Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of triterpenes isolated from leaves of Maytenus undata (Celastraceae)
dc.contributor.author | Mokoka, Tsholofelo Abednego | |
dc.contributor.author | McGaw, Lyndy Joy | |
dc.contributor.author | Mdee, Ladislaus Kakore | |
dc.contributor.author | Bagla, Victor Patrick | |
dc.contributor.author | Iwalewa, Ezekiel Olugbenga | |
dc.contributor.author | Eloff, Jacobus Nicolaas | |
dc.contributor.email | lyndy.mcgaw@up.ac.za | en |
dc.date.accessioned | 2014-01-23T07:50:56Z | |
dc.date.available | 2014-01-23T07:50:56Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2013-05-20 | |
dc.description.abstract | BACKGROUND: Plants of the genus Maytenus belong to the family Celastraceae and are widely used in folk medicine as anti-tumour, anti-asthmatic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-ulcer agents, and as a treatment for stomach problems. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify active compounds with antifungal activity from Maytenus undata after a preliminary study highlighted promising activity in crude extracts. METHODS: Sequential extracts of M. undata leaves prepared using hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), acetone and methanol (MeOH) were tested for activity against Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungal organism implicated in opportunistic infections. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the hexane extract using C. neoformans as test organism was carried out to isolate antifungal compounds. The cytotoxicity of compounds isolated in sufficient quantities was evaluated using a tetrazolium-based colorimetric cellular assay (MTT) and a haemagglutination assay (HA). RESULTS: The hexane extract was most active with an MIC of 20 μg/ml against C. neoformans. The triterpene compounds friedelin (1), epifriedelanol (2), taraxerol (3), 3-oxo-11α-methoxyolean-12-ene-30-oic acid (4), 3-oxo-11α- hydroxyolean-12-ene-30-oic acid (5) and 3,11-dihydroxyolean-12-ene-30-oic acid (6) were isolated. Compound 6 was isolated for the first time from a plant species. The antimicrobial activity of compounds 1, 3, 5 and 6 was determined against a range of bacteria and fungi implicated in opportunistic and nosocomial infections. Compounds 5 and 6 were the most active against all the tested microorganisms with MIC values ranging between 24 and 63 μg/ml, except against Staphylococcus aureus which was relatively resistant. Compounds 1 and 3 had a low toxicity with an LC50 > 200 μg/ml towards Vero cells in the MTT assay. Compounds 5 and 6 were toxic with LC50 values of 6.03±0.02 and 2.98±0.01 μg/ml, respectively. Compounds 1 and 3 similarly were not toxic to the red blood cells (RBCs) but compounds 5 and 6 were toxic, showing HA titer values of 1.33 and 0.67 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Compounds 5 and 6 were the most active but were also relatively cytotoxic to monkey kidney cells and red blood cells, while the other isolated compounds were less active and less cytotoxic. | en |
dc.description.librarian | am2014 | en |
dc.description.librarian | mn2014 | |
dc.description.uri | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/13/111 | en |
dc.identifier.citation | Mokoka et al.: Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of triterpenes isolated from leaves of Maytenus undata (Celastraceae). BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2013 13:111. | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 1472-6882 | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.1186/1472-6882-13-111 | |
dc.identifier.other | 55952645400 | |
dc.identifier.other | 7005589445 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/33075 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | BioMed Central | en |
dc.rights | © 2013 Mokoka et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License | en |
dc.subject | Maytenus undata | en |
dc.subject | Celastraceae | en |
dc.subject | Antibacterial | en |
dc.subject | Antifungal | en |
dc.subject | Cytotoxicity | en |
dc.subject | Haemagglutination assay | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Alternative medicine -- South Africa | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Materia medica, Vegetable | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Medicinal plants | en |
dc.title | Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of triterpenes isolated from leaves of Maytenus undata (Celastraceae) | en |
dc.type | Article | en |