Planta Med 2012; 78 - PI192
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1320880

Biological activities of 13,28-epoxyoleanane triterpene saponins from two Peruvian myrsinaceae

C Girardi 1, PG Vasquez-Ocmin 2, D Castillo 2, M Sauvain 1, 4, R Rojas 2, N Fabre 1, V Julian 1, R Kiss 3, HL Le 1, M Haddad 1, 4
  • 1Université de Toulouse, UPS, UMR152 (Pharmacochimie et Pharmacologie pour le Développement-PHARMA DEV), Toulouse, France
  • 2Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
  • 3Laboratoire de Toxicologie, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
  • 4IRD UMR-152, Mission IRD Casilla 18–1209 Lima, Peru

Two 13,28-epoxy-oleanane triterpene saponins (1) and (2), were isolated from the roots of Myrsine coriaceae and M. andina. Their structures were deduced by combined spectral analysis and chemical evidences based on data reported in the literature. Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated against different cellular models such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Leishmania amazonensis, mouse peritoneal macrophages, five human cancer cell lines and two murine cell lines. Compound 1 was found to exhibit antileishmanial activity (IC50=16µg/mL) whereas compound 2 was inactive. Furthermore, compound 1 exhibited stronger inhibition activity on human cancer cells (IC50=15µg/mL) and on murine cell lines (IC50=10µg/mL) than compound 2 (IC50 >82µg/mL and 42µg/mL, respectively). As the only difference between 1 and 2 is due to a substitution of an aldehyde group by a hydroxymethyl moiety, these results showed the crucial role of the aldehyde function at C-30 for the cytotoxicity. In contrast, none of the tested compounds revealed activity against M. tuberculosis.