Planta Med 2010; 76 - WSII_1
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264212

Bioactivity-guided isolation of potential anti-inflammatory constituents from Betonica officinalis

P Picker 1, J Mihaly-Bison 2, S Vogl 1, M Zehl 1, E Urban 3, G Reznicek 1, J Saukel 1, C Wawrosch 1, B Binder 2, B Kopp 1
  • 1Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
  • 2Department of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research, Medical University of Vienna, Schwarzspanierstrasse 17, 1090 Vienna, Austria
  • 3Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Betonica officinalis (Lamiaceae) has been used in Austrian traditional medicine since ancient times against inflammatory disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory properties of extracts, derived fractions, and isolated pure compounds of this plant by assessment of their effect on genes (E-selectin, IL-8) that are induced by inflammatory stimuli (TNF-α or LPS) in endothelial cells [1,2].

The plant material (herb) was extracted with dichloromethane (DCM) using an accelerated solvent extractor. Chlorophyll was separated by liquid-liquid-partition between DCM and a mixture of MeOH-H2O 1:1, in order to increase the concentration of the active compounds. Since the purified DCM extract showed strong activity in the mentioned assay, a bioactivity-guided fractionation was carried out. Subfractions were obtained by solid-phase extraction using C18 cartridges eluted with 30%, 70%, and 100% MeOH. The 30% and the 70% subfractions, which showed highest activity, were further fractionated by HPLC in order to identify and investigate their active constituents, whose structures were elucidated by HPLC-MS, 1D, and 2D NMR spectroscopy.

Besides of some known polymethylated flavonoids (e.g. salvigenin), particularly the iridoid 8-O-acetylharpagide and two new diterpenoids were found to inhibit between 46% and 99% the LPS-stimulated induction of E-selectin at the concentration of 10µg/ml, evidencing a considerable potential as new anti-inflammatory agents.

Acknowledgements: This work is funded by the Austrian Science Fund, NFN: S10704-B037.

References: 1. Chang et al. (2005) Exp Cell Res. 309(1):121–36.

2. Kadl et al. (2002) Vascul Pharmacol. 38(4):219–27.