Boophone disticha (Amaryllidaceae) is widely used in traditional medicine in southern Africa. Several alkaloids, volatile oils and fatty acids have been isolated from the plant. However, there has been no literature report of a triterpene from B. disticha. Cycloeucalenol, a cycloartane triterpene, together with its regio-isomer, was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the bulbs using col...

Apoptosis with premature termination of hair follicle growth induces several types of hair loss and is one of the crucial factors of hair loss. Astragaloside IV, which is a major component of Astragalus membranaceus, is a cycloartane triterpene saponin. Although an anti-apoptotic effect of Astragaloside IV has been reported, its effects against hair loss have not been investigated. To explore t...

Cimicifuga foetida, an Asian Cimicifuga species, has been employed as a cooling and detoxification agent in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. For this herb, two cycloartane triterpene glycosides isolated from the rhizomes have demonstrated cytotoxicity on rat tumor and human cancer cell lines. Since human Hsp27 is increased in various human cancers and exhibits cytoprotective ac...

Bu-yang-huan-wu-tang (BYHWT) is a popular Traditional Chinese Medicine formula consisting of seven herbal medicines (Astragalus membranaceus, Angelica sinensis, Paeonia lactiflora, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Carthamus tinctorius, Amygdalus persica and Pheretima aspergillum), that has been used in China for centuries to overcome stroke-induced disability. To ensure the consistency of quality, a reli...

Plants have served as the fundamental basis for human pharmacopoeia since ancient times. Today, roughly 9% of all plant life on Earth has a documented use in traditional medicine. We studied chemistry and antimicrobial activity more than 700 species, including those used medicine topical formulations to treat inflammatory skin diseases, such atopic dermatitis (AD). From this work, we identified...

23-O-Acetylshengmanol 3-O-β-D-xylopyranoside (Ac-SM) isolated from Actaea racemosa L.-an herbal remedy for the treatment of mild menopausal disorders-has been recently identified as a novel efficacious modulator of GABAA receptors composed of α1-, β2-, and γ2S-subunits. In the present study, we analyzed a potential subunit-selective modulation of GABA-induced chloride currents (IGABA) at GABA c...

the dried plant was extracted with dichloromethane and after defatting with hexane, transferred repeatedly on silica columns using dichloromethane-hexane and ethyl acetate-hexane as mobile phases. finally the fractions were purified by high performance liquid chromatography using a pack-sil column and hexane: ethyl acetate as mobile phase. the structures of the isolated compounds included: cycl...

The dried plant was extracted with dichloromethane and after defatting with hexane, transferred repeatedly on silica columns using dichloromethane-hexane and ethyl acetate-hexane as mobile phases. Finally the fractions were purified by high performance liquid chromatography using a Pack-Sil column and hexane: Ethyl acetate as mobile phase. The structures of the isolated compounds included: cycl...