Toxicity to sea urchin egg development of the quinone fraction obtained from Auxemma oncocalyx
Braz. j. med. biol. res
; 35(8): 927-930, Aug. 2002. ilus, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-325539
Responsible library:
BR1.1
RESUMO
Auxemma oncocalyx Taub. belongs to the Boraginaceae family and is native to the Brazilian northeast where it is known as "pau-branco". We investigated the ability of the water soluble fraction isolated from the heartwood of A. oncocalyx to inhibit sea urchin egg development. This fraction contains about 80 percent oncocalyxone A (quinone fraction), a compound known to possess strong cytotoxic and antitumor activities. In fact, the quinone fraction inhibited cleavage in a dose-dependent manner [IC50 of 18.4 (12.4-27.2) æg/ml, N = 6], and destroyed the embryos in the blastula stage [IC50 of 16.2 (13.7-19.2) æg/ml, N = 6]. We suggest that this activity is due to the presence of oncocalyxone A. In fact, these quinones present in A. oncocalyx extract have strong toxicity related to their antimitotic activity
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
LILACS
Main subject:
Ovum
/
Quinones
/
Plant Extracts
/
Anthraquinones
/
Boraginaceae
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Journal subject:
Biology
/
Medicine
Year:
2002
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Federal do Ceará/BR