gamma-eudesmol and beta-eudesmol

In the present study, it was evaluated the chemical composition and the antinociceptive activity of the essential oil obtained from the leaves of

Topics: Analgesics; Annonaceae; Guatteria; Oils, Volatile; Plant Leaves

The pepper-tree

Topics: Anacardiaceae; Flowers; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Plant Extracts; Plant Leaves; Sesquiterpenes; Sesquiterpenes, Eudesmane; Solvents

The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves of Anaxagorea brevipes was analysed by gas chromatography fitted with a flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) and coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty one components were identified, representing around 75.7% of total oil. The major components were β-eudesmol (13.16%), α-eudesmol (13.05%), γ-eudesmol (7.54%), guaiol (5.12%), caryophyllene oxide (4.18%) and β-bisabolene (4.10%). The essential oil showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and yeast with the MIC values between 25.0 and 100 μg/mL. The highest antiproliferative activity was observed for the oil against MCF-7 (breast, TGI = 12.8 μg/mL), NCI-H460 (lung, TGI = 13.0 μg/mL) and PC-3 (prostate, TGI = 9.6 μg/mL) cell lines, while against no cancer cell line HaCat (keratinocyte) the TGI was 38.8 μg/mL. The oil exhibited a small antioxidant activity assessed through ORAC-FL assay (517 μmol TE/g). This is the first report regarding the chemical composition and bioactivity of A. brevipes essential oil.

Topics: Annonaceae; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antifungal Agents; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Antioxidants; Cell Line, Tumor; Flame Ionization; Free Radical Scavengers; Gram-Positive Bacteria; Humans; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Monocyclic Sesquiterpenes; Oils, Volatile; Plant Leaves; Polycyclic Sesquiterpenes; Sesquiterpenes; Sesquiterpenes, Eudesmane; Sesquiterpenes, Guaiane; Yeasts

Giant fennel (Ferula communis L.) is well known in folk medicine for the treatment of various organ disorders. The biological importance of members of genus Ferula prompted us to investigate the leaves of the endangered Tunisian medicinal plant F. communis L. not previously investigated. An estimate of genetic diversity and differentiation between genotypes of breeding germplasm is of key importance for its improvement. Thus, four F. communis populations were RAPD fingerprinted (63 RAPD markers generated by 7 primers) and the composition of their leaf essential oils (EO) (134 EO compounds) was characterized by GC-MS. Cluster analysis based on the leaf volatiles chemical composition of F. communis accessions defined three chemotypes according to main compounds have been distinguished: α-eudesmol/β-eudesmol/γ-terpinene; α-eudesmol/α-pinene/caryophyllene oxide and chamazulene/α-humulene chemotypes. A high genetic diversity within population and high genetic differentiation among them, based on RAPDs, were revealed (H(pop)=0.320 and GST=0.288) caused both by the habitat fragmentation, the low size of most populations and the low level of gene flow among them. The RAPD dendrogram showed separation of three groups. Populations dominated by individuals from the β-eudesmol/γ-terpinene; chemotype showed the lowest gene diversity (H=0.104), while populations with exclusively α-pinene/caryophyllene oxide chemotype showed the highest value (H=0.285). The UPGMA dendrogram and PCA analysis based on volatiles yielded higher separation among populations, indicated specific adaptation of populations to the local environments. Correlation analysis showed a non-significant association between the distance matrices based on the genetic markers (RAPD) and chemical compounds of essential oil (P>0.05) indicating no influence of genetic background on the observed chemical profiles. These results reinforce the use of both volatile compounds and RAPD markers as a starting point for in situ conservation. The analysis of chemical constitution of oil of the populations from a specific region revealed predominance of specific constituents indicating possibility of their collection/selection for specific end uses like phytomedicines. Sufficient molecular and biochemical diversity detected among natural populations of this species will form the basis for the future improvement. The correlation between matrices of RAPD and essential oils was not significant. The conservation strategies o

Topics: Bicyclic Monoterpenes; Biodiversity; Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; Ferula; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Monocyclic Sesquiterpenes; Monoterpenes; Oils, Volatile; Plant Leaves; Plant Oils; Plants, Medicinal; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; Sesquiterpenes; Sesquiterpenes, Eudesmane; Terpenes

Eudesmols are naturally occurring sesquiterpenoid alcohols that present cytotoxic effect to cancer cells. Herein, all eudesmol isomers displayed cytotoxicity to different tumour cell lines. α-Eudesmol showed IC₅₀ values ranging from 5.38 ± 1.10 to 10.60 ± 1.33 μg/mL for B16-F10 and K562 cell lines, β-eudesmol showed IC₅₀ values ranging from 16.51 ± 1.21 to 24.57 ± 2.75 μg/mL for B16-F10 and HepG2 cell lines, and γ-eudesmol showed IC₅₀ values ranging from 8.86 ± 1.27 to 15.15 ± 1.06 μg/mL for B16-F10 and K562 cell lines, respectively. In addition, in this work, we studied the mechanisms of cytotoxic action of eudesmol isomers (α-, β- and γ-eudesmol) in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. After 24-hr incubation, HepG2 cells treated with eudesmol isomers presented typical hallmarks of apoptosis, as observed by morphological analysis in cells stained with haematoxylin-eosin and acridine orange/ethidium bromide. None of eudesmol isomers caused membrane disruption at any concentration tested. Moreover, eudesmol isomers induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and an increase in caspase-3 activation in HepG2 cells, suggesting the induction of caspase-mediated apoptotic cell death. In conclusion, the eudesmol isomers herein investigated are able to reduce cell proliferation and to induce tumour cell death by caspase-mediated apoptosis pathways.

Topics: Apoptosis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Caspase 3; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Membrane; Cell Proliferation; Hep G2 Cells; Humans; Inhibitory Concentration 50; K562 Cells; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial; Sesquiterpenes, Eudesmane

Guatteria friesiana (W. A. Rodrigues) Erkens & Maas (synonym Guatteriopsis friesiana W. A. Rodrigues), popularly known as "envireira", is a medicinal plant found in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon basin that is used in traditional medicine for various purposes. Recent studies on this species have demonstrated antimicrobial activity. In this study, the antitumor activity of the essential oil from the leaves of G. friesiana (EOGF) and its main components ( α-, β-, and γ-eudesmol) were determined using experimental models. In the in vitro study, EOGF and its components α-, β-, and γ-eudesmol displayed cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines, showing IC₅₀ values in the range of 1.7 to 9.4 µg/mL in the HCT-8 and HL-60 cell lines for EOGF, 5.7 to 19.4 µg/mL in the HL-60 and MDA-MB-435 cell lines for α-eudesmol, 24.1 to > 25 µg/mL in the SF-295 and MDA-MB-435 cell lines for β-eudesmol, and 7.1 to 20.6 µg/mL in the SF-295 and MDA-MB-435 cell lines for γ-eudesmol, respectively. In the in vivo study, the antitumor effect of EOGF was evaluated in mice inoculated with sarcoma 180 tumor cells. Tumor growth inhibition rates were 43.4-54.2 % and 6.6-42.8 % for the EOGF treatment by intraperitoneal (50 and 100 mg/kg/day) and oral (100 and 200 mg/kg/day) administration, respectively. The treatment with EOGF did not significantly affect body mass, macroscopy of the organs, or blood leukocyte counts. Based on these results, we can conclude that EOGF possesses significant antitumor activity and has only low systemic toxicity. These effects could be assigned to its components α-, β-, and γ-eudesmol.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Brazil; Cell Line, Tumor; Colombia; Guatteria; Humans; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Male; Mice; Molecular Structure; Oils, Volatile; Plant Leaves; Plant Oils; Plants, Medicinal; Sarcoma 180; Sesquiterpenes, Eudesmane