• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 2011

The seeds of Abrus precatorius L. (Family- Fabaceae) constitute the drugs Abrus, Gunja, or Ratti in commerce. In the Indian System of Medicine, the seeds are used for sciatica, paralysis, headache, dysentery, diarrhoea, leprosy, ulcer, nervous disorders, alopecia, as well as anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antitumor, sexual stimulant and abortifacient. Seeds are poisonous and therefore are used after mitigation. The protein abrin is responsible for the highly toxic properties of seeds. Quantitative HPTLC analysis of the methanolic extract of seeds determined the presence of 0.4018% gallic acid and 0.4009% glycyrrhizin. The present study was undertaken to develop an HPTLC method, as well as ascertain the physico-chemical, morphological and histological parameters to establish the authenticity of A. precatorius seeds.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.127-133
• /
• 1999

'Gunja' is attributable to the plant Abrus precatorius L. (Leguminosae). Three forms with red, brown and another with white seeds are known to occur in this species and are employed for different therapeutic uses viz. as purgative, emetic, aphrodisiac, tonic and also as an abortifacient. According to some Ayurvedic literature the seeds are poisonous and should be given to the patients after proper processing ('Shodhan'). A comparative study of various phytochemical parameters, namely, percentage of successive extractives, total proteins, tannins, total ash and acid insoluble ash of these three forms of the processed (with cow's milk and Kanji) and unprocessed seeds was done. TLC and densitometric scanning of successive extractives was also carried out to serve as markers for processed and unprocessed seeds. The percentage of proteins, tannins, alcohol and water soluble extractives decreased in the processed material. Besides, their acute toxicity, CNS activity were also studied in albino mice and it was found that white seeds are more toxic as compared to the red and brown. The toxic effect was reduced with the processing. Further, the 'Kanji' processed seeds are less toxic than the milk processed one.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.103-110
• /
• 2010

The seed powder of Abrus precatorius L. has traditionally been used as oral contraceptive agent by the women in some rural areas in Bangladesh. The present study aimed to examine the antifertility activity of A. precatorius seed extracts in experimental female rats. Finely ground seeds were extracted with aqueous acetone followed by successive partitioning with n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), methanol (MeOH) and water. Water suspended crude seed powder, organic fractions of acetone extract and a standard contraceptive drug ($Nordette^{(R)}28$) were separately administered orally to the female rats for 30 days. n-Hexane, EtOAc and MeOH solubles at the doses of 2, 4 and 6 mg/rat/day, respectively and crude seed powder at 100 mg/rat/day exhibited 100% antifertility activity with lowest levels of serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and $17{\beta}$-estradiol. Histological study of ovary and uterus of these rats exhibited reduced number of developing follicles and increased number of atretic follicles in the ovary, and fewer uterine glands with shrunken morphology, reduced endometrial height, poor vascularity and compact stroma in uterus. However, the activities of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase and the body weight of the rats remained almost unaffected in all the seed extract treated rats compared to control. These results suggest that A. precatorius seed extracts reduced the levels of serum FSH, LH and $17{\beta}$-estradiol probably by affecting hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. The reduced levels of these hormones might have affected the oestrous cycle, follicular development, and subsequently the establishment of pregnancy in treated rats.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.17
• /
• pp.109-115
• /
• 2001

Abrus agglutinin was purified from the kernels of Abrus precatorius by Sepharose 4B affinity column chromatography followed by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration column chromatography. About 1.25 g of abrus agglutinin was obtained from 1 kg of the kernels. The LD$_{50}$ of abrus agglutinin is 5 mg/kg of body weight, which is less toxic than that of abrin, 20$\mu\textrm{g}$/kg body weight. The amino acid sequence of abrus agglutinin was determined by protein sequencing techniques and deduced from the nucleotide sequence of a cDNA clone encoding full length of abrus agglutinin. There are 258 residues, 2 residues and 267 residues in the A-chain, the linker peptide and the B-chain of abrus agglutinin, respectively. Abrus agglutinin had high homology to abrin-a (77.8%). The 13 amino acid residues involved in catalytic function, which are highly conserved among abrin and ricin, were also conserved within abrus agglutinin. The protein synthesis inhibitory activity of abrus agglutinin ($IC_{50}$/ = 3.5 nM) was weaker than that of abrin-a (0.05 nM). By molecular modeling followed by site-directed mutagenesis showed that Pro199 of abrus agglutinin A-chain located in amphipathic helix H and corresponding to Asn200 of abrin A-chain, can induce bending of helix H. This bending would presumably affect the binding of abrus agglutinin A-chain to its target sequence GpApGpAp, in the tetraloop structure of 285 r-RNA subunit and this could be one of major factors contributing to the relatively weak protein synthesis inhibitory activity and toxicity of abrus agglutinin.n.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.581-588
• /
• 2016

Lonchocarpine is a phenylpropanoid compound isolated from Abrus precatorius that has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antiepileptic activities. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidant effects of lonchocarpine in brain glial cells and analyzed its molecular mechanisms. We found that lonchocarpine suppressed reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death in hydrogen peroxide-treated primary astrocytes. In addition, lonchocarpine increased the expression of anti-oxidant enzymes, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), which are all under the control of Nrf2/antioxidant response element (ARE) signaling. Further, mechanistic studies showed that lonchocarpine increases the nuclear translocation and DNA binding of Nrf2 to ARE as well as ARE-mediated transcriptional activities. Moreover, lonchocarpine increased the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and three types of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). By treating astrocytes with each signaling pathway-specific inhibitor, AMPK, c-jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and p38 MAPK were identified to be involved in lonchocarpine-induced HO-1 expression and ARE-mediated transcriptional activities. Therefore, lonchocarpine may be a potential therapeutic agent for neurode-generative diseases that are associated with oxidative stress.