ABSTRACT
Mistletoes are evergreen and semi parasitic plant growing on a variety of trees and shrubs. They have been used in the treatment and management of many diseases for many years, both traditional and complementary medicine such as diarrhea, cough, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the antimicrobial activity of Korean camellia mistletoe (Korthalsella japonica (Thunb.) Engl.) depending on the harvest time (August and November 2015) and solvent (100% methanol and 70% ethanol). Antimicrobial activity of methanol and ethanol extracts was subject to screening against two gram positive (S. epidermidis and B. subtilis subsps.) and negative bacillus (K. pneumonia and E. coli) by using disc diffusion method and measured by the size of clear zone (diameter, mm). The results showed that methanol extract was slight effective in 15 mg/disc concentration on all strains regardless of harvest time, while ethanol extract has no certain antimicrobial effect on both gram positive and negative bacillus. The results obtained in this study suggested that the extracts have low potential for use in the treatment of diseases caused by these test organisms and futher studies are necessary to evaluate the anti-bacterial efficiency of Korean camellia mistletoe against different bacterial strains.
ABSTRACT
The chemical components and biological activity of Camellia mistletoe, Korthalsella japonica (Loranthaceae) are relatively unknown compared to other mistletoe species. Therefore, we investigated the phytochemical properties and biological activity of this parasitic plant to provide essential preliminary scientific evidence to support and encourage its further pharmaceutical research and development. The major plant components were chromatographically isolated using high-performance liquid chromatography and their structures were elucidated using tandem mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance anlysis. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity of the 70% ethanol extract of K. japonica (KJ) and its isolated components was evaluated using a nitric oxide (NO) assay and western blot analysis for inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. Three flavone di-C-glycosides, lucenin-2, vicenin-2, and stellarin-2 were identified as major components of KJ, for the first time. KJ significantly inhibited NO production and reduced iNOS and COX-2 expression in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells at 100 μg/mL while similar activity were observed with isolated flavone C-glycosides. In conclusion, KJ has a simple secondary metabolite profiles including flavone di-C-glycosides as major components and has a strong potential for further research and development as a source of therapeutic anti-inflammatory agents.