Planta Med 2012; 78 - PJ11
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1321171

Development of an immunochemical differentiation method for Salvia divinorum

MK Paudel 1, O Shirota 2, S Sekita 2, H Tanaka 1, S Morimoto 1
  • 1Department of Pharmacognosy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812–8582, Japan
  • 2Department of Pharmacoggnosy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Kagawa 769–2193, Japan

Salvinorin A (Sal A) which is the neoclerodane ditrepene and is an extremely potent and highly selective kappa opioid receptor agonist, is the main active constituent isolated from the leaves of S. divinorum. It is a powerful psychoactive perennial herb, belongs to Lamiaceae family. Sal A has been shown to have various pharmacological activities. We have successfully prepared monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against Sal A, and developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for determination of Sal A. A single-chain variable fragment (scFv) which is a kind of recombinant antibodies for Sal A was prepared and used in an ELISA. The recombinant antibodies which are derived from a MAb against Sal A prepared by us was expressed by Escherichia coli cells and characterized regarding their reactivity and specificity.