Simla Basar

Elimination of ergoline alkaloids following treatment of Ipomoea asarifolia (Convolvulaceae) with fungicides

Ergoline alkaloids are constituents of Clavicipitaceous fungi living on Poaceae plants. Ergoline alkaloids as well as volatile oil are also present in Ipomoea asarifolia Roem. & Schult (Convolvulaceae). Treatment of this plant with two fungicides (Folicur, Pronto Plus) eliminates the ergoline alkaloids but not the volatile oil. Elimination of ergoline alkaloids occurs concomitantly with loss of fungal hyphae associated with secretory glands on the upper leaf surface of the Ipomoea plant. Our observations suggest that accumulation of ergoline alkaloids in the Convolvulaceae may depend on the presence of a plant-associated fungus.

Analgesic and antiinflammatory activity of Morinda citrifolia L. (Noni) fruit

M. citrifolia is a tropical plant with a long tradition of medicinal use in Polynesia and tropical parts of eastern Asia and Australia. One of its favorite uses is the treatment of painful inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. The analgesic activity of Noni fruit puree on mice was investigated using the hot plate test. A 10% solution of freeze concentrated Noni fruit puree in the drinking water of mice reduced the pain sensitivity comparably to the central analgesic drug tramadol. This effect was only partly reversed by the application of the morphine antagonist naloxone. An alcohol extract of noni fruit puree also caused an inhibition of MMP‐9 release from human monocytes after stimulation with LPS. This effect was comparable to hydrocortisone (10−5 m). The findings suggest that preparations of noni fruits are effective in decreasing pain and joint destruction caused by arthritis. Copyright

Sesquiterpene constituents from the liverwort Bazzania japonica

The hydrodistillation products of the liverwort Bazzania japonica were separated by preparative gas chromatography (GC) and investigated by spectroscopic methods. Seven unknown compounds were isolated and identified by GC-MS and NMR. Four of them, the norsesquiterpene hydrocarbons 4-epi-11-nor-aristola-1(10),11-diene (1), 4-epi-11-nor-aristola-1,9,11-triene (2), 4-epi-11-nor-aristola-9,11-diene (3), and one oxygenated sesquiterpene, (-)-aristol-1(10)-en-12-ol (5) are new natural compounds, and one, (+)-himachala-2,4-diene (7), has for the first time been isolated from liverworts. The absolute configurations of 5 and 7 were derived by chemical correlation reactions and/or enantioselective GC using cyclodextrin phases. 1, 2 and 3 have identical absolute configuration.

Test of the stability of olibanum resins and extracts

Olibanum (frankincense) is one of a group known as the oleogum resins (mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpenes and mucous substances) that exude from incisions in the bark of the Boswellia trees (fam: Burseraceae), the most common species of which are B. carterii (Africa) and B. serrata (India). The resin and its products are marketed as anti-arthritic and antiinflammatory pharmaceutical products. The pharmacological effects are mainly attributed to the presence of the pentacyclic triterpenoid boswellic acids (BA). Of these, β-boswellic acid (BA) (1), acetyl-β-BA (2), keto-BA (KBA) (3), and acetyl-ketoBA (AKBA) (4) (Figure 1) are regarded as the main active constituents of the resin. They are, e.g., inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase (the key enzyme of leukotriene synthesis) and of α-topoisomerase [1, 2]. There are no scientifically current pharmaceuS. Basar, Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Hamburg, MartinLuther-King-Platz 6, 20146 Hamburg, Germany; and A. Koch, FrohmeApotheke, Frohmestrasse 14, 22457 Hamburg, Germany.