Journal article
Natural products isolated from Tetragonula carbonaria cerumen modulate free radical-scavenging and 5-lipoxygenase activities in vitro
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol.17, 232
2017
Abstract
Background: Propolis and cerumen are plant-derived products found in honeybees and stingless bees, respectively. Although propolis is an ancient folk medicine, the bioactivities of cerumen obtained from Australian native stingless bees (Tetragonula carbonaria) have not been widely studied. Therefore, we investigated selected anti-oxidant and antiinflammatory properties of T. carbonaria cerumen. Methods: A methanolic extract was prepared from the combined cerumen of 40 T. carbonaria hives, and HPLC was used to screen for chemical constituents that scavenged 2,2-azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AAPH). The ability of cerumen extracts to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and to interfere with leukotriene B4 (LTB4) production in ionomycin-stimulated human neutrophils was also examined. Results: The extract dose-dependently scavenged DPPH (EC50 = 27.0±2.3 μg/mL); and inhibited the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX)-mediated oxidation of linoleic acid (IC50 = 67.1±9.6 μg/mL). Pre-treatment of isolated human neutrophils with the methanolic cerumen extract additionally inhibited the ionomycin-stimulated production of LTB4 from these cells (IC50 = 13.3±5.3 μg/mL). Following multi-solvent extraction, the free radical-scavenging and 5-LOX-inhibiting activities of the initial cerumen extract were retained in a polar, methanol-water extract, which contained gallic acid and a range of flavonone and phenolic natural products. Conclusions: The findings identify free radical scavenging activity, and interference by extracts of T. carbonaria cerumen in 5-LOX-LTB4 signaling. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the extracts will provide therapeutic benefits for medical conditions in which oxidative stress and inflammation are implicated, including cardiovascular disease and impaired wound healing.
Details
- Title
- Natural products isolated from Tetragonula carbonaria cerumen modulate free radical-scavenging and 5-lipoxygenase activities in vitro
- Authors
- Karina D Hamilton (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringPeter R Brooks (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringSteven Ogbourne (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringFraser D Russell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Publication details
- BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol.17, 232; 8
- Publisher
- BioMed Central Ltd.
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12906-017-1748-6
- ISSN
- 1472-6882
- Copyright note
- Copyright © The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine; School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451182002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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