Pharmacology and Ethnopharmacology

Biography

Biography: Ashutosh Sharma

Abstract

Galphimia glauca has a long traditional use, and continues to be used in Mexico as a natural tranquilizer for the treatment of Central Nervous System disorders as well as for other illnesses. The genus Galphimia contains 26 different species but Identification of this particular species throughout Mexico is highly mistaken by local people and botanists from reputed universities. Aim of this study was to investigate it´s metabolic profile, confirm it´s ethno-botanical use and correct the mistaken identification of this species. Metabolic profiling was carried out by means of (1)H NMR spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis applied to crude extracts from wild plant specimens. HPLC analysis was performed to confirm and quantify the presence of galphimines. Two neuropharmacological in vivo assays on mice were employed to study anxiolytic (elevated plus maze test) and sedative (sodium pentobarbital-induced hypnosis model) activities in the extracts. Anti-inflammatory activity was determined by using the tetradecanoylphorbol acetate-induced mouse ear inflammation model (TPA). For DNA barcoding we employed matK, rpoC1 and rbcL DNA barcodes to indicate the different species. Furthermore to investigate the possible impact of the several different ecosystems where the seven populations were collected, thin layer chromatography was employed to create a partial chemical profile, which was then compared with the metabolic profiles obtained by (1)H-NMR and multivariate data analysis. The results confirm that only two out of seven populations showed anxiolytic and sedative effect. The galphimines are consistent good markers for CNS activity. Galloylquinic acid levels varied throughout the populations studied. As per our knowledge, this is the first study, which shows that these populations of Galphimia genus represent significant anti-inflammatory activity in all investigated populations that is not linked with galphimines. This study showed that the seven populations here analyzed contain at least three different species of the genus Galphimia, although each individual population is homogeneous. Interestingly our TLC analysis clearly showed that the active populations displayed a distinctively unique chemical profile. This work also showed that the use of DNA barcodes combined with chemical profile analysis is an excellent approach to solve the problems of quality control in the development of Galphimia-based medicines as well as for any breeding programs for this species.