Planta medica
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Preparations from Uncaria tomentosa, a South American Rubiaceae, have been used in the Peruvian traditional medicine for the treatment of infective, inflammatory and tumoral processes. In this study, the pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid mitraphylline was isolated from the dried inner bark of this plant species, and its structure elucidated by analysis of NMR spectroscopic data. Mitraphylline was differentially identified from its stereoisomeric pair isomitraphylline by (15)N-NMR. ⋯ Micromolar concentrations of mitraphylline (5 microM to 40 microM) inhibited the growth of both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. The IC (50) +/- SE values were 17.15 +/- 0.82 microM for MHH-ES-1 and 11.80 +/- 1.03 microM for MT-3 for 30 hours, smaller than those obtained for the reference compounds. This action suggests that the pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid mitraphylline might be a new promising agent in the treatment of both human sarcoma and breast cancer.
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We have investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of madecassic acid and madecassoside isolated from Centella asiatica (Umbelliferae) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. Both madecassic acid and madecassoside inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), and IL-6. ⋯ Furthermore, madecassic acid suppressed the LPS-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), and this was associated with the abrogation of inhibitory kappa B-alpha (IkappaB-alpha) degradation and with the subsequent blocking of p65 protein translocation to the nucleus. These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory properties of madecassic acid are caused by iNOS, COX-2, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 inhibition via the downregulation of NF-kappaB activation in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells.