Major terpenoids from <i>Telekia speciosa</i> flowers and their cytotoxic activity <i>in vitro</i>

<p>In addition to known constituents of <i>Telekia speciosa</i>, an acetone extract from ray florets of the plant yielded: 5,5ʹ-dibutoxy-2,2ʹ-bifuran (<b>1</b>), 5,5ʹ-diisobutoxy-2,2ʹ-bifuran (<b>2</b>), α-tocopherol (<b>3</b>), β-tocopherol (<b>4</b>), loliolide palmitate (<b>5</b>), a mixture of calenduladiol esters - 16β-hydroxylupeol-3-O-palmitate (<b>7</b>) and 16β-hydroxylupeol-3-O-myristate (<b>8</b>), 1-epiinuviscolide (<b>12</b>), inuviscolide (<b>13</b>), 3-epiisotelekin (<b>16</b>), 4α-hydroxy-9β,10β-epoxy-1β(H)-11(13)-guaien-8α,12-olide (<b>17</b>), 4α-hydroxy-1β(H)-9(10),11(13)-guaiadien-8α,12-olide (<b>18</b>), loliolide (<b>19</b>) and 4β,10β-dihydroxy-1α(H),5α(H)-11(13)-guaien-8α,12-olide (<b>20</b>). Calenduladiol esters and asperilin (<b>14</b>) were the major constituents of the extract. Their cytotoxic effect on human normal prostate epithelial cells (PNT-2), human prostate carcinoma cell lines, human skin fibroblasts (HSF) and human melanoma cell lines was examined <i>in vitro</i>. Triterpene esters showed no cytotoxicity against nearly all cell lines tested, except for Du145 prostate carcinoma cells (IC₅₀ – 62.0 μΜ). Asperilin displayed activity against the cell lines under study, especially against three tested lines of melanomas (A375, IC₅₀ – 17.6 μΜ, WM793, IC₅₀ – 28.2 μΜ and Hs 294T, IC₅₀ – 29.5 μΜ).</p

<i>In vitro</i> antimicrobial activity of extracts and compounds isolated from <i>Cladonia uncialis</i>

<div><p>Heptane (Hep), diethyl ether (Et₂O), acetone (Me₂CO) and methanolic (MeOH) extracts, as well as ( − )-usnic acid and squamatic acid, were obtained from thallus of <i>Cladonia uncialis</i> (Cladoniaceae). The antimicrobial activities of these extracts, ( − )-usnic acid and squamatic acid, were tested against reference strains: <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Candida albicans</i>. In addition, Me₂CO extract was analysed against 10 strains of Methicillin-resistant <i>S. aureus</i> (MRSA) isolated from patients. All extracts exerted antibacterial activity against the reference strain <i>S. aureus</i>, comparably to chloramphenicol [minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 5.0 μg/mL]. The Me₂CO extract exhibited the strongest activity against <i>S. aureus</i> (MIC = 0.5 μg/mL), higher than ( − )-usnic acid, whereas squamatic acid proved inactive. The Me₂CO extract showed potent antimicrobial activity against MRSA (MIC 2.5–7.5 μg/mL). Also no activity of <i>C. uncialis</i> extracts against <i>E. coli</i> and <i>C. albicans</i> was observed.</p></div

<i>In vitro</i> anti-denaturation and anti-hyaluronidase activities of extracts and galactolipids from leaves of <i>Impatiens parviflora</i> DC

<p>The <i>in vitro</i> anti-denaturation and anti-hyaluronidase activities of <i>Impatiens parviflora</i> extracts and isolated galactolipids (MGDG-1, DGDG-1) were investigated. This is the first report on these compounds in <i>I. parviflora</i>. All extracts showed anti-hyaluronidase activity, but only methanolic extract from fresh leaves exhibited significant activity against heat-induced denaturation of BSA in a dose-dependent manner. At 500 μg/mL, the extract and the reference drug showed 79.05% and 99.81% inhibition of protein denaturation, respectively. These results indicate that fresh leaves of <i>I. parviflora</i> may be beneficial in inflammatory conditions, especially those associated with protein denaturation, such as rheumatoid arthritis. The study revealed that only MGDG-1 showed weak activity in anti-denaturation assay but both galactolipids were potent inhibitors of hyaluronidase. MGDG-1 completely inhibited the enzyme activity at the concentration of 127.9 μg/mL. These results indicate the potential of galactolipids in the treatment of diseases associated with the loss of hyaluronic acid.</p