• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.155-159
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• 2005

The aqueous extract of Coscinium fenestratum was studied for its antioxidant status in STZ-nicotinamide induced type 2 diabetic rats at two dose levels of 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg. At the end of the experimental period, diabetic rats treated with aqueous extract at both dose levels showed a significant increase in the levels of enzymatic antioxidants such as glutathione peroxidase, glutathione synthetase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase as compared to the untreated control. Similarly, a significant increase was also observed in the levels of the non enzymatic antioxidants ceruloplasmin, ascorbic acid and tocopherol. The results suggest that the aqueous stem extract of C. fenestratum prevents type 2 diabetes mellitus induced oxidative stress.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2007

The methanol extract of Coscinium fenestratum, commonly own as tree turmeric, which is widely used in the indigenous system of medicine was studied for its in vitro scavenging activity in different methods viz DPPH scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging, iron chelation activity, superoxide scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation. The results were analyzed statistically by regression method. Its antioxidant activity was estimated by $IC_{50}$ value and the values are $57.1\;{\mu}g/ml$ for DPPH radical scavenging, $36.5\;{\mu}g/ml$ for iron chelating activity, $51.7\;{\mu}g/ml$ for nitric oxide scavenging, $53.63\;{\mu}g/ml$ for ABTS scavenging, $44.2\;{\mu}g/ml$ for superoxide scavenging, and $40\;{\mu}g/ml$ for lipid peroxidation. In all the methods, the extract showed its ability to scavenge free radicals in a concentration dependent manner. The results indicate that C. fenestratum has potent antiofidant activity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5371-5376
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• 2015

Berberine (B1), isolated from stems of Coscinium fenestratum (Goetgh.) Colebr, was used as a principle structure to synthesize three phenolic derivatives: berberrubine (B2) with a single phenolic group, berberrubine chloride (B3) as a chloride counter ion derivative, and 2,3,9,10-tetra-hydroxyberberine chloride (B4) with four phenolic groups, to investigate their direct and indirect antioxidant activities. For DPPH assay, compounds B4, B3, and B2 showed good direct antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ values=$10.7{\pm}1.76$, $55.2{\pm}2.24$, and $87.4{\pm}6.65{\mu}M$, respectively) whereas the $IC_{50}$ value of berberine was higher than $500{\mu}M$. Moreover, compound B4 exhibited a better DPPH scavenging activity than BHT as a standard antioxidant ($IC_{50}=72.7{\pm}7.22{\mu}M$) due to the ortho position of hydroxyl groups and its capacity to undergo intramolecular hydrogen bonding. For cytotoxicity assay against human fibrosarcoma cells (HT1080) using MTT reagent, the sequence of $IC_{50}$ value at 7-day treatment stated that B1 < B4 < B2 ($0.44{\pm}0.03$, $2.88{\pm}0.23$, and $6.05{\pm}0.64{\mu}M$, respectively). Berberine derivatives, B2 and B4, showed approximately the same level of CAT expression and significant up-regulation of SOD expression in a dose-dependent manner compared to berberine treatment for 7-day exposure using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. Our findings show a better direct-antioxidant activity of the derivatives containing phenolic groups than berberine in a cell-free system. For cell-based system, berberine was able to exert better cytotoxic activity than its derivatives. Berberine derivatives containing a single and four phenolic groups showed improved up-regulation of SOD gene expression. Cytotoxic action might not be the main effect of berberine derivatives. Other pharmacological targets of these derivatives should be further investigated to confirm the medical benefit of phenolic groups introduced into the berberine molecule.