Isolation of active constituents from cherry laurel (Laurocerasus officinalis Roem.) leaves through bioassay-guided procedures

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2012-01, Vol.139 (2), p.527-532
• Main Authors: Küpeli Akkol, Esra, Kırmızıbekmez, Hasan, Küçükboyacı, Nurgün, Gören, Ahmet C., Yesilada, Erdem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acetates; Acetic Acid; Analgesics - chemistry; Analgesics - isolation & purification; Analgesics - pharmacology; Analgesics - toxicity; Animals; Anti-inflammatory; anti-inflammatory activity; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - chemistry; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - isolation & purification; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - toxicity; Antinociceptive; Benzoquinones; Biological Assay; Capillary Permeability - drug effects; Carrageenan; Chemical Fractionation; chloroform; chromatography; Disease Models, Animal; edema; Flavonoids; fractionation; inflammation; Inflammation - chemically induced; Inflammation - metabolism; Inflammation - prevention & control; Laurocerasus officinalis; leaves; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Mice; Molecular Structure; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; pain; Pain - chemically induced; Pain - metabolism; Pain - prevention & control; Pain Measurement; permeability; phenolic compounds; Phenolic glucoside; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant Extracts - isolation & purification; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - toxicity; Plant Leaves; Plants, Medicinal; Prunus laurocerasus; Rosaceae; Rosaceae - chemistry; Solvents - chemistry; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Stomach Ulcer - chemically induced; Time Factors; traditional medicine; Turkish folk medicine
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2011.11.043

The fresh leaves of Laurocerasus officinalis Roem. (Rosaceae) are externally used against pain and feverish symptoms in Turkish folk medicine. Effects of the extracts, fractions and isolated compounds from the leaves of L. officinalis were investigated using in vivo models of inflammation and pain in mice. The crude ethanolic extract from the leaves of plant was sequentially fractionated into five subextracts; explicitly, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol, and remaining water extracts. Further studies were carried out on the most active EtOAc subextract was further subjected to fractionation through column chromatography. For the anti-inflammatory activity, carrageenan-induced hind paw edema and acetic acid-induced increase in capillary permeability models, and for the antinociceptive activity p-benzoquinone-induced writhing test in mice were employed. Ethanolic extract of the leaves was shown to possess significant inhibitory activity in the assay methods without inducing any gastric damage. Through bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation procedures three phenolic compounds, 2-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-2-hydroxyphenyl-acetic acid (1), kaempferol-3-O-β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (2) and (+)-catechin (3) were isolated from the active fraction and their structures were elucidated by spectral techniques (1D and 2D NMR, ESIMS). The experimental data verified that Laurocerasus officinalis leaves displayed remarkable anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activity.