1. Antiulcerogenic activity of Alchornea castaneaefolia: Effects on somatostatin, gastrin and prostaglandin.

Hiruma-Lima CA, Calvo TR, Rodrigues CM, Andrade FD, Vilegas W, Brito AR.

Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Biociencias, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Rubiao Junior s/n, CP 510, CEP 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.

PMID: 16253451 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

2. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of a medicinal tincture from Pedilanthus tithymaloides.

Abreu P, Matthew S, Gonzalez T, Costa D, Segundo MA, Fernandes E.

REQUIMTE, Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.

Life Sci. 2005 Oct 10; [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 16223515 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

3. Putranjivain A from Euphorbia jolkini inhibits proliferation of human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells via blocking cell cycle progression and inducing apoptosis.

Kuo PL, Cho CY, Hsu YL, Lin TC, Lin CC.

Department of Biotechnology, Chia-Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, Taiwan.

Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2005 Sep 16; [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 16171837 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

4. Anti-inflammatory activities of constituents isolated from Phyllanthus polyphyllus.

Rao YK, Fang SH, Tzeng YM.

Institute of Biotechnology, Chaoyang University of Technology, Wufeng 413, Taiwan, ROC.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Sep 14; [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 16169167 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

5. Anti-bacterial activity of Euphorbia fusiformis-A rare medicinal herb.

Natarajan D, Britto SJ, Srinivasan K, Nagamurugan N, Mohanasundari C, Perumal G.

Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli 620002, Tamil Nadu, India.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Oct 31;102(1):123-6.

PMID: 16159702 [PubMed - in process]

6. Inhibition of P-glycoprotein transport activity in a resistant mouse lymphoma cell line by diterpenic lactones.

Ferreira MJ, Gyemant N, Madureira AM, Molnar J.

Centro de Estudos de Ciencias Farmaceuticas, Faculdade de Farmacia da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. das Forcas Armadas, 1600-083 Lisboa, Portugal. mjuferreira@ff.ul.pt

Anticancer Res. 2005 Sep-Oct;25(5):3259-62.

PMID: 16101136 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

7. A new cytotoxic daphnane diterpenoid, rediocide G, from Trigonostemon reidioides.

Tempeam A, Thasana N, Pavaro C, Chuakul W, Siripong P, Ruchirawat S.

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 2005 Oct;53(10):1321-3. Related Articles, Links

PMID: 16204992 [PubMed - in process]

1. Antiulcerogenic activity of Alchornea castaneaefolia: Effects on somatostatin, gastrin and prostaglandin.

Hiruma-Lima CA, Calvo TR, Rodrigues CM, Andrade FD, Vilegas W, Brito AR.

Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Biociencias, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Rubiao Junior s/n, CP 510, CEP 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.

The hydroethanolic extract of the leaves (HEL) and bark (HEB) obtained from Alchornea castaneaefolia (Euphorbiaceae) were investigated for their ability to prevent ulceration of the gastric mucosa in animal models. HEL (500 and 1000mg/kg) and HEB (1000mg/kg) significantly reduced the gastric injuries induced by the combination of HCl/ethanol and lowered the severity of gastric damage formation induced by indomethacin/bethanechol in mice. Further investigation showed that HEL also inhibited formation of ulcers in mice submitted to stress and pylorus ligature, but HEL did not modify gastric juice parameters in Shay mice. HEL was also effective in promoting the healing process in chronic gastric ulcer induced by acetic acid in rats. An enriched flavonoidic fraction (EFF at dose of 100mg/kg) obtained from HEL reduced gastric lesions induced by HCl/ethanol and indomethacin/bethanechol in mice. Although EFF did not modify the amount of free mucus production by gastric mucosa, it was able to increase prostaglandin production. When administered to rats submitted to ethanol-induced gastric lesions, EFF increased the somatostatin serum levels, while the gastrin serum levels were proportionally decreased. Phytochemical investigation on HEL and EFF led to the isolation of flavonoids glycosides as the main compounds, thus suggesting that these substances may be involved in the observed antiulcer activity.

PMID: 16253451 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

2. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of a medicinal tincture from Pedilanthus tithymaloides.

Abreu P, Matthew S, Gonzalez T, Costa D, Segundo MA, Fernandes E.

REQUIMTE, Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.

Life Sci. 2005 Oct 10; [Epub ahead of print]

Pedilanthus tithymaloides (L.) Poit. (Euphorbiaceae) is a low tropical American shrub with a reported wide range of healing properties such as emetic, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiseptic, antihemorrhagic, antiviral, antitumoral, and abortive. In the present study, a tincture from P. tithymaloides collected in Cuba was evaluated for its in vivo anti-inflammatory activity, using the rat paw oedema assay, and for its in vitro scavenging effects on reactive oxygen species (ROS) (HO(.), O(2)(.-), HOCl, ROO(.) and H(2)O(2)), reactive nitrogen species (RNS) (ONOO(-) and (.)NO), and DPPH(.) radical. The protein, free amino acid, and phenolic contents of the tincture were also determined. Pertaining to the anti-inflammatory activity, the intraperitoneal administration of the tincture inhibited carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema, whereas in the scavenging assays the tincture showed to be effective against all the assayed ROS and RNS, specially for HO(.) (IC(50)=345+/-77 mug/mL), O(2)(.-) (IC(50)=143+/-7 mug/mL), HOCl (IC(50)=113+/-20 mug/mL), ONOO(-) (IC(50)=44+/-3 mug/mL), and (.)NO (IC(50)=54+/-4 mug/mL), but displayed weak activity in the DPPH. assay. The protein content of the tincture was 0.70%, and twenty free amino acids were identified and quantified. The content of total phenolics was 17.4+/-0.15 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry material. These results provide scientific support for the empirical use of P. tithymaloides tincture as an anti-inflammatory medicine.

PMID: 16223515 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

3. Putranjivain A from Euphorbia jolkini inhibits proliferation of human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells via blocking cell cycle progression and inducing apoptosis.

Kuo PL, Cho CY, Hsu YL, Lin TC, Lin CC.

Department of Biotechnology, Chia-Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, Taiwan.

Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2005 Sep 16; [Epub ahead of print]

Putranjivain A, isolated from the whole plant of Euphorbia jolkini Bioss (Euphorbiaceae), was investigated for its antiproliferative activity in human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells. The results showed that putranjivain A inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 by blocking cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase and inducing apoptosis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that putranjivain A increased the expression of p21/WAF1 concomitantly as MCF-7 cell underwent G0/G1 arrest. An enhancement in Fas/APO-1 and its two forms of ligands, membrane-bound Fas ligand (mFasL) and soluble Fas ligand (sFasL), might be responsible for the apoptotic effect induced by putranjivain A. Our study reports here for the first time that the induction of p21/WAF1 and the activity of Fas/Fas ligand apoptotic system may participate in the antiproliferative activity of putranjivain A in MCF-7 cells.

PMID: 16171837 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

4. Anti-inflammatory activities of constituents isolated from Phyllanthus polyphyllus.

Rao YK, Fang SH, Tzeng YM.

Institute of Biotechnology, Chaoyang University of Technology, Wufeng 413, Taiwan, ROC.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Sep 14; [Epub ahead of print]

Four compounds, including one benzenoid, 4-O-methylgallic acid (1), together with three arylnaphthalide lignans, namely phyllamyricin C (2), justicidin B (3) and diphyllin (4) were isolated from the whole plants of Phyllanthus polyphyllus L. (Euphorbiaceae). This was the first isolation report of compounds 1-4 from this plant species. The in vitro inhibitory effects of these compounds were evaluated on the production of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-12), from LPS/IFN-gamma activated murine peritoneal macrophages. The results indicated that the 50% inhibition concentration (IC(50)) values of NO production from activated peritoneal macrophages by compounds 1-4 were 100, 25, 12.5 and 50muM, respectively. In parallel, these dilutions were approximately inhibited in a similar manner to that observed for cytokines (TNF-alpha, and IL-12) production. On the other hand, at 100muM concentration compounds 3 and 4 showed 50% inhibition of NO production from peritoneal macrophages that had been pre-activated with LPS/IFN-gamma for 24h, whereas compounds 1 and 2 inhibited only about 20 and 10%, respectively. These results support the use of this plant for the treatment of inflammatory diseases in oriental traditional medicine.

PMID: 16169167 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

5. Anti-bacterial activity of Euphorbia fusiformis-A rare medicinal herb.

Natarajan D, Britto SJ, Srinivasan K, Nagamurugan N, Mohanasundari C, Perumal G.

Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli 620002, Tamil Nadu, India.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Oct 31;102(1):123-6.

Euphorbia fusiformis Buch.-Ham. ex. D.Don (Euphorbiaceae) is a rare medicinal herb. Aqueous and organic solvent extracts of the leaves and rootstocks were investigated for anti-bacterial properties by using disc diffusion and well-in agar methods, against pathogenic strains of Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhii A and Salmonella typhii B). The different extracts differed significantly in their anti-bacterial properties with the methanolic extract being very effective followed by acetone and chloroform extracts. Aqueous and ethanolic extract showed very least activity. The result highlights that rootstock extracts had good anti-bacterial properties than leaf extracts. The results of this study support the use of this plant in traditional medicine to treat fever, wound infections and intestinal disorders.

PMID: 16159702 [PubMed - in process]

6. Inhibition of P-glycoprotein transport activity in a resistant mouse lymphoma cell line by diterpenic lactones.

Ferreira MJ, Gyemant N, Madureira AM, Molnar J.

Centro de Estudos de Ciencias Farmaceuticas, Faculdade de Farmacia da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. das Forcas Armadas, 1600-083 Lisboa, Portugal. mjuferreira@ff.ul.pt

Anticancer Res. 2005 Sep-Oct;25(5):3259-62.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is believed to be a major reason for the failure of cancer treatment. It is in most cases caused by the activity of the various ABC transporters, multidrug resistance (MDR) gene-encoded p-glycoproteins that pump anticancer drugs out of the cells. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP1) are the most important and widely studied members of the ABC superfamily of transporters. The ability of four diterpenic lactones isolated from Euphorbia species to modulate the transport activity of P-gp in mouse lymphoma cells was evaluated by flow cytometry. The reversion of MDR was investigated by using a standard functional assay with rhodamine 123 as a fluorescent substrate analogue of doxorubicin. Verapamil was applied as a positive control. All the compounds were able to reverse the MDR of the tested human MDR1 gene-transfected mouse lymphoma cells, in a concentration-dependent manner from 4 to 40 microg/mL, in a short-term experiment below the cytotoxic doses.

PMID: 16101136 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

7. A new cytotoxic daphnane diterpenoid, rediocide G, from Trigonostemon reidioides.

Tempeam A, Thasana N, Pavaro C, Chuakul W, Siripong P, Ruchirawat S.

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 2005 Oct;53(10):1321-3. Related Articles, Links

Rediocide G (7), a new daphnane diterpenoid, was isolated from the roots of Trigonostemon reidioides (Euphorbiaceae), together with two congeners, rediocide A and rediocide B, (+)-syringaresinol, scopoletin, tomentin and stigmasterol. The structure of the new natural product was elucidated by comparison of its NMR and mass spectral data with those of previously known rediocides and confirmed by extensive 2D NMR spectral analysis. Rediocide G (7) was found to be cytotoxic to various cancer cell lines.

PMID: 16204992 [PubMed - in process]