This study generally provided evidence of profound anti-inflammatory activity of β-amyrin and α-amyrin acetate isolated from the Alstonia boonei stem bark.

The leaves of Alchornea floribunda and Alchornea cordifolia are used traditionally as topical anti-inflammatory agents. In this study, two highly lipophilic fractions AFLF and ACLF isolated from A. floribunda and A. cordifolia leaves respectively were investigated for topical anti-inflammatory effects using xylene-induced mice ear oedema as a model of inflammation. AFLF and ACLF at 5 mg per ear showed significant (p < 0.01) topical anti-inflammatory effect with oedema inhibitions of 64.0% and 79.0% at 2 h, respectively. When compared to indomethacin (5 mg per ear), these fractions showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher topical anti-inflammatory effect. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed that AFLF is composed mainly of long chain saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (18.78%) and their oxygenated derivatives (1.89%); while ACLF is rich in volatile oils eugenol (21.26%) and cadinol (4.76%), and other constituents like, nanocosaine (36.86%) and steroid derivatives, ethyl iso-allocholate (4.59%) and 3-acetoxy-7,8-epoxylanostan-1-ol (15.86%). Analysis of the volatile oil (ACV) extracted from the fresh leaves of A. cordifolia revealed the presence of high concentrations of eugenol (41.7%), cadinol (2.46%), Caryophylene (1.04%), Linalool (30.59%) and (E)-α-bergamotene (4.54%). These compounds could be contributing to the topical anti-inflammatory effects of A. floribunda and A. cordifolia leaf extracts.

Introduction: Fungal endophytes of medicinal plants origin are gaining increasing interest as sources of novel bioactive agents with therapeutic capacity. This study was designed to identify and evaluate secondary metabolites isolated from Fusarium equiseti; an endophytic fungus isolated from leaves of Ocimum gratissimum for their antimicrobial potentials. Methods: The isolation and molecular identification of the endophytic fungus, as well as fermentation, and extraction of secondary metabolites were carried out following standard laboratory procedures. The crude extract was partially purified by partitioning into different fractions using column chromatographic techniques and the fractions were tested for antimicrobial activity. The phytoconstituents in the bioactive fractions were detected by dereplication using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography linked with Diode Array Detection (HPLC-DAD). Results:  Our findings showed that fraction 4 (DCM/ Methanol fraction 95:5) exhibited moderate to strong inhibition against the test micro-organisms namely, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans with MIC values in the range of 0.03 to 1 mg/mL but had no inhibition against Aspergillus niger and Salmonella typhi. The compounds detected in the HPLC assay include Phomoxanthone A, Scalarolide, equisetin, epi-equisetin an episomer of equisetin, Naamine A, Carbonarone A, destruxin B, cytosporin G, and WLIP (β-hydroxydecanoyl-Leu1-D Glu-De-Thr-Dval-DLeu3 DSer-Leu-Dser-Ile). These compounds have been reported to possess antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: The detection of these metabolites further confirms the potential of the endophytic fungus, Fusarium equiseti isolated from leaves of Ocimum gratissimum as a potential source of bioactive molecules for treatment of infectious diseases.

The endophytic fungus, colletrotricum species, isolated from the leaves of Vernonia amygdalina was investigated for its chemical constituents and biological activity. The pure fungus was grown using solid fermentation on rice medium and the metabolites were extracted using ethyl acetate. Further purification of the extract was carried out using vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) and gel chromatography on Sephadex LH-20. The chemical constituents were detected by dereplication using HPLC-DAD. Antimicrobial assay of the Sephadex fractions EC3-1 and EC3-3 were evaluated using agar well diffusion assay against seven pathogenic microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans). EC3-3 was also subjected to antioxidant assay using DPPH free radical scavenging model. HPLC-DAD analysis of the VLC fractions revealed the presence of compounds like Hydroxybenzaldehyde, Cladosporin, Desmethyldichlorodiaportin and p-Hydroxybenzoic acid. EC3-1 and EC3-3 showed mild antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, S. typhi and A. niger strains, with minimal inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.19 to 0.46 mg/mL. EC3-3 was found to exhibit very high ability to scavenge DPPH radicals with IC50 of 3.16 µg/mL compared to Ascorbic acid (IC50 of 50.72 µg/mL). HPLC analysis of EC3-3 revealed the presence of Palitantin, which has been shown to possess antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, and two unidentified major peaks. The endophytic fungus, Colletotrichum species isolated from Vernonia amydalina produced bioactive metabolites which exhibited antimicrobial and antioxidant activities thus projecting Vernonia amydalina as a potential source of fungal endophytes that can be further studied for generation of novel bioactive compounds.

Endophytes have continued to gain fame due to their ability to produce an array of secondary metabolites within the host system with huge untapped pharmacological potentials. This study was carried out to further identify and isolate novel therapeutic compounds from Fusarium equiseti, an Endophytic fungus isolated from leaves of Ocimum gratissimum. Endophytic fungal isolation, fungal fermentation, and extraction of secondary metabolites were carried out using standard laboratory methods. The crude extracts of Fusarium equiseti were subjected to further chromatographic techniques using vacuum liquid chromatography, Sephadex LH 20 and semipreparative HPLC for isolation of bioactive compounds. The fractions and the isolated compounds obtained were further subjected to high performance liquid chromatography-Diode Array Detector (HPLC-DAD). The analytical HPLC led to the further detection of many bioactive compounds namely: Enniatin A, Aureonitol, Serasinoside H1, Altenusin, Aplysinamisin, benzylnitril, ruspolinone and Orientin. Semipreparative HPLC led to the isolation of 6 pure compounds of which two were identified as benzylnitril, and ruspolinone. The remaining four were not identified due to lack of library hits. The detected and the isolated compounds have been previously shown to exhibit a wide array of biological activities including antiviral, antifungal, hepatoprotection, antibacterial, anticancer, cytotoxic, and antioxidant properties. The unidentified compounds may hold enormous potential as new bioactive lead compounds for development into novel therapeutic agents. Therefore, the Endophytic fungus, Fusarium equiseti should be harnessed for its potential pharmacological, pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial applications.