Abdalla El-Lakany

Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Salvia fruticosa: An HPLC Determination of Phenolic Contents.

Objectives. Salvia fruticosa Mill. (S. fruticosa) is widely used in folk medicine. Accordingly, the present study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of S. fruticosa, and to determine the phenolic constituents of its extracts. Methods. The antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl assay. Total phenolic contents were estimated using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, and high-performance liquid chromatography was performed to identify phenolic constituents. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity, carrageenan-induced mouse paw edema was determined plethysmographically. Key Findings. Different plant extracts demonstrated strong radical scavenging activity, where the ethyl acetate extract had the highest value in the roots and the lowest in the aerial parts. This antioxidant activity was correlated to the total phenolic content of different extracts, where rutin and luteolin were the most abundant constituents. Interestingly, both the roots and aerial parts revealed a significant anti-inflammatory activity comparable to diclofenac. Conclusions. This study is the first to demonstrate pharmacologic evidence of the potential anti-inflammatory activity of S. fruticosa. This activity may partly be due to the radical scavenging effects of its polyphenolic contents. These findings warrant the popular use of the East Mediterranean sage and highlight the potential of its active constituents in the development of new anti-inflammatory drugs.

Evaluation of Analgesic Activity of Papaver libanoticum Extract in Mice: Involvement of Opioids Receptors

Papaver libanoticum is an endemic plant to Lebanese region (family Papaveraceae) that has not been investigated before. The present study aimed to explore the analgesic activity of dried ethanolic extract of Papaver libanoticum (PLE) using tail flick, hot plate, and acetic acid induced writhing models in mice. The involvement of opioid receptors in the analgesic mechanism was investigated using naloxone antagonism. Results demonstrated that PLE exhibited a potent dose dependent analgesic activity in all tested models for analgesia. The analgesic effect involved activation of opioid receptors in the central nervous system, where both spinal and supraspinal components might be involved. The time course for analgesia revealed maximum activity after three hours in both tail flick and hot plate methods, which was prolonged to 24 hours. Metabolites of PLE could be responsible for activation of opioid receptors. The EC50 of PLE was 79 and 50 mg/kg in tail flick and hot plate tests, respectively. The total coverage of analgesia by PLE was double that of morphine in both tests. In conclusion, PLE proved to have opioid agonistic activity with a novel feature of slow and prolonged effect. The present study could add a potential tool in the armaments of opioid drugs as a natural potent analgesic and for treatment of opioid withdrawal syndrome.

General Introduction on Family Asteracea

Asteraceae is the largest family of the plant kingdom, very abundant and also a diverse one. The Asteraceae plants are the most widely distributed of all the families (Porter, C.L. (1969); Evans W. (1989); Hutchinson, J.(1973); Core, E. L. (1955) of the angiosperms. It includes about 1400 genera and over 25000 species (Harborne , J. B., Turner, B.L. (1984); Aboul Ela, M. A.,(1991), forming approximately 10% of the flowering plants.

Alkaloids of Papaver libanoticum and their Cytotoxic Activity

Papaver libanoticum (family Papaveraceae) is an endemic Lebanese plant that has not been investigated before. The plant extract was found to possess a potent opioid analgesic activity with characteristic profile that suggest its potential use for the treatment of opioid abuse and withdrawal symptoms. The present study aims at exploring the cytotoxic activities of the plant extract and the isolated alkaloidal compounds. Chromatographic separation of Papaver libanoticum extract resulted in the isolation of; dehydroremerine (1), roemerine (2), berberine (3), alborine (4), remrefidine (5), and mecambrine (6). Their chemical structures were determined based on different recorded spectroscopic data in addition to comparison with those published in literature. The cytotoxic activity of the plant extract and its alkaloids (2-5) were determined by MTT assay on human breast cancer (MCF7) and human colon cancer cells (HCT116). The results indicated that berberine exhibited the highest inhibitory effect against both cell lines with IC50 of 22 and 106 μM on MCF7 and HCT116 cells, respectively. Other compounds (including the crude extract) showed different dose-dependent inhibitory effects on the two cell lines indicating cell type specificity and suggesting different cell-alkaloid interactions. Further studies are needed to explore the structure-activity relationships (SAR) of alkaloids derived from P. libanoticum.