Search results for "Terpene"
showing 10 items of 816 documents
Phytochemical, ecological and antioxidant evaluation of wild Sicilian thyme: Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav.
2016
In a broad survey conducted throughout the Sicily region, 45 different sites were identified where thyme grows wild. All the biotypes collected were classified as Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav. (syn. Thymus capitatus (L.) Hoffmanns. & Link). Cluster analysis based on the main morphological characteristics of the plant led to the division of the biotypes into 3 major groups. All samples were analyzed for their secondary phytochemical metabolites identified in the extracts and the essential oils. LC-UV-DAD/ESI-MS and GC-FID/GC-MS have been applied to characterize the extracts and the essential oils, respectively. In the extracts, 15 flavonoid derivatives with taxifolin-di-O-glucoside and thymusin…
Phytochemical and pharmacological properties of essential oils from Cedrus species
2017
Natural products frequently exert pharmacological activities. The present review gives an overview of the ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology of the Cedrus genus, e.g. cytotoxic, spasmolytic immunomodulatory, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. Cancer patients frequently seek remedies from traditional medicinal plants that are believed to exert less side effects than conventional therapy with synthetic drugs. A long-lasting goal of anti-cancer and anti-microbial therapy research is to find compounds with reduced side effects compared to currently approved drugs. In this respect, Cedrus species might be of interest. The essential oil isolated from Cedrus libani…
Monoterpene derivatives from the flowers of Ferulago campestris, (Apiaceae).
2013
Ferulago campestris (Besser) Grec., (Ferula galbanifera (Mill) Kock. = F. campestris), finocchiazzo, is an annual or perennial herb of the Mediterranean area. In this paper the phytochemical studies of the CH2Cl2 and MeOH extracts of the flowers are described. Several ferulol derivatives and a new 10-hydroxy-verbenone ester (7) were isolated. The structure of the new compound was established by extensive NMR analysis, including HMBC and HSQC pulse sequences.
Chemical Composition of Essential Oils from Athamanta sicula
2008
The genus Athamanta L. (Apiaceae) consists of about nine species, which are distributed mainly in southeastern Europe. Some of the Athamanta species are used in traditional medicine as antiseptics, diuretics, and in the therapy of sclerosis [1]. Phytochemical studies of species from the genus Athamanta report the presence of coumarins [2–5], flavonoids [6], and fatty acids [7]. Athamanta sicula L. is an annual perennial herb, growing to a height of 30 to 100 cm. It occurs in calcareous vertical cliffs 100 meters to 1500 meters above sea level and is widespread in South Italy, particularly in Sicily. In the popular medicine, it is known as “spaccapietre” (rock splitters), and infusions of it…
Oxygenated Cembrene Diterpenes from Sarcophyton convolutum: Cytotoxic Sarcoconvolutum A–E
2021
The soft coral genus Sarcophyton contains the enzymatic machinery to synthesize a multitude of cembrene-type diterpenes. Herein, highly oxygenated cembrenoids, sarcoconvolutum A–E (1–5) were purified and characterized from an ethyl acetate extract of the red sea soft coral, Sarcophyton convolutum. Compounds were assemblies according to spectroscopic methods including FTIR, 1D- and 2D-NMR as well as HRMS. Metabolite cytotoxicity was tested against lung adenocarcinoma, cervical cancer, and oral-cavity carcinoma (A549, HeLa and HSC-2, respectively). The most cytotoxic compound, (4) was observed to be active against cell lines A549 and HSC-2 with IC50 values of 49.70 and 53.17 μM, respectively.
Identification of Bioactive Compounds in Polar and Nonpolar Extracts of Araujia sericifera
2017
Abstract Araujia sericifera is a native perennial, climbing laticiferous shrub from South America that is currently naturalized in many other countries. Previous data describe promising properties for A. sericifera, but no systematic study of its bioactive compounds and possible medicinal applications has been conducted to date. In the present study, aerial parts of A. sericifera (leaves, stems, and fruits) were explored by combining GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy analysis for both nonpolar (hexane) and polar (methanol) extracts. The hexanic extracts contained high amounts of pentacyclic triterpenes including two new metabolites, 3-tigloyl germanicol (18) and 3-tigloyl lupeol (19). The methanol…
Total Synthesis and Biological Investigation of (−)‐Artemisinin: The Antimalarial Activity of Artemisinin Is not Stereospecific
2018
Here, we describe an efficient and diversity-oriented entry to both (-)-artemisinin (1) and its natural antipode (+)-artemisinin, starting from commercially and readily available S-(+)- and R-(-)-citronellene, respectively. Subsequently, we answered the still open question regarding the specificity of artemisinins action. By using a drug-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum NF54 strain, we showed that the antimalarial activity of artemisinin is not stereospecific. Our straightforward and biomimetic approach to this natural endoperoxide enables the synthesis of artemisinin derivatives that are not accessible through applying current methods and may help to address the problem of emerging resistan…
Oxidative stress response of tumor cells: microarray-based comparison between artemisinins and anthracyclines
2004
The antimalarial artemisinins also reveal profound cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. Artemisinins harbor an endoperoxide bridge whose cleavage results in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and/or artemisinin carbon-centered free radicals. Established cancer drugs such as anthracyclines also form ROS and free radicals that are responsible for the cardiotoxicity of anthracyclines. In contrast, artemisinins do not reveal cardiotoxicity. In the present investigation, we compared the cytotoxic activities of different artemisinins (artemisinin, artesunate, arteether, artemether, artemisitene, dihydroartemisinylester stereoisomers) in 60 cell lines of the National Cancer Institu…
Toxicity of the antimalarial artemisinin and its dervatives.
2010
As long as no effective malaria vaccine is available, chemotherapy belongs to the most important weapons fighting malaria. One of the most promising new drug developments is the sesquiterpene artemisinin (ARS) and its derivatives, e.g., artemether, arteether, and sodium artesunate. Large clinical studies and meta-analyses did not show serious side effects, although proper monitoring of adverse effects in developing countries might not be a trivial task. There is a paucity of large-scale clinical trials suitable to detect rare but significant toxicity. Therefore, a final and definitive statement on the safety of artemisinins still cannot be made. In contrast, animal experiments show consider…
Antibacterial and antifungal activities of Otanthus maritimus (L.) Hoffmanns.Link essential oil from Sicily.
2013
The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the flowers of Otanthus maritimus L., a perennial plant growing wild in maritime sands in the Mediterranean region, was investigated by GC and GC-MS analyses. Totally 66 were identified. The oil was dominated by the high content of monoterpene compounds, especially oxygenated monoterpenes which accounted for 73.1%. The most abundant components were yomogi alcohol (20.8%), camphor (15.8%), artemisyl acetate (15.3%) and artemisia alcohol (13.7%). The oil was tested against two Gram (+) and six Gram (-) bacterial strains, both American Type Culture Collection standard strains and clinically isolated (CI), one potentially pathogenic ye…