Maytenus

Uses of medicinal plants by people around the world significantly contribute and guide biologically active compounds research that can be useful in the combat against various diseases. Due to a great chemical and structural variety found in their vegetal structures it consolidates ethnopharmacology as an important science for the pharmaceutical section. Inserted in the diversity of medicinal plants, is the Maytenus genus, whose research has already revealed lots of isolated substances which are responsible for a great variety of biological activities, among which we cite analgesic and anti-inflammatory, for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, gastritis, ulcers and gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this review article is to make a compendium of the Maytenus genus and its isolated chemical compounds, among them tingenone. The elucidation of its mechanism of action reveals promising sources for the development of new drugs specially targeted for the treatment of painful inflammatory diseases. Research for the treatment of the main diseases that affect the humankind is a constant concern of the population, whose information is proven by the numerous records found in the first civilizations that lived on Earth (Calixto and Siqueira, 2008). Ancient civilization such as Chinese, Indian and North African have provided written evidence from the origin of man using plants for the treatment of a great variety of diseases. In Old Greece, for example , scholars classified plants and gave descriptions that helped in the identification process (Phillipson, 2001). Nowadays, treatment through medicinal plants plays a fundamental role in the health systems of many countries (Bhatia et al., 2014). Researches of medicinal plants are becoming more important in the development of health care and maintenance programs in different parts of the world (Shil et al., 2014). Brazilian biodiversity comprises more than 50,000 species of vascular plants (20–22% of the existent total in the planet) and, due to this, the interest in studies of medicinal properties of plants are explored by Brazilian researchers and the pharmaceutical industry

Maytenus ilicifolia is an important plant in Brazilian folk medicine, used in many gastric disorder treatments. Low molecular weight components present in the leaves have been characterized as afzelechin, epiafzelechin, catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin and epigallocatechin, as detected by HPLC and ESI-MS. Condensed tannins have also been found, consisting of di-, tri-, tetra-, and penta-, hexa, and heptamers. ESI-MS analyses were performed in positive and negative ionization modes, and in contrast with other investigations, negative ionization improved sensitivity for obtaining molecular ions. Moreover, the tandem-MS profile with negative detection provided characteristic fragments, such as those found at m/z 543 [(epi)afzelechin-(epi)afzelechin], m/z 561 [(epi)afzelechin-(epi)catechin], and m/z 577 [(epi)catechin-(epi)catechin] or [(epi)afzelechin-(epi)gallocatechin]. The analysis of the fragments also indicated the presence of additional ether linkage between C2 and C7, present in A-Type proanthocyanidins, and were identified at m/z 559 [(epi)afzelechin-(epi)catechin], m/z 575 [(epi)catechin-(epi)catechin] or [(epi)afzelechin-(epi)gallocatechin] and at m/z 591, [(epi)catechin-(epi)gallocatechin]. CID-fragmentation was used for tannins sequencing, as well as 3D NMR HMQC-TOCSY and COSY, which provided fingerprint assignments for identification of cathechin at delta 4.55/82.1 (H-2/C-2), 3.96/68.1 (H-3/C-3) and 2.82-2.50/27.7 (H-4a-H-4b/C-4), and epicathechin delta 4.78/79.1 (H-2/C-2), 4.15/66.7 (H-3/C-3) and 2.82-2.73/28.5 (H-4a-H-4b/C-4). Since HMQC-TOCSY gives a high resolution heteronuclear connectivity, it is useful for identification of other cis-trans isomers present in complex flavonoid mixtures.

Wood from three different plants of the Celastraceae growing in their natural habitats in Brazil (Maytenus aquifolia Mart.) and South Africa [Putterlickia retrospinosa van Wyk and Mostert, P. verrucosa (E. Meyer ex Sonder) Szyszyl.] was established as a source of endophytic bacteria using a medium selective for actinomycetes. Two isolates were identified as Streptomyces setonii and S. sampsonii whereas two others were not assignable to any of the known Streptomyces species. They were preliminarily named Streptomyces Q21 and Streptomyces MaB-QuH-8. The latter strain produces a new chloropyrrol and chlorinated anthracyclinone. The chloropyrrol showed high activity against a series of multiresistent bacteria and mycobacteria.

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was employed to analyze flavonol glycosides present in leaves of Maytenus ilicifolia, frequently used in traditional Brazilian medicine. Since they contain many flavonol glycosides, including isomers, one-dimensional liquid chromatography did not give complete separation and identification, yielding overlapping of compounds with different molecular weights. Thus, employing size exclusion chromatography in the first and reversed phase in the second dimension, a great number of flavonol glycosides could be identified and its relative abundances determined. The majority of glycosides contained kaempferol or quercetin as aglycones, and glycosides with previously unreported structures were also present and characterized.

Plants belonging to the genus Maytenus are routinely used in folk medicine for the treatment of pain diseases. Our previous phytochemical study of the roots of Maytenus imbricata resulted in the isolation and characterization of tingenone, a pentacyclic triterpene. Natural triterpenoids are of growing interest because they have several biological activities, including analgesic properties. The present study assessed the involvement of the opiodergic pathway in the tingenone-induced antinociceptive effect against hyperalgesia induced by prostaglandin E2 (2 µg) in the peripheral pathway. We evaluated the effect of several antagonists to opioid receptors using the mouse paw pressure test. Tingenone administered into the right hind paw induced a local antinociceptive effect that was antagonized by naloxone, a nonselective antagonist to opioid receptors. Clocinnamox, naltrindole, and nor-binaltorphimine are selective antagonists to µ, δ, and κ receptors, respectively, which reverted the ...

RESUMO: A Maytenus ilicifolia Mart. ex Reissek, Celastraceae, vem sendo utilizada a muitos anos tanto na terapêutica clínica, contudo suas propriedades farmacológicas continuam sob estudo. O objetivo desse estudo é fornecer subsídios teóricos para o aprimoramento dos estudos, em especial os estudos clínicos, e assim estabelecer definitivamente as propriedades reais da Maytenus ilicifolia. ABSTRACT: : " Review of Maytenus ilicifolia Mart. ex Reissek, Celastraceae. Contribution to the studies of pharmacological properties ". The Maytenus ilicifolia Mart. ex Reissek, Celastraceae has been used for many years as a medicine in the therapeutic in Brazil. However, the pharmacological action still under evaluation by many research centres. The aim of this study is stablish, based in clinical trials, the real properties of Maytenus ilicifolia.

This study reveals that an ethanolic supernatant obtained from an aqueous extractive solution prepared from residues of methanolic extracts of ground leaves of Maytenus ilicifolia is able to cause a concentration- and endothelium-dependent relaxation in pre-contract rat aorta ...

Optimization of CSD and CMC-Na in tablet formulations containing a high dose of SDE fromM ilicifolia was performed by central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). The study demonstrated that CSD affected mainly the hardness and friability, while CMC-Na modified the disintegration times. The optimum formula for minimum disintegration time and friability, and maximum crushing strength, was found to contain 1.2% (wt/wt) of CSD and 5.0% (wt/wt) of CMC-Na. At these conditions, the tablet shows a crushing strength of 107.9 N, a friability of 0.56% (wt/wt), and a maximum disintegration time of 6.8 minutes.

Five different morphological types of Maytenus ilicifolia of the same age and harvested under the same conditions showed distinct accumulations of some friedo-nor-oleananes. A rapid, sensitive and reliable reverse-phase HPLC method (employing an external standard) was used for the determination of the cytotoxic triterpenoids, 20α-hydroxymaytenin, 22β-hydroxymaytenin, maytenin, celastrol and pristimerin in each of the five types. Well resolved peaks with good detection response and linearity in the range­1.0–100 µg/mL were obtained. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An arabinogalactan was obtained from the leaves of Maytenus ilicifolia by hot aqueous 2% KOH extraction, followed by a freezing-thawing process and anion-exchange chromatography. It consisted of arabinose, galactose, galacturonic acid, and rhamnose in a 69:20:6:5 molar ratio. Methylation analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, and (13)C NMR spectroscopy indicated that it was an arabinogalactan containing a (1-->4)-linked beta-Galp main chain, substituted at O-6 with Ara units, which were in turn substituted at O-5 (Araf) and/or O-4 (Arap), O-3, O-3,5, and O-2,5. This arabinogalactan is probably linked to O-4 of some Rhap units of a type I rhamnogalacturonan, formed by repeating (1-->4)-alpha-D-GalpA-(1-->2)-alpha-L-Rhap groups.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether extracts and semi-purified fractions obtained from Maytenus ilicifolia leaves have vascular effects in vivo. We tested the ethanolic supernatant of the infusion (ESI), and the ethanolic supernatant of the aqueous extract (ESAE) on the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) of anesthetized rats. Intravenous injection of ESAE caused a