Phytochemical studies on Phlomis pungens Willd. from Azerbaijan

The genus Phlomis as perennial of Lamiaceae consists of more than 100 species distributed in Africa, Asia and Europe. The genus is represented in Azerbaijan by 6 species [1]. Species of Phlomis genus are used in folk medicine as stimulant, tonic, analgesic, antidiarrheic, antiulcerogenic and for hemorrhoids. Some studies have shown various activities such as antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, antihepatotoxic, protection of vascular system, anticancer, antifungal, antiallergic, antimutagenic, antinociceptive, free radical scavenging, antimalarial, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and immunosuppressive effects [2]. Even though, there are a lot of raw material reserves of Phlomis pungens Willd. in Azerbaijan, it has not been studied in detail phytochemically and pharmacologically. Anatomical structure, essential oil, amino acid and trace element composition of this species were previously studied [3]. On the other hand, herbal medicine development studies are continuing on the extracts for treatment of diabetes and menapousal symptoms. Therefore, our aim is to perform a phytochemical investigation to identify its bioactive compounds and compare its chemical content with Turkish relative. In the present study, we have presented iridoid and phenylethanoid glycosides of P. pungens. Air-dried aerial parts of the plant were extracted with 80% EtOH. Repeated column chromatografies of BuOH fraction of ethanolic extract, resulted in the isolation of one iridoid glucoside (1) and two phenylethanoid glycosides (2, 3). Compound 1 was identified as lamiide on the basis of extensive NMR and LC-MS techniques. Compounds 2 and 3 were elucidated as forsythoside B and leucosceptoside B, respectively, by means of one and two dimensional (¹H, ¹³C, COSY, HSQC and HMBC) NMR techniques by comparison with reported data [4]. Isolation studies on the other secondary metabolites and some bioactivity studies are still in progress.

Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to Prof. Dr. Toshiaki Makino and Dr. Ishiuchi Kan'ichiro (Nagoya City University, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan) for recording NMR spectra and Prof. Dr. Erhan Palaska (Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Ankara, Turkey) for LC- MS analysis.

Keywords: Phlomis pungens, Lamiaceae, iridoid glucoside, phenylethanoid glycosides.

References:

[1] Suleymanov T, Shukurova A. The chemical composition and pharmacological action of species of the genus Phlomis. Azerbaijan Pharmaceutical and Pharmacotherapy Journal 2014; 1: 34 – 40

[2] Limem-Ben Amor I, Boubaker J, Ben Sgaier M, Skandrani I, Bhouri W, Neffati A, Kilani S, Bouhlel I, Ghedira K, Chekir-Ghedira L. Phytochemistry and biological activities of Phlomis species. J Ethnopharmacol 2009; 125: 183 – 202

[3] Suleymanov T, Shukurova A. Estimation of elemental composition in herb of Jerusalem sage (Phlomis pungens willd.) and Lampwick plant (Phlomis caucasica Rech. fil.). The Modern Achievements of Azerbaijan Medicine 2015; 3: 100 – 103

[4] Saracoglu I, Harput S, Kojima K, Ogihara Y. Iridoid and phenylpropanoid glycosides from Phlomis pungens var. pungens. Hacettepe University, J Fac Pharm 1997; 17: 63 – 72