous components (indicated by * in Table 1), while the presence of numerous minor components previously reported were not here confirmed. Hydrocarbons range between 20-25%, oxygenated compounds vary between 73-78%; among these alcohols range from 58 to 70% and esters from 7 to 19%, while aldehydes are present at small amounts (0.16-0.26%). The main alcohol is linalool (44-53%), followed by -terpineol

(5-6%) and by geraniol (3-4%). The sesquiterpene alcohols (E)-nerolidol and (E,E)-2,6-farnesol are also well represented ranging together between 2-5%. The main ester is linalyl acetate (2-15%) followed by geranyl acetate (about 3%) and neryl acetate (about 1.5%). The most abundant monoterpene hydrocarbon is limonene (8-12%) followed by (E)--ocimene (3-5%), and by -pinene (2-4%); the main sesquiterpene hydrocarbon is -caryophyllene (0.6-0.9%). The sample produced in 2008 by hydrodistillation, compared to all the other oils obtained by steam distillation, has the highest amount of linalool and of total alcohols, and the lowest amount of linalyl acetate and of total esters. In the samples produced in 2009 the composition varies gradually but significantly during the productive season. The total monoterpene hydrocarbons and the single components of this class of compounds, the total monoterpene alcohols and the single components of this class of compounds as well as the ratio linalool/linalyl acetate decrease during the season. Total esters and linalyl acetate present an opposite behavior, as well as the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and aldehydes. Neryl and geranyl acetate remain constant during the whole season.

In Figure 1 are graphically described the seasonal variation of class of substances and some single components. The results confirm, as reported in literature, that the main components of nerolì oil are linalool, linalyl acetate and limonene. The amount of these components determined in this study fall in the ranges hitherto determined for nerolì oil. It should be however mentioned that in one Egyptian oil [1a] it was determined the 30% of linalool content and 1% of linalyl acetate; the highest value (74%) of linalool was reported for a Chinese oil [1a] which presented a very unusual low amount of limonene (1%); in some Spanish oils [3] were reported very low values of linalyl acetate (0.6%).

The results determined in the present study also confirm the presence of some Key compounds such as methyl anthranilate, methyl N-methyl anthranilate, phenyl ethyl alcohol, (E)-nerolidol, and some newly identified components such as the (E,Z)- and (E,E)-2,6-farnesals, useful for the characterization of this product.

Table 2 reports the enantiomeric distribution of some components determined by es-GC. The values are determined from triplicates with CV% never exceeding 5.5% with the exception of that relative to the (-)--thujene isomer which is 8.9% due to the chromatographic behavior of this component. Figure 2 shows the chiral chromatogram of one of the samples analyzed. The enantiomeric ratios of camphene, sabinene, - and -phellandrene and citronellal were determined in nerolì oils for the first time. The values of the enantiomeric

Composition of Nerolì oil Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1011

Table 1: Composition of the five samples analyzed (% of peak areas) determined by GC-MS-LRI and GC-FID.

LRIa LRIb 1 2 3 4 5 -Thujene 925 927 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 -Pinene 933 933 0.15 0.26 0.22 0.22 0.23 Camphene 950 953 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Sabinene 973 972 0.85 1.56 1.15 1.44 1.33 β-Pinene 979 978 1.89 3.70 3.44 3.29 3.04 6-Methyl-5-hepten-2-one 984 978 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 Myrcene 989 991 1.43 1.74 1.61 1.44 1.33 cis-Dehydrolinalol oxide* 1006 1006 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 tr -Phellandrene 1007 1002 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 δ-3-Carene 1010 1009 0.09 0.06 0.05 0.06 0.03 (E)-2-Hexenyl acetate 1014 1017 - 0.01 0.01 0.01 tr -Terpinene 1018 1018 0.04 0.13 0.09 0.07 0.04 o-Cymene* 1020 1022 tr tr tr tr tr p-Cymene 1025 1025 0.13 0.09 0.06 0.13 0.13 Limonene 1031 1030 11.89 10.14 10.10 9.18 7.87 (Z)-β-Ocimene 1035 1026 0.48 0.61 0.58 0.50 0.47 (E)-β-Ocimene 1046 1046 3.31 5.11 4.81 4.09 3.40 γ-Terpinene 1058 1049 0.12 0.28 0.19 0.17 0.11 cis-Linalool oxide 1071 1069 0.13 0.17 0.17 0.18 0.25 Terpinolene 1087 1086 0.26 0.43 0.42 0.36 0.27 Linalool 1107 1101 53.33 45.58 45.31 43.80 43.69 4,8-Dimethyl-1,3(E),7- nonatriene* + Phenylethyl alcohol*

1114 1113 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.03

Fenchol° 1122 1123 tr - - - tr trans-p-Menth-2,8-dienol 1124 1122 tr - - - tr cis-p-Menth-2-en-1-ol 1127 1124 0.03 0.03 tr 0.02 0.02 trans-Limonene oxide* 1135 1142 0.01 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.02 trans-p-Menth-2-enol* 1144 1141 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.03 Terpinen-4-ol 1182 1177 0.44 0.79 0.52 0.57 0.59 p-Cymen-8-ol* 1189 1189 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.03 (Z)-3-Hexenyl butanoate* 1190 1184 0.01 tr tr 0.01 0.02 -Terpineol 1199 1195 6.22 6.17 5.90 5.50 4.89 trans-Piperitol 1211 1209 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 Nerol 1226 1229 1.28 1.12 1.06 1.01 0.95 cis-Carveol* 1234 1232 tr - - - - Neral 1239 1238 0.03 tr 0.03 0.03 0.03 Carvone 1246 1246 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.01 Linalyl acetate 1250 1243 2.19 8.77 10.97 12.97 14.57 Geraniol 1253 1255 3.83 3.42 3.30 3.06 2.94 trans-Myrtanol* 1257 1261 tr 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 Geranial 1269 1264 0.07 0.05 0.05 0.07 0.07 Bornyl acetate* 1286 1287 tr 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Geranyl formate* 1298 1298 0.03 0.01 0.02 tr 0.04 Methyl geranoate* 1321 1320 0.01 tr tr tr 0.02 Linalyl propanoate* 1331 1333 tr - - - 0.02 Bicycloelemene* 1334 1338 tr 0.01 0.01 0.01 tr δ-Elemene 1337 1335 0.03 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.06 Methyl anthranilate 1342 1337 0.04 0.10 0.12 0.09 0.06 -Terpinyl acetate 1348 1349 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.07 Citronellyl acetate 1349 1353 0.02 - - - 0.02 Neryl acetate 1359 1361 1.45 1.45 1.43 1.44 1.45 Geranyl acetate 1379 1380 3.08 3.06 3.02 3.01 3.08 β-Elemene 1392 1391 0.09 0.11 0.09 0.12 0.18 (E)-Jasmone* 1395 1390 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 n-Tetradecane* 1400 1400 tr 0.01 tr 0.01

0.01 cis--Bergamotene* 1404 1411 0.01 tr tr 0.01 Methyl N-methyl anthranilate 1409 1405 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 β-Caryophyllene 1424 1424 0.56 0.60 0.68 0.82 0.94 Perillyl acetate* 1435 1435 - tr tr tr 0.01 Aromadendrene 1443 1439 0.01 tr tr tr 0.01 Geranyl acetone* 1448 1453 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.04 (E)-β-Farnesene 1453 1452 0.09 0.13 0.13 0.18 0.22 -Humulene 1460 1452 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.08 0.11 9-epi-β-Caryophyllene* 1464 1464 0.01 tr tr 0.01 0.01 Geranyl propanoate* 1469 1471 tr tr tr 0.01 0.01 Germacrene D 1485 1479 0.03 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08 Bicyclogermacrene* 1500 1497 0.10 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.05 -Muurolene* 1502 1497 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.01 (E,E)--Farnesene 1505 1504 0.05 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.03 γ-Cadinene 1517 1513 tr tr tr tr 0.01 δ-Cadinene 1522 1518 0.03 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.04 β-Sesquiphellandrene* 1526 1523 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 (E)-Nerolidol 1563 1561 2.35 1.15 1.16 2.04 3.21 Spathulenol 1582 1576 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.05 0.05 Caryophyllene oxide° 1587 1587 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.04 Globulol 1591 1587 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 Cadin-4-en-10-ol* 1660 1659 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 n-Tetradecanol* 1677 1680 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03

2,3-Dihydrofarnesol* 1688 1688 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.04 β-Sinensal* 1695 1699 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.08 (E,Z)-2,6-Farnesal* 1711 1714 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.03 (E,E)-2,6-Farnesol 1718 1716 2.03 1.17 1.29 1.59 1.66 (E,E)-2,6-Farnesal* 1739 1737 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.04 -Sinensal* 1752 1749 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 Farnesyl acetate° 1833 1832 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 (E,E)-Geranyl linalol* 2024 2026 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 C.F. Sum of uncorrected % of peak areasHYDROCARBONS 1.0 21.79 24.95 23.97 22.57 20.10 Monoterpene 20.67 24.16 22.76 20.99 18.30 Sesquiterpene 1.09 0.74 1.17 1.52 1.77 Aliphatic 0.03 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.03 ALDEHYDES 1.3 0.26 0.16 0.22 0.25 0.26 Monoterpene 0.10 0.05 0.08 0.10 0.10 Sesquiterpene 0.16 0.14 0.14 0.15 0.16 KETONES 1.3 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.11 0.09 Monoterpene 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.07 0.05 Aliphatic 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.04 ALCOHOLS 1.3 69.72 59.58 58.68 57.81 58.19 Monoterpene 65.21 57.17 56.14 54.07 53.17 Sesquiterpene 4.49 2.39 2.52 3.71 4.99 Aliphatic 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 ESTERS 1.6 6.88 13.39 15.55 17.55 19.35 Monoterpene 6.83 13.36 15.52 17.50 19.30 Sesquiterpene 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 Aliphatic 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 OXIDES + ETHERS 1.5 0.22 0.30 0.32 0.37 0.34 OTHERS 0.10 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.10 ALL 99.06 98.60 98.98 98.80 98.43

Notes a: LRI measured on SLB-5MS column; b: Reference LRI reported in literature (FFNSC 1.3GC-MS library, Shimadzu, Japan; or Adams RP. Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, 4th Edn. Carol Stream, IL, USA: Allured Publishing Corp; 2007; or Hochmuth, D.H., Joulain, D., König, W.A., 2002. MassFinder Software and Data Bank, University of Hamburg); tr: ≤ 0.005; C.F. Correction Factor (FID response) for class of compounds; * identified, in the authors knowledge, for the first time in nerolì oils; ° correct isomer not identified.

Table 2: Enantiomeric distribution of some volatile components in the samples analyzed.

1 2 3 4 5 S-(+)--Thujene 59.02 48.80 33.53 56.53 30.98 R-(-)--Thujene 40.98 51.20 66.47 43.47 69.02 R-(+)--Pinene 41.37 36.77 32.96 34.70 n.d. S-(-)--Pinene 58.63 63.23 67.04 65.30 n.d. 1S,4R-(-)-Camphene n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 90.85 1R,4S-(+)-Camphene n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 9.15 R-(+)-β-Pinene 2.05 2.04 1.72 1.76 2.08 S-(-)-β-Pinene 97.95 97.96 98.28 98.24 97.92 R-(+)-Sabinene 80.89 81.40 76.72 81.93 81.14 S-(-)-Sabinene 19.11 18.60 23.28 18.07 18.86 R-(-)--Phellandrene 44.55 27.42 n.d. 14.37 32.01 S-(+)--Phellandrene 55.45 72.58 n.d. 85.63 67.99 R-(-)-β-Phellandrene 39.17 27.75 53.74 36.50 49.31 S-(+)-β-Phellandrene 60.83 72.25 46.26 63.50 50.69 S-(-)-Limonene 1.65 2.54 2.42 2.58 2.60 R-(+)-Limonene 98.35 97.46 97.58 97.42 97.40 S-(-)-Citronellal n.d. 47.14 45.09 n.d. n.d. R-(+)-Citronellal n.d. 52.86 54.91 n.d. n.d. R-(-)-Linalyl acetate 98.95 99.39 99.47 99.41 99.28 S-(+)-Linalyl acetate 1.05 0.61 0.53 0.59 0.72 R-(-)-Linalol 78.25 78.51 78.54 78.48 78.55 S-(+)-Linalol 21.75 21.49 21.46 21.52 21.45 S-(+)-Terpinen-4-ol 62.19 62.74 60.00 61.68 62.13 R-(-)-Terpinen-4-ol 37.81 37.26 40.00 38.32 37.87 S-(-)--Terpineol 28.77 28.98 28.88 29.21 28.99 R-(+)--Terpineol 71.23 71.02 71.12 70.84 70.79

n.d.: not determined.

distribution of limonene, linalol, terpinen-4-ol and -terpineol here determined are in good agreement with literature results relative to genuine nerolì oils [6,7a]; however, if compared to literature, the enantiomeric excess of (-)--pinene is slightly lower, that of (-)--pinene


Table 3: (-)13CVPDB values calculated for the samples analyzed, average and relative standard deviation% (RSD).

1 2 3 4 5 Ave RSD -Pinene 25.24 25.75 25.16 25.24 25.48 25.37 0.95 Myrcene 24.77 26.26 25.05 24.25 24.30 24.92 3.28 Limonene 27.29 27.78 27.20 27.84 27.32 27.48 1.09 Linalol 25.64 25.85 25.80 26.08 26.06 25.89 0.72 Terpinen-4-ol 28.10 27.74 27.01 27.68 27.81 27.67 1.46 -Terpineol 26.84 27.14 26.57 26.93 27.22 26.94 0.96 Nerol 27.05 27.39 26.27 26.89 28.19 27.16 2.59 Neryl acetate 28.14 27.86 27.48 28.42 28.52 28.09 1.51 Geranyl acetate 27.42 28.06 27.75 28.54 28.41 28.03 1.65 Caryophyllene* 25.74 25.15 23.18 25.04 24.61 24.74 3.89 (E)-Nerolidol 30.60 30.43 30.12 30.79 30.13 30.41 0.96 Farnesol** 30.18 29.3 29.64 29.58 29.79 29.71 1.03

Correct isomer identification: *-; **(2E,6E)- Table 4: Comparison between the limits reported in the regulations [4,5] and the results experimentally obtained for the five samples of Egyptian Nerolì (peak area %).

AFNOR 1995

ISO 3517:2002

EP 2006 Range

Limonene 9-18 9-18 9.0-18.0% 7.87-11.89 Myrcene 1-4 1-4 - 1.33-1.74 (E)-β-Ocimene 3-8 3-8 - 3.31-5.11 α-Pinene max. 2 tr-2 - - β-Pinene 7-17 7-17 7.0-17.0 1.89-3.70 Sabinene - tr-3% - 0.85-1.44 Linalool 28-44 28-44 28.0-44.0 43.31-53.33 α-Terpineol 2-5.5 2-5.5 2.0-5.5 4.89-6.22 (E,E)-Farnesol 1-4 1-4 0.8-4.0 1.29-2.03 (E)-Nerolidol 1-5 1-5 1.0-5.0 1.15-3.21 Linalyl acetate 3-15 3-15 2.0-15.0 2.19-14.57 Geranyl acetate 1-5 1-5 1.0-5.0 3.0-3.08 Neryl acetate max. 2.5 tr-2.5 max 2.5 1.43-1.45 Methyl anthranilate - - 0.1-1.0 0.04-0.12

Chiral purity (+)-Linalol - - max 30 21.45-21.75 (+)-Linalyl acetate - - max 5 0.53-1.05

Seasonal variation

0,00

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50,00

60,00

70,00

1 2 3 4

sample #

%

Linalyl acetate

Linalol

Linalol + Linalyl acetate

Monoterp HYDROCARB

Alcohols

Esters

Figure 1: Seasonal variation of class of components, of linalool and linalyl acetate in the four samples of nerolì produced during 2009.

extremely lower and that of (-)-linalyl acetate is higher. With the exception of -pinene, the results here obtained for the components analyzed are overall in good agreement with the enantiomeric purity previously determined by Mosandl [6] considered characteristic of genuine nerolì oils. Table 3 reports the (-)13CVPDB values calculated for the nerolì oils samples. This study reports for the first time the GC-C-IRMS analysis of selected volatile components in nerolì oil. It is impossible to compare these values with literature information. Figure 3 shows the graph obtained

Figure 2: Chiral chromatogram of one sample of neroli oil. Peak identification: 1. (+)-α-thujene; 2. (-)-α-thujene; 3. (+)-α-pinene; 4. (-)-α-pinene; 5. (+)-β-pinene; 6. (-)-β-pinene; 7. (+)-sabinene; 8. (-)-sabinene; 9. (-)-α-phellandrene; 10. (+)-α-phellandrene; 11. (-)-β-phellandrene; 12. (-)-limonene; 13. (+)-β-phellandrene; 14. (+)-limonene; 15. (-)-linalol; 16. (+)-linalol; 17. (-)-citronellal; 18. (+)-citronellal; 19. (-)-linalyl acetate; 20. (+)-linalyl acetate; 21. (+)-terpinen-4-ol; 22. (-)-terpinen-4-ol; 23. (-)-α-terpineol; 24. (+)-α-terpineol.

-32

-31

-30

-29

-28

-27

-26

-25

-24

-23

beta-

Pine

ne

Myr

cene

Limon

ene

Linaloo

l

Terpin

en-4

-ol

alpha

-Ter

pineo

l

Nerol

Neryl

acet

ate

Geran

yl ac

etat

e

(E)-C

aryo

phyll

ene

(E)-N

eroli

dol

(2E,

6E)-F

arne

sol

1

2

3

4

5

13CVPDB

Figure 3: Diagram obtained for 13CVPDB values for each components in function of the period of production. For sample description see table in text.

by plotting the 13CVPDB values for each component analysed in function of the period of production. The relative standard deviation of the 13CVPDB values range for the samples analyzed between 3.52 ((E)--caryophyllene) and 0.96 (-terpineol). These low values indicate very narrow ranges of variation, therefore it is posible to assume that the 13CVPDB can be considered characteristic of authenticity and of the geographic origin of the samples.

Table 4 provides a comparison of the ranges determined from the present results with the limits provided by the AFNOR, ISO and EP regulations [4,5]. Some of the results fall within these limits; others fall only slightly outside them; in three of the samples analyzed linalol is present at levels sensibly higher than the limits provided by the aformentioned regulations; -pinene is always below the minima reported for nerolì oils. These behavior could be due to the geographic origin of the oils analyzed. Considering the high commercial value of nerolì, its limited production in different geographic areas and the high possibility that this product can be subject to adulteration, it is necessary to fix quality parameters in

1 2 3

4

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6

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uV(x10,000) Chromatogram

Composition of Nerolì oil Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1013

consideration of its variability among different geographic areas. To accomplish this, for a correct evaluation, not only the indices given by these regulations should be taken into account, but also the 13CVPDB of selected compounds and the chiral purity of more compounds than the two already indicated, thus providing adequate tools for quality and genuineness assessment.

Experimental

Analysis of the essential oils: On the five samples described in text the following analytical investigations have been carried out: GC/FID, GC/MS of the volatile fraction; direct enantio-GC for the determination of the enantiomeric distribution of some volatiles. Each analysis was performed in triplicates. Results are expressed as average peak area %.

GC/FID: The volatile fraction was analyzed by HRGC/FID as described. Gas chromatograph: Shimadzu GC2010 equipped with a Flame Ionization Detector, a split/splitless injector and an AOC-20i series auto-injector. Capillary column: 30 m x 0.25 mm I.D. 0.25 m df coated with SLB-5MS [silphenylene polymer, virtually equivalent in polarity to poly (5% diphenyl/95% methyl)siloxane)] (Supelco, Milan, Italy); column temperature, 50-250°C (10 min) at 3°C/min; injector temperature: 250°C; detector temperature: 280°C; carrier gas, He at 99.5 kPa (30.0 cm/s); injection mode: split; split ratio, 1:100; injected volume, 1.0 L of diluted oil. Data handling was made by means of GCsolution software.

GC/MS Analysis: Samples were analyzed by GC/MS (EI) on a GCMS-QP2010 system equipped with commercially available libraries (see notes to Table 1) including the commercial version of the FFNSC ver. 1.3 (Shimadzu, Japan) database (created in the authors’ laboratory) consisting of about 2000 reference standards and their relative linear retention indices determined on apolar column, interactively used as filters for the spectral interpretation. GC conditions: capillary column and temperature program as in GC/FID; carrier gas, He delivered at a constant pressure of 30.6 kPa (30.1 cm/s); 1.0 L of solution (1/10, v/v, essential oil/hexane) injected on a split/splitless injector; injector temperature, 250°C; injection mode, split; split ratio, 1:50. MS scan conditions: source temperature, 200°C; interface temperature, 250°C; E energy 70eV; mass scan range, 40-400 amu. Data was handled through the use of GCMSsolution software.

Enantio-GC: Shimadzu GC2010 gas chromatograph equipped with a Flame Ionization Detector, a split/splitless injector and an AOC-20i series autoinjector. Capillary chiral column was a Megadex DETTBS-(diethyl-tert-butil-silyl -cyclodextrin) 25 m x 0.25 mm I.D. x 0.25m df (Mega, Legnano, Italy). Temperature program: 50°-200°C at 2°C/min. Inlet pressure 96.6 kPa (220°C), split mode 1:20 (gas carrier He); injected volume, 1.0 l; linear velocity, 30 cm/sec (constant). Data handling was made by means of GCsolution software

GC-C-IRMS device and analyses: Trace GC Ultra equipped with a TriPlus autosampler, retrofitted to the combustion interface GC/CIII and hyphenated to the isotope ratio mass spectrometer Delta V Advantage (all purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Milan, Italy). GC: column: SLB-5ms (silphenylene polymer) 30 m x 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 m df (Supelco, Milan, Italy.); temperature program: 50°C to 230°C at 3°C/min; split/splitless injector (250°C). Inlet pressure: 167 kPa; column flow: 2.0 ml/min (constant flow mode); carrier gas: He. GC/C III: ox. reactor (Cu/Ni/Pt): 980°C; red. reactor: 640°C; He: 1 bar; O2: 0.8 bar; CO2: 0.5 bar. IRMS: EI; electron voltage: 123.99 eV; electron current: 1.5 mA; 3 Faraday cup collectors at m/z 44, 45, and 46; peak center pre-delay and post-delay: 15 s, cup 3; reference: 60-80 s, 100-120 s, 140-160 s, 180-200 s; split: open; evaluation type: CO2_SSH, ref. time: 155.90 s, 13C/12C -60.300‰; integration time 0.2 s. GC-C-IRMS instrument achieves highly precise measurement of carbon isotopic abundance, converting the eluted volatile components, in CO2 and water into an oxidation chamber. After removing water, just behind the furnace, by a capillary-shaped phase separator, CO2 reaches an ionization chamber where it will be transformed into three ion traces for the different isotopomers: 12C16O2, 13C16O2 and 12C18O16O, with their corresponding masses at (m/z) 44, 45, 46.The three ion beams are registered simultaneously by an Universal Faraday collector that detects the different contributions of ionic fragments obtained. Isotopic ratios, 45/44 and 46/44, are expressed in ‰ and are related to a certified standard (VPDB-standard) of known value [20]. Exploiting the GC-Combustion backflush, the most concentrated components were not introduced into the combustion chamber. The samples dilutions and the GC-Combustion conditions were as follows: concentration 1:10 (v/v), 1 L split injection, 1:100 split ratio, backflush: off, for the determination of 13CVPDB of limonene and linalool. Concentration 1:10 (v/v), 1 L split injection, 1:50 split ratio, backflush open: 780-830 s and 970-1060 s, for the determination of 13CVPDB of -pinene, myrcene, terpinen-4-ol, -terpineol, nerol, neryl acetate, geranyl acetate, (E)-caryophyllene, nerolidol, (2E,6E)-farnesol. Data are collected in triplicate, by using the Isodat 2.5 software (Thermo Fisher Scientific). CO2 reference gas cylinder calibration: The attained carbon isotope ratio of the unknown sample is compared to that of a calibrated CO2 reference. The CO2 reference gas was calibrated by injecting 1 L of a carbon stable isotope ratio reference alkanes mixture comprising C16 to C30

(Indiana University, Bloomington, U.S.A.), calibrated against VPDB standard with a defined 13C content. Isotope ratios were expressed as values (‰), versus a standard.


Tricosane (C23) was arbitrarily chosen as reference alkane.

Acknowledgements - Authors whish the acknowledge Shimadzu for the continuous support.

References

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[18] (a) Schipilliti L, Tranchida PQ, Sciarrone D, Russo M, Dugo P, Dugo G, Mondello L. (2010) Genuineness assessment of mandarin essential oils employing Gas Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). Journal of Separation Science, 33, 1–6; (b) Schipilliti L, Dugo P, Dugo G, Santi L, Mondello, L. (2010)Authentication of bergamot essential oil by Gas-Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (GC-C-IRMS). Journal of Essential Oil Research, 23, 60-71.

[19] Schipilliti L, Dugo P, Bonaccorsi I, Mondello L. (2011) Authenticity control on lemon essential oils employing Gas-Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). Submitted to Food Chemistry.

[20] Russe K, Valkiers S, Taylor PDP. (2004) Synthetic isotope mixtures for the calibration of isotope amount ratio measurements of carbon. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 235, 255-262.

[21] Mondello L, Dugo P, Basile A, Dugo G. (1995) Interactive use of linear retention indices, on polar and apolar columns, with a MS library for reliable identification of complex mixtures. Journal of Microcolumn Separations, 7, 581-591.

13CVPDB = (13C/12C)sample - (

13C/12C)standard

x 1000

(13C/12C)sample

Essential oil of Nepeta x faassenii Bergmans ex Stearn (N. mussinii Spreng. x N. nepetella L.): A Comparison Study Niko Radulovića, Polina D. Blagojevića, Kevin Rabbittb and Fabio de Sousa Menezesb,*

aDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Nis, Serbia

bSchool of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland [email protected]


Analysis (GC and GC/MS) of an essential oil sample obtained from dry leaves of Nepeta × faassenii Bergmans ex Stearn, a hybrid species produced by crossbreeding N. mussinii Spreng. with N. nepetella L., led to the identification of 109 constituents that represented 95.9% of the oil. The major constituents were 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone (67.8%), 1,8-cineole (6.6%), germacrene D (4.8%), β-pinene (2.7%), (E)-β-ocimene (2.6%), 4aα,7β,7aα-nepetalactone (2.3%) and (E)-β-farnesene (1.0%). Chemical composition of the oil was compared, using multivariate statistical analyses (MVA) with those of the oils of other Nepeta taxa, in particular N. mussinii and N. nepetella. This was done in order to explore the mode of inheritance of the monoterpene biosynthetic apparatus of N. faassenii. Chemical composition of the volatiles of a Nepeta taxon (different populations) can be subject to variation due to environmental and geographical factors. To accommodate this fact in the MVAs, along side with N. faassenii essential oil, additional 6 oils (3 different populations of N. nuda L. and N. cataria L. from Serbia) were included in this study (isolated and analyzed (chemically and statistically)). The MVA analyses recognized N. faassenii as being closely related to both N. mussinii and N. nepetella. If the relative content of oil constituents per plant and not per chromatogram were used as variables in the MVA (this was done by simple multiplication of the yields and relative percentages of components) a higher degree of mutual similarity (in respect to the monoterpene biosynthesis) of N. faassenii to N. mussinii, than to the other parent species, was observed. Keywords: Nepeta × faassenii Bergmans ex Stearn, Lamiaceae, Nepeta nuda L., Nepeta cataria L., Nepeta mussinii Spreng, Nepeta nepetella L., essential oil, nepetalactone, chemometrics. The genus Nepeta L., Lamiaceae, includes over 200 species of perennial plants and some annuals [1]. The members of this genus are known as catnip or catmint because of the purported effect on cats, pleasantly stimulating cats’ pheromonic receptors, typically resulting in temporary euphoria [1]. The active substances of catnip plants, some of which have a sedative effect on humans, have been widely used in medicine, food industry and perfumery. They are also used in folk medicine as remedies for bronchitis, flu, cold and other illnesses. Number of catnips have sudorific, diuretic and bacteriostatic properties, reduce fever and help treat stomach-aches [1,2]. Generally speaking, Nepeta species are essential oil-rich taxa, and some of them contain more than 1% of the essential oil [2,3]. Moreover, many of them are cultivated as garden plants. In order to produce new, interesting garden/ornamental plants, many Nepeta species have been crossbred repeatedly. The aim of the breeding processes is not only creating plants with an appalling look, but also producing larger amounts of biologically active compounds [2]. One of the outcomes of these experiments is the sterile hybrid Nepeta × faassenii Bergmans ex Stearn, which has been produced by crossbreeding N. mussinii Spreng. with N. nepetella L. [4].

Nepeta × faassenii is cultivated in Europe, C Asia and Persia, and is used as a spice and an ornamental plant [4]. There is only limited data on the composition of the volatile oil of the mentioned hybrid taxon [3a]. For this reason, the aim of this study was set to analyze in detail (GC and GC/MS) the essential oil of N. faassenii and to compare its chemical composition, using multivariate statistical analyses (MVA: agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis (AHC) and principal component analysis (PCA)) with those of the oils of other Nepeta taxa, in particular N. mussinii and N. nepetella. Having in mind that the monoterpene diversity and morphology could serve as a mirror of the gene flow [5], multivariate analyses were primarily done in order to provide an insight into the inheritance of the chemical characters for this taxon. The chemical composition of the essential oils of a Nepeta taxon (different populations) can be subject to variation due to environmental and geographical factors. To accommodate this fact in the MVAs, along side with N. faassenii essential oil, additional 6 oils (3 different populations of N. nuda L. and N. cataria L. from Serbia) were included in this study (isolated and analyzed (chemically and statistically)).


1015 - 1022

1016 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Radulović et al.

Table 1: Chemical composition of the essential oils extracted from Nepeta faassenii (NF), N. cataria (NC) and N. nuda (NN)

RIa Compound NF NCb NNb Class 765 (Z)-2-Penten-1-ol trc,d tr O 778 3-Methyl-2-butenal tr tr O

778 Methyl 3-methylbutanoatee tr tr tr O

801 Hexanale tr tr O 837 Furfurale tr tr O 845 (Z)-2-Hexenal tr 0.10.0 O 851 (E)-2-Hexenal 0.1 O

852 Ethyl 3-methylbutanoatee

tr O

855 (Z)-3-Hexen-1-ol tr O 886 2-Butylfuran tr O 897 2,6-Dimethypyridine tr O 900 Nonanee 0.10.1 O 900 Styrenee,f 0.8 tr tr O 927 Diethyldisulfidee tr O 932 α-Thujenee 0.1 tr tr M 937 α-Pinenee 0.4 tr 1.10.3 M 951 Allylbenzenee tr O 955 Camphenee tr tr tr M 963 Hexanoic acide tr O 970 Benzaldehydee tr tr tr O 975 Sabinenee 0.8 0.20.1 2.00.5 M 978 1-Octen-3-ol tr O 984 β-Pinenee 2.7 0.40.2 4.00.7 M 987 3-Octanone tr 0.1 O 989 Myrcenee 0.3 tr 1.10.1 M 993 2-Pentyl furan tr tr O 995 Dehydro-1,8-cineole tr 0.10.0 MM 997 3-Octanol 0.1 O 999 (Z,E)-2,4-Heptadienal tr tr O 1004 Octanale tr O 1009 p-Mentha-1(7),8-diene tr tr MM 1014 (E,E)-2,4-Heptadienal tr O 1021 α-Terpinene tr tr 0.10.1 MM 1028 p-Cymenee tr tr tr MM

1029 Methyl 1-cyclohexenyl ketone

tr tr M

1032 Limonenec 0.5 tr MM 1034 β-Phellandrene 0.1 0.10.0 MM 1037 1,8-Cineolee 6.6 tr 37.54.9 MM 1040 (Z)-β-Ocimene tr 0.10.0 M 1045 (E)-β-Ocimene 2.6 0.20.1 0.70.3 M 1050 2-Phenylacetaldehydee 0.20.2 O 1060 γ-Terpinene tr tr 0.10.0 MM 1061 (E)-2-Octenal tr O 1062 Bergamal tr M 1070 1-Octen-3-ol tr O

1070 (E)-3-Hexenyloxy-acetaldehyde

tr O

1071 1-Octanole tr O 1073 cis-Sabinene hydrate 0.1 0.40.3 M

1077 cis- Linalool oxide (furanoid)e tr tr M

1089 Terpinolenee tr 0.10.0 MM 1092 Rose furan tr M 1101 Linaloole tr tr tr M 1102 Perillene tr M M 1105 trans-Sabinene hydrate tr tr M 1106 Nonanale tr tr tr O 1107 α-Thujonee tr M

1109 (E)-6-Methyl-3,5-heptadien-2-one

tr tr O

1128 Dehydrosabina ketone tr M 1128 allo-Ocimene tr M 1132 α-Campholenal tr M 1139 (E)-Epoxy-ocimene tr M 1145 trans-Pinocarveol tr tr 0.20.2 M 1146 Nopinone tr tr M 1147 trans-Sabinole tr M 1151 Citronellal tr M 1152 trans-Verbenol 0.10.1 M 1159 (E)-2-Nonenal tr O

Table 1 (contd.) 1163 Lavandulol tr M 1165 Sabina ketone tr M 1166 Pinocarvone tr 0.20.1 M 1169 Lavandulol 0.10.0 tr M 1170 Rosefuran epoxide tr M 1173 δ-Terpineole tr 1.60.5 MM 1184 Terpinen-4-ole 0.1 tr 0.30.1 MM 1193 Cryptone tr M M 1198 α-Terpineole 0.1 tr 3.91.0 MM 1199 Methyl salicylatee tr 0.10.1 tr O 1201 Myrtenale tr 0.30.2 M 1207 Decanale tr O

1208 (E,E)-2,6-Dimethyl-3,5,7-octatrien-2-ol

0.1 M

1218 Verbenone tr M 1221 β-Cyclocitral tr tr tr O 1226 trans-Carveole tr MM

1238 (Z)-3-Hexenyl 2-methyl butanoate

tr O

1239 Nerale tr tr M

1242 (Z)-3-Hexenyl 3-methylbutanoate

0.30.3 O

1248 Hexyl 3-methyl butanoatee tr O

1251 Cumin aldehyde tr MM 1251 Geraniole tr tr tr M 1256 Carvonee tr MM 1269 Geraniale 0.1 tr M

1275 Methyl 3-phenylpropanoatee 0.3 O

1282 Lavandulyl acetate tr M 1293 Dihydroedulan IA tr 0.10.0 O 1324 (E)-3-Hexenyl tiglate tr O

1350 Ethyl 3-phenylpropanoatee tr O

1378 4aα,7α,7aα-Nepetalactonee 67.8 91.77.8 0.10.0 MI

1381 α-Copaene 0.2 0.20.1 S 1387 Geranyl acetatee tr M

1389 (Z)-3-Hexenyl (Z)-3-hexenoate

0.40.4 tr O

1391 β-Bourbonene 0.2 0.90.6 S 1392 β-Cubebene tr tr S 1393 β-Elemene 0.2 0.40.0 S 1393 (E)-β-Damascenone tr O

1396 4aα,7α,7aβ-Nepetalactone

0.3 0.40.3 MI

1397 (E)-Jasmone tr O

1404 4aα,7β,7aα-Nepetalactone

2.3 1.00.7 12.92.3 MI

1414 Isocaryophyllene tr S 1415 α-cis-Bergamotene 0.1 S 1416 α-Gurjunene 0.10.1 S 1423 β-Ylangene tr S 1424 Dihydronepetalactone tr MI 1425 β-Caryophyllenee 0.9 2.30.8 4.62.5 S 1434 β-Copaene 0.1 0.20.0 S 1441 (Z)-β-Farnesene tr S 1451 Isogermacrene D 0.10.0 S 1453 (E)-β-Farnesene 1.0 0.20.2 4.63.1 S 1460 α-Humulenee 0.1 0.20.2 tr S 1463 2-Methyltetradecane tr tr O 1468 allo-Aromadendrene tr S

1470 cis-Cadina-1(6),4-diene

tr S

1473 cis-Muurola-4(14),5-diene

tr 0.10.0 S

1483 ar-Curcumene tr S 1487 γ-Muurolene 0.10.1 S 1486 Germacrene De 4.8 tr 12.64.4 S 1490 (E)-β-Iononee tr O

1491 trans-β-Ionon-5,6-epoxide

tr O

1496 α-Zingiberene 0.1 0.10.1 S

1499 trans-Muurola-4(14),5-diene

tr S

Nepeta x faassenii essential oil Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1017

Table 1 (contd.) 1499 Bicyclogermacrene 0.1 0.7±0.6 S 1500 α-Muurolene tr tr S 1504 (E,E)-α-Farnesene 0.1 tr tr S 1509 β-Bisabolene 0.3 0.9±0.2 S 1512 Germacrene A 0.1 S 1520 γ-Cadinene 0.1 tr S 1523 endo-1-Bourbonanol tr S 1526 β-Sesquiphellandrene 0.2 0.8±0.2 S 1536 trans-γ-Bisabolene tr S 1538 trans-Cadina-1,4-diene tr S 1543 α-Cadinene tr S 1550 α-Calacorene tr tr S 1561 (E)-Nerolidol tr S 1568 1-nor-Bourbonanone 0.1±0.1 S 1569 Dendrolasin tr tr S 1572 Mint oxide tr S 1575 Palustrol 0.1±0.0 S

1575 (Z)-3-Hexenyl benzoate tr O

1581 Germacrene D-4-ol 0.1 S 1584 Spathulenole 0.2±0.0 S 1587 Caryophyllene oxidee 0.2 0.7±0.1 1.9±0.5 S 1593 β-Copaen-4α-ol tr S 1597 Salvial-4(14)-en-1-one tr tr S 1610 Ledol 0.1±0.0 S 1611 β-Oplopenone tr S 1617 Humulene epoxide II tr 0.4±0.3 S 1626 Junenol tr S 1633 Zingiberenol tr S 1635 1-epi-Cubenol tr S

1643 allo-Aromadendrene epoxide 0.1 S

1644 Caryophylla-4(12),8(13)-dien-5-ol tr tr S

1645 epi-α-Cadinol (τ-cadinol) tr tr S

1648 epi-α-Murrolol (syn.g τ-muurolol) 0.3±0.2 S

1650 3-iso-Thujopsanone tr S

1652 α-Muurolol (syn. torreyol) 0.1±0.1 S

1659 α-Cadinol 0.1 0.6±0.6 S

1678 14-Hydroxy-9-epi-caryophyllene 0.1±0.0 S

1688 Germacra-4(15),5,10(14)-trien-1α-ol

0.1 0.3±0.1 S

1690 2,3-Dihydrofarnesol tr S

1694 Eudesma-4(15),7-dien-1β-ol tr S

1697 (Z,Z)-2,6-Farnesol 0.1 S 1743 Mint sulfide tr S 1745 α-Oxobisabolene 0.1 S 1768 β-Costol tr S 1770 Benzyl benzoate tr O

1777 14-Hydroxy-α-muurolene tr S

1797 14-Hydroxy-δ-cadinene 0.1 S

1845 Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone tr 0.1±0.0 O

2067 Abietatriene tr O 2107 (E)-Phytol 0.1 tr O 2300 Tricosane tr tr tr O 2364 (Z)-9-Octadecenamidef tr O 2400 Tetracosanee tr O 2500 Pentacosanee tr tr O 2600 Hexacosanee tr tr O 2800 Octacosanee tr O Total 95.9 98.5±1.1 98.0±1.5

Number of components 119 75±5 115±9

Monoterpenoids (M) 85.0 94.2±7.1 66.8±5.1 Hydrocarbons 7.5 1.0±0.3 9.4±3.1 Oxygenated 77.5 93.8±4.3 57.4±5.5 Iridane (MI) 70.4 93.1±6.8 13.1±2.9

p-Menthane (MM) 7.4 0.1±0.0 47.3±1.7 Sesquiterpenoids (S) 9.5 3.4±0.5 30.6±5.2 Hydrocarbons 8.6 2.7±0.4 26.4±4.2 Oxygenated 0.9 0.7±0.4 26.5±3.1 Others (O) 1.4 0.9±0.5 0.6±0.1

aCompounds listed in order of elution from a DB-5MS column with retention indices (RI) determined experimentally by co-injection of a homologous series of C7-C28 n-alkanes; bPercentages given as average values ± absolute deviations of the components’ relative abundances (three oil samples); ctr-trace (<0.05%); dAll compounds present below 0.05% in at least one of the analyzed N. nuda and N. cataria oil samples are given as tr; eThe identity of the constituent was determined by comparison of MS and RI matching and confirmed by co-injection of an authentic sample; fProbably a contaminant of the isolation procedure; syn.-synonym.

Figure 1: Typical TIC chromatograms of the herein analyzed N. cataria, N. nuda and N. fasenii essential oil samples (for sample designation see Table 2). Almost 200 different compounds, representing 95.9-99.1% of the total oils, were identified in the 7 presently analyzed samples (Table 1). Typical TIC chromatograms of the analyzed samples are depicted in Figure 1. Chemical compositions of the analyzed N. nuda and N. cataria oils were in general agreement with the literature data [3a,g]. Major compounds identified in N. faassenii oil were 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone (67.8%), 1,8-cineole (6.6%) and germacrene D (4.8%). Additional 4 compounds with the relative amount higher than 1% of were: β-pinene (2.7%), (E)-β-ocimene (2.6%), 4aα,7β,7aα-nepetalactone (2.3%) and (E)-β-farnesene (1.0%).


Table 2: List of the essential oil samples used in the statistical analyses.

Taxon Sample

designation Ref.

Yielda (%)

N. faassenii Bergmans ex Stearn N. faas1 p.s.b 0.2 N. faas2 [3a] 0.1 N. faas3 [3a] 0.2

N. mussinii Spreng. (syn. N. racemosa Lam.)

N. muss1 [3b] -c

N. muss2 [3c] 0.2 N. muss3 [3d] 0.2 N. muss4 [3e]d 0.7 N. muss5 [3e] 0.1

N. nepetella L. N. nep1 [3c] - N. nep2 [3a] 0.8 N. nep3 [3f] 1.2

N. nuda L.

N. nuda1 p.s. 0.5 N. nuda2 p.s. 0.6 N. nuda3 p.s. 0.6 N. nuda4 [3a] 0.03 N. nuda5 [3a] 0.2

N. cataria L.

N. cat1 p.s. 0.5 N. cat2 p.s. 0.5 N. cat3 p.s. 0.4 N. cat4 [3g] - N. cat5 [3a] 0.1 N. cat6 [3a] 0.2

N. macrosiphon Boiss. N. mac [3h] 0.2 N. ucrainica L. ssp. kopetdaghensis N. ucr [3i] 0.04

N. oxydonata Boiss. N. oxy [3j] 0.1 N. foliosa Moris N. foli [3k] 0.1

N. septemcrenata Erenb N. sept [3l] 0.4 N. sibirica L. N.sib [3a] 1.0

N. rtanjensis Diklic & Milojevic N. rtanj [3m] 1.0 N. cadmea Boiss. N. cadmea [3n] 2.1 N. crispa Willd. N. crispa [3o] -

N. mahanensis Jamzad & Simmonds N. mahan [3o] - N. ispahanica Boiss. N. ispah [3o] -

N. eremophila Hausskn. & Bornm. N. erem [3o] - N. rivularis Bornm. N. rivul [3o] -

N. cilicia Boiss. N. cilicia [3p] - aGiven as in the original references (%, w/w or v/w); bp.s.-present study; cYield not given in the original references; d Reference [3e] plus personal correspondence with K. H. C. Baser; syn.-synonym.

As already mentioned, monoterpene profiles of hybrids and their parent taxa could serve as a mirror of the gene flow [5]. We wanted to verify this hypothesis in the case of N. faassenii, and decided to use essential oil composition as a reflection of the inheritance of the biosynthetic apparatus of this hybrid taxon. For that reason, chemical compositions of the herein analyzed samples and 29 other oils originating from different Nepeta taxa (Table 2), including the two previously studied oils of N. faassenii and 8 oils of the parent species N. nepetella and N. mussinii, were compared using multivariate statistical analysis (MVA: AHC and PCA), Figures 2-5. The exact identity of the Nepeta taxa other than N. faassenii, N. nepetella and N. mussinii was unimportant for the present study and these were chosen randomly (either from the literature or analyzed in parallel with N. faassenii) to provide a representative data set, large enough to be suitable for MVAs. Moreover, several different populations of N. nuda and N. cataria were included as a sort of a “control group”, to estimate the potential influence of environmental and geographical factors, and the possibility of the existence of different chemotypes of one taxon.

Dendrogram

N.

nuda

3N

. nu

da1

N.

nuda

2N

. riv

ulN

. c

at4

N.

mah

anN

. is

pah

N.

cris

paN

. er

emN

.faa

s3N

. uc

rN

. ox

yN

. m

acN

. ci

licia

N.

mus

s2N

. se

ptN

. fo

lioN

. m

uss3

N.n

uda5

N.

mus

s5N

.nud

a4N

. m

uss4

N.

rtan

jN

. m

uss1

N.f

ass2

N.

faas

1N

.cat

6N

.sib

N.

nep1

N.

cat

3N

.nep

2N

. ca

dmea

N.n

ep3

N.c

at5

N.

cat

1N

. c

at2

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

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A

Dendrogram

N.

cat

2N

. c

at1

N.c

at5

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ep3

N.

cadm

eaN

.nep

2N

. c

at3

N.

nep1

N.s

ibN

.cat

6N

. fa

as1

N.f

ass2

N.

mus

s1N

. rt

anj

N.

mus

s4N

.nud

a4N

. m

uss5

N.n

uda5

N.

mus

s3N

. fo

lioN

. se

ptN

. m

uss2

N.

cilic

iaN

. m

acN

. ox

yN

. uc

rN

.faa

s3N

. er

emN

. cr

ispa

N.

ispa

hN

. m

ahan

N.

cat

4N

. riv

ulN

. nu

da2

N.

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1N

. nu

da3

0

1000

2000

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8000

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10000

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Figure 2: A-Dendrogram (AHC1 analysis; original variables) representing chemical composition dissimilarity relationships of 36 Nepeta essential oil samples (observations) obtained by Euclidian distance dissimilarity (dissimilarity within the interval [0, 50300], using aggregation criterion-Ward's method). Three groups of samples (C1-C3) were found (from left to right); B-Expanded section of dendrogram A, showing the dissimilarity interval [0, 12000]. The dendrogram depicted in Figure 2, obtained as the result of AHC analysis performed using original variables (percentage composition of the oils, AHC1), delimitates three statistically different classes of samples, C1-C3. Class C1 (4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone class) groups all samples with a high relative amount of 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone (more than 65%). Oils obtained from N. nepetella (N. nep1-N. nep3), as well as the two N. faassenii samples (N. faas1 and N. faas2) were also grouped within this class. The mutual feature of the oils, including two N. mussinii samples, clustered within the C2 ((4aα,7α,7aβ-nepetalactone class)) was the


Dendrogram

N.f

aas3

N.

ucr

N.

oxy

N.

mac

N.

cilic

iaN

. m

uss5

N.

folio

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sept

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uda5

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ahan

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. ca

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rtan

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.fas

s2N

. m

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erem

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mus

s4N

. m

uss1

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at6

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at5

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cat1

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cat2

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. m

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uda4

0

10000

20000

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40000

50000

60000

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A

Dendrogram

N.f

aas3

N.

ucr

N.

oxy

N.

mac

N.

cilic

iaN

. m

uss5

N.

folio

N.

sept

N.n

uda5

N.

nuda

2N

. nu

da1

N.

nuda

3N

. riv

ulN

. ca

t4N

. m

ahan

N.

ispa

hN

. cr

ispa

N.n

ep3

N.

cadm

eaN

. ne

p1N

. ca

t3N

.sib

N.n

ep2

N.

rtan

jN

.fas

s2N

. m

uss3

N.

erem

N.

mus

s4N

. m

uss1

N.c

at6

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at5

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cat1

N.

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1N

. m

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uda4

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ty

B

Figure 3: A-Dendrogram (AHC2 analysis; transformed variables – summation of the nepetalactones) representing chemical composition dissimilarity relationships of 36 Nepeta essential oil samples (observations) obtained by Euclidian distance dissimilarity (dissimilarity within the interval [0, 50000], using aggregation criterion-Ward's method). Three groups of samples (C4-C6) were found (from left to right); B-Expanded section of dendrogram A, showing the dissimilarity interval [0, 5500].

high relative amount of 4aα,7α,7aβ-nepetalactone (>70%). The remaining class (C3) was much more heterogenic with respect to the dominant components of its comprising samples. One sample of N. faassenii (N. faas3) and 3 samples of the N. mussinii oil were placed within the same subclass of C3. Germacrene D, (E)-β-ocimene, 4aα,7α,7aβ-nepetalactone, 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone, 4aα,7β,7aα-nepetalactone and 1,8-cineole were among the dominant components of these N. faassenii and N. mussinii oils.

Dendrogram

N.s

ibN

. ne

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. ne

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. ca

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. m

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N.

folio

N.f

aas3

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nuda

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Dendrogram

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Figure 4: A-Dendrogram (AHC3 analysis; transformed variables (information about the oil yields included to give the per plant content)) representing chemical composition dissimilarity relationships of 27 Nepeta essential oil samples (observations) obtained by Euclidian distance dissimilarity (dissimilarity within the interval [0, 30000], using aggregation criterion-Ward's method). Three groups of samples (C7-C9) were found (from left to right); B-Expanded section of dendrogram A, showing the dissimilarity interval [0, 11000].

According to the results of AHC1, one could speculate that in general, the hybrid N. faassenii is, as far as the monoterpene biosynthesis is concerned, generally more similar to N. nepetella than to its other parent species (C1). The placement of one N. faassenii oil sample outside of the C1 class might be possibly explained by the existence of more than one chemotype of this hybrid. It could be even possible that the crossbreeding might not give identical N. nepetella x N. mussinii hybrids all of the time. However, although N. faassenii, N. nepetella and


N. mussinii oils didn’t share the same amounts of (different) nepetalactones. For this reason, additional MVA analyses, using transformed variables were preformed to answer this situation. In the first transformed set of variables (MVA2: AHC2 and PCA2) 4 nepetalactone diastereoisomers were not used as individual variables, but were replaced with one collective variable (the sum of the relative abundances of the 4 nepetalactones). The results of AHC 2 are given in Figure 3. The three observed statistically different groups of samples (C4-C6) are not identical with those from AHC1, but can be correlated to a certain level. Once again, the N. faassenii oils were not placed within the same class of the resulting dendrogram. The sample N. faas3 (collected from the same botanical garden as N. faas2), characterized with a high percentage of germacrene D, (E)-β-ocimene, was again recognized as statistically different, as might be expected. Except for this sample and N. muss5, all other N. faassenii, N. nepetella and N. mussinii oils were not recognized as statistically different (C4, AHC2). It has been previously shown that not only the identity of the dominant essential oil constituents is important for the comparison and classification of plant species, but the oil yield as well [6]. Therefore, an additional set of variables, taking into account the yields of the compared oils, was used for the MVAs (MVA3, for each sample, the relative amount of the every original variable was multiplied with the corresponding oil yield, to reflect the per plant and not per chromatogram relative amount of the volatile constituents). MVA3 were performed using a slightly reduced set of observations, as the yields of all oils listed in Table 2 were not given in the original references. The resulting dendrogram of the AHC3 is given in Figure 4. This time, all oil samples of N. faassenii were placed within the same class (C7), together with N. mussinii oils. Contrary to that, N. nepetella samples were recognized as statistically different and were grouped within C9. As can be seen from Table 2, the yields of N. faassenii and N. mussinii oils were comparable and fall within the interval 0.1-0.2% (the only exception was N. muss4), whereas the yields of N. nepetella oils were significantly higher (0.8-1.2%). Alongside with the AHCes, the samples listed in Table 2 were analyzed by PCA, using the same three sets of variables (original and transformed). The results of PCA1-PCA3 were almost identical. As can be seen from a typical byplot of the PCA (PCA1, original variables), given in Figure 5, values of F1 and F2 factors for all analyzed N. faassenii, N. nepetella and N. mussinii oils were very similar, suggesting a high level of likeness of the mentioned samples. It could be interesting to mention that all performed MVA analyses (AHC1-AHC3 and PCA1-PCA3) generally showed that oils of the “control” species (N. nuda and N. cataria) were not statistically different (except for the N. cat4) within the taxon.

O b s e r v a t io n s ( a x e s F 1 a n d F 2 : 2 4 .0 7 % )

N . n u d a 3

N . m a c

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)

N. faas1-3N. muss1-5N. nep1-3N. cat1-3,5,6N. nuda4,5N. cadmeaN. rtanjN. sibN. erem

N. nuda1,2N. mahanN. crispaN. ispah

Figure 5: Principal component analysis - ordination of 36 oil samples (observations). Axes (F1 and F2 factors-the first and second principal component) refer to the ordination scores obtained for the samples. Axis F1 accounts for ca. 13% and axis F2 accounts for a further 11% of the total variance.

Thus, one could conclude that the oil composition of these Nepeta taxa were not susceptible, at least not significantly, to external factors (environmental and geographical). For this reason, it is not unreasonable to assume that the statistically significant differences in the chemical composition of the all herein analyzed Nepeta oils could, at least partially, reflect the differences of corresponding taxa on the biosynthetic/genetic level. Having all the above stated in mind, some general conclusions regarding the inheritance of the monoterpene biosynthetic apparatus of N. faassenii could be drawn. Considering only the chemical composition of the analyzed oils, both AHC and PCA (Figures 2, 3 and 5) recognized, as expected, N. faassenii as closely related to both N. mussinii and N. nepetella. It could be even speculated that the hybrid can unselectively inherit the monoterpene biosynthetic apparatus from both of its parent species (AHC1 and AHC2). Nevertheless, when the chemical composition of the compared oils was not the only compositional data taken into account, but also their corresponding yields (AHC3), a higher degree of mutual similarity (with respect to the monoterpene biosynthesis) of N. faassenii to N. mussinii, than to its other parent species, was observed. Experimental

Plant material: Above-ground parts of N. faassenii were collected in the botanical gardens, Trinity College, Dartry, Dublin 6. Nepeta nuda was collected from three different locations in SE Serbia (slopes of the Suva planina mountain (Donji Dušnik), the Ploče highland and the vicinity of the city of Niš (village Knez selo)), in August, 2010. Above-ground parts of N. cataria were collected in the vicinity of the city of Pirot, the slopes of the mountain Rtanj and the vicinity of the city of Niš (village Knez


selo), SE Serbia), also in August, 2010. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Niš under the acquisition number – 201035A-C and 201036A-C. Isolation of the essential oil: Air-dried, to constant weight, aboveground parts of Nepeta × faassenii, N. cataria and N. nuda (batches of 25 – 150 g) were subjected to hydrodistillation with ca. 1 l of distilled water for 2.5 h using the original Clevenger-type apparatus [7]. Yields of the obtained oils (w/w) are given in Table 2. The obtained oils were separated by extraction with diethyl ether and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulphate. The solvent was evaporated under a gentle stream of nitrogen at room temperature in order to exclude any loss of the essential oil and immediately analyzed. When the oil yields were determined, after the bulk of ether was removed under a stream of N2, the residue was exposed to vacuum at room temperature for a short period to eliminate the solvent completely. The pure oil was then measured on an analytical balance and multiple gravimetric measurements were taken during 24 h to ensure that all of the solvent had evaporated. GC and GC/MS analyses: The GC/MS analyses were repeated three times for each sample using a Hewlett-Packard 6890N gas chromatograph. The gas chromatograph was equipped with a fused silica capillary column DB-5MS (5% phenylmethylsiloxane, 30 m 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 m, Agilent Technologies, USA) and coupled with a 5975B mass selective detector from the same company. The injector and interface were operated at 250° and 300°C, respectively. The oven temperature was raised from 70° to 290°C at a heating rate of 5°C/min and then isothermally held for 10 min. As a carrier gas helium at 1.0 mL/min was used. The samples, 1 L of the oil solutions in diethyl ether (1 : 100), were injected in a pulsed split mode (the flow was 1.5 mL/min for the first 0.5 min and then set to 1.0 mL/min throughout the remainder of the analysis; split ratio 40 : 1), which enabled sufficient separation (narrower peaks due to a pulsed injection mode despite starting the run at 70°C) and positive identification of numerous components with RI lower than 900. The identification of partially overlapping peaks was also aided by NIST AMDIS (Automated Mass Spectral Deconvolution and System) Software version 2.4, supplied by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA). Мass selective detector was operated at the ionization energy of 70 eV, in the 35–500 amu range with a scanning speed of 0.34 s. GC (FID) analyses were carried out under the same experimental

conditions using the same column as described for the GC/MS. The percentage composition was computed from the GC peak areas without the use of correction factors. Qualitative analyses of the essential oil constituents wеrе based on several factors. Firstly, the comparison of the essential oils linear retention indices relative to the retention times of C8-C28 n-alkanes on the DB-5MS column [8] with those reported in the literature [9]. Secondly, by comparison of their mass spectra with those of authentic standards, as well as those from Wiley 6, NIST02, MassFinder 2.3. Also, a homemade MS library with the spectra corresponding to pure substances and components of known essential oils was used, and finally, wherever possible, the identification was achieved by GC coinjection with an authentic sample (see Table 1). Relative standard deviation (RSD) of peak areas of the repeated measurements (independent sample preparations and GC-MS) was for all substances below 1%. The only exceptions which had higher RSD were minor components such as bicyclogermacrene, (E)-β-ocimene, (Z)-2-hexenal, α-terpineol, β-caryophyllene, cis-sabinene hydrate and β-sesquiphellandrene where RSD was 6, 3, 4, 9, 8, 2 and 13%, respectively. In repeated measurements, no significant deviation of the component retention times was observed. Multivariate statistical analyses: Principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) were performed using the Excel program plug-in XLSTAT version 2010.03.5. Both methods were applied utilizing three sets of variables: original variables (percentages of individual oil constituents (only constituents with the percentage higher than 1% in at least one sample were taken into account)) and transformed variables (a-original variables were transformed in such a way that 4 nepetalactone isomers were summed into one collective variable; b-for each sample, the relative amount of the every original variable was multiplied by the corresponding oil yield). AHC was determined using Pearson dissimilarity where the aggregation criterion were simple linkage, unweighted pair-group average and complete linkage and Euclidean distance where the aggregation criterion were weighted pair-group average, unweighted pair-group average and Ward’s method. PCA of the Pearson (n) type was performed. Acknowledgments – The research has been supported by the Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Project 172061).

References

[1] Sefidkon F, Shaabani A. (2004) Essential oil composition of Nepeta meyeri Benth. from Iran. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 19, 236-238.

[2] Smolik M, Jadczak D, Glowczyk A. (2008) Assesment of morphological and genetic variability in chosen Nepeta accessions. Herba Polonica, 54, 68-78.


[3] (a) De Pooter HL, Nicolai B, De Laet J, De Buyck LF, Schamp NM, Goetghebeur P. (1988) The essential oils of five Nepeta species. A preliminary evaluation of their use in chemotaxonomy by cluster analysis. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 3, 155-159; (b) Regnier FE, Waller GR, Eisenbraun EJ. (1967) Studies on the composition of the essential oils of three Nepeta species. Phytochemistry, 6, 1281-1289; (c) Lawrence BM. (1989) Labiatae oils-mother nature’s chemical factory. Presented at 11th International congress of essential oils, fragrances and flavors, New Delhi, India; (d) Dabiri M, Sefidkon F. (2003) Chemical composition of the essential oil of Nepeta racemosa Lam. from Iran. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 18, 157-158; (e) Baser KHC, Ozek T, Akgul A, Tumen G. (1993) Composition of the essential oil of Nepeta racemosa Lam. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 5, 215-217; (f) Bicchi C, Mashaly M, Sandra P. (1984) Constituents of essential oil of Nepeta nepetella. Planta Medica, 50, 96-98; (g) Gilani AH, Shah AJ, Zubair A, Khalida S, Kiani J, Ahmed A, Rasheed M, Ahmad VU. (2009) Chemical composition and mechanisms underlying the spasmolytic and bronchodilatory properties of the essential oil of Nepeta cataria L. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 121, 405-411; (h) Javidnia K, Miri R, Jafari A, Rezai H. (2004) Analysis of the volatile constituents of Nepeta macrosiphon Boiss. grown in Iran. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 19, 156-158; (i) Javidnia K, Miri R, Mehregan I, Sedeghpour H. (2005) Volatile constituents of the essential oil of Nepeta ucrainica L. ssp. kopetdaghensis from Iran. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 20, 219-221; (j) Sajjadi SE, Eskandari B. (2005) Chemical constituents of the essential oil of Nepeta oxyodonta. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, 41, 175-177; (k) Giamperi L,Bucchini A, Cara P, Fraternale D, Ricci D, Genovese S, Curini M, Epifano F. (2009) Composition and antioxidant activity of Nepeta foliosa essential oil from Sardinia (Italy). Chemistry of Natural Compounds, 45, 554-556; (l) El-Moaty HIA. (2010) Essential oil and iridoid glycosides of Nepeta septemcrenata Erenb. Journal of Natural Products, 3, 103-111; (m) Ljaljević-Grbić M, Stupar M, Vukojević J, Soković M, Mišić D, Grubišić D, Ristić M. (2008) Antifungal activity of Nepeta rtanjensis essential oil. Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society, 73, 961-965; (n) Celik A, Mercan N, Arslan I, Davran H. (2008) Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil from Nepeta cadmea. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, 44, 119-120; (o) Sefidkon F, Jamzad Z, Mirza M. (2006) Chemical composition of the essential oil of five Iranian Nepeta species (N. crispa, N. mahanensis, N. ispahanica, N. eremophila and N. rivularis). Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 21, 764-767; (p) Karaman S, Comlekciogolu N. (2007) Essential oil composition of Nepeta cilicia Boiss. Apud Bentham and Phlomis viscosa Poiret from Turkey. International Journal of Botany, 3, 122-124.

[4] Seidemann J. (2005) World spice plants: economic usage, botany, taxonomy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heildeberg, 251. [5] Adams RP, Irving RS. (1973) Genetic and biosynthetic relationships of monoterpenes. In Terpenoids: Structure, Biogenesis and

Distribution, Vol. 6. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry Series. Runeckles VC, Mabry TJ (Eds). Academic Press, New York, 187-214.

[6] (a) Radulović NS, Blagojević PD, Palić RM. (2009) Fatty acid derived compounds – the dominant volatile class of the essential oil poor Sonchus arvensis subsp. uliginosus (Bieb.) Nyman. Natural Product Communications, 4, 405-410; (b) Radulović NS, Blagojević PD. (2010) Essential oil yield-composition hypothesis: could the oil yield give the first insight into its chemical composition? In 41st International Symposium on Essential Oils: Programe and book of abstracts. Lochynski S, Wawrzenczyk C. (Eds). Wroclaw Univrsity of Envinronmental and Life Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland, OP-12.

[7] Clevenger, J. P. (1928) Content of essential oil in plants. American Perfumer and Essential Oil Review, 23, 467-503. [8] Van den Dool H, Kratz PD. (1963) A generalization of the retention index system including linear temperature programmed gas-

liquid partition chromatography. Journal of Chromatography, 11, 463-471. [9] Adams RP. (2007) Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Allured Publishing

Corporation, Carol Stream, IL.

Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Salvia verbenaca Essential Oil Marisa Canzoneria, Maurizio Brunob,*, Sergio Rossellib, Alessandra Russoc, Venera Cardiled, Carmen Formisanoe, Daniela Riganoe and Felice Senatoree aEnte Sviluppo Agricolo – Dipartimento Regionale Azienda Foreste Demaniali, Regione Siciliana, Via Libertà 97, Palermo, Italia

bDipartimento di Chimica Organica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Parco d’Orleans II, I-90128 Palermo, Italia

cDipartimento di Chimica Biologica, Chimica Medica e Biologia Molecolare, Università di Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italia

dDipartimento di Scienze Fisiologiche, Università degli Studi di Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italia

eDipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via D. Montesano 49, Napoli, Italia [email protected]


Salvia verbenaca L. (syn. S. minore) is a perennial herb known in the traditional medicine of Sicily as “spaccapetri” and is used to resolve cases of kidney stones, chewing the fresh leaves or in decoction. The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from aerial parts of S. verbenaca collected in Piano Battaglia (Sicily) on July 2009, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The oil was strongly characterized by fatty acids (39.5%) and carbonylic compounds (21.2%), with hexadecanoic acid (23.1%), (Z)-9-octadecenoic acid (11.1%) and benzaldehyde (7.3%) as the main constituents. The in vitro activity of the essential oil against some microorganisms in comparison with chloramphenicol by the broth dilution method was determined. The oil exhibited a good activity as inhibitor of growth of Gram + bacteria. Keywords: Salvia verbenaca, Lamiaceae, volatile components, hexadecanoic acid, (Z)-9-octadecenoic acid, benzaldehyde, β-phellandrene, antibacterial activity. The genus Salvia (sage) is one of the largest and the most important aromatic and medicinal genus of the Lamiaceae family, comprising about 900 species widespread throughout the world [1]. Salvia species are used in folk medicine all around the world for their antibacterial, antitumor [2], antidiabetic [3], and antioxidant [4] activities. Members of this genus produce many useful secondary metabolites including terpenes and phenolics and their derivatives that have been in the center of pharmacopoeias of many countries [5]. Salvia verbenaca L. is known in Italy as Salvia minore and it’s a tall herbaceous perennial plant, 20-50 cm high, with bluish purple flowers of about 1 cm length arranged in verticillasters (each of which generally contains six flowers). The calyx (green, 4-8 mm long) encloses a 6-10 mm long corolla. Nutlet fruits contain 1-4 seeds. The verticillasters are close together on the stern at flowering, but move further apart by fruit set. Flowering commences in mid-April and finishes towards the end of May [6]. The species is distributed in the Mediterranean area and in Italy

is found frequently throughout the territory with the exclusion of the Alps. In Sicily, the plant is spread in scrublands and grasslands throughout all the island, from sea level to 1.200 m. above sea level [7]. In the Sicilian traditional medicine is known as “spaccapetri” and its leaves and flowering aerial parts are used to resolve cases of kidney stones, chewing the fresh leaves or in decoction. The plant is also known as bactericide against respiratory ailments, as healing in wounds and ulcers, and above all as eyedrops, because fruits or seeds when applied on the eyes remove impurities or dust particles. As part of our extensive screening program of Salvia species from Mediterranean Area [2,4,8,9], we report in this paper the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the essential oil of wild population of S. verbenaca collected in Sicily and compare it with those previously reported. A total of 76 constituents, representing 91.8% of the total oil, have been identified from the essential oil extracted from the aerial parts of S. verbenaca. In Table 1 the


1023 - 1026

1024 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Canzoneri et al.

Table 1: Volatile components of aerial parts of Salvia verbenaca.

COMPONENT LRI a LRI b % c Identificationd

Hydrocarbons 4.7 Nonane 900 900 1.2 Ri, MS α-Ionene 1208 0.2 Ri, MS Tricosane 2300 2300 0.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCTetracosane 2400 2400 0.4 Ri, MS, Co-GCPentacosane 2500 2500 0.8 Ri, MS, Co-GCHeptacosane 2700 2700 0.7 Ri, MS, Co-GCNonacosane 2900 2900 0.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCCarbonylic compounds 21.2 (E)-2-Hexenal 854 1209 1.5 Ri, MS Heptanal 903 1188 0.4 Ri, MS Benzaldehyde 963 1543 7.3 Ri, MS, Co-GC1-Octen-3-one 975 1308 0.3 Ri, MS Phenyl acetaldehyde 1044 1663 1.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCAcetophenone 1058 1657 0.2 Ri, MS, Co-GCNonanal 1102 1401 1.1 Ri, MS (E,E)-2,4-Octadienal 1125 0.3 Ri, MS (E,Z)-2,6-Nonadienal 1154 1572 0.5 Ri, MS Decanal 1204 1508 0.3 Ri, MS (E)-2-Decenal 1260 1655 0.5 Ri, MS (E,E)-2,4-Decadienal 1315 1827 0.3 Ri, MS β-Damascenone 1380 1835 0.8 Ri, MS (E)-Geranylacetone 1453 1867 0.5 Ri, MS (E)-β-Ionone 1484 1958 1.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCTetradecanal 1619 1934 0.2 Ri, MS Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone 1845 2131 0.7 Ri, MS 9,12,15-Octadecatrienal 2111 2.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCTerpenoids Monoterpene hydrocarbons 11.5 α-Pinene 936 1075 0.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCSabinene 973 1132 0.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCβ-Pinene 978 1118 0.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCα-Terpinene 1012 1189 0.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCp-Cymene 1025 1278 0.4 Ri, MS, Co-GCβ-Phellandrene 1029 1218 5.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCLimonene 1030 1203 2.0 Ri, MS, Co-GCγ-Terpinene 1057 1256 0.8 Ri, MS, Co-GCSesquiterpene hydrocarbons 2.2 (E)-Caryophyllene 1418 1612 1.2 Ri, MS, Co-GC(E)-β-Farnesene 1452 1673 0.3 Ri, MS -Humulene 1455 1689 0.2 Ri, MS allo-Aromadendrene 1463 1661 0.1 Ri, MS α-Amorphene 1475 1679 t Ri, MS β-Selinene 1475 1715 0.1 Ri, MS Germacrene D 1477 1726 t Ri, MS γ-Cadinene 1515 1776 0.3 Ri, MS α-Calacorene 1542 1918 t Ri, MS Oxygenated monoterpenes 3.3 1,8-Cineole 1034 1213 0.2 Ri, MS, Co-GCLinalool 1098 1553 0.7 Ri, MS, Co-GCCamphor 1143 1532 t Ri, MS, Co-GCPinocarvone 1154 1587 1.1 Ri, MS Borneol 1167 1719 0.1 Ri, MS, Co-GCTerpinen-4-ol 1176 1611 t Ri, MS, Co-GCp-Cymen-8-ol 1185 1856 0.3 Ri, MS α-Terpineol 1187 1706 0.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCSafranal 1201 1618 0.2 Ri, MS Carvone 1242 1750 0.2 Ri, MS Oxygenated sesquiterpenes 3.9 Isocaryophyllene oxide 1527 2001 t Ri, MS Germacrene D 4-ol 1575 2065 0.3 Ri, MS Spathulenol 1577 2148 1.7 Ri, MS Caryophyllene oxide 1581 2208 1.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCCaryophylladienol I 1640 2316 t Ri, MS Fatty acids and esters 39.5 Bornyl angelate 1566 t Ri, MS Dodecanoic acid 1566 2503 0.4 Ri, MS, Co-GCTetradecanoic acid 1769 2713 0.9 Ri, MS, Co-GCPentadecanoic acid 1873 2740 0.5 Ri, MS, Co-GCMethyl hexadecanoate 1925 2208 0.7 Ri, MS, Co-GCHexadecanoic acid 1972 2931 23.1 Ri, MS, Co-GCEthyl hexadecanoate 1994 2245 2.6 Ri, MS (Z)-9-Octadecenoic acid 2117 3157 11.1 Ri, MS (Z,Z)-9,12-Octadecadienoic acid ethyl ester 2162 2532 0.2 Ri, MS

Volatile components of Salvia verbenaca Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1025

Table 1 (contd.)Phenolic compounds 2.3 Thymol methyl ether 1239 1611 0.2 Ri, MS Thymol 1290 2198 0.8 Ri, MS, Co-GCCarvacrol 1297 2239 0.6 Ri, MS, Co-GCEugenol 1353 2186 0.7 Ri, MS, Co-GCOthers 3.2 1-Octen-3-ol 977 1452 0.4 Ri, MS 2-Pentylfuran 1002 1243 0.9 Ri, MS 2-Phenylethanol 1115 1934 0.4 Ri, MS (Z)-Phytol 1949 2622 1.5 Ri, MS (E)-Phytol 2132 2625 T Ri, MS Squalene 2828 3408 t Ri, MS Total amount of compounds 91.8 aLinear Retention Index on a HP-5 MS column, bLinear Retention Index: retention index on an Innowax column, ct: trace, less than 0,05%, d Ri: retention index matches with bibliography; MS: identification based on comparison of mass spectra; Co-GC: comparison of retention time of authentic compounds.

retention indices, percentage composition and identification methods are given; the components, grouped in class of substances, are listed in order of elution on a HP 5MS column. Carbonylic compounds (21.2%) and fatty acids (39.5%) were the main fractions of the oil, while the terpenoidic fraction of the oil amounted to 20.9%, with monoterpenes accounting to 14.8% and sesquiterpenes to 6.1%. The most abundant compound was hexadecanoic acid (23.1%), followed by (Z)-9-octadecenoic acid (11.1%), benzaldehyde (7.3%) and the monoterpene hydrocarbon β-phellandrene (5.9%). The essential oil of S. verbenaca from Sicily presented noticeably different qualitative and quantitative results compared with the other studied oils. Pitarokili et al., (Greece) [10] detected as main compounds β-phellandrene (30.3%) and (E)-caryophyllene (16.1%), whereas Al-Howiriny (Saudi Arabia) [11] reported sabinene (16.0%), cadinene (7.9%), 4-terpineol (7.4%) and pinene (7.3%) as the dominating compounds. S. verbenaca essential oil from Morocco presents terpineol (19.2%), camphor (6.6%) and β-thujone (6.1%) as main compounds [12], while Ben Taarit et al. [13,14] showed that S. verbenaca wild-growing in different locations in Tunisia is particularly rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenes and monoterpene hydrocarbons, particularly viridiflorol (21.8%), tricyclene (18.8%), (Z)-β-ocimene (29.5%) for the samples collected in Sabelet Ben Ammar, Somaa and Sers respectively and β-caryophyllene (23.1%) and caryophyllene oxide (15.9%) for the samples collected in the northeast region of Tunisia. Previous papers [15, 16] showed that many factors affect the yield and the composition of essential oils of Salvia species, including plant source, individual plant chemotypes, time of harvest, the environmental conditions and the proportion of plant parts distilled. The in vitro antibacterial activity of the essential oil of S. verbenaca against eight bacterial strains was evaluated by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) using the broth method. The oil appeared to be not active against Gram – bacteria (MICs >100 μg/mL), while it showed antibacterial activity against the Gram + bacteria tested. In particular, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis were slightly sensitive to the action of the oil

(MIC = 100 μg/mL), while the oil exerted an appreciable activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MIC = 50 μg/mL for both) Experimental

Plant material: Aerial parts of S. verbenaca were collected at the full flowering stage on July 2009 from plants growing in Piano Battaglia (Sicily). Voucher specimens were deposited at the Herbarium of the Botanical Gardens of Palermo (Italy) under the number PAL 09-876. Isolation of the volatile components: The fresh samples were cut into small pieces, then subjected to hydrodistillation according to the standard procedure described in the European Pharmacopoeia [17]. The yield (w/w) was 0.18%. The oil was dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and then stored in sealed vials, at - 20°C, ready for the GC and GC-MS analyses. Gas chromatography: Analytical gas chromatography was carried out on a Perkin-Elmer Sigma 115 gas chromatograph fitted with a HP-5 MS capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d.; 0.25 μm film thickness). Column temperature was initially kept at 40°C for 5 min, then gradually increased to 250°C at 2°C min-1, held for 15 min and finally raised to 270°C at 10°C min-1. Diluted samples (1/100 v/v, in n-pentane) of 1 μL were injected manually at 250°C, and in the splitless mode with a 1 minute purge-off due to the small amount of oil partially utilized for biological tests. Flame ionization detection (FID) was performed at 280°C. Analysis was also run by using a fused silica HP Innowax polyethylenglycol capillary column (50 m x 0.20 mm i.d.; 0.20 μm film thickness). Helium was the carrier gas (1 mL min-1) in both cases. Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry: GC-MS analysis was performed on an Agilent 6850 Ser. II apparatus, fitted with a fused silica HP-1 capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d.; 0.33 μm film thickness), coupled to an Agilent Mass Selective Detector MSD 5973; ionization energy voltage 70 eV; electron multiplier voltage energy 2000 V. Mass spectra were scanned in the range 35-450 amu, scan time 5 scans/s. Gas chromatographic conditions were as reported above; transfer line temperature, 295°C.

1026 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Canzoneri et al.

Identification of components: Most constituents were identified by gas chromatography by comparison of their retention indices (LRI) with either those of the literature

[18, 19] or with those of authentic compounds available in our laboratories. The retention indices were determined by GC-FID mode in relation to a homologous series of n-alkanes (C8-C28) under the same operating conditions on both columns. Further identification was made by comparison of their mass spectra on both columns with either those stored in NIST 02 and Wiley 275 libraries or with mass spectra from the literature [19, 20] and our home made library. Component relative concentrations were calculated based on GC-FID peak areas without using correction factors. Antimicrobial activity: The antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining the minimum inhibitory

concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) using the broth dilution method as previously described [2]. Eight bacteria species, selected as representative of the class of Gram positive and Gram negative, were tested: Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228), Streptococcus faecalis (ATTC 29212), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 10031), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC 13315) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853). Acknowledgments – The GC and GC-MS analyses were performed at the "C.S.I.A.S." of the University "Federico II" of Napoli. The assistance of the staff is gratefully appreciated.

References

[1] Walker JB, Sytsma KJ, Treutlein J, Wink M. (2004) Salvia (Lamiaceae) is not monophyletic: implications for the systematics, radiation, and ecological specializations of Salvia and tribe Mentheae. American Journal of Botany, 91, 1115-1125.

[2] Cardile V, Russo A, Formisano C, Rigano D, Senatore F, Arnold NA, Piozzi F. (2009) Essential oils of Salvia bracteata and Salvia rubifolia from Lebanon: Chemical composition, antimicrobial activity and inhibitory effect on human melanoma cells. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 126, 265-272.

[3] Kim EJ, Jung SN, Son KH, Kim SR, Ha TY, Park MG, Jo IG, Park JG, Choe W, Kim SS, Ha J. (2007) Antidiabetes and antiobesity effect of cryptotanshinone via activation of AMP-activated protein kinase. Molecular Pharmacology, 72, 62-72.

[4] Tenore GC, Ciampaglia R, Arnold NA, Piozzi F, Napolitano F, Rigano D, Senatore F. Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the essential oil of Salvia lanigera from Cyprus. Food and Chemical Toxicology, in press, doi:10.1016/j.fct.2010.10.022.

[5] Hedge IC. (1972) Salvia L. In Flora Europaea III; T. G., Tutin, V.H. Heywood, N.A. Burges, D.M. Moore, D.H. Valentine, S.M Walters and D.A Webb Eds.; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK; pp. 289-290.

[6] Navarro L. (1997) P1ant Systematics and Evolution, 207, 111-117. [7] Pignatti S. (1982) Flora d’Italia.1-3. Edagricole Bologna. [8] Formisano C, Senatore F, Apostolides AN, Piozzi F, Rosselli S. (2007) GC and GC/MS analysis of the essential oil of Salvia

hierosolymitana Boiss. growing wild in Lebanon. Natural Product Communications, 2, 181-184. [9] Mancini E, Arnold NA, De Martino L, De Feo V, Formisano C, Rigano D, Senatore F. (2009) Chemical composition and

phytotoxic effects of essential oils of Salvia hierosolymitana Boiss. and Salvia multicaulis Vahl. var. simplicifolia Boiss. growing wild in Lebanon. Molecules, 14, 4725-4736.

[10] Pitarokili D, Tzakou O, Loukis A. (2006) Essential oil composition of Salvia verticillata, S. verbenaca, S. glutinosa and S. candidissima growing mild in Greece. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 21, 670-673.

[11] Al-Howiriny TA, (2002) Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Salvia verbenaca. Biotechnology, 1, 45–48.

[12] Holeman M, Berrada M, Bellakhdar J, Ilidrissi A, Pinel R. (1984) Comparative chemical study on essential oils from Salvia officinalis, S. aucheri, S. verbenaca, S. phlomoides and S. argentea. Fitoterapia, 55, 143-148.

[13] Ben Taarit M, Msaada K, Hosni K, Chahed T, Marzouk B. (2010) Essential oil composition of Salvia verbenaca L. growing wild in Tunisia. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 34, 142-151.

[14] Ben Taarit M, Msaada K, Hosni K, Ben Amor N, Marzouk B, Kchouk ME. (2010) Chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from the leaves, fruits and stems of Salvia verbenaca L. from the northeast region of Tunisia. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 22, 449-453.

[15] Perry NB, Anderson RA, Brennan NJ, Douglas MH, Heaney AJ, McGimpsey JA, Smallfield BM. (1999) Essential oils from Dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L.): Variations among individuals, plant parts, seasons, and sites. Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry, 47, 2048–2054.

[16] Piccaglia R, Marotti M, Della Cecca V. (1997) Effect of planting density and harvest date on yield and chemical composition of sage oil. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 9, 187–191.

[17] European Pharmacopoeia 6.0, (2008) Determination of essential oils in herbal drugs, 2.8.12, pp. 251–252. [18] Davies NW. (1990) Gas chromatographic retention indexes of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes on methyl silicone and Carbowax

20M phases. Journal of Chromatography A, 503, 1-24. [19] Jennings W, Shibamoto T. (1980) Qualitative Analysis of Flavour and Fragrance volatiles by Glass Capillary Gas

Chromatography. Academic Press, New York. [20] Adams RP. (2007) Identification of Essential Oil Components by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy, 4th Edn, Allured

Publishing Co. Carol Stream, Illinois.

Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activities of the Essential Oils from Ocimum selloi and Hesperozygis myrtoides Márcia G. Martinia, Humberto R. Bizzob, Davyson de L. Moreirac, Paulo M. Neufelda, Simone N. Mirandaa, Celuta S. Alvianod, Daniela S. Alvianod and Suzana G. Leitãoa* aUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Faculdade de Farmácia, CCS, Bloco A 2o andar, Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

bEmbrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos, Avenida das Américas 29501, CEP 23020-470, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

cDepartamento de Produtos Naturais, Far-Manguinhos, FIOCRUZ. CEP 21041-250 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

dUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Goes, CCS, Bloco I, Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [email protected]


Ocimum selloi, a traditional medicinal plant from Brazil, is sold in open-air markets at Rio de Janeiro State. Hesperozygis myrtoides is a very aromatic small bush found in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, growing at an altitude of 1800m. The chemical composition of both essential oils was analyzed as well as their antimicrobial activity against fungi and bacteria. For all specimens of Ocimum selloi obtained at open-air markets, methylchavicol was major compound found (93.6% to 97.6%) in their essential oils. The major compounds identified in the oil of H. myrtoides were pulegone (44.4%), isomenthone (32.7%), and limonene (3.5%). Both oils displayed antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms but Candida albicans was the most susceptible one. Combinations of the two oils in different proportions were tested to verify their antimicrobial effect against C. albicans, which, however, was not modified in any of the concentrations tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined to confirm the antimicrobial activity against C. albicans as well as other clinical isolates (C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis). Keywords: Lamiaceae, Ocimum, Hesperozygis, essential oils, methylchavicol, pulegone, antimicrobial activity. The family Lamiaceae is composed by 220 genera and about 3500-4000 species, many of them used in folk medicine and as aromatic herbs in the cosmetic, food and perfumery industries [1]. The most abundant secondary metabolites of Lamiaceae are terpenoids (mono, sesqui, di and triterpenes) and flavonoids, but the medicinal use of this family is primarily related to their essential oil content [1]. Ocimum and Hesperozygis belong to the Lamiaceae family and comprise about 160 and 6 species, respectively. Ocimum selloi Benth. is widely used in traditional medicine, including in the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro State, where it is sold in open-air markets [2]. This species has a pleasant fragrance, similar to that of anise and fennel’s fruits. Hesperozygis myrtoides (A.St.-Hil.) Epling is a very aromatic small bush found in the region of Aiuruoca (Minas Gerais State, Brazil) where it grows at an altitude of 1800m high. This plant, locally called “poejo” (“pennyroyal”) because of its strong mint odor, is also used for the treatment of respiratory disorders. Another traditional use of this plant is in the preparation of a drink with “cachaça”, the Brazilian sugar cane spirit, where the

plant is soaked into the bottle’s spirit and buried for one year before it is consumed (personal communication to the author by local people of Aiuruoca.). This work aimed to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from these species as well as to evaluate their antimicrobial activity. The essential oils of O. selloi were obtained from fresh leaves of individuals purchased at different open markets in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Colorless oils, with a characteristic odor of anise and with yields ranging from 0.2% to 0.5% (Table 1) were obtained. From chromatographic analysis by GC-FID and GC-MS a quite similar chemical composition was observed among different individuals of O. selloi. The propenylphenol methylchavicol was identified in high concentration in all analyzed samples (93.6% to 97.6%). The oil of O. selloi from Rio de Janeiro can be considered a good new source of this substance in a practically pure form. The compound methylchavicol, also called estragol, is a propenylphenol responsible for the anise flavor in some plant species and


1027 - 1030

1028 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Martini et al.

Table 1: Essential oil yields of Ocimum selloi and Hesperozygis myrtoides according to the collection sites.

aAverage of three extractions. bOnly one extraction was done.

Table 2: Chemical composition (relative percentage %) of the essential oils from O. selloi purchased at different open markets in Rio de Janeiro.

Substance

RIcalc

RIlit

Rio de Janeiro State

Itaguaí Madureira

Fair Petrópolis

Sept.

2009 Feb. 2010

March/April 2010

Nov. 2010

Jan. 2010

Methylchavicol 1204 1195 95.9 94.9 94.7/ 97.6 93.6 94.6 Byciclogermacrene 1497 1494 0.8 0.7 0.8/ 0.4 1.7 1.3

-Caryophyllene 1420 1418 0.6 0.9 0.9/ 0.6 1.0 0.9

-Copaene 1377 1376 0.1 0.1 0.1/ 0.1 0.3 0.3

Methyleugenol 1406 1401 0.1 0.2 0.2/ 0.1 0.3 0.3

3-Octen-1-ol 980 978 0.2 0.4 0.2/ 0.1 0.4 0.6

-Bisabolene 1510 1509 0.1 0.1 0.1/ 0.1 0.5 0.5 Total of Identified Compounds %

97.8 97.3 97.0/ 99.0 97.8 98.2

is often used in perfumery industry [3,4]. Methylchavicol is also responsible for various biological activities, including insecticide and nematicide [4-6]. Interestingly, it is the main component of essential oils of medicinal plants belonging to different plant families such as Apiaceae (Pimpinella anisum L., anise; Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Fennel), Magnoliaceae (Illicium verum Hook F., star anise) and Asteraceae (Artemisia dracuncullus L., tarragon or dragon's-wort) [4]. The occurrence of three different chemotypes for O. selloi has been previously reported in literature [6-9] being one chemotype rich in methylchavicol, the second one rich in methyleugenol, and a third one, rich in methylchavicol and trans-anethole. For all plants analyzed in this study, methylchavicol was major compound found in their essential oils (Table 2). This suggests that maybe the same clone was introduced in the State, and has been cultivated by local plant producers for commercial purposes. H. myrtoides furnished a colorless essential oil with a pleasant mint odor and an average yield of 1.6% (Table 3). The major compounds were identified as the oxygenated monoterpenes pulegone (44.4%) and isomenthone (32.7%), besides limonene in small amount (3.5%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the chemical composition of H. myrtoides essential oil. Comparison of the chemical composition of the essential oil of H. myrtoides with essential oils from other species of this genus [10], showed that H. ringens (collected in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) also has a high concentration of pulegone (79.2%), while H. rhododon

Table 3: Identified compounds in the essential oil from fresh leaves of H. myrtoides.

Compounds RI RIlit Fresh Leaves (%)

-Pinene 937 939 0.2 Sabinene 976 976 0.2 -Pinene 979 980 0.3 Myrcene 992 991 0.4 Limonene 1031 1031 3.5 cis-β-Ocimene 1040 1040 0.2 Heptanyl acetate 1113 1113 0.2 Menthone 1156 1154 0.4 Isomenthone 1167 1164 32.7 -Terpeneol 1189 1189 0.1 Pulegone 1242 1242 44.4 Isomenthyl acetate 1307 1306 7.0 Isopulegol acetate 1312 1308 0.7 Terpinyl acetate 1350 1350 0.4 NI* 1.1 Valencene 1493 1491 0.2 Monoterpenes 91.8 Sesquiterpenes 0.2 Total of Identified Compounds % 92.0

*not identified.

(collected in the Paraná State, Brazil) has lower levels of this compound. Isomenthone, the other monoterpene present in relevant concentration in the oil of H. myrtoides (32.7%), is absent in H. ringens and present only at low concentration in the oil of H. rhododon (2.2%). On the other hand, menthone, which was characterized in tiny proportions in H. myrtoides (0.3%) and H. ringens (2.2%), was one of the major compounds in the essential oil of H. rhododon (43.4%). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of O. selloi and H. myrtoides were evaluated for a series of microorganisms (Table 4). Both oils displayed antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms but the major inhibition halos were shown for the resistant strain of C. albicans (Table 4). Due to the interesting results of these oils against C. albicans and the possibility to combine the odor of fresh mint of H. myrtoides with the anise odor of O. selloi in a future pharmaceutical formulation to treat oral candidiasis, we tested the combination of the two oils in order to verify the effect in their antimicrobial activity. The proportions tested aimed to spare the oil of H. myrtoides in respect to that of O. selloi, since H. myrtoides is native to regions of high altitudes, where it grows wild (making it hard to harvest), and the species O. selloi can be easily grown [5,9]. The proportions tested and the results obtained are shown in Table 4. The combination of the two oils did not modify the activity against C. albicans strain, in any of the concentrations tested, but it is worth to note that the inhibition zone (cm) remained quite the same even with a relatively low concentration of the essential oil of H. myrtoides. Nowadays, opportunistic fungal infections that assault immunocompromised patients are frequently resistant to ordinary clinical drugs and, hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to be major health

Plants Collection sites

Plant collection Month/Year

Essential oil yield (%)a

O. selloi Itaguaí, (RJ) September/ 2009 0.5b O. selloi Petrópolis (RJ) November/ 2009 0.4 O. selloi Petrópolis (RJ) January/ 2010 0.5 O. selloi Itaguaí (RJ) February /2010 0.5 O. selloi Madureira (RJ) March/ April/ 2010 0.5

H. myrtoides Aiuruoca (MG) April/ 2010 1.6

Essential oils of Ocimum selloi and Hesperozygis myrtoides Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1029

Table 4: Antimicrobial activity of essential oils from O. selloi (A) and H. myrtoides (B), and their association at different proportions (A + B):

Sample C. albicans S. aureus E. coli A. niger L. casei Inhibition Zone (cm) O. selloi (A) 1.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.5 H. myrtoides (B) 1.5 1.2 0.8 --- 0.8 A + B (4:1) 1.3 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.6 A + B (3:1) 1.2 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.6 A + B (2:1) 1.2 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.7 A + B (1:1) 1.2 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8

concerns worldwide [11-13]. Therefore, there is a constant search for new antifungal agents. The determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) has demonstrated that essential oils have a varied ability to inhibit fungal growth and which justifies susceptibility studies [14]. Since the essential oils tested positive against C. albicans resistant strain ATCC 24433 in a preliminary test (drop test) the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined to confirm the antimicrobial activity on Candida clinical strains. The MIC data are summarized in Table 5. Table 5: MIC of the essential oils of O. selloi and H. myrtoides obtained for Candida clinical strains.

Sample C. albicans C. parapsilosis C. krusei C. tropicalis C. glabata

MIC (g. mL-1)

O. selloi 312.5 2,500.0 2,500.0 2,500.0 78.1 H. myrtoides 1,250.0 625.0 625.0 625.0 19.5

C. glabrata was the most susceptible to both essential oils followed by C. albicans, which was the most susceptible to the oil of O. selloi. On the other hand, the other Candida strains - C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis were more susceptible to the oil of H. myrtoides. The antifungal activity of pulegone, the major compound present in the essential oil of H. myrtoides, has already been described for C. albicans [15,16] which leads to infer that the activity of this oil is may be due to its high content of this substance. As for what concerns the essential oils of O. selloi, all analyzed samples bear more than 94% of methylchavicol. Even if we cannot rule out the possible antimicrobial activity of minor compounds, it is reasonable to suggest that methylchavicol may be the principal antifungal agent in these oils. It has been suggested that the antimicrobial action of rich propenylphenol essential oils can arise from the complexation between the protein or other components of the cell membrane of the microbes and the phenolic components [17]. Essential oils rich in methylchavicol generally show weak antimicrobial activity [18] but our results points out interesting results demonstrated for Candida clinical strains. Experimental

Plant material: Samples of Ocimum selloi Benth. were purchased from producers at open markets at Petropolis and Itaguai cities, Rio de Janeiro State, as well as at the Madureira fair (“Mercadão de Madureira”), at Rio de Janeiro city. Plants were identified by Dr. R. M. Harley and voucher specimens are deposited at Laboratorio de

Fitoquimica e Farmacognosia, Faculdade de Farmácia, UFRJ. Samples of Hesperozygis myrtoides (A.St.-Hil.) Epling were collected in Aiuruoca, Minas Gerais State. H. myrtoides was identified by Dr. R. M. Harley and voucher specimens are deposited at Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana Herbarium (Feira de Santana, Bahia State, Brazil) under the number 1333584. Essential oil extraction: The essential oils were extracted separately from fresh leaves (150 g, O. selloi, 3,802 g H. myrtoides) by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus for 2 h. Yields are reported in Table 1. GC and GC-MS analyses: Gas chromatographic analyses were performed using an Agilent 7890A gas chromatograph (Palo Alto, CA, USA) equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) and a HP-5 (5% phenyl/ 95% dimethylpolysiloxane) fused silica capillary column (30m x 0.32mm x 0.25μm). Hydrogen was the carrier gas (1.5 mL min-1). The injector temperature was kept at 250°C and the oven temperature programmed from 60° to 240°C at a rate of 3°C min-1. Detector (FID) was operated at 280°C. One microliter of a 1% solution of the oil in dichloromethane was injected in split mode (1:100). GC-MS analyses were performed in an Agilent 5973N mass selective detector coupled to an Agilent 6890 gas chromatograph (Palo Alto, CA), equipped with a HP5-MS capillary column (30m X 0.25mm X 0.25μm), operating in electron impact (EI) mode at 70eV, with transfer line maintained at 260°C, while mass analyzer and ion source temperature were held at 150°C and 230°C respectively. Helium (1.0 mL min-1) was used as carrier gas. Oven temperature program, injector temperature and split rate were the same as stated for GC analyses. A standard solution of n-alkanes (C7-C26), injected in the same column and conditions as above, was used to obtain the retention indices [19]. Individual volatile components were identified by comparison of their mass spectra (MS) and retention indices (RI) with those reported in literature [20] and also to the Wiley Registry of Mass Spectral Data, 6th Edition [21]. Antimicrobial Assay: Drop Test: The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was preliminarily evaluated by agar diffusion technique (drop test) [22] against resistant strains of Candida albicans B type ATCC 36802, Staphylococcus aureus MRSA (BMB9393), Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger and Lactobacillus casei. The inhibition zone generated after application of 1 L of pure essential oil obtained from each species or in combination (Table 4) was measured in centimeters. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC): Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined by broth microdilution method according to the document M27-A3 (Candida albicans) of the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI, 2008) [23], using resazurin as indicator for cell viability [24]. All determinations were

1030 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Martini et al.

performed in triplicate and two independent experiments lead to concordant results. Positive and negative growth controls were included in all assays.

Acknowledgments – This work was supported by CNPq. We are grateful for Associação de Proteção e Educação Ambiental da Serra e do Vale dos Garcias (Aspasg) for assisting with plant collection.

References

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[2] Leitão F, Fonseca-Kruel VS, Silva IM, Reinert F. (2009) Urban ethnobotany in Petrópolis and Nova Friburgo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia, 19, 333-342.

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[5] David EFS, Pizzolato M, Morais R, Ferri AF, Marques MOM, Ming LC. (2006) Influência da temperatura de secagem no rendimento e composição química do óleo essencial de Ocimum selloi Benth. Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais, 8, 66-70.

[6] Paula JP, Farago PV, Ribas JLC, Spinardi GMS, Döll PM, Artoni RF, Zawadzki SF. (2007) In vivo evaluation of the mutagenic potencial of estragole and eugenol chemotypes of Ocimum selloi Benth. essential oil. Latin American Journal of Pharmacy, 26, 846-851.

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[9] Costa LCB, Pinto JEBPP, Bertolucci SKVE, Evangelino TS. (2009) Variação no rendimento e composição química do óleo essencial de folhas de atroveran (Ocimum selloi Benth) inteiras e moídas sob condições de armazenamento. Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais, 11, 43-48.

[10] Poser GL, Menut C, Toffoli ME, Verin P, Sobral M, Bessiere JM, Lamaty G, Henriques AT. (1996) Essential oil composition and allelopathic effect of the Brazilian Lamiaceae Hesperozygis ringens (Benth.) Epling and Hesperozygis rhododon Epling. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 44, 1829-1832.

[11] Kanafani Z, Perfect J. (2008) Antimicrobial resistance: resistance to antifungal agents: mechanisms and clinical impact. Clinical and Infectious Diseases, 46, 120–128.

[12] Niimi M, Firth NA., Cannon RD. (2010) Antifungal drug resistance of oral fungi. Odontology, 98, 15–25. [13] Warnke PH, Becker ST, Podschun R, Sivananthan S, Springer IN, Russo PAJ, Wiltfang J, Fickenscher H, Sherry E. (2009) The

battle against multi-resistant strains: Renaissance of antimicrobial essential oils as a promising force to fight hospital-acquired infections. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, 37, 392-397.

[14] Duarte MCT, Figueira GM, Sartoratto A, Rehder VLG, Delarmelina C. (2005) Anti-Candida activity of Brazilian medicinal plants. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 97, 305–311.

[15] Duru ME, Oztark M, Uayur A, Ceylan O. (2004) The constituents of essential oil and in vitro antimicrobial activity of Micromeria cilicica from Turkey. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 94, 43-48.

[16] Arruda TA, Antunes RMP, Catão RMR, Lima EO, Sousa DP, Nunes XP, Pererira MSV, Barbosa-Filho JM, Cunha EVL. (2006) Preliminary study of the antimicrobial activity of Mentha x villosa Hudson essential oil, rotundifolone and its analogues. Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia, 16, 307-311.

[17] Omidbeygi M, Barzegar M, Hamidi Z, Naghdibadi H. (2007) Antifungal activity of thyme, summer savory and clove essential oils against Aspergillus flavus in liquid medium and tomato paste. Food Control, 18, 1518-1523.

[18] Bagamboula CF, Uyttendaele M, Debevere J. (2003) Inhibitory effect of thyme and basil essential oils, carvacrol, thymol, estragol, linalool and p-cymene towards Shigella sonnei and S. flexneri. Food Microbiology, 21, 33–42.

[19] Van Den Dool H, Kratz PD. (1963) A generalization of the retention index system including linear temperature programmed gás liquid partition chromatography. Journal of Chromatography A, 11, 463-471.

[20] Adams RP. (2007) Identification of Essential Oil Components by Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry. 4th Ed. Allured Publishing Co, Carol Stream, Illinois.

[21] Wiley Registry of Mass Spectral Data (2000) 6th Edition, Wiley Interscience, New York. [22] Hili P, Evans CS, Veness RG. (1997) Antimicrobial action of essential oils: the effect of dimethylsulphoxide on the activity of

cinnamon oil. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 24, 269–275. [23] Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute. Reference Method for Broth Dilution Antifungal Susceptibility Testing of Yeasts. Approved

standard, M27-A3. Wayne, PA: Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute, 2008. [24] Sarker SD, Nahar L, Kumarasamy Y. (2007) Microtitre plate-based antibacterial assay incorporating resazurin as an indicator of

cell growth, and its application in the in vitro antibacterial screening of phytochemicals. Methods, 42, 321–324.

Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana Nurby Rios Tescha*, Flor Moraa, Luis Rojasb, Tulia Díazc, Judith Velascoc, Carlos Yánezd, Nahile Riosd, Juan Carmonaa and Sara Pasqualee aDepartamento de Farmacognosia y Medicamentos Orgánicos. bInstituto de Investigaciones. cDepartamento de Microbiología. dDepartamento de Farmacología y Toxicología. eDepartamento de Farmacia Galenica. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanálisis. Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela, 5101 [email protected]

Received: December 14th , 2010; Accepted: March 16th, 2011

The essential oil obtained from the leaves of Lantana camara var. moritziana (Otto & Dietr.) López-Palacios collected at Rubio, Táchira State, Venezuela, was obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger trap (0.1% yield). The oil was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) on HP GC-MS System, model 5973, identifying 33 compounds (97.1%) of which the major components were germacrene D (31.0%), followed by β-caryophyllene (14.8%), α-phellandrene (6.7%), limonene (5.7%) and 1,8-cineole (5.2%). Evaluation of the antibacterial activity by agar diffusion method with discs against international reference bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella Typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) showed growing inhibition of E. faecalis and S. aureus at MIC of 350 mg/mL and 400 mg/mL, respectively. Keywords: Lantana camara, Verbenaceae, essential oil, antibacterial activity.

Lantana camara Linn (Verbenaceae) is an ornamental grass with aromatic leaves, orange to bright red flowers and blue or black fruits (drupes). It is native to tropical and warm regions worldwide [1-3]. These plants are used in ethnomedicine to treat various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, as well as tranquilizers, anti-tumor, rheumatism, hypertension, uterine bleeding, and applied externally as an antiseptic to treat leprosy, scabies, tetanus, pustules [4-8]. In Venezuela we found 17 species of Lantana Linn among which Lantana camara L. commonly known as red cariaquito, is frequently found as three varieties L. camara var aculeata (L.) Moldenke (L.), L. camara. var. mista (L.) L H Bailey, and L. camara var. moritziana (Otto and Dietr.) Lopez-Palacios [2,9-11]. The last one is a shrub sometimes of unpleasant smell with yellow to orange or red flowers which are small and fragrant [10,11]. Previous studies on the analysis of the chemical composition of the essential oil of Lantana camara from different parts of the world have been reported: studies of the essential oil of Lantana camara growing in Brail showed the presence of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and bisabolone derivatives. Germacrene D is one of the mayor component; even at different times of collection [12-14]. From Madagascar, Africa, the main constituents found

were β-caryophyllene (19%), an unknown sesquiterpene (16%), and δ-3-carene (10%) [15]. From Calicut, India, the major ones were β-caryophyllene (34.8%), geranyl acetate (22.1%) terpinyl acetate (5.8%), bornyl acetate (4.1%) and D-limonene (2.3%). Lantana essential oil is used in traditional medicine, for example, with insecticidal and nematicidal properties [16,17]. Insecticidal activity of the essential oil of Lantana camara was found against Tribolium castaneum (LC50

0.45mg/cm2) [18]. This oil showed antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa MBC 10 μg/mL, Staphylococcus aureus MBC 25 μg/mL, E. coli 1.25 μg/mL and antifungal Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani, Candida albicans [3,6,8,19,20]. In the present investigation, the study of the composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana is presented. Leaves of Lantana camara var. moritziana were hydrodistilled yielding 0.1% of the essential oil. Analysis of this by GC-MS allowed the identification of thirty three compounds (97.1% of whole sample), which are listed in Table 1. The three major ones were Germacrene D (31.0%), β-caryophyllene (14.8%) and α-phellandrene (6.7%). Germacrene D and β-caryophyllene were also found as main constituents in the composition of the essential oils of Lantana camara


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1032 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Tesch et al.

Table 1: Chemical composition of essential oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana*.

Peak Compounds Area (%) LRI LRI [20]

1 (Z)-3-Hexenol 0.8 854 851 2 n-Hexanol 0.6 866 837 3 α-Pinene 1.9 938 936 4 Sabinene 1.4 975 973 5 β-Pinene 1.9 979 978 6 Myrcene 0.7 990 991 7 α-Phellandrene 6.7 1005 1005 8 δ-3-Carene 2.2 1011 1011 9 o-Cymene 2.3 1026 1022

10 Limonene 5.7 1031 1031 11 1,8-Cineole 5.2 1034 1033 12 (E)-β-Ocimene 0.8 1050 1041 13 Terpinolene 0.9 1091 1082 14 Linalool 1.0 1101 1086 15 Camphor 0.5 1152 1143 16 α-copaene 0.5 1383 1379 17 β-Bourbonene 0.5 1391 1378 18 β-Cubebene 0.5 1396 1390 19 β-Elememe 0.7 1397 1391 20 β-Caryophyllene 14.8 1430 1446 21 β-Copaene 0.4 1439 1430 22 β-Guaiene 0.3 1449 1440 23 α-Humulene 1.3 1466 1455 24 (E)-β-Farnesene 0.9 1468 1458 25 Alloaromadendrene 1.4 1474 1461 26 t-Muurolene 0.6 1491 1480 27 Germacrene D 31.0 1497 1480 28 α-Chamigrene 5.1 1511 1503 29 α-Farnesene 1.6 1519 1516 30 δ-Cadinene 0.8 1535 1524 31 Germacrene B 2.4 1566 1560 [13] 32 Spathulenol 0.8 1584 1576 33 Caryophyllene oxide 0.9 1589 1581

*Compounds were identified by comparison of the mass spectrum of each component with the Wiley GC/MS library data base and from logarithmic retention index (LRI) data. Area % was determined by GC-FID. Table 2: Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana.

Microorganism Inhibition zone (mm)* MIC

μg/mLOil E VA SAM AZT CIP CAZ

Staphylococcus aureus

ATCC (25923) 8* 35*

400

Enterococcus faecalis

ATCC (29212) 8* 21*

350

Escherichia coli

ATCC (25922) NA 24*

NT

Klebsiella pneumoniae

ATCC (23357) NA 32*

NT

Salmonella Typhi CDC57

NA 40*

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ATCC (27853) NA

40* NT

E: Erythromycin® 150μg, VA: Vancomycin® (30 μg ), SAM: Sulbactam -Ampicillin® (10μg/10μg), AZT: Aztreonam® (30μg) , CIP: Ciprofloxacin® (30μg), CAZ: Ceftazidime® (30 μg), NA: non active, NT: not tested. *Inhibition zone, diameter measured in mm, disc diameter 6 mm, average of two consecutive assays. MIC: Minimal inhibitory concentration, concentration range 10-600 μg/mL.

from several countries [6,8,13,14,16,21-23]. Citral has been detected as the common major compound from five varieties of L. camara from Egypt [24]. Bacterial resistance is a growing phenomenon driven primarily by indiscriminate and irrational use of antibiotics. Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and E. faecalis has emerged as a serious public-health problem that demands increased vigilance in the diagnosis and investigation of new alternative treatments [25]. The antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana was evaluated. The oil had a weak activity against S. aureus ATCC (25923) and E. faecalis ATCC (29212) with MIC values of 400 and 350μg/mL, respectively. The complete results are shown in Table 2. Experimental

Plant material: The leaves of Lantana camara var. moritziana were collected (April, 2010) at Rubio, Táchira State, Venezuela, located at 101 m.s.n.m 8°53'07"N 64°89'11"O. A voucher specimen Nº NR005, has been deposited at the Herbarium of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Bioanalysis, University of the Andes (MERF herbarium). Isolation of the essential oil: Fresh leaves (1000g) were cut into small pieces and subjected to hydrodistillation for 6 h using a Clevenger-type apparatus. One mL of pale yellow essential oil (0.1% yield) was obtained. The oil was kept at -4 ° C until used for biological tests. Gas chromatography: The volatile components of essential oil were analyzed by gas chromatography using a Perkin-Elmer chromatograph. A 5% phenylmethyl polysiloxane fused-silica column (AT-5, Alltech Associates Inc., Deerfield, IL), 60 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 m, was used. The initial oven temperature was 60°C; it was then heated to 260°C at 4°C/min, and the final temperature maintained for 20 min. The injector and detector temperatures were 200°C and 250°C, respectively. The carrier gas was helium at 1.0 mL/min. The sample (1 μL) was injected using a Hewlett-Packard ALS injector with a split ratio of 50:1. The identification of each of the compounds was performed by GC-MS with a Hewlett Packard Model 5973, equipped with a HP-5MS column 30 m long x 0.25 diameter, film thickness 0.25 μm Hewlett-Packard. The oven temperature program was the same as that used for the HP-5 column for GC analysis; the transfer line temperature was programmed from 150ºC to 280ºC; Injector temperature 230ºC, interphaase temperature 150°C, helium carrier gas at a linear speed of 34 m/s, ionization energy 70 eV, scan range of 40-50 amu, 3.9 scan /s. Injection volume 1 μL of a solution diluted to 2% in diethyl ether. The identification of compounds was based on database Wiley and NIST MS Data Library 05, logarithmic retention indices (LRI) were compared with values available in the literature (6th edition) [26].

Essential oil of Lantana camara var. moritziana Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1033

Microbiological analysis

Bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus fecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 23357, Salmonella Typhi CDC57 y Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 were used in this study, provided by the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Bioanalysis, University of the Andes. Antibacterial method: Antibacterial activity was evaluated according to the agar diffusion method with disks [27]. The strains were maintained in agar conservation at room temperature. Every bacterial inoculum (2.5 mL) was incubated in Mueller-Hinton broth at 37ºC for 18 h. The

minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined only against organisms that showed inhibition zone, preparing dilutions of the oil with dimethylsulfoxide at concentrations of 10 to 600 μg/mL. The reference antibiotics employed were: Erythromycin® 150μg, Vancomycin® 30 μg, Sulbactam-Ampicillin® 10 μg/10 μg, Aztreonam®

30 μg, Ciprofloxacin® 30 μg, and Ceftaxidime®

30 μg. The tests were performed in duplicate. Acknowledgments – The authors would like to thank Consejo de Desarrollo Científico, Humanístico, Tecnoló-gico y de las Artes (CDCHTA-Mérida-Venezuela) for financial support of this study (Project FA-480-10-08-B).

References

[1] Mabberly D. (1987) The Plant Book. 242. Cambridge University Press. [2] Hokche O, Berry P, Huber O. (2008) Catálogo de la flora vascular venezolana. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela “Dr.

Tobbias Lasser”. Caracas-Venezuela. 654pp. [3] Pattnaik S, Pattnaik, B. (2010) A study of Lantana camara linn aromatic oil as an antibacterial agent. International Journal of

Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 01, 32-34. [4] Mahato S, Sahu N, Roy S, Sharma O. (1994) Potencial antitumor agents from Lantana camara: structures of flavonoid, and

phenylpropanoid glycosides. Tetrahedron, 50, 9439-9446. [5] Ghisalberti E. (2000) Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae). Fitoterapia, 71, 467-486. [6] Deena M, Thoppil, J. (2000) Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Lantana camara. Fitoterapia, 71, 453-455. [7] Silva G, Martins F, Matheus M, Leitão S, Fernández P. (2005) Investigation of anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of

Lantana trifolia. Journal of Ethopharmacology, 100, 254-259. [8] Sonibare O, Effiong I. (2008) Antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity of the essential oil of Lantana camara L. leaves from Nigeria.

African Journal of Biotechnology, 7, 2618-2620. [9] Schnee L. (1960) Plantas comunes de Venezuela. Revista de la Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad Central de Venezuela

(UCV), 3, 150. [10] López S. (1977) Flora de Venezuela. Verbenaceae. Universidad de los Andes (ULA). Facultad de Farmacia, 327-328, 360-367. [11] López P. (1974) Lantana camara var. moritziana (Otto & A. Dietr.). Revista de la Facultad de Farmacia, 14, 21. [12] Weyerstahl P, Marschall H, Eckhardt A, Christians C. (1999) Constituents of commercial Brazilian Lantana oil. Flavour and

Fragrance Journal, 14, 15-28. [13] Oliveira J, Neves I, Camara C. (2008) Essential oil composition of two Lantana species from Mountain Forests of Pernambuco

(Northeast of Brazil). Journal of Essential Oil Research, 20, 530-532. [14] Sousa E, Colares A, Rodríguez F, Campos A, Lima S, Costa J. (2010) Effect of collection time on essential oil composition of

Lantana camara Linn (Verbenaceae) growing in Brazil Northeastern. Records of Natural Products, 4, 31-37. [15] Möllenbeck S, König T, Shereier P, Schwab W, Rajaonarivony J, Ranarivelo L. (1997) Chemical composition and analysis of

enantiomers of essential oils from Madagascar. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 12, 63-69. [16] Love A, Naik D, Basak S, Pathak N, Babu C. (2009) Variability in foliar essential oils among different morphotypes of Lantana

species complexes, and its taxonomic and ecological signicance. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 6, 2263-2274. [17] Padalia R, Verma R, Sundaresan V. (2010) Volatile constituents of three invasive weeds of Himalaya Region. Records Natural

Products, 4, 109-114. [18] Mohamed M, Abdelgaleil S. (2008) Chemical composition and insecticidal potential of essential oils from egyptian plants against

Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleóptera: Curculionidae) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Applied Entomology and Zoology, 43, 599-607.

[19] Kurade N, Jaitak V, Kaul V, Sharma O. (2010) Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils of Lantana camara, Ageratum houstonianum and Eupatorium adenophrum. Pharmaceutical Biology, 16, 216-218.

[20] Randrianalijaona J, Ramanoelina P, Rasoarahona J, Gaydou E. (2006) Chemical compositions of aerial part essential oils of Lantana camara L. chemotypes from Madagascar. Journal of Essential Research, 18, 405-407.

[21] Khan M, Srivastava K, Syamasundar K, Singh M, Naqvi A. (2002) Chemical composition of leaf and flower essential oil of Lantana camara from India. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 17, 75-77.

[22] Sundufu A, Shoushan H. (2004) Chemical composition of the essential oils of Lantana camara L. occurring in South China. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 19, 229-232.

[23] Pino J, Marbot R, Romeu C, Martí M. (2004) Chemical composition of the essential oil Lantana camara L. from Cuba. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 16, 216-218.

[24] Saleh M. (1974) Gas-Cromatrographic analysis of the essential oil of Lantana camara L. Varieties. Planta Médica, 25, 373-375. [25] Bukharie H. (2010) Increasing threat of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The American Journal of

the Medical Sciences, 40, 510-516.

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[26] Adams R. (2007) Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatograpy/mass spectroscopy, 4th Edition. Illinois USA: Allured Publishing Corporation, Carol Stream, Ill, 804 pp.

[27] Velasco J, Rojas J, Salazar P, Rodríguez M, Díaz T, Morales A, Rondón M. (2007) Antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Lippia oreganoides against multiresistant bacterial strains of nosocomial origin. Natural Product Communications, 2, 85-88.

Activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae of the Essential Oil and 5-(3-Buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl Isolated from Chrysactinia mexicana Roots

Bárbara Missiam Mezari Guevara Camposa, Anabel Torres Ciriob, Verónica Mayela Rivas Galindob, Ricardo Salazar Arandab, Noemí Waksman de Torresb and Luis Alejandro Pérez-Lópezb* aUniversidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Química, Av. Pedro de Alba y Manuel L. Barragán s/n, Cd. Universitaria, C.P. 66451, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, México

bUniversidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Química Analítica, Av. Francisco I. Madero y Dr. Eduardo Aguirre Pequeño s/n, Col. Mitras Centro, C.P. 64460, P.O. Box 2316 Sucursal Tecnológico, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

[email protected]


The essential oil of Chrysactinia mexicana retrieved from the root bark was characterized by gas chromatography coupled to a mass detector. The compounds silphiperfol-5-ene, 7-epi- silphiperfol-5-ene, modheph-2-ene, -isocomene, -isocomene and methyl-linoleate were identified. The principal compound (76.42%) could not be identified by the library and was further isolated through a reverse phase C-18 chromatography followed by silica gel chromatography and identified as 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl. Both the oil and the isolated compound were tested for their antimicrobial activity against two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to -lactam antibiotics. MICs were 250 g/mL and 125 g/mL respectively. This is the first report about extraction of oil and compound 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl from roots of Chrysactinia mexicana as well as the determination of antimicrobial activity against S. pneumoniae.

Keywords: Chrysactinia mexicana, essential oil, 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl, antimicrobial activity, Streptococcus pneumoniae. Essential oils are used in alternative medicine as a remedy for many infectious diseases, antimicrobial properties have been long established and several studies have confirmed that they have activity against bacteria, yeasts and fungi [1-3]. Essential oils have been traditionally used for respiratory tract infections [4].

Chrysactinia mexicana, is a fragrant plant that contains essential oils in aerial part, commonly known as calanque, damianita, hierba de San Nicolás or falsa damiana. It is distributed throughout northern Mexico and Texas, USA. It use is known for to treat respiratory illnesses and skin infections. The leaves and stems are used as a diuretic, to counteract stomach ailments or postpartum pain, using the root as a home remedy [5]. The activity of an ether extract of the roots of Chrysactinia mexicana against two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to penicillin have been reported [6].

Streptococcus pneumoniae, is a major causative agents of infectious diseases of the respiratory tract, causing a significant number of deaths worldwide, in both hospital and community, affecting mainly children and elderly. This situation is exacerbated by the increasingly frequent emergence of resistant strains. This infectious disease is

the leading cause of death in developing countries, followed by heart disease, diarrhea, HIV/AIDS and stroke. Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years and about two million deaths each year among this group of people around the world, mainly in low resource environments, poor nutrition and poor hygiene conditions [7,8]. In the last decades has increased the incidence of pneumococcal infections in adults, despite the wide availability of effective antibiotics, continue to cause high morbidity and mortality, reporting mortality rates of up to 20% in adult patients with bacterium [9,10]. Due to the great problem posed by bacterial infections, was reviewed the importance of using traditional medicine, mainly using natural products of plant origin, to counteract these diseases, including respiratory tract infections [11]. Our aim was to obtain the essential oil from the root of Chrysactinia mexicana, characterize their composition, to isolate some key components and evaluate their antimicrobial activity against two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to -lactam antibiotics.

Since there are reports of Chrysactinia mexicana use in folk medicine for the treatment of respiratory diseases and scientific studies of activity of both the shoot and root against various microorganisms [5,6,12], our aim in this


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1036 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Campos et al.

work was, to characterize their composition, to isolate some key components and to evaluate their antimicrobial activity against two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to -lactam antibiotics.

In preliminary experiments we tested the activity of essential oil from the root bark and root without bark of Chrysactinia mexicana against two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant -lactam antibiotics (ATCC 49619 and 24-CCPN-02) and we found major activity in root bark (MIC of 250 g/mL against both strains), therefore we decided to work specifically with the root bark. We obtained a dark yellow essential oil with yield of 0.41%.

Cárdenas et al. reported the characterization of the essential oil from the leaves of this plant showing that the main components are terpenes, including eucalyptol (41.3%) and piperitone (37.7%) [12]. So far, no studies are available on the characterization of extract components or essential oil from root of Chrysactinia mexicana. This work is the first report on the study of the root of this plant, specifically of the essential oil obtained from the bark. GC/MS analysis showed the presence of 12 compounds. The main component had a retention time of 59.85 minutes and represented the 76.42%, other component with retention time of 66.43 minutes, represented the 8.34%. However, neither could be identified using the NIST library. Only six of the 12 compounds were identified from GC/MS spectra using the NIST library and they represented the 8.50% of total area. Five of them were sesquiterpenes (silphiperfol-5-ene, 7-epi-silphiperfol-5-ene, modheph-2-ene, ɑ-isocomene and ß-isocomene) and one was the esther methyl-linoleate. The sesquiterpenes have been reported in roots from Silphium perfoliatum and Echinops giganteus [13,14]. Other three minor component representing 15.08% of the total area were no identified (Table 1). Because the main component could not be identified by NIST library, we decided to isolate it and identified by spectroscopic techniques.

Essential oil obtained from the root bark of Chrysactinia mexicana was further purified by means of reverse phase low-pressure liquid chromatography, to afford the active compound six fractions were obtained (F1 to F6). The most important compound was found in fraction F5 and the yield was 34%. A gravitational column chromatography on silica gel was performed from F5 to give 4 fractions (F5a to F5d) and, pure compound was obtained in F5b representing a yield of 64.4% from the F5 initially placed in this column.

Compound was subjected to structural analysis. CG/MS analysis displayed one peak at 59.85 minutes with m/z 216 (M+). IR showed several important signals at max 3000-3104 cm-1 (C-H), 2192.53 cm-1 (triple bound C-C), 1636.14 cm-1 and 1602.86 cm-1 (terminal olefin) and 785 y 838 cm-1 (corresponded to derivatives 2,2'-bithienyl 5 substituted).

Table 1: Chemical composition from essential oil of the root bark of Chrysactinia mexicana.

Compound tR Area % IK Silphiperfol-5-ene 32.90 0.57 1329 7-epi-silphiperfol-5-ene 33.64 1.59 1348 Modheph-2-ene 35.13 1.53 1384

-isocomene 35.40 3.29 1388

-isocomene 36.17 1.11 1407 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl 59.85 76.42 - No identified 61.43 4.01 - No identified 61.75 0.68 - No identified 62.14 0.48 - Methyl-linoleate 63.16 0.41 2096 No identified 64.19 1.57 - No identified 66.43 8.34 -

1H NMR spectrum showed three signals at 5.56 ppm (dd, J =11.20, 1.90 Hz), 5.74 ppm (dd, J = 17.50, 1.90 Hz) and 6.40 ppm (dd, J = 17.50, 11.20 Hz) for terminal olefin. Signals between 7.04 ppm and 7.25 ppm were assigned to olefinic protons from heterocycles according to J values (J = 3.60, 3.80, 5.09, 5.12 Hz) (Table 2. The 13C NMR spectra exhibited 12 signals, including one methylene, six methines and five quaternary carbons, as seen determined by a DEPT experiment. Structure of 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl (figure 1) was established by 2D NMR experiments: COSY, HMQC and HMBC. The compound has been reported in aerial part of Chrysactinia mexicana and roots of other plants [15-18]. Table 2: NMR spectral data of 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl, in CDCl3.

Position Type Chemical shifts, (ppm) Coupling constants, Hz 13C 1H JHH 2 C 139.01 2’ C 136.70 4 CH 132.86 7.11 (d) 3.80 4’ CH 127.97 7.02 (dd) 5.09, 3.60 C, terminal olefine

CH2 127.04 5.74 (dd) 5.56 (dd)

17.50, 1.90 11.20, 1.90

5’ CH 125.04 7.25 (d) 5.12 3’ CH 124.27 7.18 (d) 3.60 3 CH 123.54 7.04 (d) 3.80 5 C 121.75 C, terminal olefine

CH 116.82 6.04 (dd) 17.52, 11.20

C, alkynes C 92.98 C 83.26

SS C C C

H

C

HH

3'

1'

2'

4'

5'

1

2

3 4

5

Figure 1: Structure of 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl. 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl) -2, 2 '-bithienyl have been isolated from several plants and it antimicrobial and nematicidal activities [16] have been reported (antimicrobial activity against the plants pathogens: Colletotrichum sp, Fusarium oxysporum, Phomopsis viticola, and Peltula. obscurans [19] or against the human pathogens: Candida albicans, Escherichia coli and Sarcina lutea [20]). We studied the activity of the pure compound 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl) -2,2'-bithienyl against two resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae (ATCC 49619 and 24-CCPN-02) and the MIC value was equal for both strains (Table 3). This is the first

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Table 3: Minimal Inhibitory Concentration of essential oil and 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl obtained from the root bark of Chrysactinia mexicana against Streptococcus pneumoniae strains.

Sample MIC (g/mL) Streptococcus pneumoniae Strain

ATCC 49619 24-ccpn-02 Essential oil 250 250 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl 125 125 Oxacillin 125 31.25 Cephalotin 31.25 31.25 Vancomycin <1.95 <1.95

report of the activity of 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl on the pathogen causing respiratory tract infectious diseases in humans. The activities found for both, the compound isolated and essential oil were similar, this finding could be explained because the main component in the essential oil is 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl that representing 75% of the total area.

On the other hand, we did an analysis of the essential oil of leaves but the compound 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl was not detected. Therefore, we decide to prepare again extracts of the leaves, root bark, twigs and bark of the trunk (side closest to the root) using the solvents hexane, methylene chloride and methanol (1:1:1), agree with the report by Domínguez [15]. Our results showed that the compound was not present in the aerial part. The difference in the composition of the oil could be attributed to the date and place of collection.

The antimicrobial activity displayed by Chrysactinia mexicana essential oil against Streptococcus pneumoniae supports the traditional use of this plant for the treatment of infectious diseases. The isolation biodirected afforded the 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl as the principal compound responsible of the antimicrobial activity shown by this plant. The results presented here are important in the search for new antimicrobial agents against bacteria responsible for respiratory diseases, especially those resistant to conventional antibiotics.

Experimental

Bacterial culture: Streptococcus pneumoniae (InDRE 24-CCpn-02) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (InDRE 49619), resistant to oxacillin and sensitive to vancomycin respectively, were obtained from the “Instituto Nacional de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos” (InDRE, México. D.F., Mexico). Microorganisms were maintained on agar supplemented with bovine blood (BBL, Becton Dickinson de México) until use. Plant material: Chrysactinia mexicana roots were collected in Arteaga, Coahuila, Mexico, in November 2009. A voucher specimen (UNL 024102) was deposited in the herbarium of the Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.

Isolation of essential oil: The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation of ground fresh root bark for 4 h, using a Clevenger-type apparatus. Essential oil was conserved at –4C until use.

CG/MS analysis: Analysis of the essential oil was performed using an Agilent Technologies 6890N gas chromatograph equipped with an HP-5ms column (30 m 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 m film thickness) and a 5973 INERT selective mass spectrometer. The carrier gas was helium (99.999%) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min; ionization energy was 70 eV. Data acquisition was scan mode. Ionization source temperature was 230C, quadrupole temperature was 150C, and the injector temperature was 220C. Oven temperature was programmed to 35C for 9 min, then from 35C to 150C at 3C/min and held for 10 min, then at 10C/min to 250C, and finally at 3C/min to 270C and held for 10 min. The samples were injected using the splitless mode. The injection volume was 2 L. Components were identified by comparison of their retention indices (Kovats indices) relative to C8–C20 n-alkanes, and their mass spectra were compared with mass spectra from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library and reference data [21]. Relative percentages of components were calculated based on GC peak areas without using correction factors. Isolation of 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl: Essential oil (17.3 mg) obtained from the Chrysactinia mexicana root bark by hydrodistillation was subjected to inverse phase column chromatography over C-18. Elution was started with MeOH:H2O 90:10 to 0.5 mL/min. until the principal compound was eluted and then with MeOH. Finally 6 fractions were obtained (F1 to F6). On the basis of the antimicrobial activity, F5 (5.9 mg) was further fractioned in column chromatography over silica gel with hexane and then with MeOH to give 4 fractions (F5a to F5d). According to its antimicrobial activity, fraction F5b (3.8 mg) was further analyzed by CG/MS, IR, 1HNMR, 13C NMR and 2D NMR (COSY, HMQC and HMBC) and identified as 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl. NMR Spectra were recorder on Bruker Avance DPX 400 equipment. Antimicrobial activity: Both the oil and the isolated compound were tested for their antimicrobial activity. Streptococcus pneumoniae strains resistant to -lactamic antimicrobials, were tested with microdilution assays according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards [22]. In order to prepare the inocula, Streptococcus pneumoniae strains were cultured in Petri dishes containing blood agar (Bacto, Becton Dickinson). Plates were incubated overnight at 37C and suspensions were prepared by transferring colonies to 0.85% NaCl solution until the turbidity of the 0.5 McFarland standard was reached. The suspensions were diluted 1:50 with cation-adjusted Mueller–Hinton broth supplemented with 5% lysed horse blood (CAMHB-LHB; BBL, Becton Dickinson) to make the working suspensions of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The essential oil was prepared at a concentration of 2 mg/mL in 20% of DMSO in CAMHB-LHB. The antimicrobial activity assay was performed in flat-bottom 96-well polystyrene microplates

1038 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Campos et al.

covered with a low evaporation lid. The culture medium was CAMHB-LHB. The concentration of the essential oil ranged from 500,000 to 15.625 g/mL. Oxacillin and vancomycin were used as antimicrobial drug controls (64–4 g/mL). The final concentration of microorganisms was 1 104 UFC. Plates were incubated at 37C for 24 h and bacterial growth was examined. The MIC was defined as the minimum concentration of essential oil that stops growth. Every biological assay was conducted in duplicate.

Acknowledgements - The authors are grateful to the biologists Marco Antonio Guzmán Lucio and M.C. María del Consuelo González de la Rosa for definitive taxonomic identification of species reported here. We thank Dr. Adolfo Caballero Quintero for support in IR analysis and Ivonne Carrera for her technical assistance in the extraction procedures and acknowledge grants 103.5/08/3125 and 103.5/09/4913 from PROMEP-Mexico.

References

[1] Lo Cantore P, Shanmugaiah SN. (2009) Antibacterial activity of essential oil components and their potential use in seed disinfection. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57, 9454–9461.

[2] Rosato A, Vitali C, Gallo D, Balenzano L, Mallamaci R. (2008) The inhibition of Candida species by selected essential oils and their synergism with amphotericin B. Phytomedicine, 15, 635–638.

[3] Damian-Badillo LM, Salgado-Garciglia R, Martínez-Muñoz RE, Martínez-Pacheco MM. (2008) Antifungal properties of some Mexican medicinal plants. The Open Natural Products Journal, 1, 27–33.

[4] Inouye S, Takizawa T, Yamaguchi H. (2001) Antibacterial activity of essential oils and their major constituents against respiratory tract pathogens by gaseous contact. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 47, 565–673.

[5] Pérez-Castorena AL. (2008) La Chrysactinia mexicana y sus posibles propiedades medicinales. Boletín informativo de la coordinación de investigación científica, UNAM; 86:7.

[6] Molina-Salinas GM, Pérez-López A, Beceril-Montes P, Salazar-Aranda R, Said-Fernández S, Waksman N. (2007) Evaluation of the flora of Northern Mexico for in vitro antimicrobial and antituberculosis activity. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 109, 435-441.

[7] Asghar R, Banajeh S, Egas J, Hibberd P, Iqbal I, Katep-Bwalya M, Kundi Z, Law P, MacLeod W, Maulen-Radovan I, Mino G, Saha S, Sempertegui F, Simon J, Santosham M, Singhi S, Thea D, Qazi S. (2008) Chloramphenicol versus ampicillin plus gentamicin for community acquired very severe pneumonia among children aged 2-59 months in low resource settings: multicentre randomised controlled trial (SPEAR study) British Medical Journal, 336, 80–84.

[8] OMS. Estadísticas sanitarias mundiales. (2010). [9] Saldías F, Viviani P, Pulgar D, Valenzuela F, Paredes S, Díaz O. (2009) Factores pronósticos, evolución y mortalidad en el adulto

inmunocompetente hospitalizado por neumonía neumocócica adquirida en la comunidad. Revista Médica de Chile, 137, 1545-1552.

[10] Artiles F, Horcajada-Herrera I, Hoguera-Catalán J, Álamo-Antúnez I, Bordez-Benítez A. (2007) Resistencia antibiótica a los macrólidos en Streptococcus pneumoniae en las islas de Gran Canaria y Lanzaroe: mecanismos moleculares y relación con serogrupos. Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica, 25, 570-575.

[11] WHO. Global health risks, Mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected mayor risks. (2009). [12] Cárdenas-Ortega NC, Zavala-Sánchez MA, Aguirre-Rivera JR, Pérez-González C, Pérez-Gutiérrez S. (2005) Chemical

composition and antifungal activity of essential oil of Chyrsactinia mexicana Gray. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53, 4347-4349

[13] Kowalski R, Wolski T. (2005) The chemical composition of essential oils of Silphium perfoliatum L. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 20, 306-310.

[14] Weyerstahl P, Marschall H, Seelmann I, Jakupovic J. (1998) Cameroonane, prenopsane and nopsane, three new tricyclic sesquiterpene skeletons. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1205-1212.

[15] Domínguez XA, Vazquez G, Baruah RN. (1985) Constituent from Chrysactinia mexicana. Journal of Natural Products, 48, 681-682.

[16] Castro O, Munoz L. (1982) Natural thiophene derivatives from the roots of Tagetes jalisciencis. Revista Latinoamericana de Química, 13, 36-37.

[17] Szarka Sz, Héthelyi É, Lemberkovicks É, Kuzovkina IN, Bányai P, Szőke É. (2006) GC and GC-MS studies on the essential oil and thiophenes from Tagetes patula L. Chromatographia, 63, S67-S73.

[18] Margl L, Eisenreich W, Adam P, Bacher A, Zenk MH. (2001) Biosynthesis of thiophenes in Tagetes patula. Phytochemisty, 58, 875-881.

[19] Fokialakis C, Duke S, Alexios L, Wedge D. (2006) Antifungal activity of thiophenes from Echinops ritro. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 1651-1655.

[20] Kane S, Samb A, Mboup S, Kornprobst JM. (2002) Polythienyls of the oil of the composite Tagetes erecta of Senegal: structures and antifungal and antibacterial properties. Journal de la Societe Ouest-Africaine de Chimie, 7, 53-66.

[21] Adams RP. (2001) Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectroscopy. Allured Publishing Corporation, Carol Stream, Illinois.

[22] NCCLS, National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, (2002) Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In: 12th Informational Supplement. NCCLS document M-100-S-12.

Antimycotic Effect of the Essential Oil of Aloysia triphylla against Candida Species Obtained from Human Pathologies María de las Mercedes Oliva, María Evangelina Carezzano, Mauro Nicolás Gallucci and Mirta Susana Demo Departmento de Microbiologia e Inmunología, Fac. de Ciencias Exactas, Fco-Qcas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Córdoba, Argentina [email protected]


The research of alternative substances to treat infections caused by Candida species is a need. Aromatic plants have the ability to produce secondary metabolites, such as essential oils (EO). The antimicrobial properties of Aloysia triphylla (L`Her.) Britton (cedrón) EO has been previously described. The aims of this work were to determine the antimicrobial activity and the effect on the cell structure of the EO of A. triphylla against Candida sp isolated from human illnesses. The EO was obtained by hydrodistillation of A. triphylla leaves. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was performed with microdilution method and the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) was determined. A. triphylla EO´s showed antifungal activity against all yeast: C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. guillermondii, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis which were resistant to fluconazol (150 mg/mL). The range of MIC values was from: 35 to 140 µg/mL and the MFC: 1842 to 2300µg/mL. The time of killing at the MFC against C. albicans (3 x 105 UFC/mL) was 140 min. The dates of OD620 and OD260 suggest lysis and loss of absorbing material, respectively. The HROM shows distortion in morphology and shape of the cell, with large vacuoles in the cytoplasm. These studies clearly show that A. triphylla EO is a promising alternative for the treatment of candidiasis. Keywords: candidiasis, Aloysia triphylla, essential oil, antimycotic activity. Candida species are commonly part of the normal flora in the digestive tract of healthy humans; however they have been described as responsible for opportunistic infections, particularly in neonates and inmunocompromised patients [1]. These infections are difficult to treat with traditional drugs because they have multiple side effects, high toxicity and yeasts develop resistance against antifungal chemotherapics. Thus, searching for alternative antifungal compounds has been a major concern in recent years [2,3]. The investigation of alternative substances to treat these infections is necessary to find a solution to these problematic. Several medicinal plants have been extensively studied in order to find more effective and less toxic compounds [4]. Aromatic plants constitute an interesting group of vegetables with ability to produce secondary metabolites, such as essential oils (EO). Aloysia triphylla (L`Her.) Britton, (Aloysia citriodora Palau,) popularly known as “cedrón”, is a member of the Verbenaceae Family. It is perennial and grows widely in North and South America and also in northeast, northwest and central regions of Argentine. It is cultivated from Mexico till the South region of the continent. It is a bush with white flowers and fruits, with an intense scent lemon-like, sweet, lightly floral, and herbaceous [5,6]. This specie is used in folk medicine to treat many digestive disorders, as

anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, tonic and stimulating. It shares an important place on the international herbal market due to the sensory and medicinal properties of it EO. These attributes determine its use as a primary ingredient for infusions and nonalcoholic beverages as well as aromatic ingredient for the flavor and fragrance industries. The pharmaceutical industry uses A. triphylla for its carminative, antispasmodic and sedative properties [7,8]. EO are constituted by a complex mixture of organic compounds including monoterpenes, diterpenes, carbonylated products and polyenes. There are many studies that suggest the antibacterial and antifungal activity of these compounds [9,10]. A. triphylla could be used to treat infections produced by Candida species. The aims of this work were to determine the antimicrobial activity and the effect on the cell structure of the EO of A. triphylla against Candida species isolated from human illnesses. The A. triphylla EO´s were analyzed with GC-MS. The average yield obtained in the hydrodistillation process was 0.4% (w/v) and the main components identified were: limonene (2.9%), neral (20%), geranial (29.2%), spathulenol (8.9%) and caryophyllene oxide (7%), in concordance with other authors that previously described


1039 - 1043

1040 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Oliva et al.

all of them as the characteristic constituents of the EO of A. triphylla [6,10-12]. The antifungal activity of A. triphylla EO was tested using a microdilution broth method. The EO presented antifungal activity against all yeast. The range of MIC values was from 35 µg/mL to 143 µg/mL (Table 1). It is interesting to note low values of MIC necessary to inhibit C. albicans and C. dubliniensis (MIC: 35 µg/mL). In addition to this, the EO was able to cause the death of all Candida species. The fungicidal effect of the EO against the yeasts reached values of MFC from 230 µg/mL to 1842 µg/mL. (Table 1) Table 1: Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) of A. triphylla essential oil against Candida species

Species MIC (µg/mL) MFC (µg/mL) C. albicans 35 460

C. dubliniensis 35 921 C. glabrata 143 230 C. krusei 71 230

C. guillermondii 71 1842 C. parapsilopsis 71 1842 C. tropicalis 143 230

For more accurate evaluation of the antifungal activity of the EO, time-kill assays were performed using the yeast C. albicans. The killing time was tested at different cell concentration and results are shown in Figure 1. For 3 x 105 CFU/mL, killing time was 140 min. For a concentration of 3 x 106 CFU/mL the killing time was 300 min, for 3 x 108 CFU /mL was 480 min. and for 3 x 1012

CFU /mL was 1140 min. (Figure 1). These data shows that it is necessary more time to kill a bigger cell population; this means that killing time of the EO is directly proportional to number of cell. In all cases the viability control of the yeast presented a macroscopically visible growth while treated cells did not show visible growth at each killing time.

Figure 1: Killing time of Aloysia triphylla EO (MFC=460µg/mL) at different cell concentrations of Candida albicans (CFU /mL)

Table 2 shows the results obtained in the cellular lyses assay with C. albicans cells treated at the MFC. The control showed an increase in OD620 what means that the yeast continued with its cellular growth. In contrast, in treated cells the OD620 diminished almost at not

Table 2: OD620 lectures in C. albicans cells treated with A. triphylla EO and not treated

Treatment

OD 620nm

0 h Not centrifuged (18 h) Centrifuged (18 h) Control 0.513 1.785 1.605 With EO 0.513 0.010 0.074 CS+EO 0.081 0.009 0.073

Figure 2: High Resolution Optic Microscopy of Candida albicans untreated.

Figure 3: High Resolution Optic Microscopy of Candida albicans treated at the MFC (460 µg/mL) of A. triphylla EO.

detectable values; this last result could be explained by the possibility that cellular lysis caused by the EO occurred. In the suspensions obtained from the centrifugation of C. albicans inoculums treated with EO and not treated (control), the OD260 of the treated samples increased (OD260 = 0.270) compared to the control suspensions (OD260 =0.008). This suggests that there is a lost of 260-nm-absorbing material. The HROM showed in control cells that the morphology and the cytoplasmic density were characteristic of a normal cell (Figure 2). After EO treatment at the MFC

CF

U/m

l

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(460 µg/mL), morphology and shape of the cell was distorted and a notable structural disorganization was seen within the cytoplasm with the observation of large vacuoles. In addition, the contents of some treated cells appeared depleted and amorphous. Lost of cellular material was also observed (Figure 3). A. triphylla EO showed antifungal activity against all Candida species, particularly in those that acquire resistance to conventional chemotherapics, like C. albicans and C. dubliniensis. The last one was recently identified as an opportunistic pathogen associated with oral candidiasis, particularly in individuals who are positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and immunocompromised patients [1,13]. C. albicans is the most common fungal pathogen in humans, responsible for skin, oral, esophagic, intestinal tract, vaginal and circulatory diseases commonly affecting immunologically compromised patients and those undergoing prolonged antibiotic treatment [14]. The results presented in this work demonstrate that A. triphylla EO had the potential to kill Candida cells causing lysis. What is more, this study clearly demonstrates that there was a direct relationship between number of cells and the time that the EO needed to cause killing effect. C. albicans suspensions treated with A. triphylla EO lost significant 260- nm-absorbing material, suggesting that nucleic acids were released through a damaged cytoplasmic membrane. These data are coincident to experiences made with C. albicans treated with tea tree oil [15]. Marked leakage of cytoplasmic material is considered indicative of gross and irreversible damage to the cytoplasmic membrane. Many antimicrobial compounds that act on the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane induce the loss of 260-nm absorbing material. Some antimicrobial agents cause gross membrane damage and provoke whole-cell lysis and this has been reported previously for essential oils from oregano, rosewood, and thyme [16]. EO components have the capability to alter cell permeability by entering between the fatty acyl chains making up membrane lipid bilayers and disrupt the lipid packing. Due to this, the membrane properties like permeability, fluidity and consequently its functions may get changed [17]. This may also affect the regulation and function of the membrane bound enzymes that alter the synthesis of many cell wall polysaccharide components and alter the cell growth morphogenesis [18]. The data obtained by Vataru Nakamura, et al. 2004. with electronic microscopy showed that C. albicans as well as C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. krusei underwent remarkable ultrastructural alterations which were visible by electron microscopy, when treated with the essential oil

of O. gratissimum [4]. This study is in concordance with our experience in which changes in the morphology of C. albicans cells were observed, as well as the formation of large vacuoles in the cytoplasm when they were exposed to the MFC of A. triphylla EO. Tyagy et al. 2010, worked with C. albicans cells treated with lemongrass EO and they observed similar results in experiences with different techniques of electronic microscopy [18]. A. triphylla EO is a promising natural product for the treatment of candidiasis. Therefore further studies on their pharmacokinetics and toxicological behavior are warranted. The results obtained represent a contribution to the characterization of the anti-Candida activity of EO of traditional medicinal plants from the Argentinean flora. Experimental

Plant material and EO extaction: The EO was obtained by hydrodistilation of samples of A. triphylla collected from plants growing in farms (plantations) located in La Paz, Córdoba Province (Argentina). Gas Chromatography: The EO were analyzed with a Shimadzu GC-R1A gas chromatograph equipped with a fused silica column (30 m x 0.25 mm) coated with CBP-1. The temperature of the column was programmed from 60°C to 240°C at 4°C/min. The injector and detector temperatures were at 270°C. The gas carrier was He, at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Peak areas were measured by electronic integration. The relative amounts of the individual components are based on the peak areas obtained, without FID response factor correction. Programmed temperature retention index of the compounds were determined relative to n-alkanes. GC analysis was still performed using a column Supelcowax-10 with the same conditions as described above [19]. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry: GC-MS analyses were performed on a Perkin Elmer Q-910 using a 30 m x 0.25 mm capillary column coated with CBP-1. The temperature of the column and the injector were the same than those from GC. The carrier gas was He, at a flow rate of 1mL/min. Mass spectra were recorded at 70 eV. The oil components were identified by comparison of their retention indices, mass spectra with those of authentic samples, by peak enrichment, with published data, mass spectra library of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST 3.0) and our mass spectra library which contains references mass spectra and retention indices of volatile compounds. GC-MS analysis was still performed using a column Supelcowax 10 with the same conditions as describe above [20]. Microorganisms: The activity of the EO was tested against the following yeasts: C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. guillermondii, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis. These strains were resistant to fluconazol (150 mg/mL). The strains were isolated in the

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Central Hospital of Rio Cuarto and identified in the Mycology Area of Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the National University of Rio Cuarto. Antimicrobial activity: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the A. triphylla EO was evaluated against yeast species with the broth microdilution method described by Mann and Markham (1998) [21]. The minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) was determined [23]. Culture methods: Tubes containing Sabouraud Broth (SB) (Britania) with 0.1% (w/v) agar (SBA) were prepared at pH 7 inoculated with each microorganism and incubated overnight (18 h) at 37ºC. Optical densities were measured at 620nm in a spectrometer and number of cells was confirmed by the viable plate count on Sabouraud Agar (SA) (Britania). Firstly, the cell concentration necessary to cause reduction of resazurin within 3.30 h was determined for each of the test microorganisms. Serial 10 fold dilutions of the overnight culture were prepared in SBA and aliquots (170 μL) from these dilutions were dispensed into microplates containing 20 μL of diluent (Dimethylsulphoxide-distilled water 1:1). The resazurin solution (10 μL) was added; then they were incubated for 3.30 h at 37ºC. The appropriate dilution to work was the last one unable to reduce resazurin (blue), which was tested, by the plate count method. Resazurin is a redox indicator that is blue in its oxidized form and pink in its reduced form [21]. Determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC): Serial two fold dilutions of the EO were prepared by vortexing it in the diluent at room-temperature. The resazurin assay medium, SBA, was inoculated with the test organism to yield a final cell density ≈ 1 log cycle lower than the cell density required to reduce resazurin (usually 106 cfu/mL). The inoculum density was confirmed by plate count. A sterile 96-well microtitre tray was set up with each of the tested Candida sp as follows: column 1-10, 170 μL inoculum plus 20 μL of the EO dilution; column 11, 170 μL inoculum plus 20 μL EO diluent (positive control); column 12, sterile resazurin assay medium plus 20 μL of EO diluent (negative control, respectively). Well contents were thoroughly mixed and were incubated at 37ºC for 18h. After incubation 10 μL of resazurin solution was added to all except column 12, to which 10 μL of distilled water was added. After a second incubation of 3 h at 37ºC, wells were assessed visually for color change, with the highest dilution remaining blue indicating the MIC. Each experience was made by triplicate [21].

Determination of the Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC): 100 µl of the dilution belonging to the MIC and the previous dilutions were inoculated in SA and incubated at 37ºC for 24 h. The MFC was considered as the last dilution that did not show cell growth [22]. Yeast killing assays: The time of killing of A. triphylla EO against the yeast C. albicans were evaluated by measuring the cellular viability at the MFC. The treatment consisted on a suspension of cells (UFC/mL) in SBA plus EO dilution (MFC) was incubated at 37ºC, 120 rpm. A sample (0.1 mL) was removed at 30 min intervals and plated on SA (viability control) and incubated overnight. A suspension of cells (UFC/mL) in SBA without EO was incubated at the same conditions (suspension control). Cellular lysis: Suspensions of C. albicans (104 UFC/mL) were prepared in SB (control) and SB supplemented with EO at the MFC and incubated at 37ºC for 18 h. The OD620nm was measured at 0 min and at 18 h. Then both of them were centrifuged at 10000 rpm for 5 min. The pellet was resuspended in PBS (Phosphate buffer saline) and OD620nm was measured. Each experience was made by triplicate. Loss of 260-nm-absorbing material: The supernatant from the suspensions of C. albicans prepared for cellular lysis assay was used to measure the loss of OD 260-nm-absorbing material. High Resolution Optic Microscopy (HROM): Thin cuts (± 0.25 m) obtained using a manual ultramicrotome (Sorvall MT-1A, DuPont) of C. albicans were processed for high resolution optic microscopy. They were placed on a slide and stained with toluidine blue on a thermic platine, allowing the income of the dye in the fungal cell. Thin stained cuts were mounted in DPX (Merk) and observed with an optic microscope Axiophot (Carl Zeiss, Alemania). Images were obtained with a digital camera Powershot G6, 7.1 megapixels (Canon INC, Japón) joined to the optic microscope. Software AxioVision Release 4.6.3 (Carl Zeiss, Alemania) was used to process the images [23]. Acknowledgments - María de las Mercedes Oliva, Mauro Nicolás Gallucci are researchers from CONICET. We are grateful to SECyT of Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto for financial support. We thank to Electronic Microscopy Area and Mycology Area of Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto and Dr. Julio Alberto Zygadlo for GC-MS service (UNC).

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genotypic identification of Candida dubliniensis from subgingival sites in immunocompetent subjects in Argentina. Oral Microbiology and Immunology, 23, 505–509.

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[2] Brito Gamboa A, Mendoza M, Fernandez A, Diaz E. (2006) Detection of Candida dubliniensis in patients with candidiasis in Caracas, Venezuela. Revista Iberoamericana de Micologia, 23, 81-84.

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[5] Barboza GE, Bonzani, N, Filipa, E, Lujan M, Morero R, Bugatti M, Decolatti N, Ariza-Espinar L. (2001) Atlas Histo-Morfológico de plantas de interés medicinal de uso corriente en Argentina. Museo de Botánica. Fac. de Cs. Ex., Fcas. y Nat. y Fac. de Cs. Qcas. de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

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Secretory Cavities and Volatiles of Myrrhinium atropurpureum Schott var. atropurpureum (Myrtaceae): An Endemic Species Collected in the Restingas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Cristiane Pimentel Victórioa,*, Claudio B. Moreirab, Marcelo da Costa Souzac, Alice Satob and Rosani do Carmo de Oliveira Arrudad

aColegiado de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 23070-200, Brasil

bDepartamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Rio de janeiro, RJ, Brasil

cInstituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

d Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campo Grande, MS, Brasil

[email protected]


In this study, we investigated the leaf anatomy and the composition of volatiles in Myrrhinium atropurpureum var. atropurpureum endemic to Rio de Janeiro restingas. Particularly, leaf secretory structures were described using light microscopy, and histochemical tests were performed from fresh leaves to localize the secondary metabolites. To observe secretory cavities, fixed leaf samples were free-hand sectioned. To evaluate lipophilic compounds and terpenoids the following reagents were employed: Sudans III and IV, Red oil O and Nile blue. Leaf volatiles were characterized by gas chromatography after hydrodistillation (HD) or simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE). Leaf analysis showed several cavities in mesophyll that are the main sites of lipophilic and terpenoid production. Monoterpenes, which represented more than 80% of the major volatiles, were characterized mainly by α- and β-pinene and 1,8-cineole. In order to provide tools for M. atropurpureum identification, the following distinguishing characteristics were revealed by the following data: 1) adaxial face clear and densely punctuated by the presence of round or ellipsoidal secretory cavities randomly distributed in the mesophyll; 2) the presence of cells overlying the upper neck cells of secretory cavities; 3) the presence of numerous paracytic stomata distributed on the abaxial leaf surface, but absent in vein regions and leaf margin; and 4) non-glandular trichomes on both leaf surfaces. Our study of the compounds produced by the secretory cavities of M. atropurpureum led us to conclude that volatile terpenoid class are the main secretory compounds and that they consist of a high concentration of monoterpenes, which may indicate the phytotherapeutic importance of this plant.

Keywords: Atlantic rain forest, histochemistry, volatile compounds, secretory cavity, restinga, leaf anatomy, Myrtaceae.

The Atlantic Rain Forest is among the world’s foremost biodiversity hotspots [1a]. From evolutionary and conservation view points, the Atlantic coastal vegetation of Brazil, particularly in the case of the state of Rio de Janeiro, should be treated as a mosaic comprising all forest types and also the neighboring open vegetation [1b,1c]. Within this environment, a plant community represented by usually arbustive-herbaceous vegetation, known as a restinga, is located in part in Rio de Janeiro State. Restinga ecosystems are areas of coastal plains covered by marine deposits, which are the result of geological processes that occurred during the Quaternary, around 5 thousand years ago [2]. In this peculiar environment, plants are influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus subjected to high salinity and high temperatures. This ecosystem presents different physiognomies and diverse flora where Myrtaceae is one of the most important families. Plants in this area are under high risk of extinction as a consequence of increasing land development.

Myrrhinium atropurpureum Schott var. atropurpureum (Myrtaceae), which is restricted to Rio de Janeiro restingas, is a native source of medicinal compounds used as astringents and antimicrobials. A different variety, M. atropurpureum var. octandrum Bentham (syn. M. loranthoides Hook. et Arn.), may be found in Brazil’s southland to Uruguay and northwestern Argentina to Ecuador [3]. M. atropurpureum var. atropurpureum differentiates itself by having ovaries with 10-14 ovules per locule, leaves 1.7-2.5 times longer than wide, with thick blades and a leathery margin that is strongly revolute. This species is a large evergreen shrub, or small tree, reaching from 1.5 to 5.0 m high. In Brazil, M. atropurpureum is known as “pau-ferro”, “carrapato” and “murtilo”. It is an ornamental plant with aromatic leaves and fleshy, sweet and swollen flower petals commonly used as food for birds [4]. Similar to other Myrtaceae species, M. atropurpureum presents large secretory cavities in leaves, a peculiar structure that is a taxonomic


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1046 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Victório et al.

Figure 1: Aspect of Marambaia restinga, showing arbustive habitat (up to 5 m) of a “Marambaia restinga” specimen - (→) Myrrhinium atropurpureum var. atropurpureum. B-D. Aspect of M. atropurpureum morphology. B. Elliptic leaves, rounded, border revolute and leathery. C. Flowery branches. D. Details of red reproductive axis showing flower buds and advanced stage of floral development from flower bud. feature responsible for the accumulation of important secondary metabolites involved in plant defense [5,6]. In order to register a phytotherapeutic, it is necessary to perform a macroscopic and microscopic characterization of plant material to help identify a given species, as well as define its phytochemical features. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to characterize the leaf anatomy and localize the leaf volatile secretory structures of M. atropurpureum, in addition to investigating the compo-sition of volatiles produced in such secretory structures.

M. atropurpureum specimens are described as shrubs up to 5 m with opposite phyllotaxy (Figure 1A, B) Adult leaves are elliptical, obtuse or rounded apex; base acute or rounded; margin revolute, leathery and discolored, with the adaxial face clear and densely punctuated by the presence of secretory cavities. M. atropurpureum produces flowers with petals elliptical to oval, 4-5 x 2-3 mm, red in floral bud, becoming purple or pink, juicy and sweet in full anthesis (Figures 1B-D) [7]. As discussed by Roitman et al. [4], this floral type is very uncommon and seems to be restricted to some genera of Myrtaceae and Scrophulariaceae, both of which occur in South America. In frontal view, both faces of M. atropurpureum leaves are covered by an epidermis composed of common cells with straight and thickened walls (Figure 2A). In cross section, the epidermis is uniseriate and covered with a thick cuticular layer, especially on adaxial surface, as revealed by Sudan III and IV tests (Figure 2I-J). These features are common to species occurring in dry places under high temperature and intense light [8a], as well as leaves of plants found in areas with saline soil near the sea (halophytes and psamophilous plants) [8b,8c]. In environments where the availability of nutrients in the substrate is reduced, such as Brazilian salt marshes, or restingas, the cuticular layer and dense wax deposits observed in leaves of some Myrtaceae [9] can serve a protective function by reducing the loss of phosphorus and potassium by leaching [10]. While numerous paracytic stomata are randomly distributed only on the abaxial leaf surface, they are absent in the vein regions and leaf margin (Figures 2E-F). On both surfaces of the epidermis, isolated cells, or groups with two, three, and even four colorless cells, are observed, separated from each other by a strongly cutinized wall (Figure 2A-B). The cross section evidences that these cells

are related to oil secretory cavities in mesophyll. Around these sets, or groups of cells, the remaining epidermal cells occur concentrically. These cells, called overlying cells [9,12], can occur frequently, either in isolation or in pairs, and they are distinguished by low affinity for histological staining. In M. atropurpureum, the cell walls between overlying cells are straight and strongly cutinized (Figure 2A). It is possible that these special cells are related to the elimination of secretions, which are mainly composed of volatile compounds accumulated in the secretory cavities, by the intense reaction of cell wall thickening to reagents for lipophilic substances. Similar anatomical results were observed by Donato and Morretes [6] for Eugenia brasiliensis. The authors cite the study of List et al. [12], in which Melaleuca alternifolia (Myrtaceae) leaves, when subjected to a vacuum, release drop of oil on the surface through overlying cells. Judging from studies of other Myrtaceae species, such as Myrcia sp. and Campomanesia sp. [11] we suggest that overlying cells are involved in the process of aroma elimination on the leaf surface, based on the strong olfactory properties of Myrtaceae population in natural habitats (personal observations). Non-glandular trichomes are observed on both leaf surfaces (Figure 3). A second trichome type was observed and it was pluricellular, rounded-shape, and accumulate phenolic substances (Figures 2D, G; 3). These trichomes are composed of two or three cells in the basal region with one apical enlarged cell (Figures 2E-F). Some of these trichomes can occur near the overlying cells. Only phenolic substances are detected in these epidermal appendages. No mention of these types of trichomes is found in the literature, but, given the saline environment in which the studied plants live, these trichomes could be related to the elimination of salts impregnated in plant tissues, as proposed for Eucalyptus species living in salinized soils [13]. The cross section shows that the secretory cavities are round or ellipsoidal and outlined by slightly thickened cell walls. Internally, the secreting cells have a thin wall, and they show positive reaction to tests for lipophilic compounds (Figures 2I-N). The cavities are randomly distributed in the mesophyll, and they accumulate a yellow-greenish secretion in fresh material (Figure 2A.). Under the adaxial surface, the secretory cavities are located more deeply, and they connect with the epidermal

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Figure 2: Cross sections of Myrrhinium atropurpureum var. atropurpureum leaves obtained by light microscopy. A. General aspect of leaf cross sections showing dorsiventral organization of the mesophyll, single-layered epidermis, and oil cells distributed in mesophyll. B-C. Secretory cavities. D and G. Non-glandular trichomes observed on both leaf surfaces. H. Vascular system of the leaf blade showing phloem (*) proportionally more abundant than xylem. E-F. Overlying cells (arrows). I-N. Histochemical characterization of the contents in secretory cavities, as evidenced by the oil droplets after reaction with Sudan IV (I and J) or Nile blue (L-N). Transversal sections, bar = 100 μm; epidermis, bar= 30 μm. layer through a series of cells that form a "neck" (Figures 2B-C). As suggested previously, the set formed by the neck cells is also possibly related to the elimination of secretions that are mainly composed of volatile compounds accumulated in the secretory cavities. On the abaxial face, the cavities are near the epidermis, or separated from it by a pair of cells. The histochemistry analysis confirmed that the content of secretory cavities of M. atropurpureum is lipophilic in nature, as revealed by the positive reaction with Sudan IV and Nile blue tests (Figures 2I-N). The Nile blue test showed that the lipids produced in the secretory cavities have an acidic composition (Figures 2L-N), and the positive reaction with Sudan confirms their volatile property (Figures 2I-J).

The number of secretory cavities in the leaf may be affected by environmental conditions. For instance, in Eugenia brasiliensis, which inhabits two contrasting environments in the Atlantic Rain Forest (Brazil), the number of secretory cavities in both faces of foliar blade

was lower in individuals inhabiting moist shaded areas than individuals collected in the mostly dry and brightly lit areas at sea level, suggesting that the development of some tropical plants in restinga areas may reflect a greater production of essential oils and other compounds associated with therapeutic effects, in contrast to plants growing in shaded areas [6].

The palisade is formed by two layers of narrow, thin-walled cells, and the spongy parenchyma has up to 12 layers of voluminous cells with thin walls, presenting, a leaf with isolateral structure. Tiny druse-type crystals were observed in the chlorenchyma cells. Phenolic reaction was observed in all mesophyll. Such features are typically found in xeromorphic plants growing in saline or dry environments, where a reduction in nutrients and water is common [8b]. The vascular system of the leaf blade is composed of vascular bundles with phloem proportionally more abundant than xylem (Figure 2H). Some morpho-anatomical and phytochemical features of resistance to


restinga environment conditions are recognized in M. atropurpureum: thick cuticle and walls in the epidermis, secretory structures, thick leaves, possibly accumulating water, and phenolic compounds. The lipophilic substances that accumulate in the cavities may also be a chemical defense that confer protection against herbivory.

The presence of lipophilic content observed in the secretory cavities led us to a phytochemical analysis of the composition of the volatiles, which is summarized in Table 1. The lipophilic nature of the secretion was detected after reaction with Nile blue, which showed blue staining indicative of lipid acids, in agreement with the presence of 1,8-cineole, which is weakly acid with a hydroxyl in its chemical structure. Positive reaction to Sudan confirmed the lipophilic character of the contents of secretory cavities. The leaf volatiles were found to be very poor in sesquiterpenes. Using both extraction methods, the components found in greater concentration among the volatiles were α and β-pinene and 1,8-cineole. On the other hand, the oil composition of the var. atropurpurem from southern Brazil presented limonene (35%), 1,8-cineole (23%) and α-pinene (12%) as the main compounds [14]. Based on our studies comparing volatiles from plants of the Grumari and Marambaia restingas, we found the concentration of α–pinene to be equally high. Similarly, α–pinene (75%) was found to be the main component in the volatile compounds of a different variety (M. artopurpureum var. octandrum) from Argentina [15]. This result may indicate that α–pinene is a plant marker compound in this genus. We compared volatiles from M. atropurpureum collected from two distinct restingas during the same period (July, 2010). Using SDE, we showed variations in concentrations of the monoterpenes β-pinene, 1,8-cineole and γ–terpinene between Marambaia and Grumari restingas. In samples from Marambaia, there was a significant increase in 1,8-cineole and γ–terpinene concentrations, while in Grumari, an increase in β-pinene was revealed. However, no difference was found in α–pinene concentration, as noted above. These data demonstrate how the environment affects the production of volatiles, even though both restingas are in the same State, Rio de Janeiro.

According to Araújo [16], the restingas that occur in Rio de Janeiro can be divided on the basis on their flora and the physiognomy of ten types of vegetation, as influenced by both topography and climate. The Marambaia restinga is formed by a largely well-preserved extension of sand dunes approximately 40 km long. This area forms an east-west peninsular-like extension of the continent into the Atlantic Ocean linked to Marambaia Island. In contrast, Grumari is one of the smallest remaining restinga fragments located within the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro which has experienced increasing degradation by the expansion of farmland areas, contributing, in turn, to the loss of this habitat.

Figure 3: Leaf surface of Myrrhinium atropurpureum imaged by scanning electron microscopy. Non-glandular trichomes observed on both leaf surfaces. → The same pluricellular trichome showed in Fig. 2D.

Table 1: Volatile compounds (%) of Myrrhinium atropurpureum var. atropurpureum collected in Grumari and Marambaia restingas in Rio de Janeiro City. HD– hydrodistillation and SDE– simultaneous distillation-extraction.

Constituents RI

literatur* RI calculated

Relative Area (%)a

Grumari Marambaia HDa SDEb SDEb

α-Thujene 931 929 0.7 - - α-Pinene 939 936 25.5 54.1 50.6 β-Pinene 980 981 9.5 22.1 8.4 p-Cymene 1026 1030 1.1 1.4 tr 1,8-Cineole 1033 1037 33.0 1.7 15.9 γ-Terpinene 1062 1061 2.9 0.9 9.6 Terpinolene 1088 1088 0.4 tr tr Terpinen-4-ol 1177 1184 1.1 tr tr α-Terpineol 1189 1198 6.0 0.6 3.1 Monoterpenes 80.2 80.8 87.6 β-Caryophyllene 1418 1413 2.9 tr 0.2 Aromadendrene 1439 1433 0.6 tr tr α-Humulene 1454 1450* tr tr tr Epiglobulol - 1560* tr tr tr Spathulenol 1576 1575 2.3 tr 0.3 Caryophyllne oxide 1581 1578 4.5 tr 2.6 Globulol 1586 1583 2.3 tr tr Viridiflorol 1590 1590 0.3 tr tr Guiol 1595 1594 2.1 tr 0.2 Ledol 1565 1599 0.4 tr tr n.d. - 1604* 0.4 tr tr Epi-β-eudesmol 1649 1621 0.5 tr tr Tetracyclo[6.3.2.0(2,5).0(1,8)]tridecan-9-ol, 4,4-dimethyl - 1636* 0.6 tr tr Sesquiterpenes 16.9 tr 3.3

tr – trace (less than 0.05%). n.i. – not identified. *Adams [20a] does not have these mass spectra. **Identified by similarity with Kovats indices of the study of Myrrhinium from Argentina [15]. aFresh leaves were collected in April 2009. bFresh leaves were collected in July, 2010. The hydrodistillation method was used to obtain essential oil. Similar to SDE, HD revealed the following major components: pinenes (35.0%) and 1,8-cineole (33.0%). β-caryophyllene and its oxide, spathulenol, globulol and guiol were the main sesquiterpenes found, totaling 16.9%. Therefore, considering the different methods of extraction, HD and SDE, for samples collected in April (HD) and July (SDE) in the same restinga - Grumari, the main volatile

Secretory cavities and volatiles of Myrrhinium atropurpureum Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1049

constituents, α and β-pinene and 1,8-cineole, presented significant differences in relative concentrations. That is, by using HD, α-pinene (25.5%) and β-pinene (9.5%) presented reduced concentrations, while the concentration of 1,8-cineole (33.0%) was high when compared to the SDE method where a reduction of only 1.7% for 1,8-cineole was found, but an increase in both α-pinene (54.0%) and β-pinene (22.0%). These differences in volatile composition may have resulted from the extraction method used or the influence of relative humidity and precipitation in accordance with seasonal variation in April and in July. Overall, therefore, phytochemical analyses of the volatiles showed the presence of compounds with pharmacological interest in that the lipophilic content of secretory cavities and phenolics have previously been reported to demonstrate antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity [17,18a]. In conclusion, the leaf secretory system has numerous cavities with circular lumen close to the interface between the epidermis and the parenchymas. Histochemical reagents, such as Nile blue and Sudan, showed that these secretory cavities are responsible for the production of essential oil and lipophilic compounds. This finding agrees with volatile composition obtained by GC-FID and GC-MS, in which it was found that the main compounds were monoterpenes, such as pinenes and 1,8-cineole, representing more than 50%. These morpho-anatomical and phytochemical data based on our study of M. atropurpureum var. atropurpureum from restinga areas may help in species identification, and the volatile composition of this plant, consisting of pinenes and 1,8-cineole, has specific implications in the context of phytotherapeutics. Experimental

Plant material: Leaves from Myrrhinium atropurpureum var. atropurpureum were collected between 10-11 h in two Brazilian restingas: Grumari, Municipality of Rio de Janeiro (23º02’94’’S, 43º31’98’’W), which is located in the Grumari Protection Environmental Area, and Marambaia Restinga - “Linha 4”, 23º02’75’’S, 43º35’68’’W (Municipality of Mangaratiba), both in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil. The collection occurred in April, 2009 (HD), and in July, 2010 (SDE). A voucher specimen is deposited at the Herbarium of Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden under accession number RB 415731. M. atropur-pureum leaves were collected from three georeferenced specimens growing in open shrub formation. Restingas are at sea level and present the following environmental conditions: temperature (± 24-23ºC), annual precipitation (1172-1240 mm) and sandy soil. Leaf anatomy and histochemistry: Mature leaves of two to three individuals were taken from the third or fourth nodes from the apex of the branch. The leaves were fixed in FAA70 and preserved in 70% ethanol. The leaves were

free-handed, or, by using a Ranvier microtome, sectioned in longitudinal and transverse planes. The sections were clarified in sodium hypochlorite and rinsed in 1% acetic acid and distilled water. Afterwards, the samples were stained with alcian blue and fucsin 0.1%. The epidermis was described using leaf segments separated by the solution of Franklin [18b], stained with 0.25% fuchsin in 50% ethanol. All samples were mounted in 50% glycerin on slides with cover slips. For scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fixed leaves were dehydrated in graded ethanol series, submitted to critical point drying with CO2 (Leica EM CPD-030), mounted on stubs, and coated with a thin layer of gold (Denton vacuum Desk IV, LLC). The samples were analyzed with a JEOL JSM-6490LV scanning electron microscopy (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan). Histochemical tests were performed on fresh leaves from the Marambaia restinga, sectioned by the free-hand method, and submitted to Sudan III, Sudan IV [19a] and Red oil O staining to determine lipophilic compounds [19b], followed by the Nile blue test for acid and neutral lipophilic compounds [19c]. Histochemical tests were adapted and carried out following Victório et al. [19d]. Control procedures for histochemical tests were carried out. All samples were rinsed with distilled water before mounting in glycerin on slides with cover slips. To confirm the nature of calcium oxalate crystals, tests were carried out with acetic acid and hydrochloric acid [19a]. All samples were rinsed with distilled water and mounted in glycerin on slides with cover slips. Observations were carried out and captured on light microscopy Olympus® (BX-41). Volatile extraction and gas chromatography analyses: Two extraction methods were used: hydrodistillation (HD) and simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE). For the HD method, fresh leaves (50 g) of M. atropurpureum were cut and submitted to a Clevenger-type apparatus for 2h, yielding 0.4% v/w of the oil. For the second extraction method, fresh leaves (5 g) of M. atropurpureum were homogenized with 50 mL of distilled water and submitted to SDE for 2 h [20a]. A 2 mL volume of dichloromethane was used as an organic collecting solvent and placed in the solvent flask. Boiling chips were added to both flasks. Mineral oil bath under stirrer/heat plate was used to apply heat to flasks. The heating temperatures for the sample and solvent flasks were controlled to 110-130oC and 55-60oC, respectively, so that boiling in sample flasks began, and extraction was carried out for 2 h. The vapors were condensed as a result of the circulation of cooling water pumped to the apparatus. HD and SDE samples were introduced to GC/FID and GC/MS for analysis.

Analytical GC (gas chromatography) was carried out on a Varian Star 3400 gas chromatograph fitted with a DB-1-MS column (30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 μm film thickness) and equipped with flame ionization detection (FID). Temperature was programmed from 60ºC to 240ºC at


3°C/min. The injection consisted of 1 μL of distilled oil diluted with dichloromethane obtained by SDE. And, the essential oil obtained by HD was diluted in dichloromethane (1:1). Hydrogen was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL min-1. The injector temperature was 260°C, with interface temperature of 200oC. Leaf volatile samples were analyzed in splitless mode. GC-MS analyses were carried out on a Shimadzu Model GC-MS-QP 5000 fitted with a HP-5/MS fused silica capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 μm film thickness). GC-MS conditions were the same as above, except for 1) helium which was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and 2) the mass spectrometer which was operated on electron impact mode at 70 eV, at a scan rate of 0.5 scans/s and fragments from 40 to 500 Da. Quantification

was performed from GC-FID profiles using relative areas (%). Identification of components in the volatiles was based on retention indices relative to n-alkanes (C8 - C19) and computer matching with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST 98) library, as well as by comparison between mass fragmentation patterns and those reported in the literature [14, 20b].

Acknowledgements - We thank the Brazilian Army, in particular those responsible for administration and care of the Marambaia restinga area, for their kind hospitality and access to the material used in this study. To Ms. Aline Carvalho de Azevedo, Bruna Nunes de Luna and Mr. Eliandro Joaci de Lima assisted with preparation of the plant material and microscopy.

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[16] Araujo DSD. (2000) Análise florística e fitogeográfica das restingas do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Tese de doutorado, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.

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screening of leaf and twig extracts from Kunzea ericoides. Phytotherapy Research, 19, 963-970; (b) Franklin GL (1945) Preparation of thin sections of syntethelic resins and wood resin composites, and a new macerating method for wood. Nature, 155, 51.

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Chemical Composition and in vitro Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Phthirusa adunca from Venezuelan Andes Flor D. Moraa*, Nurby Ríosa, Luis B. Rojasb, Tulia Díazc, Judith Velascoc, Juan Carmona Aa and Bladimiro Silvaa

aDepartment of Pharmacognosy and Organic Medicaments, bResearch Institute, cGastrointestinal and urinary syndromes laboratory " Lic. Luisa Vizcaya", Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanálisis, University of Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela, 5101 [email protected]


In this paper, preliminary studies on the chemical characterization of Phthirusa adunca Meyer essential oil, obtained by hydrodistillation, is presented. The separation of the components was performed by GC-MS. Twenty-three compounds (94.5% of the sample) were identified of which the three major ones (76% of the sample) were β-phellandrene (38.1%), germacrene D (26.8%) and β-pinene (11.5%). The essential oil showed a broad spectrum of activity against Salmonella Typhi CDC 57 (100 g/mL), Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (200 g/mL), Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 (250 g/mL), Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 y Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 23357 (500 g/mL). This is the first report on the composition and activity of the essential oil of this species. Keywords: Phthirusa adunca (Meyer), Loranthaceae, essential oil, antibacterial activity, β-phellandrene. Loranthaceae family comprises intertropical plants, hemiparasite on different species. It is composed for more than one thousand species. The main characteristic of this family is the conexion with xilematic vases of the host from which obtain water and nutrients but with a life cycle independent of the host. They possess unisex flowers, berry fruits and seeds protected for sticky substances [1,2]. Several references relate the ethnobotanical use of plants of the genus Phthirusa. Among them, P. pyrifolia (HBK) Eichl is used for stomach burning relief and bone fractures [3-5]. From P. pyrifolia a leaf lectin (PpyLL) with antimicrobial activity have been isolated [6]. The protector effect on gastric lesions induced by ethanol at 1 g/Kg weigh on rats have been reported [7] as well as its effect on the inhibition of fatty acid synthase and reduction of weight on rats [8]. Phthirusa adunca G. (Meyer) Maguire, known in Venezuela as guatepajarito, grows on a variety of shrubs and trees as well on rocky substrates [9]. Several of its physiological characteristics structure of their haustorium will depend on its host. It is used in Peru for delivery and fracture bone treatment [10]. In the current report the chemical composition of the essential oil of P. adunca collected in Venezuela and its antibacterial activity by the agar diffusion method on international reference bacteria is shown. Leaves of P. adunca were hydrodistilled yielding 0.8% of essential oil. Analysis of this by GC-MS allowed

the identification of Twenty-three compounds which are listed in Table 1 (94.5% of the sample). However, 76% of the sample is represented by three compounds: β-phellandrene (38.1%), germacrene D (26.8%) and β-pinene (11.5%). These results are preliminary, and further study to characterize this essential oil is necessary. The essential oil showed a weak antimicrobial activity, as shown in table 2, against Salmonella Typhi CDC 57 (100 g/mL), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) (200 g/mL), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) (250 g/mL), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) y Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 23357) (500 g/mL). Even thought the presence of β-phellandrene as the major compound of an essential oil has not been associated with good antimicrobial activity [11], the presence of germacrene D in the oils seems to be responsible for some antimicrobial activity [12]. Therefore the mix of the components in the oils seems to have a potential effect on the activity. Experimental

Plant material: The aerial parts of Phthirusa adunca were collected (May 2008) at El Caucho, Mérida State, Venezuela, located at 2000 m.a.s.l. A voucher specimen Nº FMBS011, collected by Bladimiro Silva, has been deposited at the Herbarium of the Facultad de Farmacia y Bioanálisis, University of Los Andes (MERF herbarium).


1051 - 1053

1052 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 Mora et al.

Table 1: Chemical composition of the essential oil of Phthirusa adunca.

Compound Peak Area

(%) LRI

LRI

Literature 14

α-Pinene 1.3 937 939 Sabinene 5.0 976 976

β-Pinene 11.5 980 980

Myrcene 1.2 990 991

1-Phellandrene 1.2 1004 1005

α-Terpinene 0.2 1018 1018

β-Phellandrene 38.1 1036 1031

trans-β-Ocimene 0.3 1050 1050

-Terpinene 0.3 1061 1062

α-Terpinolene 0.2 1090 1088

1-Terpineol 0.1 1145 1144

4-Terpineol 0.8 1183 1174

α-Terpineol 0.1 1196 1189

δ-Elemene 0.3 1344 1339

α-Copaene 0.3 1382 1376

β-Cubebene 0.1 1395 1390

β-Caryophyllene 1.6 1428 1418

α-Humulene 0.9 1465 1454

Germacrene-D 26.8 1497 1480

Bicyclogermacrene 1.8 1509 1494

δ-Cadinene 0.9 1534 1524

T-Muurolol 0.3 1629 1645

Kaur-16-ene 1.2 2039 2042

Total 94.5

Table 2: Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Phthirusa adunca.

Microorganism Inhibition zone (mm)* MIC

μg/mL Oil E VA SAM AZT CIP CAZ

Staphylococcus aureus

(ATCC 25923) 17* 35* 200

Enterococcus faecalis

(ATCC 29212) 10* 21* 250

Escherichia coli

(ATCC 25922) 10* 24* 500

Klebsiella pneumoniae

(ATCC 23357) 7* 32* 500

Salmonella Typhi (CDC 57)

12* 40* 100

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

(ATCC 27853) NA 35* NT

E: Erythromycin® (15 μg), VA: Vancomycin® (30 μg), SAM: Sulbactam -Ampicillin® (10μg/10μg), AZT: Aztreonam® (30 μg), CIP: Ciprofloxacin® (30 μg), CAZ: Ceftazidime® (30 μg), NA: non active, NT: not tested. *Inhibition zone, diameter measured in mm, disc diameter 6 mm, average of two consecutive assays. MIC: Minimal inhibitory concentration, concentration range 10-600 μg/mL.

Isolation of the essential oil: Fresh leaves (1000 g) were cut into small pieces and subjected to hydrodistillation for 3

h using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The oil (0.8% yield) was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored at 4ºC 13. Gas chromatography: GC analyses were performed using a Perkin-Elmer AutoSystem gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector and data handling system. A 5% phenylmethyl polysiloxane fused-silica column

(AT-5, Alltech Associates Inc., Deerfield, IL), 60 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 m, was used. The initial oven temperature was 60°C; it was then heated to 260°C at 4°C/min, and the final temperature maintained for 20 min. The injector and detector temperatures were 200°C and 250°C, respectively. The carrier gas was helium at 1.0 mL/min. The sample (1μL) was injected using a Hewlett-Packard ALS injector with a split ratio of 50:1. Retention indices were calculated relative to C8-C24 n-alkanes, and compared with values reported in the literature 14. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: GC-MS analyses were carried out on a Model 5973 Hewlett-Packard GC-MS system fitted with a HP-5MS fused silica column (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d., film thickness 0.25 m, Hewlett-Packard). The oven temperature program was the same as that used for the HP-5 column for GC analysis; the transfer line temperature was programmed from 150ºC to 280ºC; source temperature, 230ºC; quadrupole temperature, 150ºC; carrier gas, helium, adjusted to a linear velocity of 34 cm/s; ionization energy, 70 eV; scan range, 40:500 amu; 3.9 scans/s. The sample was diluted with diethyl ether (20μL in 1 mL) and 1μL was injected using a Hewlett-Packard ALS injector with a split ratio of 50:1. The identity of the oil components was established from their GC retention indices, by comparison of their MS spectra with those of standard compounds available in the laboratory, and by a library search (Nist, 05) 14-16. Microbiological analysis

Bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 23357), Salmonella Typhi (CDC 57) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) were used in this study. Antimicrobial method: The antimicrobial activity was tested according to the disc diffusion assay described by Velasco et al. 17. The strains were maintained in agar conservation at room temperature. Every bacterial inoculum (2.5 mL) was incubated in Mueller-Hinton broth at 37ºC for 18 h. The bacterial inoculum was diluted in sterile 0.85% saline to obtain a turbidity visually comparable to that of a McFarland Nº 0.5 standard (106-8 CFU/mL). Every inoculum was spread over plates containing Mueller-Hinton agar and a paper filter disc (6 mm) saturated with 10 μL of essential oil. The plates were left for 30 min at room temperature and then incubated at 37ºC for 24 h. The inhibitory zone around the disc was measured and expressed in mm. A positive control was also assayed to check the sensitivity of the tested organisms using the following antibiotics: Erythromycin® (15 μg), Vancomycin® (30 μg), Sulbactam-Ampicillin® (10 μg/10 μg), Aztreonam® (30 μg), Ciprofloxacina® (30 μg), Ceftazidime® (30 μg) (Table 2). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined only with microorganisms that displayed

Essential oil of Phthirusa adunca Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011 1053

inhibitory zones. MIC was determined by dilution of the essential oil in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), pipetting 10 μL of each dilution onto a filter paper disc. Dilutions of the oil within a concentration range of 10-600 μg/mL were also carried out. MIC was defined as the lowest concentration that inhibited the visible bacterial growth 18. A negative control was also included in the test using a filter paper disc saturated with DMSO to check possible activity of this solvent against the bacteria assayed. The experiments were repeated at least twice.

Acknowledgments - The authors would like to thank Dr. Alfredo Usubillaga for collaboration with GC-MS analysis. Consejo de Desarrollo Científico, Humanístico, Tecnológico y de las Artes (CDCHTA–Mérida–Venezuela) for partial financial support of this study (project FA-236-99-08-C). ADG (Grupo de Bacteriología Clínica) and Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (FONACIT), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Caracas, Venezuela (project Nº F-2000001633).

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1054 Natural Product Communications Vol. 6 (7) 2011

Manuscripts in Press Volume 6, Number 7 (2011)

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Natural Product Communications 2011

Volume 6, Number 7

Contents

Original Paper Page

Use of Dimethyldioxirane in the Epoxidation of the Main Constituents of the Essential Oils Obtained from Tagetes lucida, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba and Eucalyptus citriodora Luz A. Veloza, Lina M. Orozco and Juan C. Sepúlveda-Arias 925

Validation of the Ethnopharmacological Use of Polygonum persicaria for its Antifungal Properties Marcos Derita and Susana Zacchino 931

On the Isomerization of ent-Kaurenic Acid Julio Rojas, Rosa Aparicio, Thayded Villasmil, Alexis Peña and Alfredo Usubillaga 935

Aristolactams from Roots of Ottonia anisum (Piperaceae) André M. Marques, Leosvaldo S. M. Velozo, Davyson de L. Moreira, Elsie F. Guimarães and Maria Auxiliadora C. Kaplan 939

Anti-angiogenic Activity Evaluation of Secondary Metabolites from Calycolpus moritzianus Leaves Laura Lepore, Maria J. Gualtieri, Nicola Malafronte, Roberta Cotugno, Fabrizio Dal Piaz, Letizia Ambrosio, Sandro De Falco and Nunziatina De Tommasi 943

Chemical and Biological Activity of Leaf Extracts of Chromolaena leivensis Ruben D. Torrenegra G. and Oscar E. Rodríguez A. 947

Citrus bergamia Juice: Phytochemical and Technological Studies Patrizia Picerno, Francesca Sansone, Teresa Mencherini, Lucia Prota, Rita Patrizia Aquino, Luca Rastrelli and Maria Rosaria Lauro 951

Phenolic Derivatives from the Leaves of Martinella obovata (Bignoniaceae) Carolina Arevalo, Ines Ruiz, Anna Lisa Piccinelli, Luca Campone and Luca Rastrelli 957

Phenolic Chemical Composition of Petroselinum crispum Extract and Its Effect on Haemostasis Douglas S. A. Chaves, Flávia S. Frattani, Mariane Assafim, Ana Paula de Almeida, Russolina B. Zingali and Sônia S. Costa 961

Bioactivities of Chuquiraga straminea Sandwith María Elena Mendiondo, Berta E. Juárez, Catiana Zampini, María Inés Isla and Roxana Ordoñez 965

Free Radical Scavenging Activity, Determination of Phenolic Compounds and HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS Profile of Campomanesia adamantium Leaves Aislan C.R.F. Pascoal, Carlos Augusto Ehrenfried, Marcos N. Eberlin, Maria Élida Alves Stefanello and Marcos José Salvador 969

Activity of Cuban Propolis Extracts on Leishmania amazonensis and Trichomonas vaginalis Lianet Monzote Fidalgo, Idalia Sariego Ramos, Marley García Parra, Osmany Cuesta-Rubio, Ingrid Márquez Hernández, Mercedes Campo Fernández, Anna Lisa Piccinelli and Luca Rastrelli 973

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Chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activities of the oil of Ziziphora clinopodioides...

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