Evaluation of the Gastroprotective Effect of the Flavonoid Complex from Lychnis chalcedonica L. on the Models of Experimental Ulcerogenesis.

Using rat and mouse models of neurogenic, ethanol-induced, and indometacin-induced damage to the gastric mucosa we demonstrated that course preventive treatment with flavonoid complex from aerial parts of Lychnis chalcedonica L. increased the resistance of gastric mucosa to ulcerogenic factors of different etiology. The gastroprotective effect of the phytocomplex in a dose range of 16-1600 µg/kg was comparable with that of the reference drug plantaglucide and was superior to that of the reference drugs eleutherococcus extract and methyluracil in the therapeutic doses. The antiulcerogenic activity of Lychnis chalcedonica flavonoid complex considerably exceeded activity of Lychnis chalcedonica L. extract demonstrated in our previous experiments.

Two Ecdysteroids Isolated from Micropropagated Lychnis flos-cuculi and the Biological Activity of Plant Material.

Genetically uniform plant material, derived from Lychnis flos-cuculi propagated in vitro, was used for the isolation of 20-hydroxyecdysone and polypodine B and subjected to an evaluation of the antifungal and antiamoebic activity. The activity of 80% aqueous methanolic extracts, their fractions, and isolated ecdysteroids were studied against pathogenic Acanthamoeba castellani. Additionally, a Microtox® acute toxicity assay was performed. It was found that an 80% methanolic fraction of root extract exerts the most potent amoebicidal activity at IC50 of 0.06 mg/mL at the 3rd day of treatment. Both ecdysteroids show comparable activity at IC50 of 0.07 mg/mL. The acute toxicity of 80% fractions at similar concentrations is significantly higher than that of 40% fractions. Crude extracts exhibited moderate antifungal activity, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) within the range of 1.25-2.5 mg/mL. To the best of our knowledge, the present report is the first to show the biological activity of L. flos-cuculi in terms of the antifungal and antiamoebic activities and acute toxicity. It is also the first isolation of the main ecdysteroids from L. flos-cuculi micropropagated, ecdysteroid-rich plant material.

Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Activities of the Complex of Flavonoids from Lychnis chalcedonica L.

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the complex of flavonoids from Lychnis chalcedonica L. were studied in the models of acute aseptic inflammation induced by carrageenan, histamine, and serotonin and acetic acid-induced painful chemical stimulation. It is demonstrated that course treatment with flavonoids derived from Lychnis chalcedonica L. produced a stable pharmacological effect comparable with that of the reference anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac.

Antiulcer activity of extracts of ecdysteroid-containing plants of genera Lychnis and Silene of the Caryophyllaceae family.

We studied antiulcer activity of the extracts of ecdysteroid-containing plants of the Caryophyllaceae family: Lychnis chalcedonica L., Silene viridiflora L.Sp.Pl., and Silene frivaldszkyana Hampe. Experiments on the model of neurogenic and aspirin-induced ulcerogenesis showed unidirectional and pronounced gastroprotective effects of S. viridiflora and L. chalcedonica extracts comparable to the efficacy of famotidine. In these models, a course of intragastric treatment with the extracts reduced ulcerative lesions of all types.

Flavone C-glycosides from Lychnis senno and their antioxidative activity.

A new flavone C-glycoside, 5-O-acetyl-2"-alpha-rhamnopyranosylisovitexin (1), was isolated from the aerial parts of Lychnis senno Siebold et Zucc. (Family Caryophyllaceae), along with 2"-alpha-rhamnopyranosylisovitexin (2), 2"-a-rhamnopyranosylisoorientin (3) and isoorientin 3'-mehyl ether (4). All these compounds were isolated for the first time from L. senno and their antioxidative activity was analyzed by the 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical-scavenging method. Compound 3 showed moderate antioxidative activity.

Possibility for selective accumulation of polyphenolics in tissue cultures of senno (Lychnis senno Siebold et Zucc.).

Senno (Lychnis senno Siebold et Zucc.), a traditional ornamental plant in Japan had been used as a crude drug acting as natural blood thinners. Since tissue culture protocols have been established, we analyzed polyphenol accumulation profiles in shoot culture, multiple shoot culture, and callus culture using the technique of HPLC with a Photodiode Array Detector. By comparing the HPLC profiles at 220-400 nm from extracts of different cultures, 14 putative flavonoids were confirmed as major metabolites in the cultures of senno. Among the 14 compounds detected, 6 were tissue specific metabolites. It appears that the biosynthetic pathway of polyphenolics in Senno is regulated or strongly influenced by how tissues are regenerated and maintained in the in vitro environment. Hence, it may be possible to selectively produce novel secondary metabolites including flavonoids by engineering a target tissue culture procedure developed in the present study.

Preliminary phytochemical investigation of Lychnis flos-cuculi herbs.

Five polyphenolic compounds were identified from the diethyl ether and ethyl acetate extracts of the herb of ragged robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi L. (Caryophyllaceae). The identified and isolated compounds were established as a caffeic acid, luteolin, apigenin, apigenin 8-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside (vitexin) and luteolin 8-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside (orientin) by means of extensive spectroscopic studies, including UV and NMR, and confirmed by their chromatographic behavior--TLC and HPLC analyses. This is the first report of occurrence of these compounds in L. flos-cuculi.

Sequence determination of lychnin, a type 1 ribosome-inactivating protein from Lychnis chalcedonica seeds.

The complete amino acid sequence of lychnin, a type 1 ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) isolated from Lychnis chalcedonica seeds, has been determined by automated Edman degradation and ESI-QTOF mass spectrometry. Lychnin consists of 234 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 26 131.14 Da. All amino acid residues involved in the formation of the RIP active site (Tyr69, Tyr119, Glu170, Arg173 and Trp203) are fully conserved. Furthermore, a fast MALDI-TOF experiment showed that two out of three cysteinyl residues (Cys32 and Cys115) form a disulfide bridge, while Cys214 is in the thiol form, which makes it suitable for linking carrier molecules to generate immunotoxins and other conjugates.

Hemorheological and cerebroprotective activity of Lychnis chalcedonica L. extract in rats with cerebral ischemia.

Considerable hemorheological changes and depression of EEG parameters were revealed in rats with cerebral ischemia. Course peroral treatment with scarlet lightning extract in a daily dose of 150 mg/kg for 5 days reduced the severity of hemorheological disorders. It manifested in a decrease in whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, erythrocyte aggregation, and fibrinogen concentration and increase in deformability. The extract of lightning extract improved EEG activity in rats with cerebral ischemia.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of two ribosome-inactivating proteins: lychnin and dianthin 30.

Lychnin from the seeds of Lychnis chalcedonica and dianthin 30 from the leaves of Dianthus caryophyllus belong to the type 1 ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs). They have been crystallized by the vapour-diffusion method and the crystals diffracted to 1.7 and 1.3 A, respectively, using a synchrotron source. Lychnin and dianthin 30 crystals both belong to space group P2(1) with one protein chain in the asymmetric unit. The structure of dianthin 30 has been solved by molecular replacement using the coordinates of saporin-S6 as a model. The structure determination of lychnin, the sequence of which is not yet available, is in progress using the coordinates of other RIPs as models for molecular replacement.