Abstract
Ageratina pichinchensis (Kunth) is a plant used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat multiple ailments. However, there have not been biotechnological studies on producing compounds in in vitro cultures. The aim of this study was to establish a cell suspension culture of A. pichinchensis, quantify the anti-inflammatory constituents 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (2) and 3-epilupeol (3), evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of its extracts, and perform a phytochemical analysis. Cell suspension cultures were established in a MS culture medium of 30-g L−1 sucrose, 1.0-mg L−1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid, and 0.1-mg L−1 6-furfurylaminopurine. The ethyl acetate extract of the cell culture analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) revealed that the maximum production of anti-inflammatory compounds 2 and 3 occurs on days eight and 16, respectively, improving the time and previously reported yields in callus cultures. The anti-inflammatory activity of these extracts exhibited a significant inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production. Furthermore, a phytochemical study of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH) extracts from day 20 led to the identification of 17 known compounds. The structures of the compounds were assigned by an analysis of 1D and 2D NMR data and the remainder by GC–MS. This is the first report of the production of (-)-Artemesinol, (-)-Artemesinol glucoside, encecalin, and 3,5-diprenyl-acetophenone by a cell suspension culture of A. pichinchensis.
Highlights
The genus Ageratina (Asteraceae) consists of about 1200 species and is distributed in temperate and subtropical regions of the America, Europe, Africa, and Asia [1,2,3,4]; in Mexico, about 164 species of Ageratina have been reported [5,6]
A. pichinchensis cells that transferred to Murashige and Skoog (MS) liquid culture medium with the same growth regulators as in callus cultures (1.0-mg L−1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 0.1-mg L−1 6-furfurylaminopurine (KIN)) grew showing abundant biomass and a slightly yellowish appearance (Figure 1a–c)
Similar results were observed in cell suspension cultures of Stevia rebaudiana that were disintegrated within seven days, and the cells acquired a yellowish appearance [28]
Summary
The genus Ageratina (Asteraceae) consists of about 1200 species and is distributed in temperate and subtropical regions of the America, Europe, Africa, and Asia [1,2,3,4]; in Mexico, about 164 species of Ageratina have been reported [5,6]. Several species of this genus have been studied, and these studies have demonstrated bactericidal, antifungal, antiviral, analgesic, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as the ability to treat gastric ulcers [7,8,9,10,11,12]. The production of these compounds can be unsustainable through the large-scale planting of A. pichinchensis, because many secondary
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