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Background:Herbal medicines have been used in the treatment of liver diseases for a long time. The current study was elaborated to evaluate in vitro and in vivo antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Lotus corniculatus (L. corniculatus) butanolic extract.Methods:The in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of L. corniculatus were investigated by employing DPPH radical scavenging, H2O2 scavenging and BSA denaturation assays. In vivo antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of L. corniculatus were evaluated against paracetamol (APAP)-induced hepatitis in rats. L.corniculatus at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg was administered orally once daily for seven days. Serum transaminases (AST and ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total bilirubin levels, liver malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione S- transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and inflammatory markers, such as serum Creactive protein (CRP), circulating and liver myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were investigated. Further histopathological analysis of the liver sections was performed to support the effectiveness of L. corniculatus.Results:L. corniculatus exhibited strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro. In the in vivo study, our findings demonstrate that L. corniculatus (100 and 200 mg/kg) administration led to an amelioration of APAP effects on liver histology, liver functions parameters (AST, ALT, LDH, and total bilirubin levels) and liver oxidative stress markers (MDA, GSH, GST and SOD levels). Furthermore, serum CRP, circulating MPO and liver MPO levels were declined by both doses of L. corniculatus extract. The best benefits were observed with 200 mg/kg of L. corniculatus extract.Conclusion:Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of L. corniculatus extract may be due to the presence of active components.

The phytochemical investigation of Gymnocarpos decander aerial parts extract afforded two new saponins, 3-O-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl-2β,3β,16α,23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-en-28-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 → 3)-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-L-arabinopyranosyl ester (1), 3-O-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl-2β,3β,16α-trihydroxyolean-12-en-28-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-L-arabinopyranosyl ester (2), and three new flavonol glycosides, isorhamnetin 3-O-2′′′′-O-acetyl−β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-[β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 → 2)]-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), isorhamnetin 3-O-2‴-O-acetyl−β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), and quercetin 3-O-2‴-O-acetyl−β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), together with three known compounds. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR analysis and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The new isolates were investigated for their potential cytotoxic activity on three cancer cell lines. Compounds 1 and 2 showed moderate antiproliferative activity.

Two new glucopyranosylbianthrones (1 and 2) were isolated from the aerial part of the plant Asphodelus tenuifolius, collected in Southwest Algeria. The 2D structures of 1 and 2 were defined by NMR analysis, HRESIMS data, and comparison with literature data. The comparison of experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism and NMR data led to characterization of the (M) and (P) atropisomeric forms of the glucopyranosylbianthrones, asphodelins (1) and (2), respectively. The in vitro activities of these two metabolites were evaluated in human melanoma A375 cells, and both the compounds inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 20.6 ± 0.8 and 23.2 ± 1.1 μM, respectively. Considering their biological profile, an inverse virtual screening approach was employed to identify and suggest putative anticancer interacting targets.

Galactites is a genus of flowering plants belonging to Asteraceae family. This genus is mainly represented by the Galactites elegans (All.) Nyman ex Soldano, the milky thistle, a plant of Mediterranean origin. Galactites elegans is consumed as a monofloral boar thistle honey. Chromatography separation of CHCl3 and n-BuOH extracts of aerial parts of G. elegans led to isolation of 18 pure compounds. Their structures were elucidated by 1D-and 2D-NMR spectroscopy and confirmed by mass spectrometry analysis. Sinapic aldehyde, abietin, chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, 8α-hydroxypinoresinol, 9α-hydroxypinoresinol, pinoresinol, 4-ketopinoresinol, nortrachelogenin, and erythro-guaiacylglycerol-β-O-4′-dihydroconiferyl alcohol were isolated from CHCl3 extract, while luteolin 4′-O-glucuronide, naringenin-7-O-neohesperidoside, kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside, apigenin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside, quercitrin, quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside, ciwujiatone, and nortrachelogenin-4,4′-di-O-β-D-glucopyranoside were obtained from n-BuOH extract. The majority of isolated compounds displayed a significant antioxidant potential in vitro test (DPPH). The ability of compounds to reduce the level of peroxides in control and BHP-treated Jurkat cells was studied. The lignan derivatives were also able to reduce at 50 μM the basal level of peroxides in Jurkat cells as well as counteract peroxide increase induced by BHP treatment. Particularly 8α-hydroxypinoresinol was the most active showing 70% of peroxide level inhibition.

0009-3130/12/4706-1023 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 10231) Laboratoire de Phytochimie et Analyses Physico-Chimiques et Biologiques, Departement de Chimie, UniversiteMentouri, Constantine, Route de Ain El Bey, 25000 Constantine, Algerie, fax: 213 31 81 88 83, e-mail: fbenayache@yahoo.fr;2) Laboratoire de Valorisation des Ressources Naturelles, Departement de Chimie, Universite Mentouri, Constantine, Routede Ain El Bey, 25000 Constantine, Algerie; 3) Departement de Biologie, Faculte des Sciences, Universite Mohammed Boudiaf,M Sila, 28000, M Sila, Algerie; 4) Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiologia-C.S.I.C.-Instituto Universitario de Bio-Organica “Antonio Gonzalez”, Universidad de La Laguna, Av. Astrofisico F. Sanchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 889–890, November–December 2011. Original article submittedAugust 31, 2010.

6 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, 1 scheme.-- Printed version published Aug 2007., Supporting information available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2007.03.008, An ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Matricaria Chamomilla L. collected at Oued Tonga near El-Kala is eastern Argelia yielded two new substances named matricolone and chamolol, together with four known compounds. The structure of the new compounds were determined by chemical transformations and NMR spectroscopy with 1H-1H (COSY and ROESY), 1H-13C (one bond and long range correlations) two dimensional experiments. The results obtained indicate the presence of sesquiterpene lactones of the eudesmanolide, germacranolide and guaianolide types. These products can be considered to be of great interest from a chemotaxonomical point of view for this wild-growing plant, because these types of lactones have not been found together in other Matricaria species., This work was supported in part by a grant from the Programa de Iniciativa Comunitaria INTERREG IIIB Azores–Madeira–Canarias (04/MAC/3.5/C5), ICIC (G-04-09) and A.N.D.R.S. The authors wish to thank Prof. M. Kaabeche (Biology Department, University of Setif, Algeria) for the identification of the plant material.

Lam. is an endemic species from the north of the Algerian Sahara. It was collected from theBiskra region (Algeria) in April 2007. It belongs to the Fabaceae family, which is very rich in flavonoids [3].A previous study of the Mediterranean species showed more than 20 aglycone flavonoids, some of which are rare [4].Our work on this species led to the isolation of four flavones [5]. In continuation of this study we isolated five compounds,three of which have been characterized by spectral means.The areal part of

Lam. is an endemic plant of the north of Algerian Sahara (Guardaia, Bechar, Biskra, Boussaadaand Beni Abbas). This plant was collected in the region of Bechar on April 1998 and was authenticated by Pr. A. Kaabeche(Biology department, University of Setif, Algeria). It has a yellow flower and belongs to the Leguminoseae family [1], whichis very rich in flavonoids [2].The Mediterranean species of this genus have been studied, in which more than 20 aglycon flavonoids were identified;as natural compounds, some of them are rare [3]. The aerial parts of

It has been proposed that tyrosinase catalyses a novel oxidative decarboxylation of 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid to 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde via a quinone methide rather than a conventional ortho -quinone intermediate (Sugumaran, M. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 4489–4492). One-electron oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxymandelate by pulse radiolysis has now been shown to generate the semiquinone which disproportionates to 3,4-dihydroxymandelate and the corresponding ortho -quinone, 3,4-mandeloquinone, whose spectral and kinetic properrties were determined. 3,4-Mandeloquinone decarboxylates with first-order kinetics, half-life approx. 0.25 s, to yield 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde. A mechanism for this process is presented involving unimolecular decarboxylation of the unstable mandeloquinone to a quinone methide, which then tautomerises to the final aldehyde, consistent with the scheme recently proposed (Cabanes et al. (1988) Biochem. J. 256, 681–684). No evidence was obtained which would support a reaction between 3,4-mandeloquinone and 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid, recently suggested (Ortiz et al. (1988) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 957, 158–163) to be involved in the decarboxylation step. Our results are inconsistent with the action of tyrosinase on 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid representing a new type of activity for the enzyme.