Bioassay-guided isolation of a potent platelet-activating factor antagonist alkenylresorcinol from Ardisia elliptica

In the course of our search for novel platelet-activating factor (PAF) antagonists from medicinal plants, the methanol extract of the leaves of Ardisia elliptica Thunb. was investigated for its inhibitory effects on PAF receptor binding to rabbit platelets using 3H-PAF as a ligand. The methanol extract showed inhibitory activity of 53.9% and its ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and methanol fractions exhibited 48.6%, 39.0%, and 22.0% inhibition, respectively. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethyl acetate fraction led to the isolation of a new alkenylresorcinol, 5-(Z-heptadec-4′-enyl)resorcinol, together with 5-pentadecylresorcinol. The alkenylresorcinol showed a strong inhibition with an IC50 value of 7.1 µM. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques

Parrots Eat Nutritious Foods despite Toxins

Generalist herbivores are challenged not only by the low nitrogen and high indigestibility of their plant foods, but also by physical and chemical defenses of plants. This study investigated the foods of wild parrots in the Peruvian Amazon and asked whether these foods contain dietary components that are limiting for generalist herbivores (protein, lipids, minerals) and in what quantity; whether parrots chose foods based on nutrient content; and whether parrots avoid plants that are chemically defended.We made 224 field observations of free-ranging parrots of 17 species in 8 genera foraging on 102 species of trees in an undisturbed tropical rainforest, in two dry seasons (July-August 1992-1993) and one wet season (January-February1994). We performed laboratory analyses of parts of plants eaten and not eaten by parrots and brine shrimp assays of toxicity as a proxy for vertebrates. Parrots ate seeds, fruits, flowers, leaves, bark, and insect larvae, but up to 70% of their diet comprised seeds of many species of tropical trees, in various stages of ripeness. Plant parts eaten by parrots were rich in protein, lipid, and essential minerals, as well as potentially toxic chemicals. Seeds were higher than other plant materials in protein and lipid and lower in fiber. Large macaws of three species ate foods higher in protein and lipids and lower in fiber compared to plant parts available but not eaten. Macaws ate foods that were lower in phenolic compounds than foods they avoided. Nevertheless, foods eaten by macaws contained measurable levels of toxicity. Macaws did not appear to make dietary selections based on mineral content.Parrots represent a remarkable example of a generalist herbivore that consumes seeds destructively despite plant chemical defenses. With the ability to eat toxic foods, rainforest-dwelling parrots exploited a diversity of nutritious foods, even in the dry season when food was scarce for other frugivores and granivores

Marine Cyanobacteria Compounds with Anticancer Properties: Implication of Apoptosis

Marine cyanobacteria have been proved to be an important source of potential anticancer drugs. Although several compounds were found to be cytotoxic to cancer cells in culture, the pathways by which cells are affected are still poorly elucidated. For some compounds, cancer cell death was attributed to an implication of apoptosis through morphological apoptotic features, implication of caspases and proteins of the Bcl-2 family, and other mechanisms such as interference with microtubules dynamics, cell cycle arrest and inhibition of proteases other than caspases