A new resin glycoside (1) was isolated from the aerial part of Ipomoea maxima, together with three known compounds, pescaprein XX (2), stoloniferin X (3), and stoloniferin IX (4). The structure of 1 was elucidated on the basis of 1D NMR spectroscopy, a fragmentation study by APCIMS, and HRESIMS analysis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an organic extract obtained from Ipomoea alba L.(Convolvulaceae or OE 1493), on experimental periodontal disease in rats. Periodontitis was induced in thirty six Wistar rats: a first mandibular molar was randomly assigned to receive a ligature, whereas the contralateral molar was left unligated. Animals were randomly assigned to two groups and treated topically, three times a day, for 11 days, as follows: Control Group - vehicle-treated (n = 18), and Test Group - OE 1493-treated (n = 18). The rats were sacrificed on the 12th day. Morphometrical measurements from the cementoenamel junction to the bone crest were performed to determine alveolar bone loss, using standardized photographs. Single- and multi-dose acute toxicity assays were carried out after OE 1493 treatment. Morphometrical analysis demonstrated that topically-administered OE 1493 showed no effect on reducing bone loss when compared with the control group (p > 0.05). In addition, OE 1493 did not present toxicity. Within the limits of this investigation, it may be concluded that OE 1493 did not show any positive influence on the progression of ligature-induced periodontitis in rats, when administered according to the regimen used in the present study.

Bioassay monitored HPLC assisted isolation and purification of the chief antifungal fraction of the leaves of Ipomoea carnea subsp. fistulosa (Convulvulaceae) were achieved using Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Cladosporium cucumerinum as test organisms. The activity of the purified fraction was further confirmed by the dose dependent inhibition of the spore germination of Alternaria alternata and A. porri. The active fraction was identified as a mixture of (E)-octadecyl p-coumarate and (Z)-octadecyl p-coumarate. The two isomers were detected on an HPLC column with substantially different retention times, but once eluted from the column, one form was partly converted to the other in daylight. Conclusive evidence for the structures and their isomerization were obtained from the HPLC behavior, IR, UV, HRESIMS, CIMS and and NMR spectral data. Important 1H NMR and 13C NMR signals could be separately assigned for the isomers using 2D NMR techniques.

We previously described that supplementary garlic, onion and purple sweet potato (PSP) enhance humoral immune response in White Leghorn chickens. In the present in vitro study, we investigated the effects of garlic (GE), onion (OE) and PSP (PSPE) extracts on proliferation, interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (INF)-γ gene expression of stimulated lymphocytes. The effects on microbicidal activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) productions of stimulated peritoneal macrophages were studied as well. The results showed that GE augmented Concanavalin A (ConA)-induced splenocytes (4, 8 and 16µg/mL) and thymocytes (2, 4 and 8µg/mL) proliferations, and gene expression of IL-2 (8 and 16µg/mL) and INF-γ (16µg/mL). None of the examined extracts had mitogenic effect nor stimulated bursacytes response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Macrophages exhibited superior microbicidal activity and ROS production with GE at 4 and 8µg/mL and with OE at 25.6µg/mL. None of the extracts showed stimulatory effects on NO production. The extracts showed concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on all measured parameters at higher concentrations. Taken together, it is likely that garlic has direct stimulatory effects on immune cell functions, whereas the in vitro inhibitory effects of onion and PSP were likely attributed to high flavonoid contents.

Ipomoea carnea Jacq. ssp. fistulosa (Mart. Ex Choisy; Convolvulaceae; I. carnea) possesses a toxic component: an indolizidine alkaloid swainsonine (SW) that has immunomodulatory effects due to its inhibition of glycoprotein metabolism. It is also known that SW is excreted into both the amniotic fluid and milk of female rats exposed to I. carnea. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine whether SW exposure, either in utero or from the milk of dams treated with I. carnea, modulates offspring immune function into adulthood. In addition, adult (70 days old) and juvenile rats (21 days old) were exposed to I. carnea in order to evaluate several other immune parameters: lymphoid organs relative weight and cellularity, humoral and cellular immune responses. Offspring exposed to I. carnea during lactation developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adulthood after an immunogenic challenge. In addition, both adult and juvenile rats exposed to I. carnea showed discrepancies in several immune parameters, but did not exhibit any decrease in humoral immune response, which was enhanced at both ages. These findings indicate that SW modulates immune function in adult rats exposed to SW during lactation and in juvenile and adult rats exposed to SW as juveniles and adults, respectively.

Twenty-six microbiologically inactive (MIC > 512 µg/mL) convolvulaceous resin glycosides ( 1- 26) were tested for resistance modulatory activity in vitro against Escherichia coli Rosetta-gami and two nosocomial pathogens, Salmonella typhi and Shigella flexneri. These compounds exerted a potentiation effect of the clinically useful antibiotics tetracycline, kanamycin, and chloramphenicol against the tested gram-negative bacteria by increasing antibiotic susceptibility up to 32-fold at concentrations of 25 µg/mL. Therefore, the oligosaccharides from the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae) represent metabolites that reverse microbial resistance mechanisms, favoring an increase in the strength and effectiveness of current antibiotics that are not effective in the treatment of refractive infections caused by multidrug-resistant strains.

Natural intoxication of livestock by ingestion of Ipomoea asarifolia leaves has been reported to occur widely in Brazil. Previous studies carried out by our research group provided strong evidence that a lectin could be involved with the toxic properties of I. asarifolia. To reinforce this hypothesis, a lectin-enriched fraction (LEF) was isolated from I. asarifolia leaves and its toxic effects were assessed. Leaves of I. asarifolia were excised from plants growing widely in the field, mechanically wounded and maintained in a chamber at 25 ± 3 °C for 72h in the dark, under near 100% relative humidity. The leaf proteins were extracted, ammonium sulfate precipitated, chromatographed on DEAE-cellulose and Phenyl-Sepharose to produce LEF that under SDS-PAGE showed a molecular mass of 44.0 kDa and after N-terminal amino acid analysis a primary sequence composed of AGYTPVLDIGAEVLAAGEPY. The in vivo toxicity of LEF assessed by intraorbital injection in mice showed induced severe uncoordinated movements without death. LEF reduced the muscular contraction in a dose depend way and at 29.8 μg/mL (CE(50)) it produces 50% inhibition of contraction, suggesting that LEF blunts autonomic neurotransmission. Isolated rat kidneys were perfused with LEF and no effects on the perfusion pressure or renal vascular resistance were observed, but urinary flow and glomerular filtration rate increased. Moreover, the percentage of tubular transport of Na(+), K(+) and Cl(-) decreased. Histological examination of the kidneys perfused with LEF exhibited little alterations. These toxic effects observed above were concomitant with the increase of LEF hemagglutination activity, which strongly suggest that one of the toxic principles of I. asarifolia is a lectin present in its leaves.

In this study, we tested the anti-metastatic activity of Ipomoea obscura extract and elucidated its underlying mechanisms by in vitro system using B16F-10 melanoma cells and in vivo experimental lung metastasis model. I. obscura suppressed proliferation, invasion and migration of highly metastatic B16F-10 melanoma cells in vitro. I. obscura could also decrease transcription factors such as nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) and activator protein (AP-1) in B16F-10 melanoma cells. Administration of I. obscura resulted significant suppression of B16F-10 melanoma induced tumor nodule formation and enhanced the survival of tumor-bearing mice. The level of various biochemical parameters associated with lung metastasis were also found to be decreased by the I. obscura treatment. A significant down regulation in the expression of inflammatory mediators such inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX-2), pro-inflammatory cytokines related to tumor metastasis was observed by the treatment with I. obscura. Higher expression levels of pro-metastatic genes such as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2 and 9), was observed in the metastatic group, but these were down-regulated by the treatment with I. obscura. The endogenous MMP inhibitor tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) was found to be up-regulated by I. obscura treatment. Our results indicate that the anti- invasive and antimetastatic effect of I. obscura is mediated at least in part by reduced expression of inflammatory mediators by inhibiting NF-kappaB signaling with their downstream targets iNOS, COX-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokine and also by inhibiting MMP-9 and MMP-2.

In the search for possible new anti-cancer agents, we investigated the effects of 75 aqueous and methanol extracts from 41 Argentinean plant species. The effect in cell growth was evaluated in the LM2 mammary adenocarcinoma cells. In a second stage, the highly active selected extracts were assayed in 3 other tumour cell lines: melanoma B16, bladder MB49 and lung A549; and 3 normal cell lines: mammary Hb4a and keratinocytes PAM212 and HaCat. Eight methanol extracts were found to be highly cytotoxic: Collaea argentina leaf, Iochroma australe leaf, Ipomoea bonariensis flower, Jacaranda mimosifolia flower, Solanum amygdalifolium flower, Solanum chacoense leaf, Solanum sisymbriifolium flower and Solanum verbascifolium flower. However, extract inhibition on cell growth was highly dependent on cell type. In general, except for the highly resistant cell lines, the inhibitory concentrations 50% were in the range of 10-150 μg/ml The eight extracts highly inhibited cell growth in a concentration-dependent manner, and in general the methanol extracts were always more active than the aqueous. Murine cells appear to be more sensitive than human cells to the cytotoxic action of the plant extracts. The human melanoma B16 line was the most resistant to four of the extracts. In terms of selectivity, S. verbascifolium was the species which showed most selectivity for tumour cells. Overall, this is one of the first studies focusing on southern South American native plants and their biological effects. Since some species of 5 genera analyzed have been reported to possess different degrees of alkaloid content, we examined microtubule structures after extract treatments. The eight extracts induced destabilization, condensation and aggregation of microtubules in LM2 cells, although no depolarization, typical of Vinca alkaloids damage was observed. In a near future, antitumour activity of purified fractions of the extracts administered at non-toxic doses will be assayed in transplantable murine tumour models.

Plants accumulate a great diversity of natural products, many of which confer protective effects against phytopathogenic attack. Earlier we had demonstrated that the leaf extracts of Zizyphus jujuba and Ipomoea carnea inhibit the in vitro mycelial growth of Rhizoctonia solani, and effectively reduce the incidence of sheath blight disease in rice. Here we demonstrate that foliar application of the aqueous leaf extracts of Z. jujuba and I. carnea followed by challenge inoculation with R. solani induces systemic resistance in rice as evident from significantly increased accumulation of pathogenesis-related proteins such as chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase and peroxidase, as well as defense-related compounds such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and phenolic substances. Thin layer chromatographic separation of secondary metabolites revealed presence of alkaloid and terpenoid compounds in the leaf extracts of Z. jujuba that exhibited toxicity against R. solani under in vitro condition. Thus, the enhanced sheath blight resistance in rice seedlings treated with leaf extracts of Z. jujuba or I. carnea can be attributed to the direct inhibitory effects of these leaf extracts as well as their ability to elicit systemic resistance against R. solani.

Three new resin glycosides, purginosides I and II (1 and 2) and purgin I (3), were isolated from the aerial parts of Ipomoea purga and purified by preparative-scale recycling HPLC from a chloroform-soluble extract. Their structures were established through NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Purginosides I and II (1 and 2) are partially acylated branched pentasaccharides derived from operculinic acid A, which is composed of one D-fucose, one D-glucose, and three l-rhamnose units. The site of the aglycon macrolactonization is at C-2 of the second saccharide (rhamnose). In both compounds 1 and 2, three different esterifying residues were located at C-2 of the second rhamnose unit and at C-2 (or C-3) and C-4 on the third rhamnose moiety. The acylating residues were characterized as trans-cinnamic, n-decanoic, and either (+)-(2S)-2-methylbutanoic or n-hexanoic acid. Purgin I (3) was found to be an ester-type dimer of operculinic acid A, acylated by n-dodecanoic,(+)-(2S)-2-methylbutanoic, and trans-cinnamic acids at the same oligosaccharide core positions found in compounds 1 and 2. The site of lactonization by the aglycon in unit A was placed at C-2 of the second saccharide. The position for the ester linkage for the monomeric unit B on the macrocyclic unit A was identified as C-4 of the terminal glucose. This is the first report on the isolation, purification, and structure elucidation of intact individual resin glycoside constituents from the herbal drug jalap.

AIM OF THE STUDY Ipomoea tyrianthina has been used in Mexican traditional medicine as a mild purgative, for the treatment of nervous disorders, and against tumors. In this study, the effect of convolvulin (an ether-insoluble resin glycoside) from the root of Ipomoea tyrianthina on: Central Nervous System; as spasmolytic and vasodilator; cytotoxic against cancer cell lines is evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS Convolvulin isolated from the root of Ipomoea tyrianthina (IT-EM) was tested on pentylentetrazole induced seizures, pentobarbital-induced hypnosis, release of GABA and glutamic acid, isolated rat aorta and ileum rings, and against Caco-2 and KB cell lines. RESULTS IT-EM increased the hypnotic effect induced by pentobarbital and the release of GABA in brain cortex of mice, but did not protect mice against pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsions. IT-EM produced a significant vasodilator effect in concentration- and endothelium-dependent manners on isolated rat aorta, but did not inhibit significantly contractions on rat ileum, colon, and jejune rings. IT-EM showed cytotoxic activity against nasopharyngeal carcinoma KB cell line. CONCLUSIONS Convolvulin (IT-EM) from Ipomoea tyrianthina has sedative effect, vasorelaxant effect in concentration- and endothelium-dependent manners, and cytotoxic activity against nasopharyngeal carcinoma KB cell line.

Pescapreins XXI-XXX (1-10), pentasaccharide resin glycosides, together with the known pescapreins I-IV and stoloniferin III were isolated from the aerial parts of Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning-glory). The pescapreins are macrolactones of simonic acid B, partially esterified with different fatty acids. The lactonization site of the aglycone, jalapinolic acid, was located at C-2 or C-3 of the second saccharide moiety. Their structures were established by a combination of spectroscopic and chemical methods. Compounds 1-10 were evaluated for their potential to modulate multidrug resistance in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7/ADR. The combined use of these new compounds at a concentration of 5 μg/mL increased the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin by 1.5-3.7-fold.

Pescaprein XVIII (1), a type of bacterial efflux pump inhibitor, was obtained from the CHCl(3)-soluble resin glycosides of beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae). The glycosidation sequence for pescaproside C, the glycosidic acid core of the lipophilic macrolactone 1 containing D-xylose and L-rhamnose, was characterized by means of several NMR techniques and FAB mass spectrometry. Recycling HPLC also yielded eight non-cytotoxic bacterial resistance modifiers, the two pescapreins XIX (2) and XX (3) as well as the known murucoidin VI (4), pecapreins II (6) and III (7), and stoloniferins III (5), IX (8) and X (9), all of which contain simonic acid B as their oligosaccharide core. Compounds 1-9 were tested for in vitro antibacterial and resistance-modifying activity against strains of Staphylococcus aureus possessing multidrug resistance efflux mechanisms. All of the pescapreins potentiated the action of norfloxacin against the NorA over-expressing strain by 4-fold (8 microg/mL from 32 microg/mL) at a concentration of 25 microg/mL.

To reduce the influx of cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal, into the human food chain through vegetable intake, a pot experiment for the selection of a pollution-safe cultivar (PSC) of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.) was carried out. The experiment with 30 tested cultivars revealed that the maximum differences in Cd concentration between the cultivars containing the highest and the lowest Cd were 3.0-3.9-fold under low-Cd treatment (soil Cd = 0.593 mg kg(-1)), 2.7-3.5-fold under middle-Cd treatment (soil Cd = 1.091 mg kg(-1)), and 2.6-2.7-fold under high-Cd treatment (soil Cd = 1.824 mg kg(-1)), large enough to define the Cd-PSCs. Concentrations of Cd in edible parts of six cultivars, cv. Daxingbaigu, Huifengqing, Qiangkunbaigu, Qiangkunqinggu, Shenniuliuye, and Xingtianqinggu, were lower than 0.2 mg kg(-1), the maximum level (ML) of Cd allowed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) standard, even under middle-Cd treatment. Accordingly, these cultivars were treated as typical Cd-PSCs. Four cultivars, cv. Jieyangbaigeng, Xianggangdaye, Sannongbaigeng, and Taiwan 308, contained Cd in edible parts exceeding the ML even under low-Cd treatment, and they were defined as typical non-Cd-PSCs. The correlations of the Cd concentrations among the tested cultivars between the three treatments were significant at the p < 0.05 level. A conspicuous difference in Cd subcellular distribution in hydroponic plant tissues between cv. Qiangkunqinggu (a typical Cd-PSC) and cv. Taiwan 308 (a typical non-Cd-PSC) were observed. Cd absorbed by cv. Qiangkunqinggu seemed to be well-compartmentalized in root and in cell wall fragment, which may be one of the mechanisms leading to its low Cd accumulating property. The results indicated that water spinach, a leafy vegetable, could be easily polluted by soils contaminated with Cd, as 80% of the tested cultivars had exceeded the ML of Cd according to the CAC standard even under the middle-Cd treatment. Much of the evidence obtained from the present study proved that the high Cd-accumulating ability of water spinach is a stable biological property at cultivar level and, thus, is genotype dependent. Therefore, application of the PSC strategy to produce water spinach that is safer to consume is feasible and necessary.

The abilities to accumulate cadmium (Cd) are different among cultivars (cv.) in many species. The characteristic of Cd concentration among cultivars is heritable and is probably controlled by genes, but rather limited information about the relevant genes in vegetable crops has been published. In the present study, a suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) approach was used to identify genes induced by Cd in two water spinach (an important vegetable in southern China) cultivars that differ in Cd accumulation in their edible parts. The two cultivars were cv. Qiangkunqinggu (QK), a low Cd accumulative cultivar and cv. Taiwan 308 (TW), a high Cd accumulative cultivar. In the construction of QK and TW libraries, the plants without Cd treatment were taken as drivers and the plants exposed to 6 mg L(-1) Cd for 24 h as testers. Four hundred clones were sequenced, and 164 nonrepeated sequences (112 from the QK library and 52 from the TW library) were assigned to being functional genes or proteins. A tremendous difference in Cd-induced gene expressions between the two libraries was observed. In the QK library, genes implicated in disease/defense comprised one of the largest sets (20.6%), whereas the proportion was only 8.8% in the TW library. An MT3 gene (Q5), a wound inductive gene (Q22), an antioxidation relevant gene (Q34), a lectin gene (Q45), an f-box family protein gene (Q319), a 20S proteasome subunit gene (T17), a multidrug resistance associated protein gene (T156), and a cationic amino acid transporter gene (T218) were selected to compare semiquantitatively their expression between cv. QK and cv. TW using the RT-PCR method, and obvious differences were detected. The relationships between the identified differences in the expressions of the genes and the Cd accumulation of the two cultivars were discussed, and it was concluded that the SSH approach is useful for finding the difference in expression of Cd-induced gene even at the cultivar level and is applicable in the investigation of the mechanisms of low Cd accumulation.

Centrifugal partition chromatography in the pH-zone-refining mode was successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids, directly from a crude extract of Ipomoea muricata. The experiment was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE)-acetonitrile-water (4:1:5, v/v) where triethylamine (10 mM) was added to the upper organic stationary phase as a retainer and trifluoroacetic acid (10 mM) to the aqueous mobile phase as an eluter. From 4 g of crude extract, 210 mg lysergol and 182 mg chanoclavine were obtained in 97% and 79.6% purities. Total yield recovery was >95%. Isolated alkaloids were characterized on the basis of their (1)H,(13)C NMR and ESI-MS data.

Alkaline hydrolysis of the ether-insoluble resin glycoside (convolvulin) fraction of the roots of Ipomoea operculata (GOMES) MART.(Convolvulaceae) afforded a glycosidic acid named operculinic acid H along with isovaleric, tiglic, and exogonic (3,6:6,9-diepoxydecanoic) acids. Operculinic acid H was characterized to be 3S,12S-dihydroxyhexadecanoic acid 12-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-[O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)]-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-[O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->6)]-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside on the basis of spectroscopic data and chemical evidence. The absolute configuration of exogonic acid determined from the alpha-methoxy-alpha-trifluoromethylphenylacetic acid esters of the hydrogenolysis products revealed that exogonic acid exists as a mixture (ca. 1 : 1) of two epimers,(3S,6S,9R)- and (3S,6R,9R)-diepoxydecanoic acids.

The first total synthesis of ipomoeassin F was carried out using a convergent approach that relied upon the use of Schmidt glycosidation technology for the coupling of two suitably protected monosaccharide fragments. After two steps, ring-closing metathesis was used to form the macrocyclic ring, and seven more steps then furnished ipomoeassin F. In vitro inhibitory activity against a four-panel cell line showed low nanomolar inhibitory activity.

Alkaline hydrolysis of the ether-soluble resin glycoside (jalapin) fraction of the leaves and stems of Ipomoea digitata L.(Convolvulaceae) gave six organic acids, isobutyric,(S)-2-methylbutyric, tiglic, n-decanoic, n-dodecanoic, and cinnamic acids, and two glycosidic acids, quamoclinic acid A and operculinic acid A. Further, a new genuine resin glycoside, named digitatajalapin I, was isolated from the jalapin fraction, along with three known resin glycosides. Their structures have been determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic data.