Biological activity of the essential oil of Kadsura longipedunculata (Schisandraceae) and its major components Sri Mulyaningsih a , Mahmoud Youns b , Mahmoud Z. El-Readi a , Mohamed L. Ashour a , Endalkachew Nibret a , Frank Sporer a , Florian Herrmann a , Jürgen Reichling a and Michael Wink a a Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Heidelberg University and b Department of Functional Genome Analysis, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany Abstract Objectives The aim was to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil of Kadsura longipedunculata and the biological activity of the oil and its major components. Methods The essential oil from stem bark of Kadsura longipedunculata was analysed by capillary gas chromatography (GLC/FID) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GLC/MS). The ability of the oil to reduce diphenylpicrylhydrazine (DPPH • ) was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. Inhibition of both lipoxygenase and prostaglandin E2 was used to assess the anti-inflammatory activity. Antimicrobial activity was studied in vitro against a range of bacteria and fungi using diffusion and microdilution methods. Inhibition of trypanosome proliferation was assessed using resazurin as vital stain. The in-vitro cyto- toxicity of the essential oil on six human cancer cell lines (HepG2, MIA PaCa-2, HeLa, HL-60, MDA-MB-231 and SW-480) was examined using the MTT assay. Key findings Fifty compounds, representing 97.63% of total oil, were identified. d-Cadinene (21.79%), camphene (7.27%), borneol (6.05%), cubenol (5.12%) and d-cadinol (5.11%) were found to be the major components of the oil. The oil exerted a good antimi- crobial activity against all Gram-positive bacteria tested, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis. Streptococcus pyo- genes and S. agalactiae were the most sensitive bacteria with a minimal inhibitory concen- tration (MIC) of 60 mg/ml oil. The essential oil showed a moderate fungicidal activity against yeasts, but it did not show any activity against Gram-negative bacteria. The essential oil showed a good trypanocidal activity in Trypanosoma b. brucei with an IC50 value of 50.52  0.029 mg/ml. Radical scavenging activity had an IC50 value of 3.06  0.79 mg/ml. 5-Lipoxygenase inhibition (IC50 = 38.58 mg/ml) and prostaglandin E2 production inhibition (28.82% at 25 mg/ml) accounted for anti-inflammatory activity of the oil. The oil exhibited some degree of cytotoxic activity against MIA PaCa-2, HepG-2 and SW-480 cell lines with IC50 values of 133.53, 136.96 and 136.62 mg/ml, respectively. The oil increased caspase 3/7 activity (an indicator of apoptosis) 2.5–4 fold in MIA Paca-2 cells. Camphene and borneol did not show antioxidant activity. However, both compounds exhibited some degree of antimicrobial, trypanocidal, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity. Conclusions This investigation provided evidence for, and confirmed the efficacy of, K. longipedunculata, a traditionally used Chinese medicinal plant for the treatment of inflam- mation and infection. Keywords antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory; cytotoxicity; Kadsura longipedunculata essential oil; traditional Chinese medicine (TCM); trypanocidal Introduction Essential oils have been used in traditional medicine all over the world to treat infection and many diseases. Essential oils are a rich source of biologically active compounds and generally possess a strong and persistent odour, usually characteristic of the plant in which they are found. Essential oils have been shown to possess in-vitro antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, insecticidal and antiviral properties. [1–3] Some components of essential oils have also been shown to exert both in-vitro and in-vivo Research Paper JPP 2010, 62: 1037–1044 © 2010 The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain Received September 09, 2009 Accepted April 15, 2010 DOI 10.1111/j.2042-7158.2010.01119.x ISSN 0022-3573 Correspondence: Professor Dr Michael Wink, Institute für Pharmazie und Molekulare Biotechnologie, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. E-mail: wink@uni-hd.de 1037 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpp/article/62/8/1037/6135599 by guest on 22 October 2023