Phytochemıcal and Pharmacologıcal Studıes on Some Papaver Specıes in Turkey

Abstract

Papaver species have been used for treating varieties of diseases including depression for centuries in Anatolia. We screened five Papaver species plant extracts for their antidepressant-like activity in vivo and their influence on BDNF expression in SH-SY5Y cells in vitro. According to the biological activity tests, the most active species in vivo and in vitro P. lacerum was chosen for the phytochemical analysis. One new 5-O-(6-O-α-rhamnopyranosyl-β- glucopyranosyl mevalonic acid (RGM) and one known Tyrosol-1-O-β-xylopyranosyl- (1→6)-O-β-glucopyranoside (TXG) glycosides were isolated from the active extract, which exhibited moderate effects on BDNF. To determine the metabolites related to BDNF expression, commercially available main alkaloids in P. lacerum, (roemerine and (+)-pronuciferine) were purchased and tested. Both roemerine, (+)-pronuciferine (20 and 10 µM) were significantly (p< 0.0001 - 0.001) active. LC-MS/MS analysis confirmed that roemerine and (+)-pronuciferine exist in the active P. lacerum extract. To identify possible effects of the isolated compounds TXG and RGM, in silico methods were used. In silico results showed that both compounds might exhibit anticancer activity. To confirm the in silico result, both compounds have been tested in vitro against HeLa cell line to evaluate their cytotoxicity activities using MTT assay. As a result both TXG and RGM were cytotoxic to HeLa cells with IC 50 from 54 – 66.4 µM. roemerine, (+)- pronuciferine, TXG and RGM did not show any cytotoxicity to the normal cell line (L929 cells).