In vitro cultivated Uncaria tomentosa and Uncaria guianensis with determination of the pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid contents and profiles

Abstract

Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC. e Uncaria guianensis (Aubl.) Gmel., conhecidas comercialmente como unha-de-gato, são trepadeiras lenhosas nativas das florestas tropicais amazônica e centralamericana. Essas espécies de Rubiaceae enfrentam ultimamente um eminente risco de extinção devido tanto ao extrativismo indiscriminado quanto ao desflorestamento de seus habitats naturais. Esse trabalho descreve métodos de cultivo in vitro para as duas espécies, analisando o perfil e o teor dos alcalóides oxindólicos pentacíclicos marcadores por CLAE no material vegetal obtido. Os resultados mostraram que os métodos desenvolvidos foram capazes de produzir plantas com perfil e teor dos alcalóides alvos similares à plantas nativas e cultivadas in vivo, com a vantagem adicional de produção em menor tempo de mudas próprias para plantio no campo. Os dados evidenciaram que o cultivo in vitro pode ser uma ferramenta viável para a produção das duas espécies com impacto na sua comercialização e na preservação das florestas. Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC. and Uncaria guianensis (Aubl.) Gmel., commercially known as cat's claw, are large woody vines native of the Amazon and Central America rainforests. These Rubiaceae species face nowadays an imminent risk of extinction due to indiscriminate harvesting in the wild as well as to increasing deforestation of their natural habitat. This work describes in vitro cultivation methods for both species with determination, by HPLC, of the pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid contents and profiles of the plant material. The results have proved that the methods we developed were able to produce plants with alkaloid profiles and contents similar to the wild and in vivo cultivated species, and with the additional advantage of producing suitable young plants in a shorter period of time. The data showed that the in vitro technique can be a feasible tool for the growth of the species, and may thus be important for their commercialization and for their conservation as a forest resource.

Uncaria tomentosa Aqueous‐ethanol Extract Triggers an Immunomodulation toward a Th2 Cytokine Profile

“…An aqueous‐ethanol 1:1 extract that was previously obtained (Valente et al , ) from the stem bark of a wild specimen of U. tomentosa , collected in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil, and donated by Biosapiens Co., Brazil [voucher data in Miranda et al ()], was used for the assays. The pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid (POA) profile and content of this extract was determined using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as described previously (Reis et al , ; Pereira et al , ). Briefly, the crude hydroalcohol extract was treated with 0.1 n HCl and then partitioned with EtOAc.…”

“…The previous HPLC analysis (Pereira et al, 2008;Reis et al, 2008) of this bioactive aqueous-ethanol extract of U. tomentosa indicated the presence of the six pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids that were considered to be chemical markers of the species. The total alkaloid content in the crude extract was calculated as 29.1 mg/g (±1%), which is in agreement with commercially acceptable plant materials (Fig.…”

Prevention of experimental diabetes by Uncaria tomentosa extract: Th2 polarization, regulatory T cell preservation or both?

“…The previous HPLC analysis (Pereira et al, 2008;Reis et al, 2008) of this bioactive aqueous-ethanol extract of Uncaria tomentosa indicated the presence of the six pentacycle oxindole alkaloid that were considered to be chemical markers of the species: speciophylline, mitraphylline, uncarine F, pteropodine, iso-mitraphylline and isopteropodine (Fig. 2).…”

“…The pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid (POA) profile and content of this extract was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV-DAD-MS) as previously described (Pereira et al, 2008;Reis et al, 2008). Briefly, an alkaloid enriched fraction was obtained through classical acid-base partition from this aqueous-ethanol extract.…”

Implementación de un protocolo para la producción de raíces pilosas (hairy roots) de uña de gato (Uncaria tomentosa) mediante transformación con Agrobacterium rhizogenes

“…25, N° 3, Julio-Setiembre 2012 30 Introducción La planta Uncaria tomentosa (uña de gato) es una liana espinosa muy popular por sus propiedades curativas, ya que posee actividades antibacterianas, antivirales, anticancerígenas, antioxidantes, antiinflamatorias e inmunoestimulantes. Actualmente se recomienda para múltiples usos terapéuticos, como por ejemplo, tratamiento de abscesos, alergias, artritis, asma, cáncer, efectos secundarios de la quimioterapia, prevención de enfermedades, fiebre, úlcera gástrica, hemorragias, inflamación, irregularidades menstruales, reumatismo, afecciones dérmicas, inflamación del tracto urinario, infecciones víricas y heridas (Keplinger et al, 1998, Pereira et al, 2008, Pero, 2001, Bobrowski, 2004.…”