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ABSTRACT: Filipendula kamtschatica is a plant utilized as a traditional medicine by Ainu people in Japan, but its chemical constituents are not much studied. Pancreatic lipase inhibitors are a promising tool for the treatment of obesity. We searched for natural lipase inhibitors from F. kamtschatica and two new compounds were isolated along with the known flavonoid glycoside. The structure elucidation of new compounds revealed these two to be 2-O-caffeoyl-4-O-galloyl-l-threonic acid and 3-O-caffeoyl-4-O-galloyl-l-threonic acid, which can be recognized as a pancreatic lipase's substrate-like structure. The isolated compounds all showed an inhibitory activity against porcine pancreatic lipase and one of the isomer, 3-O-caffeoyl-4-O-galloyl-l-threonic acid, possessed the most potent activity with IC(50) value showing an order lower value compared to others. The substrate-like structure of the new compounds seemed to be important for their activity.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters 08/2012; 22(20):6410-2. · 2.65 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Cultivated licorice plants (Glycyrrhiza uralensis FISCH.) contain smaller amounts of the triterpene saponin glycyrrhizin than wild licorice plants. To resolve this problem and to breed strains with high-glycyrrhizin content we determined the glycyrrhizin content of 100 samples of G. uralensis that were propagated from seed and grown under the same conditions in the field for 5 years. There was a 10.2-fold variation in glycyrrhizin content among these plants, ranging from 0.46 to 4.67% (average 2.11±0.90%). There was also a wide variation in liquiritin content, ranging from 0.11 to 2.65% (average 1.00±0.49%). The glycyrrhizin content was positively correlated with that of liquiritin in the taproots (r(2)=0.5525). Our results indicate that there are various genetic strains for glycyrrhizin and liquiritin synthesis within a population of plants propagated from seed. The selected high-glycyrrhizin and liquiritin strains will be useful for licorice production and studies on biosynthetic analysis of glycyrrhizin and liquiritin.
Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 01/2011; 34(8):1334-7. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Three new Lycopodium alkaloids, lyconadins D (1) and E (2), and complanadine E (3), were isolated from the club moss Lycopodium complanatum. Lyconadin D (1) was the first example of fastigiatine-type alkaloid isolated from Lycopodium complanatum. The structures and relative stereochemistry of 1-3 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. Complanadine E (3) enhanced mRNA expression for NGF.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry 01/2011; 19(2):749-53. · 2.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Artemisia campestris L. (Compositae) occurs naturally along the coastline of the Ryukyu Islands and has been traditionally used as a folk medicine for the treatment of liver and kidney disorders. The authors obtained specimens from the Ishigaki and Kume Islands of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and from the USA. A survey of the literature revealed that the Japanese name for A. campestris is Niitaka-yomogi or Riukiu-yomogi. Two distinct overall plant-form phenotypes were identified: an erect phenotype with long, upright, and straight main axis and assurgent branches; and a prostrate phenotype, having branches that are longer than the main axis and which grow along the ground. Except for the number of ray flowers, most of the flower head characters in the erect phenotypes were significantly larger than those in the prostrate phenotypes. In this experiment, the flower heads contained only small amounts of either capillarisin (<0.01-0.11 of the dry weight, % DW) and 6,7-dimethylesculetin (<0.01-0.30% DW), or none at all. DNA polymorphisms at two sites of the rpl16-rpl14 spacer region (nucleotide position 181-189 and 291-300 from the 5' end) revealed the existence of four different haplotypes. The number of adenines at nucleotide positions 291-300 appeared to be polymorphic within A. campestris from the Ryukyu Islands. Conversely, geographic differences between specimens from the Ryukyu Islands and USA manifested as a nine-base deletion at nucleotide positions 181-189. From a pharmacognostical context, the use of A. campestris flower heads as a substitute for Artemisiae capillaris Flos is not effective.
Journal of Natural Medicines 02/2010; 64(2):239-44. · 1.39 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Three new Lycopodium alkaloids, lannotinidines H-J (1-3), were isolated from the club moss Lycopodium annotinum. The structures and relative stereochemistry of 1-3 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data and the absolute stereochemistry of 2 was assigned by chemical correlation. Lannotinidine H (1) is the first Lycopodium alkaloid possessing a lycopodane skeleton with an additional C(3) unit.
CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL BULLETIN 09/2009; 57(8):877-81. · 1.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Two new Lycopodium alkaloids, serratezomines D (1) and E (2), were isolated from the club moss Lycopodium serratum var. serratum. Serratezomine D (1) is a new lucidine-type alkaloid, while serratezomine E (2) is a new phlegmarane-type alkaloid. The structures and relative stereochemistry of 1 and 2 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. Serratezomine D (1) exhibited an inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters 06/2009; 19(13):3577-80. · 2.65 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Shigoka (SGK), the rhizome of Eleutherococcus senticosus, is a traditional medicine used as a tonic in northeastern Asia and far eastern Russia. We analyzed the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of the medicine available on the Japanese and Chinese markets and found that at least 3 species were used as the source plant of the commercial SGKs and that only 70% of all samples was made from the correct species. Furthermore, we performed the quantitative determination of 3 marker compounds, eleutheroside B (EB), syringaresinol diglucoside (Syr), and isofraxidin (Iso) by ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC)/mass spectrometry (MS). We found that EB and Iso are specific to the correct source plant of SGK. Of them, EB is thought to be the best marker compound for quality assurance of the SGK from the viewpoint of its pharmacological activity.
Planta Medica 07/2008; 74(7):787-9. · 2.15 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The dried roots of Angelica acutiloba Kitagawa var. acutiloba Kitagawa, A. acutiloba Kitagawa var. iwatensis Hikino and A. acutiloba Kitagawa var. sugiyamae Hikino have been used as the herbal medicine known in Japan as Japanese Angelica Root. The respective morphological features of, in particular, A. acutiloba var. sugiyamae and A. acutiloba var. iwatensis are similar, and they are not easy to distinguish morphologically from each other. In an attempt to find a method for discriminating among these three varieties, we compared the nucleotide sequence of the spacer region between the atpF and atpA genes among the respective plastid genomes. Comparison of these sequences allowed us to identify each of the three varieties unequivocally.
Planta Medica 06/2006; 72(6):570-1. · 2.15 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Dried aerial parts of Scutellaria galericulata L. (Labiatae; marsh skullcap) and Scutellaria lateriflora L. (Labiatae; mad dog skullcap) are mainly used as skullcap, a medicinal herb, in Europe and the United States. The respective dried aerial parts of the two species are difficult to distinguish morphologically from each other. We attempted to discriminate among six species (Scutellaria altissima L. (Labiatae), Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Labiatae), Scutellaria galericulata, Scutellaria incana Spreng. (Labiatae), Scutellaria indica L. (Labiatae) and Scutellaria lateriflora) of Scutellaria, which include three medicinal species (Scutellaria galericulata, Scutellaria lateriflora and Scutellaria baicalensis), by comparing the respective nucleotide sequences of the plastid rpl16 gene and the rpl16-rpl14 spacer region. Comparisons of these sequences allowed us to identify each of the six species unequivocally.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 06/2005; 99(1):105-8. · 3.01 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: An attempt was made to discriminate among six species of Papaver (P. bracteatum, P. orientale, P. pseudo-orientale, P. rhoeas, P. setigerum and P. somniferum) by comparing the nucleotide sequences of the plastid rpl16 gene and the rpl16-rpl14 spacer region. Comparison of sequences allowed us to distinguish five species, namely P. bracteatum, P. orientale, P. pseudo-orientale, P. rhoeas and P. setigerum plus P. somniferum from one another, but sequences from P. setigerum and P. somniferum were identical. It is difficult to distinguish between P. bracteatum, P. orientale and P. pseudo-orientale at the vegetative stage of growth. However, our method allowed us to distinguish between these three species and the others using nucleotide sequences and should allow identification of P. bracteatum that has been cultivated illegally in the garden in Japan. Furthermore, P. rhoeas was clearly discriminated from P. setigerum and P. somniferum by reference to the sequence of the rpl16 exon using young seedlings.
Forensic Science International 02/2004; 139(2-3):195-9. · 2.30 Impact Factor
