Abstract
Blaps rynchopetera Fairmaire has long been used as a folk medicine by the Yi and Bai ethnic groups in China to treat fever, cough, gastritis, boils, and tumors. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of the defensive secretion (TDS) of B. rynchopetera against AGS Caco-2, HepG2 U251 and Bel-7402 was tested, and the results revealed that TDS had potent cytotoxicity against testing cells with IC50 values of 45.8, 17.4, 53.6, 98.4 and 23.4 μg/mL, respectively. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was employed to clarify the cytotoxic constituents in TDS of B. rynchopetera and five volatile compounds, including 2-ethyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione (3, 31.00%), 1-tridecene (5, 28.02%), 2-methyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione (2, 22.86%), hydroquinone (4, 1.33%), and p-benzoquinone (1, 1.01%), were identified. Chemical constituent investigation on TDS further supported the presence of 5 above compounds. A cytotoxic assay indicated that compounds 1, 2, 3 and 4 exhibited significant cytotoxicity against the testing cell lines, implying that benzoquinones and hydroquinone played important roles in the cytotoxicity of TDS of B. rynchopetera. TDS is a cytotoxic natural material and further studies investigating mechanisms and inhibitory activities on other cell lines is warranted.
Highlights
The use of insects as a source of medicines for the treatment of a broad variety of human diseases has a long history in China
The MTT assays indicated that the defensive secretions (TDS) of B. rynchopetera secretion had remarkable cytotoxicity against the
Chromatography and identified though 1D-NMR spectra analysis which confirmed the presence of all five compounds in TDS.between TDS and Volatile Extract from Insect Bodies
Summary
China is one of the earliest countries to exploit insect resources in the world and has been a top producer of many insect-related industrial products for over one thousand years [3] Insects, such as silkworms and ants, are widely used in the prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Many pharmaceutical compounds have been identified from the medicinal insects and used for human disease treatments. Areas of Yi and Bai among ethnic minorities [4] for the treatment of fever, cough, gastritis, boils, and rynchopetera an edible species with high nutritional value, so in addition even tumors. Quantitation of the total polyphenols as the ingredients was performed by comparing two air-dried materials, fresh insect bodiesfresh andinsect their primary anti-oxidant ingredients was performed by comparing two air-dried materials, defensive secretion liquids [7].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call