Volume 165, 13 May 2015, Pages 191–197
Research Paper
Antinociceptive activity of extracts and secondary metabolites from wild growing and micropropagated plants of Renealmia alpinia
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Renealmia alpinia
is native to the American continent and can be found from Mexico to
Brazil, and in the Caribbean islands. It is known as “matandrea” in
Colombia, and it has been commonly used in traditional medicine to treat
painful diseases and ailments. Based on its traditional uses, it is of
interest to evaluate the pharmacologic effects of this plant and its
secondary metabolites.
Materials and methods
Methanol and aqueous extracts of wild and micropropagated R. alpinia
(leaves) were obtained and chemically compared by High Performance Thin
Layer Chromatography (HPTLC). The antinociceptive activity of these
extracts was examined using an in vivo assay (Siegmund test). Additionally, the dichloromethane extract of R. alpinia
was fractionated and pure compounds were isolated by chromatographic
methods. The structure elucidation of isolated compounds was performed
by NMR experiments and spectroscopic techniques and comparison with the
literature data. Purified compounds were evaluated for their in vitro binding affinity for opioids and cannabinoids receptors.
Results
The dichloromethane extract of the plant׳s aerial part afforded sinostrobin (1), naringenin 7,4′-dimethyl ether (2), 2′,6′-dihydroxy-4′-methoxychalcone (3), 4-methoxy-6-(2-phenylethenyl)-2H-pyran-2-one (4), naringenin 7-methyl ether (5) and 3,5-heptanediol, 1,7-diphenyl (6),
which were isolated using chromatographic methods. Their chemical
structures were established by physical and spectroscopic techniques.
The antinociceptive effects observed in mice by extracts of wild and
micropropagated plants were similar. The compounds isolated from R. alpinia do not show affinity to opioid or cannabinoid receptors.
Conclusion
Aqueous and methanol extracts of R. alpinia provide antinociceptive and analgesic effects in an in vivo
model. These results contribute additional insight as to why this plant
is traditionally used for pain management. Also, this is the first
comprehensive report of a phytochemical study of R. alpinia.
Graphical abstract
Chemical compounds studied in this article
- Pinostrobin (1) (PubChem CID: 4101463);
- naringenin 7,4′-dimethyl ether (2) (PubChem CID: 14057196);
- 2′,6′-dihydroxy-4′-methoxychalcone (3) (PubChem CID: 5316793);
- 4-methoxy-6-(2-phenylethenyl)-2H-pyran-2-one (4) (PubChem CID: 164901);
- naringenin 7-methyl ether (5) (PubChem CID: 14057196)
Keywords
- Renealmia alpinia;
- Antinociceptive;
- In vitro propagation;
- HPTLC;
- Cannabinoid receptor;
- Opioid receptor
- Correspondene
to: Sede de Investigación Universitaria - SIU, Torre 2 Lab 631.
Facultad de Química Farmacéutica, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 No.
52-21, Medellín, Colombia. Tel.:
+57 4 2196649; fax: +57 4 2631914.
