Anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effect of flavones isolated from Artemisia vestita.
OBJECTIVE
Artemisia vestita is a common traditional Tibetan medicinal plant which has been used widely in China for treating various inflammatory diseases. Since little is known about its active components, the purpose of this study was to isolate and identify the immunosuppressive compounds from Artemisia vestita.


METHODS
A bioassay-guided isolation was performed with picryl chloride-induced contact hypersensitivity in mice. MTT assay and Flow cytometric analysis were used for determining Con A-induced lymphocyte proliferation and CD25 expression in T cells, respectively.


RESULTS
The ethanol extract of the Artemisia vestita was found to possess significant inhibitory activity against the picryl chloride-induced contact hypersensitivity in mice. Then 4 fractions were isolated by macroporous adsorption resin and one of these fractions (AV3), which showed the highest activity in in vivo test, was further subjected to column chromatography. Nine known flavones were isolated and identified as pectolinarigenin (1), jaceosidin (2), cirsilineol (3), cirsimaritin (4), hispidulin (5), quercetin (6), 6-methoxytricin (7), acacetin (8), and apigenin (9). The structures of the 9 flavones were elucidated by spectral techniques. All the compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory activity on the proliferation and activation of T cells in vitro. Among the 9 flavones, cirsilineol (3), 6-methoxytricin (7) and apigenin (9) significantly inhibited T cell proliferation and activation in the bioassays.


CONCLUSIONS
The result suggests that cirsilineol, 6-methoxytricin and apigenin are the major active components in Artemisia vestita.
Yin
Ye
Y
State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 22 Han Kou Road, Nanjing 210093, China.
Gong
Fang-Yuan
FY
Wu
Xing-Xin
XX
Sun
Yang
Y
Li
Yi-Hua
YH
Chen
Ting
T
Xu
Qiang
Q
D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D019306:Artemisia / Q000737:chemistry*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D047309:Flavones / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D038861:Medicine, Tibetan Traditional; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010853:Picryl Chloride; D035261:Plant Components, Aerial; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D047309:Flavones; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010853:Picryl Chloride