Exogenously supplied ascorbic acid (AsA) strongly induced furanocoumarin production in leaf and root cultures of GLEHNIA LITTORALIS, but not in cell suspension cultures, after 24 h of treatment. The dose dependency showed that both organ tissues responded well to AsA supplied at concentrations of 10 - 40 mM. For induction of furanocoumarin production, roots required contact with AsA for at leas...

Leaf, fruit, stem, bark and root of Zanthoxylum americanum were investigated for antifungal activity with 11 strains of fungi representing diverse opportunistic and systemic pathogens, including Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus fumigatus. All extracts demonstrated a broad spectrum of antifungal activity and inhibited at least eight fungal species in a disk diffusion ass...

Sixty-two strains of Gibberella pulicaris (anamorph: Fusarium sambucinum) from diseased plants and from soil were tested for tolerance of the furanocoumarin xanthotoxin in vitro. Twenty-one (88%) of the plant-derived strains and two (5%) of the soil-derived strains were highly tolerant ofxanthotoxin. Sixteen selected strains were tested further against 16 furanocoumarins or furanocoumarin precu...

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) are the key enzymes in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized by a deficit in central cholinergic transmission. In the current study, AChE and BChE inhibitory activities of seven coumarin derivatives [umbelliferone (1), 4-methylumbelliferone (2), 4-hydroxycoumarin (3), scopoletin (4), 8-methoxypsoralen (5), b...

Host plant identity and host plant chemistry have often been shown to influence host finding and acceptance by natural enemies but comparatively less attention has been paid to the tritrophic effects of host plant and host plant chemistry on other natural enemy fitness correlates, such as survivorship, clutch size, body size, and sex ratio. Such studies are central to understanding both the sel...

Citrus plants are able to produce defense compounds such as coumarins and furanocoumarins to cope with herbivorous insects and pathogens. In humans, these chemical compounds are strong photosensitizers and can interact with medications, leading to the "grapefruit juice effect". Removing coumarins and furanocoumarins from food and cosmetics imply additional costs and might alter product quality....

The reported effects of grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) juice on oral bioavailability of certain prescription drugs have led to the discovery of the inhibition by compounds in grapefruit of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) in the intestinal wall and liver. Recent evidence indicates that furanocoumarins related to bergamottin [5-[(3',7'-dimethyl-2',6'-octadienyl)oxy]psoralen] are primarily respon...

BACKGROUND We previously established furanocoumarins as mediators of the interaction between grapefruit juice (GFJ) and the model CYP3A4 substrate felodipine in healthy volunteers using a GFJ devoid of furanocoumarins. It remains unclear whether furanocoumarins mediate drug-GFJ interactions involving CYP3A4 substrates that are also P-glycoprotein substrates. OBJECTIVE The effects of furanocou...

The CHCl3 extract of the root of Angelica japonica showed high inhibitory activity against human gastric adenocarcinoma (MK-1) cell growth. From this extract, a new furanocoumarin named japoangelone and four furanocoumarin ethers of falcarindiol, named japoangelols A-D, were isolated together with caffeic acid methyl ester, four polyacetylenic compounds (panaxynol, falcarindiol, 8-O-acetylfalca...

Phytochemical investigations of the methanolic extract of the fruits of Peucedanum grande C. B. Clarke (Apiaceae) led to the identification of three coumarins and a naphthyl labdanoate diarabinoside characterized as 5-hydroxy-6-isopranyl coumarin (1), 5,6-furanocoumarin (2), 7-methoxy-5,6-furanocoumarin (3), and labdanyl-3alpha-ol-18-(3'"-methoxy-2"'-naphthyl-oate)-3alpha-L-arabinofuranosyl-(2'...