Planta Med 2008; 74 - PA37
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1084035

Analgesic activity of secondary metabolites from two Centaurea species

S Djeddi 1, 2, R Chatter 3, A Karioti 1, C Argyropoulou 1, R Kharrat 3, H Skaltsa 1
  • 1Department of Pharmacognosy & Chemistry of Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, Panepistimiopolis-Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
  • 2Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Environment, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University, 12 Annaba, Algeria
  • 3Unité de biotoxine, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisie

In continuation of our phytochemical and biological activities investigations into Centaurea species [1–7], we studied C. grisebachii ssp. grisebachii belonging to the section Acrolophus (Cass.) DC. from Greece and C. pullata belonging to the section Melanoloma (Cass.)DC. from Algeria. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of the analgesic activity of 32 secondary metabolites isolated from both species. The analgesic effect of the different compounds was studied in mice using acetic acid induced writhing, according to the method of Koster et al. [8]. The results showed significant decreases in pain at 30min post treatment with a dose of 10mg/kg of the following constituents:

8α-O-(4-hydroxy-2-methylene-butanoyloxy)-11β,13-dihydro-sonchucarpolide (isolated from C. pullata), 88%; 8α-O-(4-acetoxy-3-hydroxy-2-methylenebutanoyl)-4-epi-sonchucarpolide (isolated from C. grisebachii), 86%; cirsilineol (isolated from C. grisebachii), 71%; 5-hydroxy, 6, 7, 3', 4'-tetraméthoxyflavone (isolated from both species), 97%; arctigenin (isolated from C. grisebachii), 89%. The obtained results suggest that these compounds induce a significant inhibition of pain process comparable to those of classical non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs.

Acknowledgements: The authors winches to thanks Dr Th. Constantidinis for the identification of Centaurea grisebachii ssp. grisebachii.

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