Virginia FONSECA RIPOLL, Ángela P. HERNÁNDEZ GARCÍA, Mª Ángeles CASTRO GONZÁLEZ,Arturo SAN FELICIANO MARTÍN and Pablo A. GARCÍA GARCÍA*.
Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Área de Química Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, CIETUS, IBSAL,University of Salamanca. [email protected]
Asteriscus aquaticus (L.) Less. is an odoriferous herbaceous plant from Compositae
family distributed through the Mediterranean area growing on calcareous soils. Its
soxhlet n-hexane extract was chemically studied in the early 80’s by San Feliciano et
al1. In that investigations, several sesquiterpenic unsaturated-g-lactones were
isolated. Different bioactive properties have been reported for natural compounds
possessing this structural feature2. We have recovered our interest for this plant
with the aim to complete the phytochemical study and to make a prospection of its
bioactive properties.
Introduction
[1] San Feliciano A, Barrero AF, Medarde M, Miguel del Corral JM and Aramburu A. The stereochemistry ofasteriscunolides. Tetrahedron 1985, 41 (23), 5711-5717.
[2] Merford I. Perspectives on sesquiterpene lactones in inflammation and cancer. Current Drug Targets 2011, 12(11), 1560-1573.
References
Mineco: Retos AGL2016-79813-C2-2-R (2017-2019) and Mineco CTQ2015-68175-R (2016-2018).Acknowledgements
Natural products from Asteriscus aquaticus
The hexane extract was dewaxed
and then fractionated using an
acid-base extraction. The com-
pounds detected in the hexane
dewaxed neutral fraction (HDN)
were purified using vacuum liquid
chromatography, preparative thin
layer chromatography and flash
column chromatography on silica
gel. The fractions and the isolated
compounds were analyzed by 1H
and 13C NMR, GC-MS and HRMS.
From powdered dry plant, five room temperature maceration extracts were
obtained with increasing polarity solvents (from hexane to aqueous
methanol), and then, an infusion with hot water.
Methods
The sesquiterpene-g-lactones asteriscunolides A-D, t-cadinol, triacylglycerols,
stigmasterol, campesterol and b-sitosterol were isolated and identified, along
with other compounds that are being characterized. The extracts and the
purified compounds have been prepared to be assayed on different in vitro
bioactivity tests: cytotoxicity against tumour cells, anti-inflammatory,
antifungal, antiparasitic (Leishmania or Teladorsagia) and antiviral (dengue).
Results
