title: Complement activity of polysaccharides from three different plant parts of Terminalia macroptera extracted as healers do.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Water decoctions of the root bark, stem bark and leaves of Terminalia macroptera are used by traditional healers in Mali to cure a wide range of illnesses, such as wounds, hepatitis, malaria, fever, cough and diarrhea as well as tuberculosis. Plant polysaccharides isolated from crude water extracts have previously shown effects related to the immune system. The aims of this study are comparing the properties of the polysaccharides among different plant parts, as well as relationship between chemical characteristics and complement fixation activities when the plant material has been extracted as the traditional healers do, with boiling water directly.
  
  
  METHODS
  Root bark, stem bark and leaves of Terminalia macroptera were extracted by boiling water, and five purified polysaccharide fractions were obtained by anion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Chemical compositions were determined by GC of the TMS derivatives of the methyl-glycosides and the linkage determined after permethylation and GC-MS of the derived partly methylated alditol acetates. The bioactivity was determined by the complement fixation assay of the crude extracts and purified fractions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The acidic fraction TRBD-I-I isolated from the root bark was the most active of the fractions isolated. Structural studies showed that all purified fractions are of pectic nature, containing rhamnogalacturonan type I backbone. Arabinogalactan type II side chains were present in all fractions except TRBD-I-II. The observed differences in complement fixation activities among the five purified polysaccharide fractions are probably due to differences in monosaccharide compositions, linkage types and molecular sizes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The crude extracts from root bark and stem bark have similar total activities, both higher than those from leaves. The root bark, leaves and stem bark are all good sources for fractions containing bioactive polysaccharides. But due to sustainability, it is prefer to use leaves rather than the other two plant parts, and then the dosage by weight must be higher when using leaves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: yuanfeng.zou@farmasi.uio.no.
authors.forename: Yuan-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway; GIAT-HKU joint Center for Synthetic Biology Engineering Research (CSynBER), Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nansha, Guangzhou 511458, PR China.
authors.forename: Bing-Zhao
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kari Tvete
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Inngjerdingen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barsett
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Medicine, BP 1746, Bamako, Mali.
authors.forename: Drissa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Diallo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Terje Einar
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Michaelsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Berit Smestad
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Paulsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange / Q000379:methods; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008302:Mali; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D024301:Plant Bark; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012756:Sheep; D029766:Terminalia / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D011134:Polysaccharides; D014867:Water
keywords: Boiling water extraction; Complement fixation activity; Polysaccharide; Terminalia macroptera