From osthole [7-methoxy-8-(3-methyl-but-2-enyl)-chromen-2-one] (I), obtained by selective extraction of Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) W. Koch roots, ostholic acid (II) was synthetized as a result of its oxidation with chromium trioxide. From ostholic acid, through its chloride, four amides were obtained: the morpholide 1, the p-chloro-benzylamide 2, the piperidine 3 and the N-methyl-piperazide 4. Except for 1, other compounds have not been described before. The amides 1 -4 and their precursor osthole (I) were tested for their potential activities in selected immunological assays. The compounds showed moderate inhibitory activity in the humoral immune response to sheep erythrocytes in mice in vitro, and 4 was the most suppressive. The effects of 1 and 3 on concanavalin A-and pokeweed mitogen-induced mouse splenocyte proliferation were inhibitory and those of 4 stimulatory. The compounds were also tested for their activity on tumour necrosis factor α and interleukin 6 production, induced by lipopolysaccharide, in cultures of rat peritoneal cells and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 inhibited tumour necrosis factor α (rat cells), whereas compound 2 stimulated the production of both cytokines. Compounds 1, 2 and 3 were also strongly inhibitory on tumour necrosis factor α production in human blood cells (73, 78 and 80% inhibition at 10 μg/ml, respectively). On the other hand, 2 and 4 stimulated the interleukin 6 production (2-to 3-fold stimulation). In addition, 2 and 4 suppressed the carrageenan-induced infl ammation in mice (56.5% and 68.3% inhibition, respectively). In summary, the compounds predominantly displayed suppressive and antiinfl ammatory activities in the investigated models.
Extracts from Erodium cicutarium L. (EC) and some standard substances present in EC extracts were tested for their antioxidative properties during Fe2+-induced triglyceride oxidation. Hydrophobic fractions such as petroleum ether (PEE), benzene (B E ) and chloroform I (ChE I) extracts as well as hydrophilic fractions i.e.
water (W E) and ethyl acetate (E A E ) showed an antioxidative effect. Among the tested substances vitamin C and some polyphenolic compounds; tannin, (+)-catechin and gallic acid exhibited antioxidative activity, stronger than the one of the mentioned extracts.
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