Final report / Fish Poisons (UBC / Thailand)

Some text in Tha

Allergic Contact Dermatitis from Frullania and Compositae. The role of Sesquiterpene Lactones

Fifteen forest-workers with allergic eczematous contact dermatitis were found to be allergic to Frullania, a genus of liverworts. Five of these patients, so tested, also showed positive patch test reactions to Compositae species. Sesquiterpene lactones were shown to be the common denominators of such dermatitis. The patients reacted to a number of these compounds that differed in their skeleton and functional groups. The most active compound found was alantolactone. The immunochemical requisite of the molecular structure of these compounds appeared to be the presence of a carbon-carbon double bond conjugated with the lactone group

Allergic Contact Dermatitis Caused by Artemisia and Chrysanthemum Species

Allergic contact dermatitis caused by Artemisia ludoviciana was found to be due to some sesquiterpene lactones notably Iudovicins, and such dermatitis caused by two Chrysanthemum species was found to be due to parthenolide. The immunochemical requisite of the molecular structure of these compounds appeared to be the presence of a carbon-carbon double bond conjugated with the lactone group. Such a system is known to be reactive with cysteine

Biological activities of terthiophenes and polyynes from the Asteraceae

We evaluated a number of terthiophenes and polyynes, from the Asteraceae, for biological activities against microorganisms, viruses, and tumor cells, with and without the aid of UVA (long wavelength ultraviolet) radiation. The terthiophenes, which represented the basic alpha-terthienyl nucleus with simple side chains, showed impressive UVA-dependent activities, some of which were superior to alpha-terthienyl itself. In contrast, the polyynes had no significant biological activity, with or without UVA. We believe that these terthiophenes would be worthwhile evaluating in animal models of infectious diseases