METHOD: Dichloromethane, methanol, and water extracts of the leaves and roots of M. pumilum var. alata, M. pumilum var. pumila, and M. pumilum var. lanceolata were tested using an in vitro xanthine oxidase inhibitory assay. Bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation were carried out on the most active extract using chromatographic techniques. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined using spectroscopic techniques.
RESULTS: The most active dichloromethane extract of M. pumilum var. pumila leaves (IC50 = 161.6 μg/mL) yielded one new compound, 3,7-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-4,8-dimethyl-isocoumarin (1), and five known compounds, viz. ardisiaquinone A (2), maesanin (3), stigmasterol (4), tetracosane (5), and margaric acid (6). The new compound was found to be the most active xanthine oxidase inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.66 ± 0.01 μg/mL, which was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from that of the positive control, allopurinol (IC50 = 0.24 ± 0.00 μg/mL).
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the new compound 3,7-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-4,8-dimethyl-isocoumarin (1), which was isolated from the dichloromethane extract of M. pumilum var. pumila leaves, could be a potential xanthine oxidase inhibitor.
AIM OF THE STUDY: This review is an attempt to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of Polyalthia species by giving critical appraisal and establishing evidences of their traditional uses. Moreover this review will highlight the lead compounds for future drug development that can serve as a potential anti-inflammatory drug with comparative efficacy and minimum side effects.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: An extensive literature review, focusing the anti-inflammatory potential of Polyalthia species was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Ovid, Scopus and ProQuest, as well as the locally available books, journals and relevant documents. The reference lists of retrieved papers were also searched for additional studies.
RESULTS: The Polyalthia species have shown significant anti-inflammatory activity through various mechanism of action. The most significant anti-inflammatory mechanism includes the inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), prostaglandins (PGs), pro-inflammatory cytokines, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The data suggests that hydroxycleroda-3,13-dien-15,16-olide and 16-oxocleroda-3,13-dien-15-oic acid, quercetin, rutin, spinasterol, α-spinasterol, goniothalamin and (-)-5-hydroxygoniothalamin are the most potent anti-inflammatory compounds from Polyalthia species with comparable IC50 with positive controls.
CONCLUSIONS: Numerous pharmacological studies have supported the use of Polyalthia species against pain, rheumatic fever, haemorrhages and inflammation in traditional medicine. Flavonoids, diterpenoids, sterols and styrylpyrones from genus Polyalthia are the most significant class of compounds with potent anti-inflammatory activity. Secondary metabolites from these classes should be brought into further research to fill the gaps of knowledge in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, bioavailability, and toxicity in order to convert the pre-clinical results into clinical data for further investigation.
METHODS: Both instruments were operated according to manufacturer's instructions. Samples used include a commercially available normal control serum (NCS) and patients' specimens. The following were evaluated: precision and comparison studies for SPE, and reproducibility and comparison studies for IFE. Statistical analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel.
RESULTS: For SPE repeatability study, our results showed that EFG26 has higher coefficient of variation (%CV) compared with H2SCAN for both samples except for monoclonal component with %CV of 0.97% and 1.18%, respectively. Similar results were obtained for SPE reproducibility study except for alpha-1 (4.16%) and beta (3.13%) fractions for NCS, and beta fractions (5.36%) for monoclonal sample. Subsequently, reproducibility for IFE was 100% for both instruments. Values for correlation coefficients between both instruments ranged from 0.91 to 0.98 for the five classic bands.
CONCLUSION: Both instruments demonstrated good analytical performance characterized by high precision, reproducibility and correlation.