Planta Med 2008; 74(15): 1802-1805
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1088340
Letter
Pharmacology
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Phytochemical Constituents from Cassia alata with Inhibition against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Hazrina Hazni1 , Norazlina Ahmad1 , Yukio Hitotsuyanagi2 , Koichi Takeya2 , Chee-Yan Choo1
  • 1MedChem Herbal Research Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Hajiochi, Tokyo, Japan
Further Information

Publication History

Received: June 10, 2008 Revised: August 27, 2008

Accepted: August 28, 2008

Publication Date:
07 November 2008 (online)

Abstract

The methanolic extract of the leaves of Cassia alata was sequentially partitioned in increasing polarity to afford the hexane, chloroform, butanol and residual extract. Crude extracts were evaluated against MRSA using the agar well diffusion assay. The butanol and chloroform extracts both exhibited inhibition against MRSA with inhibition indexes of 1.03 ± 0.16 and 0.78 ± 0.07 at the concentration of 50 mg/mL. The butanol extracts were further purified using silica gel and reverse phase chromatography to afford kaempferol (1), kaempferol 3-O-β-glucopyranoside (2), kaempferol 3-O-gentiobioside (3) and aloe emodin (4). The four constituents showed varying degrees of inhibition against MRSA. Both 1 and 4 exhibited MIC50 values of 13.0 ± 1.5 μg/mL and 12.0 ± 1.5 μg/mL, respectively. The kaempferol glycosides 2 and 3 were less active with MIC50 values of 83.0 ± 0.9 μg/mL and 560.0 ± 1.2 μg/mL, respectively. A free hydroxyl group at C-3 of the flavonol structure is a structural requirement for the inhibition of MRSA.

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Dr. Choo Chee-Yan

MedChem Herbal Research Group

Faculty of Pharmacy

Universiti Teknologi MARA

40450 Shah Alam

Selangor

Malaysia

Phone: +603-5544-2877

Fax: +603-5544-2725

Email: choo715@salam.uitm.edu.my