Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Selected Artocarpus Spp.

Thirty three extracts of stem barks of eleven Artocarpus species from Moraceae family were preliminary screened in vitro for their biological activities. Four potential plants, Artocarpus kemando, A. melinoxylus, A. obtusus and A. rigidus had been selected based on the preliminary bioassay screenings results for further phytochemical and biological studies. The species were subjected for detail isolation work which involves extraction and isolation of compounds by using several chromatographic techniques. The structural elucidations of the isolated compounds were carried out using spectroscopic methods such as UV, IR, NMR, MS and also by comparison with the literature data. These techniques have led to the isolation and identification of several compounds of different classes, the flavonoid derivatives, a coumarin, a dipeptide and a sterol. The crude extracts and some of the isolated compounds were screened for cytotoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial and tyrosinase inhibitory activity using MTT (Microculture Tetrazolium Salt), DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl), disc diffusion and dopachrome methods, respectively. The cell lines used in the cytotoxic assay were human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60), human chronic myeloid leukemia (K562), human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2), human colon cancer (HT29), human cervical cancer (HeLa), human estrogen receptor (ER+) positive breast cancer (MCF7), human estrogen receptor (ER-) negative (MDA-MB 231), peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and human non-tumorigenic breast cell line (MCF10A). The antimicrobial activity was tested against several selected pathogenic microbes, Bacillus subtilis (clinically isolated strain), Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (ATCC 33591), Micrococcus luteus ATCC 10240, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (JCM 2412), Salmonella typhimurium S865B (IMR culture), Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Aspergillus niger ATCC 16404, Candida albicans ATCC 1023 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae S617 (IMR culture). Detail study on A. obtusus has led to the isolation of three new flavonoid derivatives, yranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112),dihydroartoindonesianin C (113) and pyranocycloartobiloxanthone B (114), and a sterol, β- itosterol (115). Phytochemical work of A. rigidus yielded pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112), artoindonesianin C (34) and β-sitosterol (115). However, the isolation work on A. melinoxylus has also afforded a similar compound as previously isolated from the first two plants, pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112) and a known xanthone, cycloartobiloxanthone (24). Similar work on A. kemando has yielded four interesting compounds, cycloartobiloxanthone (24), dihydroartoindonesianin C (113), 6, 7–dimethoxycoumarin (116) and aurantiamide benzoate (117). The coumarin and the dipeptide are new isolated compounds from the Artocarpus species. Only three compounds, namely, pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112), dihydroartoindonesianin C (113) and pyranocycloartobiloxanthone B (114) were subjected to bioassay screenings due to inadequate amount of isolated compounds. The compounds exhibited various interesting activities towards the assays. However, pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112) is the most potential bioactive compound towards the cytotoxic, DPPH free radical scavenging, tyrosinase inhibitory and a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity compared to the other two compounds. The study on antiproliferative activity using ELISA BrdU assay against HL60 and MCF7 cell lines, showed that pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112) was able to impair the DNA synthesis and cell proliferation. The cytotoxic effect of pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112) on the HL60 and MCF7 cell lines was studied based on the morphological manner for over 72 hours. The microscopic observations, including inverted microscopy of live cultures and fluorescent microscopy of acridine orange-propidium iodide stained cultures, showed that both necrotic and apoptotic death occurred in pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (112) treated cell populations at IC50 concentrations

Elemen keindahan dalam tumbuhan menurut al-Quran dan al-hadith: satu tinjauan awal

Kehidupan tanpa elemen keindahan akan membuatkan hidup manusia menjadi hambar, bosan dan suram. Oleh yang demikian, Allah menciptakan tumbuhan mempunyai pelbagai keistimewaan dan banyak memberi manfaat kepada manusia. Antara manfaat yang disebut di dalam al-Quran ialah elemen keindahan dalam tumbuhan. Keindahan alam flora memainkan peranan yang penting untuk kesejahteraan kehidupan manusia. Pengkaji menggunakan metode analisis deduktif bagi mendapatkan kesimpulan serta perkaitan antara ayat-ayat tersebut. Hasil analisis, didapati ada lapan ayat dalam al-Quran yang menyentuh tentang elemen keindahan dalam tumbuhan dengan merujuk kepada kitab-kitab tafsir. Ia diwakili dengan istilah bahjah, zawjin bahij, zukhrufaha, mukhtalifan alwanuha, al-rayhan dan kafura. Setelah dirumuskan, terdapat tiga tema pada elemen keindahan dalam tumbuhan menurut al-Quran berpandukan kepada huraian para ahli tafsir. Pertama, tanaman yang indah permai. Kedua, tanaman yang pelbagai jenis warnanya. Ketiga, tumbuhan yang mengeluarkan aroma yang harum. Justeru itu, hasil kajian ini menunjukkan elemen keindahan dalam tumbuhan sangat penting bagi membantu menceriakan minda, menenangkan perasaan serta menjadi suatu rawatan semulajadi untuk manusia

Alkaloids and sulphur-containing amides from glycosmis citrifolia and glycosmis elongata

Air-dried leaves of both Glycosmis citrifolia and Glycosmis elongata collected from Bogor Botanical Garden, Indonesia were individually extracted with chloroform to give dark viscous extracts after solvent removal. Column chromatographic separation of the extract of G. citrifolia yielded 5(6)-glutene-3α-ol, two sets conformers, (E)-dambullin and (Z)-dambullin, and (E)-methyldambullin and (Z)-methyldambullin. Similar treatment of the extract of G. elongata gave skimmianine and arborinine. The structures of the compounds were elucidated based on spectroscopic data and comparison with published reports

New diprenylated dihyrochalcones from leaves of Artocarpus elasticus

Two new diprenylated dihydrochalcones, elastichalcone A 1 and elastichalcone B 2 and three known compounds were isolated from the leaves of Artocarpus elasticus. Their structures were determined by various spectroscopic techniques (UV, IR, MS, 1D-NMR and 2D-NMR). Elastichalcone B 2 and a known compound exhibited good free radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 11.30 and 11.89 μg/ml, respectively. © 2013 Phytochemical Society of Europe

Alkaloid Constituents of Haplophyllum laeviusculum (Rutaceae).

The investigation of the aerial parts of Haplophyllum laeviusculum (Rutaceae), a perennial herb native to Iran, afforded three alkaloids, skimmianine (1), lunamarine (2), ribalinidine (3) and and two common sterols, γ-sitosterol and campesterol. The structures of compounds were identified by using spectroscopic methods by using UV, IR, NMR, MS spectra and also by comparison with previous works. There has been no detail phytochemical investigation report on the plant carried previously. This is the first report on the identification of skimmianine (1), lunamarine (2) from genus Haplophyllum

β-Mangostin induces p53-dependent G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through ROS mediated mitochondrial pathway and NfkB suppression in MCF-7 cells

β-Mangostin (βM) was isolated from Cratoxylum arborescens to investigate its anti-cancer effect in MCF-7 cells. βM induced apoptosis by down-regulation of Bcl2 and up-regulation of Bax, triggering the cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol. The release of caspase-9 and -7 and consequently cleaved PARP leading to apoptotic was observed upon treatment. Reduction of both bid and caspase 8 and the up regulation of Fas showed the involvement of the extrinsic pathway. Significantly up regulated GADD45A and HRK genes were observed upon treatment, with concomitant inhibition of NF-kB to nucleus. The protein array had demonstrated the expression of HSP 70, HSP 60, XIAP, Survivin, p53 and Bax. Moreover, βM had showed p53-dependent G2/M cell cycle arrest by down regulation of cdc2 and PCNA. Together, the results demonstrated that the βM induced anti-proliferative effect, leading to G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through both the extrinsic and mitochondrial pathways with the involvement of the multiple pro and anti-apoptosis and NF-kB signalling pathways

Lignans and other constituents from aerial parts of Haplophyllum Villosum.

During our phytochemical investigation of Haplophyllum villosum (Rutaceae), a perennial herb from Iran, a new 4,8-diaryl-3,7-dioxobicyclo-(3,3,0)-octane type lignan, eudesmin A (1), together with four known compounds-eudesmin (2), haplamine (3), umbelliferone (4) and scopoletin (5)-were isolated from aerial parts of the plant. The structures of the compounds were elucidated using NMR spectral analysis (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, HSQC, COSY and HMBC) as well as UV, IR and MS spectra and comparison with previously reported data

β-mangostin suppresses LA-7 cells proliferation in vitro and in vivo: involvement of antioxidant enzyme modulation; suppression of matrix metalloproteinase and α6β4 integrin signalling pathways

β-mangostin (βM) was isolated from Cratoxylum arborescens to investigate anti-breast cancer effect in vitro and in vivo. βM exhibited an inhibitory effect on the growth of LA-7 cells in vitro with apoptosis formation. In the animal model, βM treatment was found to be effective in improving the tissue antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase activity (P < 0.05). βM treatment clearly exhibited apoptosis in mammary tumour tissues, and it was associated with regulation of PCNA and p53. The cDNA microarray gene expression followed by qRT-PCR based validation demonstrated that βM could mediate tumour reduction and prevent metastasis by reduction of MMP-9, MMP-13, and MMP-27. Moreover, the reduction of both 14-3-3β and ITGB4 genes indicated the involvement of α6β4 integrin signalling pathway. These findings showed that β-mangostin is a promising compound candidate as an anti-tumour agent against breast cancer

Biological activities of four Melicope species

The leaves and stem barks extracts of four plant species, Melicope confusa, M. clemensiae, M. lunu-ankenda and M. latifolia were screened for their antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Almost all extracts of M. clemensia exhibited moderate growth inhibition when tested against the three pathogenic fungi. However, when tested against pathogenic bacteria, the three leaves extracts showed strong activity against methicillin resistant S. aureus and moderate for the other bacteria. In the antioxidant assay by using DPPH, the three leaves extracts of M. lunu-ankenda exhibited significant activity with with IC50 values of 7.8, 15.6 and 7.8 μg/mL. In addition, the petroleum ether leaves extract of M. clemensiae and the chloroform leaves extract of M. lunu-ankenda showed strong cytotoxic activity when tested against human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60) cell line with IC50 values of 2.8 and 0.8 μg/mL, respectively