Wound-healing activity and quantification of bioactive compounds from Derris scandens extract.

Derris scandens (DS) is a Thai herbal medicine used to relieve musculoskeletal pain. It has been found as a single crude medication, ethanolic extract, and compounded herbal recipe for oral administration in pharmacies across the country. Due to its medicinal benefits and enriched phytochemicals, researchers are now drawn to examine the new pharmacological effects of this plant to increase its usage in complementary medicines. The purpose of this research was to investigate the wound-healing properties of the plant's ethanolic extracts as well as their active chemical composition. The extracts (both 50% and absolute ethanol) prepared by Soxhlet extraction were examined for cytotoxicity and wound-healing activity using human skin fibroblast cells, and the active chemical contents in the extracts were analyzed further using the HPLC method. For this study, genistein and lupeol compounds were selected as chemical markers. In the concentration range of 0.0001-1 mg/mL, all extracts had no cytotoxic effects on the examined cells, and 1 mg/mL of both ethanolic extracts was effective for wound closure in a scratch assay. The phytochemicals genistein and lupeol were found to be 0.0332% and 0.0588% (w/w) in the 50% ethanolic extract, respectively, and 0.0309% and 0.3472% (w/w) in the absolute ethanolic extract. The ability of DS extracts containing these compounds on in vitro wound-healing activity was demonstrated in this study.

Quantitative analysis of triterpene lupeol and anti-inflammatory potential of the extracts of traditional pain-relieving medicinal plants Derris scandens, Albizia procera, and Diospyros rhodocalyx.

Derris scandens, Albizia procera, and Diospyros rhodocalyx have traditionally been used as herbal remedies for pain relief in Thailand. The ethanolic extracts of these plants obtained by Soxhlet extraction were analyzed by the developed high-performance liquid chromatography-diode-array detection method. Lupeol, the anti-inflammatory triterpene, was selected as a chemical marker for this investigation. All extracts together with that compound were further evaluated for their potential on anti-inflammatory activity using 5-lipoxygenase inhibition assay. Lupeol in each extract was quantified and expressed in the range of 21.44 ± 0.89-40.72 ± 0.40 mg per 100 g of crude drug and the enzyme inhibitory activity of all tested extracts presented as half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranged between 63.71 ± 2.09 and 91.09 ± 1.40 µg/mL. This study shows that the developed analytical method is effective for analyzing triterpene lupeol in these plants and also reveals the relationship between a lupeol content and the anti-inflammatory effect.

Cytotoxic activity of the chemical constituents of Clerodendrum indicum and Clerodendrum villosum roots.

OBJECTIVE: The roots of two Thai medicinal plants, Clerodendrum indicum and Clerodendrum villosum are found in traditional medicine practices. The aim of this research was to preliminarily study the cytotoxicity of extracts of their roots, and the parts that possessed cytotoxic activity were separated on a chromatograph to identify their active compounds. METHODS: The extracts of both plants were screened for cytotoxicity on the SW620 cell line and the compounds isolated from the active extracts were further evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against five human cancer cell lines, including SW620, ChaGo-K-1, HepG2, KATO-III and BT-474 using the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. RESULTS: Dichloromethane extracts of C. indicum and C. villosum were active against the SW620 cell line. Triterpenoids were mostly obtained from the extracts of these plants (0.28% and 1.02%, respectively) and exhibited varying degrees of cytotoxicity and specificity against the tested cell lines. Two triterpenoids, oleanolic acid 3-acetate and betulinic acid, displayed moderate to strong cytotoxicity toward all cancer cell lines, with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 1.66-20.49 µmol/L, whereas 3ß-hydroxy-D:B-friedo-olean-5-ene and taraxerol were cytotoxic to only the SW620 cell line (IC50 = 23.39 and 2.09 µmol/L, respectively). Triterpenoid, lupeol, showed potent cytotoxicity on both SW620 (IC50 = 1.99 µmol/L) and KATO-III cell lines (IC50 = 1.95 µmol/L), while a flavonoid, pectolinarigenin, displayed moderate cytotoxicity against these cells (IC50 = 13.05 and 24.31 µmol/L, respectively). Although the widely distributed steroid, stigmasterol, was effective against the SW620 cell line (IC50 = 2.79 µmol/L) and ß-sitosterol was also active against SW620 (IC50 = 11.26 µmol/L), BT-474 (IC50 = 14.11 µmol/L) and HepG2 cancer cells (IC50 = 20.47 µmol/L), none of the characteristic 24ß-ethylsteroids of either Clerodendrum species were shown to be cytotoxic. CONCLUSION: This study is the first report on the presence of cytotoxic triterpenoids from the roots of these medicinal plants, which have been used in herbal formulas as an antipyretic. Our findings support further in-depth study of this pharmacological activity as an anticancer agent.

New sesquiterpenes and phenolic compound from Ficus foveolata.

Two new eudesmane-type sesquiterpenes, named foveolide A (1) and foveoeudesmenone (2), one new sesquiterpenoid dimer, foveolide B (3) and a new phenolic compound, foveospirolide (4), were isolated along with six known compounds, including 4(15)-eudesmene-1ß, 6α-diol (5), 4(15)-eudesmene-1ß, 5α-diol (6), friedelin, taraxerol, betulin and ethyl rosmarinate, from the stems of Ficus foveolata. The structures of these new compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods (IR, MS and NMR). Compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against SW620, HepG2, BT474 and KATO-III cancer cell lines, whereas compound 3 was specifically cytotoxic toward SW620 cell line.

A new 1,3-diketofriedelane triterpene from Salacia verrucosa.

A new 1,3-diketofriedelane triterpene, 21α-hydroxyfriedelane-1,3-dione (1) together with six known friedelane triterpenes, 30-hydroxyfriedelane-1,3-dione (2), friedelane-1,3-dione (3), 26-hydroxyfriedelane-1,3-dione (4), friedelin (5), 21α-hydroxy-D:A-friedo-olean-3-one (6) and kokoonol (7), were isolated from the stems of Salacia verrucosa (Celastraceae). The structures of these triterpenes were characterized by spectroscopic methods (IR, MS and NMR). Compound 3 was strongly cytotoxic against SW620 cell line, whereas compounds 4 and 6 were moderately active against SW620, HepG2 and KATO-III cancer cell lines.