cytellin and Pneumonia

<b>Background and Objective:</b> <i>Kalanchoe tomentosa</i> is identified and their different characteristics regarding the antibacterial and antioxidant properties have a vast effect. Fresh <i>K. tomentosa</i> leaves obtained from Bandung, Indonesia was extracted using n-hexane followed by serial dichloromethane maceration. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> N-hexane and ethyl acetate were used to separate the dichloromethane extract using vacuum liquid chromatography and the isolated compounds were recrystallized with n-hexane. <b>Results:</b> About 37 mg of dichloromethane extract was obtained from the extraction process. Recrystallized compound isolates were identified as stigmast-5-en-3-ol or β-sitosterol. Both dichloromethane extract and β-sitosterol isolated compounds showed strong bacteriostatic activity against <i>S. aureus</i> with MIC = 15.63 and 7.81 μg mL¹ and<i> K. pneumonia</i> with MIC = 7.81 and 31.25 μg mL¹, respectively. However, only dichloromethane extract exhibited a bactericidal effect (7.81 μg mL¹). <b>Conclusion:</b> The pure β-sitosterol compound was isolated from<i> K. tomentosa</i> dichloromethane extract. Both the dichloromethane extract and the isolated β-sitosterol compound had antibacterial effects against <i>S. aureus</i> and <i>K. pneumonia.</i>.

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Kalanchoe; Klebsiella; Methylene Chloride; Plant Extracts; Plant Leaves; Pneumonia; Sitosterols; Staphylococcus aureus

Asthma is a disease marked by chronic lung inflammation and the number of patients suffering from asthma increases annually. Both beta-sitosterol (BS) and beta-sitosterol glucoside exist in a variety of plants and have anti-tumor, anti-microbial, and immunomodulatory activities. However, the precise role of BS and beta-sitosterol glucoside in asthma has not been well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of BS and lactose-BS (L-BS) on the pathophysiological process in ovalbumin-induced asthmatic mice. The total cells and eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid markedly decreased (p<0.05) after L-BS or BS administration (1 mg/kg; i.p.), and the ROS production also decreased in comparison to the asthma control. Histopathological features were detected by performing histochemistry, including H&E and alcian blue & P.A.S staining. Both L-BS and BS mitigated the inflammation by eosinophil infiltration and mucus hypersecretion by goblet hyperplasia. These effects of L-BS were superior to those of BS. L-BS and BS inhibited the increased mRNA and protein expression of IL-4 and IL-5 in the lung tissue and BAL fluid, respectively. The IgE concentration in the BAL fluid and serum was measured by performing ELISA and the ovalbumin-specific IgE in the BAL fluid was uniquely inhibited by L-BS (p<0.05). The splenocytes were isolated from the normal and asthmatic mice and incubated in the absence and presence of 100 microg/ml ovalbumin, respectively. L-BS blocked the survival rate of the splenocytes of the mice (p<0.01). This finding indicates the possibility of L-BS and BS as potential therapeutic molecules in asthma and may contribute to the need to improve current therapeutic drugs.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Asthmatic Agents; Asthma; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Cell Survival; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Eosinophils; Female; Gene Expression; Glycosides; Immunoglobulin E; Interleukin-13; Interleukin-4; Interleukin-5; Lactose; Leukocytes; Lung; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Molecular Structure; Ovalbumin; Pneumonia; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sitosterols; Vaccination