Cytotoxic activity of the dichloromethane fraction from Vernonia scorpioides (Lam.) Pers. (Asteraceae) against Ehrlich's tumor cells in mice

Vernonia scorpioides has been widely used in Brazil to treat skin problems and chronic wounds, such as ulcers of the lower limbs and diabetic lesions. In the present study, we investigated the effect of a dichloromethane (DCM) fraction of V. scorpioides leaf extract on Ehrlich ascitic and solid tumor-bearing mice. The animals were treated once a day with the DCM fraction at a concentration of 5 mg/kg, administered ip during and after the development of the tumor. The lifespan, weight, number and type of leukocytes, number of tumor cells, volume of solid and ascitic tumors were measured. The development of the tumor with pre-treated tumor cells in vitro with the DCM fraction (5 mg/kg) was analyzed and the animals were sacrificed after 7 days. The DCM fraction (5 mg/kg) totally inhibited tumor development when in direct contact with tumor cells, and also ascitic tumor development with in vitro treatment or when administered ip, in loco (after 7 days). Animals treated with the DCM fraction increased their lifespan ca. 2 weeks and maintained their body weight for 30 days. When applied immediately after the inoculation of the tumor cells in vivo, it totally abolished tumor development, with tumor development only decreasing when treatment was started 3 days after the tumor challenge. These data suggest an antineoplastic activity of the fraction. Oral or ip administration of DCM fraction (5 mg/kg) for 7 days did not reduce the solid tumor volume. The cytotoxic activity described here differs from the conventional immune suppressing profile of standard chemotherapy because it increases neutrophil influx to the peritoneal cavity. These results show that, besides exhibiting a tumoricidal activity, the DCM fraction also exhibits inflammatory activity

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in medicinal tea of ageratum conyzoides

It is now widely-recognized that the view that herbal remedies have no adverse effects and/or toxicity is incorrect; some traditionally-used plants can present toxicity. The well-established popular use of Ageratum conyzoides has led to its inclusion in a category of medicinal crude drugs created by the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency. Ageratum belongs to the Eupatorieae tribe, Asteraceae, and is described as containing toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Aqueous extracts of Ageratum conyzoides L. harvested in Brazil (commercial, flowering and non-fowering samples) were prepared according to the prescribed method and analyzed by HPLC-HRMS. The pyrrolizidine alkaloids lycopsamine, dihydrolycopsamine, and acetyl-lycopsamine and their N-oxides, were detected in the analyzed extracts, lycopsamine and its N-oxide being known hepatotoxins and tumorigens. Together with the pyrrolizidine alkaloids identifed by HPLC-HRMS, thirteen phenolic compounds were identified, notably, methoxylated favonoids and chromenes. Toxicological studies on A. conyzoides are necessary, as is monitoring of its clinical use. To date, there are no established safety guidelines on pyrrolizidine alkaloids-containing plants, and their use in Brazil

A New Polyacetylene From Vernonia Scorpioides (lam.) Pers. (asteraceae) And Its In Vitro Antitumoral Activity

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Phytochemical analysis of the hot tea infusion of Hedyosmum brasiliense

Abstract The leaves of the neotropical dioecious shrub Hedyosmum brasiliense (HB) are employed popularly as a sedative, aphrodisiac and as a substitute for green tea. The aim of this work was to study the composition of the hot tea infusion from the fresh leaves of HB, comparing its androecious or gynoecious parts, including the isolation and identification of new secondary metabolites. The characterization of the HB tea infusion was achieved by means of UHPLC-ESI(±)-HRMS and the isolation of its secondary metabolites was done through FCPC and MPLC. Both female and male plant extracts presented similar chemical profiles, with rosmarinic acid (RA) as the main compound. The FCPC analysis led to a one-step isolation of RA 97% pure. A new sesquiterpene lactone (1-α-acetoxyeudesma-3,7(11)-dien-8,12-olide) is reported herein for the first time. The additional compounds isolated and characterized by NMR and LC-MS are isorinic acid, a glycosylated flavonol, two neolignans reported for the first time for HB and three other sesquiterpene lactones which were previously isolated from the ethanol extract. Neither the extract nor its major constituent (RA) exhibited in-vitro antimycobacterial activity. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd