Antisickling Properties of Two Calliandra Species: C. portoricensis and C. haematocephala (Fabaceae).

Aim: To investigate the antisickling potentials of two Calliandra species namely C. portoricensis (Jacq) Benth and C. haematocephala Hassk in vitro. Study Design: Evaluation of antisickling activities of medicinal plants on human sickled red blood cells in vitro. Place and Duration of Study: Research Laboratory of Drug Research and Production Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. September 2010 to November, 2011. Methodology: After obtaining ethical clearance, fresh blood samples (5ml) each were collected from confirmed sickle cell anaemia patients who were in a steady state and were attending the routine clinic. Water and 70% ethanol were used separately for the extraction of the leaves and roots of the two plants. The extracts were assessed using the inhibitory and reversal methods in vitro. Results: It was observed that there was linear increase in inhibitory and reversal activities of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the parts used as the concentration increased. The ethanolic root extract of C. portoricensis exhibited the highest activity for inhibitory (90.19%) and reversal activities (92.63%) both at 4mg/ml. Conclusion: Calliandra species possessed antisickling properties in vitro with C. portoricensis being the more active plant.

Evaluation of the effects of calliandra portoricensis extracts on oxidative stress enzymes in wistar rats challenged with venom of echis ocellatus.

Evaluation of the effects of Calliandra portoricensis extracts on oxidative stress (antioxidant) enzymes was carried out using wistar rat model. The anti-oxidant enzymes evaluated were superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). These extracts were used to ascertain their potency in enhancing these enzymes activities in envenomed rats. A total of 30 rats were randomly assigned into 5 treatment groups of 6 rats each. Group 1 (control) received nothing. Group 2 received viperian venom only. Groups 3, 4 and 5 received same amount of venom in addition to calculated doses of flavonoid-rich, polyphenol-rich and whole ethanolic extracts respectively. The dosages of the venom and the C. portoricensis extracts were administered intramuscularly. After about 4 hours, the rats were sacrificed, serum collected and the oxidative stress enzymes assayed. Marked decrease of SOD, CAT and GPx enzymes activities occurred in the group 2 rats while increases (P<0.05) were observed in groups 3, 4 and 5 experimental rats. These findings suggest that C. portoricensis extracts actually attenuated the obliterating effects of the viperian venom on the naturally-occurring anti-oxidant enzymes in experimental wistar rats.

Effects of calliandra portoricensis extracts on the haematological indices of wistar rats challenged with venom of echis ocellatus.

Effect of whole ethanolic and selective solvent extracts of C. portoricensis plant was carried out in wistar rats to ascertain their efficacy in ameliorating or attenuating the haemotoxicity of venom of carpet viper. A total of 30 wistar rats were used, divided into 6 rats per group of control, venom, venom/flavonoid-rich, venom/polyphenol-rich and venom/whole ethanolic extracts. The control was given nothing while the other groups were given 200μg venom/rat and 0.5 ml 100mg/100g body weight (b.w.) of rat as “anti-dote” concentration. This “antidote” was given intramuscularly 4-6 hours after the administration of the venom. The result obtained showed significant increase (P<0.05) in the haemoglobin concentration, red blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume, white blood cell count especially in neutrophils and marked decrease (P<0.05) in platelet parameters. These findings suggest that whole ethanolic and selective solvent extract of C. portoricensis may be effective in ameliorating and indeed reversing the haemotoxicity occasioned by carpet viper haemotoxin in wistar rats.

Histopathological studies of acute and chronic effects of Calliandra portoricensis leaf extract on the stomach and pancreas of adult Swiss albino mice

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the consequence of oral administration of Calliandra portoricensis (C. portoricensis) leaf extract on the stomach and pancreas in Swiss albino mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Three groups of mice (B, C and D) were treated with 4 mg/kg of C. portoricensis extract. Group A was the control and received an equivalent volume of distilled water. Group B received C. portoricensis leaf extract for 7 days, Group C received C. portoricensis leaf extract for 14 days, and Group D received C. portoricensis leaf extract for 28 days. At different stages in the study, the mice were sacrificed and the stomach and pancreas were excised and fixed in 10% formol saline for histological analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The result showed a normal microstructural outline in groups B and C as compared with the control. However, animals in group D showed disorganization of the mucosa and discontinuation of epithelial lining of the stomach while the islets of Langerans in the pancreas were at various degree of degeneration as compared with the control mice.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The present finding suggests that chronic administration (28 days as seen in this study) of C. portoricensis leaf extract may inhibit the proper function of the stomach and pancreas.</p>

Characterization of indigenous rhizobia from Caatinga

The aim of this study was to characterize rhizobial isolates from Cratylia mollis Mart. ex Benth, Calliandra depauperata Benth. and Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir. by means of rhizobial colonies morphology and restriction analysis of the 16S ribosomal gene (16S rDNA-ARDRA). Nodules were collected in the field and from plants cultivated in a greenhouse experiment using Caatinga soil samples. Sixty seven isolates were described by morphological analysis. Forty seven representative isolates were used for ARDRA analysis using seven restriction enzymes. We observed high diversity of both slow and fast-growing rhizobia that formed three morpho-physiological clusters. A few fast-growing isolates formed a group of strains of the Bradyrhizobium type; however, most of them diverged from the B. japonicum and B. elkanii species. Cratylia mollis nodule isolates were the most diverse, while all Mimosa tenuiflora isolates displayed fast growth with no pH change and were clustered into groups bearing 100 percent similarity, according to ARDRA results.

3-O-a-L-RAMNOPIRANOSILFLAVONOIDES Y OTROS DERIVADOS FENÓLICOS DE HOJAS DE Calliandra calothyrsus. MEISSNER (MIMOSACEAE) / 3-O-a-L- RHAMNOPYRANOSILFLAVONOIDS AND OTHER PHENOLICS COMPOUNDS FROM Calliandra calothyrsus. MEISSNER LEAVES (MIMOSACEAE) / 3-O-a-L-RAMNOPIRANOSILFLAVONOIDES E OUTROS DERIVADOS FENÓLICOS DE FOLHAS DE Calothyrsus de Calliandra. MEISSNER (MIMOSACEAE)

El estudio químico del extracto polar de hojas de Calliandra calothyrsus.Meissner (Mimosaceae) (accesión CIAT 22316) condujo a la identificación de dos flavonoides glicosilados: 3-O-a-L-ramnopiranosil- 7-metoxi-5,3’,4’-trihidroxiflavona y 3-O-a-L-ramnopiranosil-5,7, 3’,4’-tetrahidroxiflavona; sus estructuras fueron elucidadas por métodos espectroscópicos IR y RMN (1D y 2D). Adicionalmente, por espectrometría de masas por las técnicas DART y ESI de alta resolución, se identificaron derivados fenólicos mayoritarios, tales como ácido gálico y su dímero (PM 339,032), dihidroxicumarina, trihidroxicumarina, quercetina, dihidroquercetina, 3-O-a-Lramnopiranosil- 7-metoxi-5,3’,4’-trihidroxiflavona, 3-O-a-ramnopiranosil- 5,7,3’,4’-tetrahidroxiflavona y un dímero de flavonoide como principales constituyentes químicos.

Chemical investigation of the polar extract from Calliandra calothyrsus. Meissner (Mimosaceae) (accession CIAT 22316) leaves, afforded two known glycosylflavonoids: 3-O-a-L-rhamnopiranosyl-7-metoxi-5,3’,4’-trihydroxyflavone and 3-O-a-L-rhamnopiranosyl -5,7, 3’,4’-tetrahydroxyflavone; their chemical identities were established by IR and 1D and 2D-NMR experiments. Furthermore gallic acid, dihydroxycumarine, trihydroxycumarine, dihydroquercetin, 3-O-a-L-rhamnopiranosyl-7-methoxy-5, 3’,4’-trihydroxyflavone, 3-O-a- L-rhamnopiranosyl- 5,7,3’,4’-tetrahydroxy flavone, quercetin, a flavonol and a gallic acid dimmers were identified using high resolution mass spectrometry by DART and ESI methods.

Os estudos químicos do extrato polar das folhas de Calliandra calothyrsus conduzem à identificação de dois flavonóides dos glicosilados: 3-O-a-L-ramnopiranosil- 7-metoxi-5,3’,4’-triidroxiflavona e 3-O-a-L-ramnopiranosil-5,7,3’,4’-tetraidroxiflavona; suas estruturas foram elucidadas pelos métodos de espectroscopia de absorção na região de infravermelho (IV) e espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear RMN (1D e 2D). Também, por espectrometria de massas pela técnica DART e ESI identificaram- se derivados fenólicos tais como: ácido gálico, diidroxicumarina, triidroxicumarina, 3-O-a-L-ramnopiranosil-7- metoxi-5,3’,4’-triidroxiflavona, 3-O-a- L-ramnopiranosil-5,7,3’,4’-tetraidroxiflavona, quercetina, dihidroquercetina, um dímero do flavonóide e um dímero do ácido gálico como principais constituintes químicos.

Morfología de la semilla y anatomía de la cubierta seminal de cinco especies de Calliandra (Leguminosae-Mimosoideae) de Venezuela

Seed morphology and anatomy of the seed coat in five species of Calliandra (Leguminosae-Mimosoideae) from Venezuela. Calliandra is an exclusively Neotropoical genus with 135 described species. There are 30 species in Venezuela. We studied seed morphology and the seed coat anatomy of five species: Calliandra riparia Pittier, Calliandra glomerulata Karsten var. glomerulata, Calliandra magdalenae (DC.) Benth. var. magdalenae, Calliandra surinamensis Benth. and Calliandra falcata Benth., to establish simililarities and differences amongst taxa for taxonomic characterization. Of the evaluated characters, 10 quantitative characters and 3 qualitative characters were selected as the most informative for the separation of species. Seed morphological characters of taxonomic value are form and size. Thickness of the light line, number of layers and space between the osteosclereids constitute distinctive characters. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (3): 1075-1086. Epub 2008 September 30.

Se estudió la morfología de las semillas y la anatomía de la cubierta seminal en cinco especies venezolanas del género Calliandra, con la finalidad de establecer similitudes y diferencias entre estos taxa, para su utilización como criterio taxonómico. Se analizaron caracteres morfológicos de valor taxonómico; entre ellos la forma y el tamaño de la semilla, así como anatómicos tales como espesor de las diferentes regiones, la ubicación de la línea lúcida y el tamaño relativo de los espacios intercelulares en la hipodermis. Con los resultados se realizaron análisis de agrupamiento por medio de la función de análisis discriminante. Diez caracteres cuantitativos, y tres caracteres cualitativos, resultaron informativos para la separación de especies.