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Anti-inflammatory and analgesic components from “hierba santa,” a traditional medicine in Peru

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Abstract

“Hierba santa,” a Peruvian herbal medicine, is used to alleviate many symptoms, including headache, hemorrhoids, fever, and rheumatism. Several Cestrum species are said to be the origin of hierba santa. Three lots of hierba santa: Cestrum auriculatum (herb 1 and herb 2) and C. hediundinum (herb 3), which were purchased from Peruvian markets at Cuzco (Andes area) and Equitos (Amazon area), respectively, were examined for their pharmacological activities and active components. Herbs 1–3 showed anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities in the in vivo writhing inhibition test in mouse and inhibited prostaglandin E1-, E2-, or ACh-induced contractions of guinea pig ileum in the Magnus method. Activity-based separation of each extract yielded cestrumines A and B, cestrusides A and B, a mixture of (+)- and (−)-pinoresinol glucosides, nicotiflorin, rutin, sinapoyl glucose, ursolic acid, β-sitosteryl glucoside, and 2-sec-butyl-4,6-dihydroxyphenyl-β-d-glucopyranoside. Among them, cestrumine A and cestrusides A and B are new compounds. All three lots of hierba santa do not contain exactly the same active components.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Professor A. Tupayachi Herrera of UNSAAC; Professor F. Ayara Flores and Mr. J. Ruiz of Herbario Ethnobotánico Amazónico; and Professor S. Sekita of Tokushima Bunri University for kind assistance and advice. We would like to thank also the Chemical Analysis Center of Chiba University for FAB-MS measurement. This project was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan, and a grant from Hayashi Memorial Foundation for Female Natural Scientists.

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Author notes

  1. Mikio Yamazaki

    Present address: Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, 265-1 Higashi-shima, Akiba-ku, Niigata, Niigata, 956-8603, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai International University, 1 Gumyo, Togane, Chiba, 283-8555, Japan

    Marii Kawano & Emi Okuyama

  2. Laboratory of Natural Products Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan

    Mayumi Otsuka, Kazuhiro Umeyama & Mikio Yamazaki

  3. Institute de Agri-Cultura Andina y Amazonia, Lima, Peru

    Tetsuo Shiota

  4. Department of Kampo-Pharmaceutics, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan

    Motoyoshi Satake

Authors
  1. Marii Kawano
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  2. Mayumi Otsuka
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  4. Mikio Yamazaki
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  7. Emi Okuyama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emi Okuyama.

Additional information

This work is dedicated to the late Mr. Tetsuo Shiota, one of the authors.

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Kawano, M., Otsuka, M., Umeyama, K. et al. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic components from “hierba santa,” a traditional medicine in Peru. J Nat Med 63, 147–158 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-008-0302-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-008-0302-8

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