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Background: Background: Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a secondary bile acid, is an acidic steroid synthesized from cholesterol in hepatocytes. UDCA is widely used for the treatment of various diseases related to liver injury. The use of UDCA to treat non-liver diseases has also been developed recently, such as neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and obesity. Due to the important role of UDCA on human health, numerous studies in understanding its chemical and pharmacological properties have been published. Methods: Literature sources were obtained from online databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus and PubMed using keywords relating to the purpose of study. Critical analysis and review were performed for all literatures. Results: UDCA is a steroid compound with pharmacological properties. Seventeen enzymes are involved in its biosynthesis, which has been proposed in four pathways: classic, alternative, the Yamazaki, and 25-hydroxylation pathways. UDCA can be isolated from bovine bile, bear bile or all Ursidae, human, rabbit, cow, rat, hamster, sheep, pig, and plant. UDCA has been used in the treatment of several diseases such as primary biliary cirrhosis, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, hepatolithiasis associated with Caroli syndrome gallstones, cystic fibrosis, hepatitis C virus, chronic heart failure, neurodegenerative diseases, and obesity, as well as in the prevention of cancer. Conclusion: UDCA has a wide range of the pharmacological properties. Further investigations on its efficacy and safety on humans are required before it could be used for several indications. All genes which are responsible for UDCA biosynthesis have been elucidated. That said, further genetic engineering studies in order to find other prospective sources of UDCA could be a challenge for the future research.

The research was carried out to isolate and characterize the methyl β-orsellinate of lichen Dirinaria sp. collected from the coastal areas of Teluk Nipah, Pulau Pangkor, Perak Malaysia. The sample was extracted in methanol for three times at room temperature. Subsequently, the crude extracts and further analysed using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC). To derive the pure compounds, the isolation step was performed using radial chromatography (RC). The chemical structure of the isolated compound was determined by several spectroscopies i.e. infra-red (IR), nuclear magnetic resonances (NMR), and mass spectrometric (MS). The compound was identified as methyl β-orsellinate.

Background: Garlic (Allium sativum) has long been used both as a food and traditional medicine. Several studies have shown potential of garlic (Allium sativum) as an antihypertensive. In previous in vitro study found that dipeptide on garlic extract after hydrolyzed by the enzyme papain have ACE inhibitory activity. Induction of hypertension with 2 Kidney One Clip (2K1C) methodcauses the kidneys lose their physiological functions. A.sativum is expected to ameliorate kidney function. This study aimed to analyze creatinine levels in rat induced by 2K1C. Method: These study was an in vivo study with Pre-Post Test Only Control group Design. Before treatment, 30 subjects induced hypertension by 2K1C method. Treatment was conducted for four weeks. The recent study was conducted on 36 Rattus norvegicus, Wistar strain were divided into 6 groups. Measurement of creatinine was conducted by spectrophotometry method. Result: The results showed that there were significant differences in creatinine levels between groups (p < 0.05) both in the pre-test and post-test. The normal group and hypertension group did not have significant differences in creatinine pre- and post-test levels (p > 0.05). A.sativum 75m/kgBB gave the best decrease in creatinine levels up to 1.75 mg/dL compared to the A.sativum 25mg/kgBB and A.sativum group 50 mg/kgBB. There were significant differences in creatinine levels A.sativum 75 mg/kgBB and captopril (p 0.05). Kelompok A. sativum 75m/kgBB menunjukkan penurunan kadar kreatinin yang sangat signifikan hingga 1.75 mg/dL dibanding kelompok A. sativum 25mg/kgBB and A. sativum group 50 mg/kgBB. Terdapat perbedaan kadar kreatinin yang signifikan antara kelompok A. sativum 75 mg/kgBB dan captopril (p

Fingerroot (Boesenbergia pandurata (Roxb.) Schlechter) is an important Southeast Asia especially Indonesian’s plant that has many pharmacological activities. This plant contains several secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and their prenylated derivates like panduratin A that can be produced trough tissue culture techniques. This study aimed to produce secondary metabolites mainly flavonoids in the fingerroot cell cultures and explain their biosynthetic relationship. Bud’s meristem of fingerroot were initiated to forming callus and shoot in appropriate medium and also induced to produce rhizomes in in vitro condition. Panduratin A content was determined using HPLC. The dominant secondary metabolites were isolated and characterized using, chemical reagents and spectroscopic methods. Panduratin A can be produced through callus and rhizomes formation of fingerroot. Other two secondary metabolites have been indentified as phytosterol and cardamonin with the content 285.85 ± 8.36 % and 316.35 ± 0.82 % respectively which were higher than the original plant. Panduratin A, phytosterol and cardamonin which are supposed to have pharmacological activities have been produced using cell culture of fingerroot Boesenbergia pandurata (Roxb.) Schlechter with higher level compared to the original plants.

Boesenbergia pandurata Roxb. (Zingiberaceae), known as “temu kunci”, is one of the Indonesian medicinal plants. Its rhizome has been traditionally used in folk medicine for treatment of several diseases. Rhizome of B. pandurata contains essential oils and many flavonoid compounds that showed many interesting pharmacological activities, such as antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, etc. Interestingly, this plant has several prenylated flavonoid compounds, panduratins, that showed very promising of biological activities, especially as strong antifungal and antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer. This paper aims to review chemical constituents of this plant and their pharmacological activities and also to give a brief view through biotechnological perspective concerning the several possibilities to produce several valuable prenylated flavonoids from this plant.

Artemisinin, a secondary metabolite from Artemisia annua L. is a sesquiterpene lactone that has antimalaria activity but produced at low quantities by the plant. Low levels of artemisinin in the plant is related to the biosynthetic pathways influenced by specific enzymes that play role in the formation of artemisinin. Farnesyl diphosphate (FDP), which is the main precursor of artemisinin, also known as the precursor for the formation of sterols. Compared with the other compounds, sterol biosynthetic pathway is the biggest competitor of the artemisinin production since sterols are needed by plants to regulate membrane fluidity and permeability. This research aimed to study the effect of terbinafin and DMSO as sterol synthesis inhibitors on the regulation of the artemisinin biosynthetic pathway by analyzing the expression level of two genes linked, squalene synthase (SQS) and amorpha-4,11-diene synthase (ADS) using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and the amount of artemisinin is determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that at mRNA levels, terbinafin 30 μM had no significant effect on SQS and ADS expression levels, but it increased the amount of artemisinin at 50 hours incubation up to 1.36 times higher than control. DMSO increased the expression level of ADS up to 3-4 times and increased the content of artemisinin up to 2.42 times higher than control at 50 hours incubation time

Background: Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone endoperoxide isolated from the medicinal plant Artemisia annua L., is a choice and effective drug for malaria treatment. Due to the low yield of artemisinin in plants, there is a need to enhance the production of artemisinin from A. annua and biotechnological technique may be one of the methods that can be used for the purpose. Aim: To study the transformation efficiency of Agrobacterium tumefaciens in A. annua that could be applied to enhance the production of artemisinin by means of transgenic plants. Setting and Designs: The factors influencing Agrobacterium -mediated transformation of A. annua were explored to optimize the transformation system, which included A. tumefaciens strain and effect of organosilicone surfactants. Three strains of A. tumefaciens , that is, LBA4404, GV1301, and AGL1 harboring the binary vector pCAMBIA 1303 have been used for transformation. The evaluation was based on transient β-glucuronidase (GUS). Materials and Methods: Plant cell cultures were inniatiated from the seeds of A. annua using the germination Murashige and Skoog medium. A. tumefaciens harboring pCAMBIA were tranformed into the leaves of A.annua cultures from 2-week-old-seedling and 2-month-old-seedling for 15 min by vacuum infiltration. Transformation efficiency was determinated by measuring of blue area (GUS expression) on the whole leaves explant using ImageJ 1.43 software. Two organosilicon surfactants, that is, Silwet L-77 and Silwet S-408 were used to improve the transformation efficiency. Results: The transformation frequency with AGL1 strain was higher than GV3101 and LBA4404 which were 70.91, 49.25, and 45.45%, respectively. Effect of organosilicone surfactants, that is, Silwet L-77 and Silwet S-408 were tested on A. tumefaciens AGL1 and GV3101 for their level of transient expression, and on A. rhizogenes R1000 for its hairy root induction frequency. For AGL1, Silwet S-408 produced higher level of expression than Silwet L-77, were 2.3- and 1.3-fold, respectively. For GV3101, Silwet L-77 was still higher than Silwet S-408, were 1.5- and 1.4-fold, respectively. However, GV3101 produced higher levels of expression than AGL1. The area of GUS expression spots of AGL1, LBA4404, and GV3101 strains was 53.43%, 41.06%, and 30.51%, respectively. Conclusion: A. tumefaciens AGl1 strain was the most effective to be transformed in to A. annua than GV3101 and LBA4404 strain. Surfactant Silwet S-408 produced the highest efficiency of transformation.