Sunee Chansakaow

Medicinal plants of the Mien (Yao) in Northern Thailand and their potential value in the primary healthcare of postpartum women.

AIM OF THE STUDY To study the use of medicinal plants by the Mien in Nan Province and their potential value in the primary healthcare of postpartum women. Also, to survey the medicinal plant resources present there. MATERIALS AND METHODS Free listing and interviews were used with four key informants (herbalists and collectors) to collect all qualitative and quantitative plant data. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on the knowledge, attitude and practices of fifty-eight non-specialist informants. Transect walks of forest plots were carried out with herbalists to get more information on the status of the medicinal plants with regard to their habitat. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION More than 168 species of medicinal plants were surveyed. These plants belonged to 80 families and 145 genera, of which 131 were wild plants and 37 species have been cultivated in home gardens. The interview data from four herbalists and fifty-eight non-specialist informants indicated that the majority of non-specialist informants who used medicinal plants were women and the most common usage categories were for birth related conditions (44 species, 26.2%). The most common method of preparation was decoction for both oral consumption and bathing uses (134 species, 79.8%). The most common species of medicinal plants were used in a postpartum herbal bath formulae and in food supplement formulas. These were Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis, Basella alba L., Ricinus communis L., Poikilospermum suaveolens (L.) Merr., Gouania leptostachya DC. Var. leptostachya, Schefflera sp. cf. Schefflera bengalensis Gamb., Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC., Chromolaena odoratum (L.) King et Robin and Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf.

Quantitative analysis of miroestrol and kwakhurin for standardisation of Thai miracle herb ‘Kwao Keur’ (Pueraria mirifica) and establishment of simple isolation procedure for highly estrogenic miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol

Quantitative analysis of miroestrol (1) and kwakhurin (3) by HPLC, leading to standardisation of commercially available Thai miracle herb ‘Kwao Keur’ which has been identified with Pueraria mirifica, was established using independent solvent systems. The simple isolation procedure of highly estrogenic miroestrol (1) and deoxymiroestrol (2) from P. mirifica was also proposed.

Antioxidant and anticancer activities from leaf extracts of four Combretum species from Northern Thailand

Four Combretum species (Combretaceae) from northern Thailand (Combretum deciduum, Combretum griffithii, Combretum latifolium and Combretum quadrangulare) were tested for antioxidant and anticancer activities. Antioxidant activities were assessed by ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging capacity methods. Anticancer activity was tested against three cancerous human cell lines (KB, MCF7 and NCI-H187). All methanolic leaf extracts showed antioxidant activities with the ABTS and DPPH methods. The methanolic leaf extracts of C. deciduum inhibited KB-oral cavity and MCF7-breast cancer cell lines, C. latifolium inhibited MCF7-breast cancer cell line and C. quadrangulare inhibited KB-oral cavity and NCI-H187-small cell lung cancer cell lines. However, the methanolic leaf extracts of C. griffithii were inactive against all three cell lines. All methanolic leaf extracts exhibited non-cytotoxicity to Vero cell lines.

Insight into the molecular mechanism of P-glycoprotein mediated drug toxicity induced by bioflavonoids: an integrated computational approach

Abstract In this work, molecular docking, pharmacophore modeling and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation were rendered for the mouse P-glycoprotein (P-gp) (code: 4Q9H) and bioflavonoids; amorphigenin, chrysin, epigallocatechin, formononetin and rotenone including a positive control; verapamil to identify protein–ligand interaction features including binding affinities, interaction characteristics, hot-spot amino acid residues and complex stabilities. These flavonoids occupied the same binding site with high binding affinities and shared the same key residues for their binding interactions and the binding region of the flavonoids was revealed that overlapped the ATP binding region with hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions suggesting a competitive inhibition mechanism of the compounds. Root mean square deviations (RMSDs) analysis of MD trajectories of the protein–ligand complexes and NBD2 residues, and ligands pointed out these residues were stable throughout the duration of MD simulations. Thus, the applied preliminary structure-based molecular modeling approach of interactions between NBD2 and flavonoids may be gainful to realize the intimate inhibition mechanism of P-gp at NBD2 level and on the basis of the obtained data, it can be concluded that these bioflavonoids have the potential to cause herb–drug interactions or be used as lead molecules for the inhibition of P-gp (as anti-multidrug resistance agents) via the NBD2 blocking mechanism in future.

Effects of the Chinese Herbal Formulation (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan) on the Pharmacokinetics of Isoflavones in Postmenopausal Women.

A combination of soy isoflavones and Liu Wei Di Huang Wan (LWDHW) is potentially effective for postmenopausal women with intolerable vasomotor episodes who are not suitable candidates for hormonal therapy. The objective of this open-label, three-phase, crossover study was to determine the influence of both single and multiple oral doses of LWDHW on isoflavone pharmacokinetics in healthy postmenopausal women. Eleven subjects were assigned to receive the following regimens in a fixed sequence with washout periods of at least one week: Phase A, a single oral dose of soy milk; Phase B, a single oral dose of soy milk coadministered with LWDHW; and Phase C, multiple oral doses of LWDHW for 14 days followed by a single oral dose of soy milk. Blood samples were collected and mixed with β-glucuronidase/sulfatase to hydrolyze isoflavone conjugates to their respective aglycones (i.e., daidzein and genistein) and were determined using high performance liquid chromatography. The pharmacokinetic parameters analyzed were maximal plasma concentration (C max), time to reach peak concentration (T max), area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), and half-life (t 1/2). The results found no statistically significant differences in pharmacokinetic parameters of daidzein and genistein among the three regimens.

Determination of Volatile Constituents of Thai Fragrant Orchids by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry with Solid-Phase Microextraction

Volatile constituents of four Thai fragrant orchid species, Rhynchostylis gigantea Ridl., Rhynchostylis gigantea var. harrisonianum Holtt., Vanda coerulea and Dendrobium parishii Rchb. f., were examined by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Three parts of each plant sample (the flowers, leaves and roots) were analyzed for volatile compounds using the Headspace – Solid-Phase Microextraction method (HS-SPME). Alcohols, aldehydes, alkanes, esters, ethers, ketones, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were identified quantitatively from the volatile compounds isolated from the flower parts. The aromatic compounds isolated differed among the orchid species. The major aromatic compounds of the flowers of R. gigantea, R. gigantea var. harrisonianum, V. coerulea and D. parishii. were nerol (25.42%), 2,3-dihydrofarnesol (34.30%), nonanal (34.69%) and 2-pentadecanone (43.47%), respectively.

Protective Effect on Oxidative DNA Damage and Antiproliferative Activity of Standardized γ-Oryzanol-Rich Extracts from Thai Purple Rice Bran

This study was carried out to investigate the protective effect of standardized γ-oryzanol-rich extracts on oxidative DNA damage induced by Fenton reaction and antiproliferative activity against human cancer cells. Six cultivars of Thai purple rice were collected in northern Thailand. Rice bran was extracted with hexane/ethyl acetate mixture and the extract was evaporated to obtain crude rice bran oil. Each rice bran oil was further purified by column chromatography to obtain the γ-oryzanol-rich extract. The extracts contained γ-oryzanol in the range of 1.17 – 7.54 % w/w, in which GAM THOR exhibited the highest γ-oryzanol content. The extr \acts containing more than 5.0 % w/w γ-oryzanol (GAM THOR, GAM DOI MUSUR and GAM SUKHOTHAI-2) were selected to be standardized with γ-oryzanol and then the protective effect on oxidative DNA damage and antiproliferative activity against four human cancer cell lines (HT-29, HCT 116, MDA-MB-468 and PC3) were investigated. The extracts (10 µg/ml) exhibited a protective effect on oxidative DNA damage induced by Fenton reaction as compared with standard quercetin (lower than 5 µg/ml). Furthermore, all of the extracts exerted antiproliferative activity against human cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. GAM THOR exhibited the highest antiproliferative activity against HT-29, HCT 116, MDA-MB-468 and PC3 with an 50% inhibition concentration value of 52.18 ± 1.21, 40.58 ± 5.69, 48.59 ± 2.40 and 51.61 ± 1.30 µg/ml, respectively. From these findings, γ-oryzanolrich extracts from Thai purple rice bran show potential as chemopreventive supplements or in nutraceuticals.

A significant mechanism of molecular recognition between bioflavonoids and P-glycoprotein leading to herb-drug interactions

Abstract Inhibition of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)’s function may conduct significant changes in the prescription drugs’ pharmacokinetic profiles and escalate potential risks in taking place of drug/herb-drug interactions. Computational modeling was advanced to scrutinize some bioflavonoids which play roles in herb-drug interactions as P-gp inhibitors utilizing molecular docking and pharmacophore analyses. Twenty-five flavonoids were utilized as ligands for the modeling. The mouse P-gp (code: 4Q9H) was acquired from the PDB. The docking was operated utilizing AutoDock version 4.2.6 (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA) against the NBD2 of 4Q9H. The result illustrated the high correlation between the docking scores and observed activities of the flavonoids and the putative binding site of these flavonoids was proposed and compared with the site for ATP. To evaluate hotspot amino acid residues within the NBD2, Binding modes for the ligands were achieved using LigandScout to originate the NBD2-flavonoid pharmacophore models. The results asserted that these inhibitors competed with ATP for binding site in the NBD2 (as competitive inhibitors) including the hotspot residues which associated with electrostatic and van der Waals interactions with the flavonoids. In MD simulation of eight delegated complexes selected from the analyzed flavonoid subclasses, RMSD analysis of the trajectories indicated the residues were stable throughout the duration of simulations.

Caesalpinia sappan : A promising natural source of antimicrobial agent for inhibition of cariogenic bacteria

From the previous findings, the ethanolic fractionated extract of Caesalpinia sappan (F-EtOH) has high activity against Streptococcus mutans, the most severe cariogenic bacteria. The present study was aimed to isolate and identify the active compound of F-EtOH and compare its inhibitory activity against the biofilm of S. mutans as well as the cytotoxicity to oral fibroblast cells with F-EtOH. Compound isolation was done by column chromatography. The active compound was identified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. It was found that the major compound of F-EtOH is brazilin. F-EtOH and brazilin were compared for inhibitory potential on the biofilms of three strains of S. mutans. The results exhibited that both F-EtOH and brazilin had potential on inhibiting biofilm formation and eradicating the preformed biofilms and their activity was dose dependent. F-EtOH showed significantly less toxic to normal periodontal ligament fibroblast than brazilin. At low concentration of 1- and 2-MBC, F-EtOH showed higher effective than brazilin. The results of our study suggest that the antibacterial activity of F-EtOH is according to the synergistic effects of the existing compounds including brazilin in F-EtOH.

Chemical compositions and biological activities of essential oils obtained from some Apiaceous and Lamiaceous plants collected in Thailand

Objective: To determine the chemical composition, as well as the antioxidant, antityrosinase and antibacterial activities of essential oils obtained from some Apiaceous and Lamiaceous plants collected in Thailand. Methods: The essential oils of the specified spices and aromatic herbs were obtained by hydro-distillation, and their chemical constituents were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Antioxidant assays were based on the scavenging effects of 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) free radicals as well as the lipid oxidation inhibition of ß-carotene bleaching by linoleic acid. Tyrosinase enzyme inhibition was evaluated by the dopachrome method. Broth microdilution technique was performed for the purposes of studying microbial growth inhibition against the isolated bacterial strains. Results: The essential oils of Elsholtzia stachyodes, Coleus amboinicus (I) and Trachyspermum ammi presented a high degree of potency in DPPH, ABTS and ß-carotene bleaching assays. The Trachyspermum ammi oil, which mainly contained thymol (49.04%) and p-cymene (22.06%), proved to be the most effective in terms of antibacterial activity. The major compositions of Coleus amboinicus (I) were carvacrol (51.57%), y-terpinene (18.04%) and p-cymene (7.81%); while thymol (43.76%) and y-terpinene (24.61%) were identified as the major components of Elsholtzia stachyodes oil, with p-cymene (6.73%) being identified as a minor constituent. Moreover, Cuminum cyminum oil containing cuminaldehyde (49.07%) and Elsholtzia communis oil composed with geranial (44.74%) and neral (35.27%) as the major components displayed a specific ability for the inhibition of the mushroom tyrosinase enzyme. Conclusions: The results indicated that these bioactive essential oils obtained from indigenous herbs are of significant interest as alternative raw materials in food, cosmetic and medicinal products.