The Pharmacological Properties of Artemisia monosperma (Del.)

Abstract

Plants are rich in secondary metabolites reputed for their pharmacological properties. With demands for bioactive compounds of natural origin, the attention is on commercializing the use of plants for pharmaceutical benefits. Our focus in on defining the biological activities of plants reputed in folk medicine to treat illnesses. We have been focusing on studying Artemisia monosperma to evaluate its potential usage for therapeutic uses. A. monosperma is a desert plant commonly known as an antispasmodic herb. We report that the boiled aqueous extract showed a concentration‐dependent antispasmodic effect of rat smooth muscle of ileum, pulmonary artery and uterus. The effect induced on the tracheal muscle was minimal while the contractile activity of the urinary bladder muscle was not affected. The activity of the cardiac muscle was inhibited upon addition of the aqueous extract which caused a decreased the rat heart rate accompanied by an increased in the contractile activity. This effect was reversible upon removal of the extract. Among compounds identified from A. monosperma, three flavonoids (arcapillin, eupatilin,7‐O‐Methyleriodictyol) showed a concentration‐dependent (10−7M −3×10−4 M) antispasmodic effect on rat smooth muscle of ileum, uterus and pulmonary artery. Only eupatilin and 7‐O‐Methyleriodictyol inhibited the contraction of trachea and urinary bladder. Further evaluation of the physiological effect of eupatilin on cardiac muscle showed that low concentrations (10−6 M and 10−5 M) caused an increase in the magnitude of cardiac muscle contraction accompanied by a decrease in heart rate which was followed by a partial heart blockage. At a concentration of 10−4M, the heart rate was reduced significantly leading to irreversible death of the infused heart. Eupatilin toxicity was determined by the median lethal dose (LD50) over 48hours on albino mice which came up to 31.8mg/kg. These finding indicate the importance of A. monosperma as a source for bioactive compounds of therapeutic significance.Support or Funding InformationSpecial thanks to Central State University and the University of Jordan for the technical support.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.