Chemical and biological investigations of the Egyptian plant Cleome africana

Abstract

Cleome africana Botsch is a wild medicinal plant growing in Sinai. Chemical investigation of the ethanolic extract of its herb led to isolation of kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside-7-O-glucoside and hexadecyl glucosinolate [1,2]. These compounds were isolated using different chromatographic techniques and identified by spectroscopic measurements (UV, MS and NMR). The biological study as an antidiabetic [3] of different fractions [total methanol extract (TM), chloroform (C), ethyl acetate (E), butanol (B) and the total glucosinolate (G)] in streptozotocine induced diabetic rats proved that the fraction B is the most effective (reduction of glucose level from 181 to 96 mg/dl). The anti-inflammatory effect [4] of different fractions was studied in induced diabetic rats, the results showed that, the fractions B, E, TM and G caused a significant reduction in prostaglandin E2 level than the other fractions. Finally the hepatoprotictive activity [5] of different fractions was studied by measuring of liver enzymes (ALT, AST) in rats of injured liver using CCl4. It was found that the fraction G normalized both ALT and AST in addition to creatinin and uric acid level.