title: Extracts from plants used in Mexican traditional medicine activate Ca(2+)-dependent chloride channels in Xenopus laevis oocytes.
abstract: The two-electrode voltage-clamp technique was employed to investigate the effects of chloroform-methanol (1:1) extracts derived from five medicinal plants on Xenopus laevis oocytes. When evaluated at concentrations of 1 to 500 microg/ml, the extracts prepared from the aerial parts of Baccharis heterophylla H.B.K (Asteraceae), Chenopodium murale L. (Chenopodiaceae), Desmodium grahami Gray (Leguminosae) and Solanum rostratum Dun (Solanaceae) produced concentration-dependent oscillatory inward currents in the oocytes, while the extract of Gentiana spathacea did not induce any response. The reversal potential of the currents elicited by the active extracts was -17 +/- 2 mV and was similar to the chloride equilibrium potential in oocytes. These ionic responses were independent of extracellular calcium. However, they were eliminated by overnight incubation with BAPTA-AM (10 microM), suggesting that the currents were dependent on intracellular Ca2+ increase. Thus the plant extracts activate the typical oscillatory Ca(2+)-dependent Cl- currents generated in the Xenopus oocyte membrane more probably via a mechanism that involves release of Ca2+ from intracellular reservoirs. These observations suggest that Xenopus oocyte electrophysiological recording constitutes a suitable assay for the study of the mechanisms of action of herbal medicines.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Centro Universitario, Querétaro, México. rojasa@sunserver.uaq.mx
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Arellano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000187:drug effects; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D008800:Mexico; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D018118:Chloride Channels; D010936:Plant Extracts; D002118:Calcium