Two New Cyclic Amino Acids from the seeds and Antiviral Activity of methanolic extract of the roots of Zizyphus spinachristi

A. Said; A. Huefner; E. S. A. A. Tabl; G. Fawzy

doi:10.1055/s-2006-950022

Planta Medica, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Two New Cyclic Amino Acids from the seeds and Antiviral Activity of methanolic extract of the roots of Zizyphus spinachristi

A Said ¹, A Huefner ², ESAA Tabl ³, G Fawzy ¹

¹Department of Pharmacognosy, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt
²Institute for Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Graz, Schubertstr.1, A8010 Graz, Austria
³Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt

Abstract

Increased attention has been paid to Genus Zizyphus Family Rhamnaceae due to its significant medicinal uses viz hypoglycemic, hypotensive, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, liver protective and improves the immune function. In this study we isolate two new cyclic amino acids from the seeds of Zizyphus spinachristi (L.) Willd. 70% methanolic extract. The two compounds were identified by means of ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, HSQC, HMBC and GC-MS as 4-hydroxymethyl-1-methyl pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (less polar and major compound) and 4-hydroxy-4-hydroxymethyl-1-methyl pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (more polar and minor compound) of the ratio 4:3. Antiviral activity was shown to be 94%, 99% with the concentration of 20, 50µg of the 70% methanolic extract of Zizyphus spinachristi roots respectively. This was done using Plaque reduction assay against Herpes Simplex virus (HSV)[1].

Reference: 1. Farag, R.S. et al. (2004), Phytother. Res. 18: 30–35.