A study of the phytotoxic effects of the aerial parts of Senecio westermanii Dusén (Asteraceae) on Lactuca sativa L. and Allium cepa L. seeds

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the ethanolic crude extracts and fractions of the species Senecio westermanii Dusén on Lactuca sativa L. (lettuce) and Allium cepa L. (onion) seeds. We assessed the germination, growth, root respiration and photosynthesis of the target species in Petri dishes (9.0 cm diameter) containing filter paper n°6. The study was conducted using 50 seeds per plate and held in 4 replicates per concentration of each sample. In the germination there was an inhibitory effect of fractions hexane (FH) and chloroform (FCl) at concentrations of 500 and 1000 µg/mL. There was a reduction in the radicle growth of lettuce by 14 to 24% and a reduction of hypocotilum by 14 to 28%. As for the radicle of the onion was up 74% reduction to the FCl and the coleoptile was 24 and 45% reduction for FH and FCl, respectively. Inhibitory effects in the root respiration of lettuce were detected in all the samples analyzed, with results ranging from 16 to 83%. For the seeds of A. cepa, there was an encouragement for the FCl and ethyl acetate fractions (FAE), with results ranging from 94 to 142% and 76 to 150%, respectively. With regard to the photosynthesis of L. sativa, there was no significant difference between the control, and as for the A. cepa, there was a strain in inhibition concentrations of 250 and 500 µg/mL, which ranged from 27 to 68%. The samples of S. westermanii caused changes in the target species and thus can be used as a natural herbicide.

effects of Jasonia montana [neheda] on some biochemical and histological parameters of diabetic albino rats

Diabetes mellitus is one of the common and widely distributed metabolic diseases all over the world. This disease is characterized by hyperglycemia that results from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. In Asia, different medicinal plant species are used as a traditional treatment for diabetes mellitus e.g. Jasonia montana [Neheda] was one of these plants that was used in a mixture to treat diabetic patients long times ago. This work was aimed to investigate the antidiabetic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects of the aqueous extract of Jasonia montana [Neheda] on the alloxan-induced diabetic male albino rats. This study was performed on thirty male albino rats with an average 100-110 g body weight. The animals were divided into three groups [10 /cage]; Group I [Control untreated group], Group II [Alloxan-induced diabetic group] and Group III [diabetic group treated orally with "28.5 mg/ kg body wt. twice/ day" of the plant extract]. The biochemical results showed marked decline [p<0.01] in levels of the serum insulin, body weight, total proteins, albumin, globulin and HDL accompanied with marked elevation [p<0.001] in the levels of fasting blood glucose, levels of HOMA_IR, AST, ALT, GGT, urea, creatinine, uric acid, serum TC, TG, LDL, VLDL and ratios of TC/HDL and LDL/HDL [risk factors] in diabetic rats in comparison with the control group. Daily management of diabetic rates with aqueous extract of Neheda showed significant improvement in most of these parameters. Histologically, considerable improvement in the morphological changes that was observed in diabetic groups had been detected after treatment with Neheda in liver, kidney and pancreatic tissues in comparison to the control group. It could be concluded that Jasonia montana [Neheda] can be used as an antidiabetic drug that can lower blood glucose concentration and guard against the negative effects of diabetes

Efeito do miriadenolídeo isolado de Alomia myriadenia (Asteraceae) sobre o tumor de Erlich ascítico no camundongo / Effect of myriadenolide isolated from Alomia myriadenia (Asteraceae) on Ehrlich tumor in its ascitic form

Estudou-se atividade antineoplásica de um produto natural isolado de Alomia myriadenia (miriadenolídeo) no modelo do tumor de Ehrlich em camundongos. Dezoito fêmeas de camundongo Swiss foram inoculadas com 2x10(7) células viáveis de tumor de Ehrlich via intraperitoneal (0,3ml) e posteriormente distribuídas aleatoriamente em três grupos que receberam: grupo I (controle) - 0,3ml de solução de Hanks; grupo II - 31µg/kg de miriadenolídeo; e grupo III - 139µg/kg de miriadenolídeo. No oitavo dia de experimento, foram realizados exames hematológicos e perfil protéico sérico eletroforético. Coletou-se todo o líquido ascítico para avaliação do volume, aparência, pH, contagem de células viáveis e inviáveis, realização de esfregaços para contagem de células claras e escuras, leucócitos e avaliação das regiões organizadoras de nucléolos argentafins (AgNORs). Foram realizados exames macro e microscópicos do baço, fígado e rins e aspirado o conteúdo da medula óssea dos fêmures direito e esquerdo de cada animal para avaliação da relação mielóide:eritróide. Não houve diferença significativa no volume, pH, contagem de células viáveis e inviáveis entre os três grupos estudados, observando-se valores de 17,6 x 10(4) células tumorais viáveis no grupo III, 27,7 x 10(4) no grupo II e 21,1 x 10(4) no grupo I. As AgNORs apresentaram-se pequenas, com distribuição difusa e incontáveis no grupo I, e em menor quantidade no grupo III. Os animais do grupo III apresentaram a menor concentração protéica total sérica (4,7g/dl) (P<0,05) quando comparados com os do grupo II (5,3g/dl) e do grupo I (5,1g/dl). Os valores de albumina foram semelhantes nos três grupos (2,6g/dl), e as globulinas totais foram maiores (P<0,05) no grupo II (2,71g/dl) quando comparadas com os valores médios do grupo III (2,11g/dl) e semelhantes ao grupo I (2,43g/dl). Não houve diferença entre alfa e beta globulinas entre os três grupos estudados, porém as gamaglobulinas foram maiores...

Antitumoral activity of a natural product of Alomia myriadenia (myriadenolide) in Ehrlich tumor in mice was studied. Eighteen Swiss female mice were intra-peritoneal inoculated 2x10(7) viable cells of Ehrlich Tumor (0.3ml) and randomly distributed in three groups receiving via intra-peritoneal on the 3rd and 5th day post-inoculation the following treatments: group I (control) - 0.3ml Hanks solution; group II: 31µg/kg myriadenolide; and group III: 139µg/kg myriadenolide. On the eighth day of the experiment blood profile and protein serum electrophoresis were performed. All ascitic liquid was collected to evaluate the volume and pH; to observe the aspect; to count viable and no viable cells, dark and clear cells, leukocytes and nucleolar organizer regions (NORs). Macro and microscopic exams were performed and bone marrow was aspirated from right and left femurs of each animal to evaluate myeloid:erythroid ratio. It was not observed difference in volume, pH, counts viable and no viable cells in the groups, although group III showed smaller number of viable tumoral cells (17.6 x 10(4)) when compared to the group II (27.7 x 10(4)) and group I (21.1 x 10(4)). The investigation of NORs to evaluate the proliferative capacity of tumoral cells after myriadenolide treatment showed that cells were smaller, uncountable and with diffuse distribution in group I. They were in lower quantity in group III. These results suggest that myriadenolide in dose 139µg/kg (group III) delay the tumoral growing and, probably, cell proliferation. The animals of group III showed lower value of total protein (4.7g/dl) (P<0.05) when compared to animals from group II (5.3g/dl) and group I (5.1g/dl). The values of albumin were similar in all groups (2.6g/dl) and total globulin was higher (P<0.05) in group II (2.71g/dl) when compared to mean values of group III (2.11g/dl) and similar to group I (2.43g/dl). The decrease of total protein in group III occurred...

phytochemical investigation of asteropterus leyseroides [Desf] and their biological activity

The flavonoidal constituents isolated from the chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions of aqueous alcoholic extract of Asteropterus leyseroides [Desf] were identified as quercetin, Jaceidin, jacein and a phenolic acid, caffeic acid using PC, TLC, uv,[1-]H-NMR and MS analysis. Also, the lipid content was studied. GLC analysis of the unsaponifiable fraction revealed the presence of a series of hydrocarbons ranging from C[I2]-C[29] in addition to cholesterol, stigmasterol and alpha-amyrin, as well as fatty alcohol fraction ranging from C[24]-C[39] were identified. The fatty acid fraction revealed the presence of 10 fatty acids in which linoliec acid [35.99%] represented the major constituent. The crude protein of the plant was found to be [12.71%]. The analysis of the amino acids using the amino acid analyzer revealed the presence of 15 amino acids. The mucilage hydrolysate of the aerial parts of Asteropterus leyseroides was found to contain glucouronic acid, xylose, rhamnose and glucose using PC. The radical scavenging effects of the tested extracts and isolated compounds on 1, 1 Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] free radical were observed. The ethyl acetate fraction and the isolated flavonoidal compounds showed high antioxidant activity. The different extracts and isolated compounds of the plant exhibited no cytotoxic activity against Ehrlich-ascitis carcinoma cell line at the tested concentrations