Punica granatum (Pomegranate) juice provides an HIV-1 entry inhibitor and candidate topical microbicide

BACKGROUND: For ≈ 24 years the AIDS pandemic has claimed ≈ 30 million lives, causing ≈ 14,000 new HIV-1 infections daily worldwide in 2003. About 80% of infections occur by heterosexual transmission. In the absence of vaccines, topical microbicides, expected to block virus transmission, offer hope for controlling the pandemic. Antiretroviral chemotherapeutics have decreased AIDS mortality in industrialized countries, but only minimally in developing countries. To prevent an analogous dichotomy, microbicides should be: acceptable; accessible; affordable; and accelerative in transition from development to marketing. Already marketed pharmaceutical excipients or foods, with established safety records and adequate anti-HIV-1 activity, may provide this option. METHODS: Fruit juices were screened for inhibitory activity against HIV-1 IIIB using CD4 and CXCR4 as cell receptors. The best juice was tested for inhibition of: (1) infection by HIV-1 BaL, utilizing CCR5 as the cellular coreceptor; and (2) binding of gp120 IIIB and gp120 BaL, respectively, to CXCR4 and CCR5. To remove most colored juice components, the adsorption of the effective ingredient(s) to dispersible excipients and other foods was investigated. A selected complex was assayed for inhibition of infection by primary HIV-1 isolates. RESULTS: HIV-1 entry inhibitors from pomegranate juice adsorb onto corn starch. The resulting complex blocks virus binding to CD4 and CXCR4/CCR5 and inhibits infection by primary virus clades A to G and group O. CONCLUSION: These results suggest the possibility of producing an anti-HIV-1 microbicide from inexpensive, widely available sources, whose safety has been established throughout centuries, provided that its quality is adequately standardized and monitored

Diterpenoids from Salvia wagneriana

From the surface exudate of the aerial parts of Salvia wagneriana, three new clerodane diterpenoids, the known hardwickiic acid and 1,10-didehydrosalviarin, were obtained. Two were bis-diterpenoids. Their structures were established by 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopic techniques

Triterpenoids from Salvia wagneriana

From the exudate of Salvia wagneriana Polak, beside the known ursolic acid, two pentaoxygenated triterpenoids were isolated. Their structures were determined as 3-oxo-11alpha,19beta,20,22beta-tetrahydroxylupane (1) and 3beta, 11alpha, 19beta,20,22beta-pentahydroxy-lupane (2) using a combination of one- and two-dimensional NMR technique

Antioxidant activities and quali-quantitative analysis of different Smallanthus sonchifolius [(Poepp. and Endl.) H. Robinson] landrace extracts.

Five landraces of Smallanthus sonchifolius [(Poepp. and Endl.) H. Robinson], known as yacon, were investigated in total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and chemical composition of ethanol extracts (EEs) and decoction extracts (DEs). The results demonstrated that DEs are rich in phenolic acids as caffeic acid, while the EEs show an higher amount of flavonoids, as luteolin 3',7-O-diglucoside and luteolin 7-O-glucoside. These flavonoid glycosides were identified for the first time in yacon extracts, together with apigenin and luteolin. The phytochemical profile explains the different antioxidant activities shown in our study. The landraces PER6-DE and PER4-DE showed the highest radical-scavenging activity and reducing power related to their polyphenolic contents. Results also show that yacon can be considered an important source of bioactive compounds with significant differences among the analysed landraces

New clerodane diterpenoids from Salvia adenophora Fernald (Lamiaceae).

none10The surface exudate of the aerial parts of S. adenophora [1], that showed germination total inhibition [2] against Papaver rhoeas L. and Avena sativa L. at 5mg/L in Petri dish experiments, subjected to column chromatography on Sephadex LH-20 and silica gel and to HPLC-MS and MS2 experiments followed by semi-preparative RP-HPLC, yielded two new clerodane diterpenoids (1 and 2), identified by IR and NMR analysis, including TOCSY, COSY, HSQC, HMBC and ROESY experiments, ESI-TRAP-MS and HR-MS analysis. References: 1. Epling, C. (1940) A Revision of Salvia, subgenus Calosphace. In: Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis. Vol. 110. Fedde F., University of California Press: Berkley, California. 2. Chiapusio. G., Sanchez A.M., Reigosa M.J., Gonzalez L., Pellissier F. (1997), Journal of Chemical Ecology, 23, 2445-2453.Conference: 7th Tannin Conference/58th International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society-for-Medical-Plant-and-Natural-Product-Research Location: Berlin, GERMANY Date: AUG 29-SEP 02, 2010 Sponsor(s): Soc Med Plant Nat Prod ResA. BISIO; DAMONTE G; FRATERNALE D; GIACOMELLI E; SALIS A; RUSSO E; CAFAGGI S; RICCI D; ROMUSSI G; DE TOMMASI NBisio, Angela; Damonte, Gianluca; Fraternale, D; Giacomelli, Emanuela; Salis, Annalisa; Russo, Eleonora; Cafaggi, Sergio; Ricci, D; Romussi, Giovanni; DE TOMMASI, N