Antimutagenicity of some edible Thai plants, and a bioactive carbazole alkaloid, mahanine, isolated from Micromelum minutum

J Agric Food Chem. 2002 Aug 14;50(17):4796-802. doi: 10.1021/jf025564w.

Abstract

The antimutagenic activity against Trp-P-1 of methanolic extracts of 118 samples (108 species) of edible Thai plants was examined by the Ames Test. The activity was evaluated by the amount of plant extracts which suppressed 90% of the mutagenesis (ED90). Five plants, Micromelum minutum, Oroxylum indicum, Cuscuta chinensis, Azadirachta indica, and Litsea petiolata, exhibited significant activity with antimutagenic ED90 values lower than 5 microL/plate (0.1 mg of dry plant material equivalent). The activity-guided fractionation of the extract of M. minutum, which exhibited the highest antimutagenic activity in the screening, resulted in the isolation of an active principle, (+)-mahanine (1) as confirmed by its physicochemical properties. Compound 1 showed a wide variety of biological activity, including antimutagenicity against heterocyclic amines such as Trp-P-1 with an IC50 of 5.2 microM, cytotoxicity against a tumor cell line HL60 with a MIC100 of 4.0 microg/mL, and antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus with MIC100 values of 6.25 and 12.5 microg/mL, respectively.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Antimutagenic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacillus cereus / drug effects
  • Bacillus cereus / growth & development
  • Bignoniaceae / chemistry
  • Carbazoles / isolation & purification
  • Carbazoles / pharmacology*
  • Chemical Phenomena
  • Chemistry, Physical
  • Convolvulaceae / chemistry
  • Lauraceae / chemistry
  • Meliaceae / chemistry
  • Mutagenicity Tests
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Rutaceae / chemistry*
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects
  • Staphylococcus aureus / growth & development
  • Thailand
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Antimutagenic Agents
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Carbazoles
  • Plant Extracts
  • mahanine