Anti - proliferative and anti - inflammatory activity of triterpene extracts from plant species belonging to Lamiaceae family / Actividad antiproliferativa y antinflamatoria de los extractos de triterpenos de plantas pertenecientes a la familia Lamiaceae

Triterpenes are very important secondary metabolites with wide structural diversity and significant role in pharmacy and medicine. In the present research, a comparative study of pharamacological activities of the triterpene fractions obtained from several plant species belonging to Lamiaceae family, was carried out. In - vitro anti - proliferative activity was performed using a standard proliferation assay based on tetrazolium salts. In vitro anti - inflammatory activity of triterpene fractions was determined by an assay of inhibition of albumin denaturation. In general, the triterpene fractions obtained from plant species belonging to Lam iaceae family showed a strong anti - proliferative activity and anti - inflammatory activity. The triterpene fraction of Rosmarini folium showed the strongest anti - proliferative activity (GI 50 range from 4 to 37 µg/ml) and the strongest anti - inflammatory activ ity in the range from 57.27% to 80.69%. This comparative study provides scientific evidence to support the traditional use of Lamiacae plant species for medical purposes as anti - inflammatory and anti - proliferative medicines.

Los triterpenos son metabolitos secundarios muy importantes, con una amplia diversidad estructural y un rol significativo en la farmacia y la medicina. En esta investiga ción, se realizó un estudio comparativo de las actividades farmacológicas de las fracciones de triterpenos obtenidas de varias especies de plantas pertenecientes a la familia Lamiaceae. La actividad antiproliferativa in vitro se realizó mediante un ensayo estándar de proliferación basado en sales de tetrazolio. Se determinó la actividad antinflamatoria de las fracciones de triterpeno s mediante un ensayo de inhibición de desnaturalización de la albúmina. En general, las fracciones de triterpeno s obtenidas de las plantas pertenecientes a la familia Lamiaceae mostraron una actividad antiproliferativa y antinflamatoria fuerte. La fracción de triterpeno de Folium Rosmarini mostró la actividad antiproliferativa más fuerte (rango GI 50 entre 4 y 37 µg/m L ) y la más f uerte actividad antinflamatoria en el rango de 57,27% a 80,69%. Este estudio comparativo provée evidencia científica para apoyar el uso tradicional de especies de plantas Lamiaceae para usos médicos como medicinas antinflamatorios y antiproliferativas.

In vitro antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of seaweed extracts against acne inducing bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes.

This study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of common seaweeds from the coast of South Korea against the etiologic agents of acne vulgaris. Fifty-seven species of seaweed were screened for potential antimicrobial activity. Methanol extracts of 13 species (22.8%) showed inhibitory effects against Propionibacterium acnes. The aqueous extracts of only two species (3.5%) showed antimicrobial activity. When tested with the agar disk diffusion method, Ecklonia cava, E. kurome, Ishige sinicola, and Symphyocladia latiuscula had the strongest inhibitory effects. However, these four seaweed extracts showed no antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis at 5 mg disk-1. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of E. cava and E. kurome were both 0.31 mg ml-1 and the MIC values of I. sinicola and S. latiuscula were 0.26 and 0.21 mg ml-1, respectively. Among whole plants of E. cava and E. kurome, extracts of the pinnate blade had the highest inhibitory activity on bacterial growth. In cytotoxicity assays, methanol extracts of E. cava, E. kurome, and I. sinicola showed no effect on cell viability at concentrations of 200 μg ml-1. However, the methanol extracts of S. latiuscula reduced cell viability rates to 50% at the same concentration. Additionally, methanol extracts of E. cava, E. kurome, and I. sinicola potently inhibited the in vitro production of nitric oxide. These results suggest that the methanol extracts from these three species may be useful in the development of therapeutic agents for acne vulgaris. Further investigations to determine the bioactive compound are in progress.