Composition and bioactivity of essential oil from Stachys macrostachya (Wend.) Briq

Stachys species belonging to Lamiaceae family have been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. The aim of the present study was to investigate the chemical compositions and antibacterial, anti-tyrosinase activities of the essential oil of Stachys macrostachya. The essential oil was prepared by hydrodistillation method using a Clevenger-type apparatus and chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography (GC). The antibacterial activity of essential oil was performed by the disc diffusion and microdilution broth method against five Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity was evaluated by minor modifications of Masuda's method. According to the results of GC analyses, twenty-three compounds were identified representing 91.9% of the total volatile composition. The main compounds were germacrene D (12.2%), globulol (10.9%), alpha-pinene (9.7%), and valencene (7.6%). The present study showed that the tested essential oil of S. macrostachya exhibited antibacterial activity against Acinetobacter baumannii (MIC 62.50 mu g/mL) and tyrosinase inhibition activity (IC50 22.86 +/- 0.82 mu g/mL). These results suggest that the essential oil could be exploited as a potential source of natural antimicrobial agents of this bacterium as well as tyrosinase inhibitors

Paracetamol-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative stress in rats: the protective role of Nigella sativa

bayir, yasin/0000-0003-3562-6727; ATMACA, HASAN TARIK/0000-0001-8379-4114WOS: 000386041500016PubMed: 26956915Context Nigella sativa L. (Ranunculaceae) (NS) is traditionally used to treat many conditions such as inflammation. Objective This study evaluates the effects of NS seeds ethanol extract in paracetamol-induced acute nephrotoxicity in rats. Materials and methods Forty-eight female Wistar Albino rats were divided into eight groups: I = sham; II = sham + 1000 mg/kg NS; III = sham + 140 mg/kg (N-acetyl cysteine) NAC; IV = 2 g/kg paracetamol; V = 2 g/kg paracetamol + 140 mg/kg NAC; VI, VII and VIII = 2 g/kg paracetamol + 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg NS, respectively. Paracetamol administration (oral) was carried out 1 h after NS and NAC administrations (oral), and all animals were sacrificed 24 h later. Results Paracetamol administration significantly increased serum urea (88.05 U/L) and creatinine (0.80 U/L) when compared with the sham group (49.80 and 0.31 U/L, respectively). However, serum urea level was reduced to 65.60, 56.00 and 54.18 U/L, with 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg doses of the extract, respectively. Also, serum creatinine level was reduced to 0.64, 0.57 and 0.52 U/L with 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg doses of the extract, respectively. NS administration increased superoxide dismutase and glutathione, and decreased malondialdehyde levels in the kidneys. Kidney histopathological examinations showed that NS administration antagonized paracetamol-induced kidney pathological damage. Discussion and conclusions The results suggest NS has a significant nephroprotective activity on paracetamol-induced nephrotoxicity. It may be suggested that the antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects of NS ethanolic extract originated from different compounds of its black seeds.Research fund of Ataturk UniversityAtaturk University [BAP-2012/077]This study was supported by the Research fund of Ataturk University (BAP-2012/077)

Memory-vitalizing effect of twenty-five medicinal and edible plants and their isolated compounds

The extracts from 25 plant species from Salvia, Hypericum, Onosma, Thymus, Origanum, Rosa, and Prunus with eight isolated compounds were screened for their memory-vitalizing potential against the enzymes, i.e., acetyl cholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and tyrosinase (TYR) along with DPPH, DMPD, and NO radicals and iron-chelation capacity using spectrophotometric microtiter assays. The n-hexane:dichloromethane (1:1) extract of Onosma nigricaule roots (63.18 +/- 0.56\%) and the ethyl acetate extract of the aerial parts of Hypericum capitatum var. capitatum (50.79 +/- 3.88\%) were the most active toward AChE and BChE, respectively. The highest iron-chelating capacity was found in the n-hexane extract of Thymus sipyleus subsp. sipyleus var. sipyleus, where mostly Labiatae species exhibited better radical scavenging effect. Among the extracts, the roots of O. nigricaule, the aerial parts of Hypericum capitatum var. capitatum and T. sipyleus subsp. sipyleus var. sipyleus could be further evaluated for their memory-vitalizing properties based on different mechanisms. (C) 2015 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved