ABSTRACT
Nearly 80% of the world's population trusts traditional medicine and plant-based drug compounds to improve health, and more than 50% of women who participated in a study have used herbal remedies during pregnancy. Bocconia frutescens L. is a plant native to tropical America, where infusion of its leaves has been widely used for the treatment of several gastrointestinal disorders. We have already shown that orogastric consumption of B. frutescens L. during the organogenesis period at concentrations equivalent to human consumption produces teratogenic effects in rats, but effects on progeny development have not yet been studied. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible association between the consumption of B. frutescens L. at a dose equivalent to that consumed by humans and the neurological development of rat progeny. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered lyophilized B. frutescens L. extract at 300 mg/kg/day or vehicle via the orogastric route during the organogenesis period (gestation days 7-13). The physical development and sensory and motor maturation of their offspring during lactation were analyzed with a battery of reflex and physical tests. B. frutescens L. produced a significant delay in physical development and sensorimotor maturation, compared to the control group. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis showed signals for both flavonoids and alkaloids in the B. frutescens L. extract. We conclude that the delay in physical and neurological development could be interpreted as alterations in the maturation of some neuronal circuitries induced by B. frutescens L.
Subject(s)
Plant Extracts , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , Rats, Wistar , Animals , Female , Rats , Pregnancy , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , MaleABSTRACT
The methanolic crude extract from the roots of Jacquinia flammea showed moderate antifungal activity against dermatophytes and very strong antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The bioassay-guided purification of the extract, using a combination of vacuum-liquid chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, allowed the identification of sakurasosaponin as the main metabolite responsible for the antifungal activity.
Subject(s)
Antifungal Agents/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Roots/chemistry , Primulaceae/chemistry , Saponins/pharmacology , Antifungal Agents/analysis , Antifungal Agents/chemistry , Arthrodermataceae/drug effects , Chromatography, Liquid , Colletotrichum/drug effects , Methanol , Molecular Structure , Plant Extracts/analysis , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Saponins/analysis , Saponins/chemistryABSTRACT
Extracts from leaves, stems, and roots of twelve plants used commonly in Yucatecan traditional medicine were evaluated in the DNA-methyl green assay. Twenty one extracts showed DNA-interacting activity, and nine of them, belonging to five plant species, presented a displacement activity of 5% or higher. The highest activity (17.6%) was detected in the leaf extract of Heliotropium angiospermum.
Subject(s)
DNA/drug effects , Medicine, Traditional , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plants, Medicinal , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Ethidium/pharmacology , Methyl Green , Mexico , Models, Biological , Pharmacognosy , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Plant StructuresABSTRACT
Bioactivity of extracts from leaves, stems and roots of twelve plants commonly used in Yucatecan traditional medicine were evaluated in four bioassays. Crude extracts from ten plants showed significant activity in the inhibition of bleaching of beta-carotene assay, while thirteen extracts showed activity in the reduction of 2, 2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) assay. In the antimicrobial bioassay, the major activity was presented by the root extract of Jatropha gaumeri and in the beta-glucosidase inhibition activity assay the strongest activity was observed in the stem and root extracts of Solanum hirtum.
