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Anvillea garcinii

Calotropis procera is traditionally used for treating many diseases including ulcers and tumors. It was thus deemed of interest to investigate and compare the antiulcer and cytotoxic activities of C. procera leaf, flower, and fruit extracts in an attempt to verify its traditional uses. Phytochemical studies on the fruits, flowers, and leaves of C. procera, collected from the desert of Saudi Arabia, led to the isolation of one new lignan 7′-methoxy-3′-O-demethyl-tanegool-9-O-β-d-glucopyranoside and five known compounds from the flowers, four compounds from leaves, and a flavonoid glycoside and a lignan glycoside from the fruits. The structures of compounds were determined by spectroscopic techniques. Ethanol extracts of the three parts of C. procera were evaluated for their antiulcer activity and we found that the leaf extract possessed a powerful antiulcer activity which could be considered as a promising drug candidate. All the extracts and the isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, HCT-116, HepG-2, and A-549 human cancer cell lines. Compound 2 was highly active on all the cell lines, whereas compounds 5 and 11 were more selective on colon and liver cell lines. Compound 10 demonstrated a significant activity on liver and lung cancer cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conocarpus lancifolius (Combretaceae), ... in Arabic, is distributed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a heat-tolerant Saudi medicinal plant, demonstrates prominent antidiabetic potential and the fruit extract fruits showed cytotoxicity against MRC-5 cancer cell line, as well as prominent antiprotozoal and antibacterial activities. The objective of this study is to isolate the compounds and evaluate the anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, PPAR agonistic and antioxidant activities of extracts and pure constituents from C. lancifolius. A new trimethoxyellagic acid derivative 1 and two compounds, kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside 2 and α-sitosterol glucoside 3 were isolated from the fruits of Conocarpus lancifolius, a heat-tolerant plant. Compound 2 showed strong dual activation for PPARβ and PPARγ with 2.6 fold increment in PPARβ activity, while 2.2 fold increment in PPARγ at 25pg/mL. This is first report on isolation and screening of different biological activities of extract and pure constituents from fruits of C. lancifolius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Literature survey proved the use of the powdered sun-dried bark and roots of Celtis africana for the treatment of cancer in South Africa. Objective: The aim of this study was to dofurther isolation work on the ethyl acetate fraction and to investigate the cytotoxic activities of the various fractions and isolated compound. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxicity of petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol fractions and compound 1 were tested on mouse lymphoma cell line L5178Y using the microculture tetrazolium assay. Results: One new glucosphingolipid 1 was isolated from the aerial parts of C. africana. The structure of the new compound was determined by extensive analysis by one-dimensional and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The ethyl acetate fraction and compound 1 showed strong cytotoxic activity with an EC50 value of 8.3 μg/mL and 7.8 μg/mL, respectively, compared with Kahalalide F positive control (6.3 μg/mL). Conclusion: This is the first report of the occurrence of a cytotoxic glucosphingolipid in family Ulmaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new flavonol glycosides, brachysides C and D, together with three known flavonol glycosides, were isolated from the leaves ofCaragana brachyantha. The structures of brachysides C and D were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis as quercetin 5-O-[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-d-glucopyranoside]-7-O-[α-l-rhamnopyranoside] and quercetin 5-O-[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-d-glucopyranoside]-7-O-[α-l-rhamnopyranoside]-4′-O-[α-l-rhamnopyranoside], respectively. The presence of flavonol tetra- and triglycosides bearing a sugar moiety at position 5 was the first report from this genusCaragana. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The effects of extracts and sub-fractions of Avicennia marina, Crocus sativus and sildenafil on the sexual behavior of male rats and their effects on the intracavernosal pressure (I.CV), intracavernosal cyclic GMP and dihydrotestosterone plasma level were examined. The sexual behavior was followed for four hours using infra-red video cameras to quantify the effects on various male sexual behaviors. The results revealed that the active sub-fraction in case of A. marina was the hexane fraction of the chloroform extracts (C/H) whereas that of C. sativus was the hexane fraction of the alcoholic extract (A/H). (C/H), (A/H) and sildenafil significantly increased the total sexual stimulation index from 53.8±2.7 (control) to 406±7.8, 225±4 and 401±30.1, respectively (P<0.001, N=6). They significantly increased the index of successful mounting and ejaculation from 2.6±0.5 (control) to 40±2.7, 21±2.3 and 18±1.7, respectively (P<0.01, N=6). They significantly increased the cyclic GMP level from 0.94±0.07 (control) to 3.1±0.13, 1.59±0.11 and 3.66±0.19 ng/mg wet tissue, respectively (P<0.05, N=7). They did not affect dihydrotestosterone plasma level. (C/H), (A/H) and sildenafil increased the (I.CV) pressure by 4.8±0.3, 1.4±0.8 and 4.2±0.9 mmHg. The (C/H) seemed to be more active than sildenafil and twice active than (A/H). Both extracts and sildenafil acted via an increase in cyclic GMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous investigation of the methanol extract of Plicosepalus curviflorus leaves led to the isolation of two new flavane gallates (1, 2), together with other compounds including quercetin (3). The stems of P. curviflorus are used traditionally for the treatment of cancer in Yemen. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of the plant methanol extract as well as isolated compounds (1-3). Materials and Methods: The human cancer cell lines used were; MCF-7, HepG-2, HCT-116, Hep-2, HeLa and normal, Vero cell line using the Crystal Violet Staining method (CVS). Results: Quercetin (3) possessed the highest anticancer effect against all five cell lines (IC50 ranging from 3.6 to 16.2 µg/ml). It was followed by 2S, 3R-3, 3', 4', 5, 7-pentahydroxyflavane-5-O-gallate (1), with IC50 ranging from 11.6 to 38.8 µg/ml. The weakest anticancer activity was given by 2S, 3R-3,3',4',5,5', 7-hexahydroxyflavane-3',5-di-O-gallate (2) with IC50 ranging from 39.8 to above 50 µg/ml, compared to vinblastine sulphate as reference drug. Colon, liver and breast cell lines seemed to be more sensitive to the tested compounds than the cervical and laryngeal cell lines. Concerning the cytotoxic effect on Vero cell line, the pentahydroxyflavane-5-O-gallate (1) showed the highest IC50 (138.2 µg/ml), while quercetin exhibited the lowest IC50 to Vero cells (30.5 µg/ml), compared to vinblastine sulphate as reference drug (IC50: 39.7 µg/ml). Conclusion: The results suggest the possible use of compounds 1 and 3 as anticancer drugs especially against colon and liver cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]