Ardisia elliptica Thunberg (Myrsinaceae) is a medicinal plant traditionally used for alleviating chest pains, treatment of fever, diarrhoea, liver poisoning and parturition complications. The objectives of the study were to investigate the effect of A. elliptica on collagen induced platelet aggregation and to isolate and purify potential antiplatelet components. Fresh A. elliptica leaves were e...

Sterols have important functions in membranes and signaling. Plant sterols are synthesized via the isoprenoid pathway by cyclization of 2,3-oxidosqualene to cycloartenol. Plants also convert 2,3-oxidosqualene to other sterol-like cyclization products, including the simple triterpene β-amyrin. The function of β-amyrin per se is unknown, but this molecule can serve as an intermediate in the synth...

BACKGROUND Prunus africana is used traditionally in many countries for the treatment of cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, compounds from the leaves and bark of this plant were isolated and tested for their cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction in two human cancer cell lines (hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and colorectal carcinoma (Caco-2)) and a non...

A molecular docking approach was employed to evaluate the binding affinity of six triterpenes, namely epifriedelanol, friedelin, ?-amyrin, ?-amyrin acetate, ?-amyrin and bauerenyl towards cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1). Molecular studies showed that epifriedelanol had strongest CB1. dynamics simulation revealed friedelin engaged in stable non-bonding interactions by a pocket close active sit...

Aralia elata is an important medicinal plant in China; it produces large amounts of oleanane type triterpene saponins. A full-length cDNA encoding β-amyrin synthase (designated as AeAS) was isolated from young leaves of A. elata by reverse transcription-PCR. The full-length cDNA of AeAS was found to have a 2292-bp open reading frame, encoding a protein with 763 amino acid residues. The ded...

Chagas’ disease is a parasitic disease with unsatisfactory treatment, mainly in chronic stage. This study aimed to evaluate the trypanocidal activity and action mechanisms of α/β-amyrin and its semisynthetic derivatives, together with four isolated natural triterpenes, tested against trypomastigote and amastigote forms. The structure-activity relationship was suggested and cytotoxicity was meas...

Isolation and GC/MS quantitative determination of ursolic acid in the herb of Nepeta cataria var. citriodora have been performed. The content of this compound was in the range 0.95 ñ 1.30%. Daucosterol (βsitosterol 3-O-β-D-glucoside) was also isolated from the plant, in addition to small amounts of β-sitosterol, campesterol, α-amyrin and β-amyrin. The content and composition of essential oil in...

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the chloroform extract of Byrsonima fagifolia leaves led to the isolation of active antitubercular compounds alkane dotriacontane (Minimal Inhibitory Concentration-MIC, 62.5 μg mL(-1)), triterpenoids as bassic acid (MIC = 2.5 μg mL(-1)), α-amyrin acetate (MIC = 62.5 μg mL(-1)), a mixture of lupeol, α- and β-amyrin (MIC = 31.5 μg mL(-1)) and a mixture of lupeol, ...

BACKGROUND We have previously reported that aerial parts of Tylophora hirsuta have antispasmodic profile. The current work is an attempt for isolation of pharmacologically active compound(s) that contribute for its antispasmodic activity. METHODS Preliminary phytochemical screening for crude methanol extract of Tylophora hirsuta (Th.Cr) is performed. Brine shrimp cytotoxicity of crude methano...

Apple (Malus × domestica) accumulates bioactive ursane-, oleanane-, and lupane-type triterpenes in its fruit cuticle, but their biosynthetic pathway is still poorly understood. We used a homology-based approach to identify and functionally characterize two new oxidosqualene cyclases (MdOSC4 and MdOSC5) and one cytochrome P450 (CYP716A175). The gene expression patterns of these enzymes and of pr...