Centella asiatica is a medicinal plant that was already used as a 'panacea' 3000 years ago. The active compounds include pentacyclic triterpenes, mainly asiaticoside, madecasosside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid. We have conducted an overview to summarize current knowledge on the results of scientific in vitro and in vivo experiments focused on the improvement of the healing process of small wounds, hypertrophic scars and burns by C. asiatica. In this paper, we discuss the data on constituents, recommended preparations and the potential side effects of C. asiatica.

Centella asiatica known as Gotu Kola is a medicinal plant that has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years as well as in scientifically oriented medicine. The active compounds include pentacyclic triterpenes, mainly asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic and madecassic acids. Centella asiatica is effective in improving treatment of small wounds, hypertrophic wounds as well as burns, psoriasis and scleroderma. The mechanism of action involves promoting fibroblast proliferation and increasing the synthesis of collagen and intracellular fibronectin content and also improvement of the tensile strength of newly formed skin as well as inhibiting the inflammatory phase of hypertrophic scars and keloids. Research results indicate that it can be used in the treatment of photoaging skin, cellulite and striae.

Aims: The aim of this study was to analyse the antimicrobial properties extracts of Aquilegia vulgaris, and their principial flavonoid component and to compare the obtained results with the activity of gentamicin and nystatin. Methods and Results: The ethanol, acetone and isopropanol extracts as well as the subextracts isolated from the methanol extract together with the main flavonoid: 4¢-methoxy-5,7-dihydroxyflavone 6-C-glucoside (isocytisoside) were obtained from the leaves with stems of Aquilegia vulgaris L. All the extracts were analysed by TLC to confirm flavonoids and phenolic acids occurrence. The antimicrobial activity was tested by the method of series dilutions against different Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and also fungi. The results have shown that the extracts, subextracts and isocytisoside inhibit growth of all studied micro-organisms, revealing the greatest activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Staph. epidermidis and the mould Aspergillus niger. Conclusions:The antimicrobial activity of the tested materials it is possibly related to the content of isocytisoside. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study has determined new activity of A. vulgaris and suggested the necessity of further studies.

In conclusion, atranorin seems to be an interesting lichen substance, which needs to be investigated in more detail in order to allow further applications, e.g. in pharmacy, medicine or cosmetology.

Context: Lichens produce specific secondary metabolites with different biological activity. Objective: This study investigated the cytotoxic effects of physodic acid, in addition to the total phenolic content and cytotoxic and antioxidant activity of acetone extract from Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl. (Parmeliaceae). Materials and methods: Cytotoxicity of physodic acid (0.1-100 lM) was assessed in MDA-MB-231, MCF-7 and T-47D breast cancer cell lines and a nontumorigenic MCF-10A cell line using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, neutral red uptake and crystal violet assays during 72 h of incubation. An MTT assay was also used to assess the cytotoxic effects of the acetone extract (0.1-100 lg/mL) in the MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, T-47D breast cancer cell lines after 72 h. The total phenolic content of the acetone extract, expressed as the gallic acid equivalent, was investigated using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The antioxidant activity of the extract was assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assays. Results: The cytotoxic activity of physodic acid appeared to be strong in the tumorigenic cell lines (IC 50 46.0-93.9 lM). The compound was inactive against the nontumorigenic MCF-10A cell line (IC 50 >100 lM). The acetone extract showed cytotoxicity in the breast cancer cell lines (IC 50 46.2-110.4 lg/mL).

Two flavonoid sulphates, i.e. quercetin 3-O-sulphate-7-O-aarabinopyranoside and kaempferol 3-O-sulphate-7-O-a-arabinopyranoside, were isolated from leaves ofAtriplex hortensis L. The structures of these compounds were established by UV, 1H and 13C NMR, 2D NMR and MS spectra. The compounds were isolated for the first time from plant material.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a hydroalcoholic extract from Galinsoga parviflora herb (GP) in some aspects of the endothelial cell function necessary for anti-inflammatory activity and wound healing and relate these to the GP phytochemical profile. This study demonstrated that the GP extract caused a dose-dependent reduction of IL-6 secretion on IL-1β-stimulated endothelial cells. The IL-6 release was decreased to 33% ± 9% while this did not influence the IL-6 secretion without stimulation. Additionally, the GP extract exhibited an anti-hyaluronidase activity (IC50 = 0.47 mg/mL), which was evidently stronger than the positive control kaempferol (IC50 = 0.78 mg/mL) as well as a moderate and concentration-dependent, antioxidant activity. The results of the scratch assay showed that exposure of the endothelial cells to GP induced complete healing of the damage after 12 h of the study. The phytochemical profile of the extract was studied by using spectrophotometric (total amount of polyphenols and flavonoids) and UPLC (phenolic acids) methods. The main compound in the GP extract was a chlorogenic acid (2.00 ± 0.01 mg/g by UPLC). The total content of polyphenols was 98.30 ± 0.14 mg of chlorogenic acid equivalent/g of the dry herb and content of flavonoids amounted to 6.15 ± 0.41 mg quercetin equivalent/g of the dry herb. Moreover, the presence of flavonoids in G. parviflora was provided after their isolation and identification by spectroscopic methods. In conclusion, it demonstrated that application of GP in the treatment of skin lesions gives possibility of wound healing based on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hyaluronidase-inhibiting activities of G. parviflora herb extract.

Differentiation between isomeric acacetin-6-C-(6 -O-malonyl)glucoside and acacetin-8-C-(6 -O-malonyl)glucoside by using low-energy CID mass spectra Flavonoid conjugates constitute a very diversified group of plant secondary metabolites. These compounds reveal various type of biological activity. 1,2 Mass spectrometric techniques have been successfully used for the structural elucidation of flavonoid C-glycosides for more than 25 years. First, the flavonoid C-glycosides were analysed as permethyl ethers using electron ionization. 3 -5 The use of so-called 'soft' ionization techniques allows the analysis of underivatized compounds. 6,7 Fragmentation pathways of protonated and/or deprotonated molecules of C-glycosidic flavonoids obtained with collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) techniques enabled important structural information to be obtained about different substitution patterns of sugars in this class of compounds. 8 -12 Acylation of the sugar moiety in the molecules of C-and O-flavonoid glycosides is a common modification occurring in plant cells. Mass spectrometric techniques have also been applied to the analysis of this kind of flavonoid conjugates. Substitutions of aliphatic and aromatic acids in both C-and O-glycosides were reported. Acyl-C-glucosyl flavonoids esterified with sinapic, ferulic and p-coumaric acids, and less often with acetic acid, have already been isolated as pure compounds from the plant material (Cucumis