The inflammatory reaction in large blood vessels involves up-regulation of vascular adhesion molecules such as endothelial cell selectin (E-selectin), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM)-1, and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1. These vascular dysfunctions are associated with the development of atherosclerosis. β-Amyrin, an active component of Euphorbia hirta L., has...

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...

Native to Southern China, Ilex pubescens and Ilex asprella are frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine. Both of them produce a large variety of ursane-type triterpenoid saponins, which have been demonstrated to have different pharmacological effects. However, little is known about their biosynthesis. In this study, transcriptomic analysis of I. pubescens and comparison with its closely ...

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...

Health threat due to snake bite is one of the most ignored areas of active research vis-à-vis other domains of human healthcare studies. Fatalities due to snake bite are a major health threat affecting the lives of thousands of people every year in many developing countries. The prevalence of mortality caused by snake bite is taken as one of the serious challenges to solve the problem. The obje...

The extracts and fractions of leaves and branches of Protium hebetatum D. C. Daly (Burseraceae) were investigated for their antibacterial activity and chemical composition. The methanol extract of branches (EMG) was considered active against the Escherichia coli and the Proteus vulgaris, showing an inhibition zone of 13 mm, and was selected for bioassayguided phytochemical fractionation. From t...

Chemical investigation of a sample of propolis originating from North-Western Cameroon led to the isolation of thirteen alk(en)ylphenols (1-13) (inseparable mixture) along with α-amyrin (14), β-amyrin (15), lupeol (16), cycloartenol (17), mangiferonic acid (18), ambonic acid (19), mangiferolic acid (20), ambolic acid (21), isomangiferolic acid (22) and nine alk(en)ylresorcinols (23-31) (insepar...