Planta Med 2012; 78 - P_76
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1307584

Antimicrobial and Antiparastic Abietane Diterpenoids from Cupressus sempervirens

J Zhang 1, 2, AA Rahman 3, SK Jain 1, BL Tekwani 1, SI Khan 1, MR Jacob 1, I Muhammad 1
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research and Department of Pharmacology, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 110016, China
  • 3Department of Pharmacy, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Cupressus sempervirens L. (Cupressaceae) is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The EtOH extract of the powdered cone (fruits) of this plant, collected from Oxford, Mississippi during the fall of 2010, exhibited potent antimicrobial and antiparastic activities. Bioassay guided fractionation using a Centrifugal Preparative TLC (chromatotron®), yielded two potent antileishmanial and antimicrobial diterpenes, identified as 6-deoxytaxodione (11-hydroxy-7, 9(11),13-abietatrien-12-one) (1) and taxodione (2), together with ferruginol (3) and sugiol (4). Compounds 1 and 2 displayed IC50 values of 0.077 µg/mL and 0.025 µg/mL, respectively, against L. donovani promastigotes, and were more potent than standard antileishmanial drug pentamidine. Compounds 1 - 3 were also evaluated against L. donovani amastigotes in THP1 macrophage cultures. Compounds 1 and 2 had previously been isolated from C. eriophyllum [1], where 2 showed potent cytotoxic activity. However, this is the first report of antileishmanial activity of compound 1.

Acknowledgements: The authors sincerely thank Vijayasankar Raman for plant identification, Dr. Bharathi Avula for recording mass spectra, and Ms. Marsha A. Wright for antimicrobial assay. This work is supported in part by the USDA Agricultural Research Service Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58–6408–2-0009, and by US Department of Defense CDMRP grant # W81XWH-09. References: [1] Francis Machumi F, et al. (2010) Nat Prod Comm, 5: 853–858.