PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Tallos y hojas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Descongestionante del hígado y se emplea para lavar de la vista.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Uruguay. 

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs

Caryophyllaceae is a principally holarctic family including around 2200 species often classified into the three subfamilies Alsinoideae, Caryophylloideae, and Paronychioideae.  Complex and possibly homoplasious morphol. characters within the family make taxa difficult to delimit and diagnose.  To explore part of the morphol. evolution within the family, we investigated the phylogeny of the Caryophyllaceae by means of analyzing plastid and nuclear sequence data with parsimony and Bayesian methods.  We describe a mode of tracing a stable phylogenetic signal in ITS sequences, and a significant common signal is shared with the plastid data.  Parsimony and Bayesian analyses yield some differences in tree resoln.  None of the subfamilies appear monophyletic, but the monophyly of the Caryophylloideae is not contradicted.  Alsinoideae are paraphyletic, with Arenaria subg. Eremogone and Minuartia subg. Spergella more closely related to the Caryophylloideae.  There is strong support for the inclusion of Spergula-Spergularia in an Alsinoideae-Caryophylloideae clade.  Putative synapomorphies for these groupings are twice as many stamens as no. of sepals and a caryophyllad-type of embryogeny.  Paronychioideae form a basal grade, where tribe Corrigioleae are sister to the rest of the family.  Free styles and capsules with simple teeth are possibly plesiomorphic for the family.  

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) The raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs), including raffinose (Gal-alpha(1-->6)-Glc-alpha(1-->2)beta-Fru), stachyose (Gal-alpha(1-->6)-Gal-alpha(1-->6)-Glc-alpha(1-->2)beta-Fru) and higher d.p. RFOs are the most widespread galactosyl-oligosaccharides (GOS) in the plant kingdom.  Stellaria media is a typical representative of the Caryophyllaceae, a plant family lacking stachyose and the typical galactosyl extensions of stachyose.  During cold treatment raffinose, lychnose (Gal-alpha(1-->6)-Glc-alpha(1-->2)beta-Fru-alpha(1-->1)-Gal) and stellariose (Gal-alpha(1-->6)-[Gal-alpha(1-->4)]-Glc-alpha(1-->2)beta-Fru-alpha(1-->1)-Gal) were found to accumulate in S. media stems.  Next to these prominent oligosaccharides, two extra GOS were discovered.  Biochem. analyses (enzymic incubations and mild acid hydrolysis) and mass spectrometry identified the first, most abundant oligosaccharide as Glc-alpha(1-->2)beta-Fru-alpha(1-->1)-Gal, a breakdown product of lychnose.  The structure of this trisaccharide was confirmed by full NMR characterization.  The second, less abundant compd. (termed mediose) was identified as Gal-alpha(1-->6)-[Gal-alpha(1-->4)]Glc-alpha(1-->2)beta-Fru after biochem. analyses.  By partial enzyme purifn. the presence of discrete lychnose synthase (raffinose:raffinose 1Fru galactosyltransferase) and stellariose synthase (raffinose:lychnose 4Glc galactosyltransferase) activities were shown.  A model is presented explaining the structural diversity of GOS in S. media.  In the absence of stachyose, raffinose is further elongated by lychnose synthase and stellariose synthase to produce lychnose, mediose and stellariose.  Most likely, these compds. are also subject to partial trimming by endogenous alpha-galactosidases.

2) One new triterpenoid, 3beta, 16beta, 23, 28-tetrahydroxy oleana-11, 13(18)-dien-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1 --> 3) [beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1 --> 2)]-beta-D-fucopyranoside (1), together with 2 known flavonoids, were isolated from Stellaria media (L.) Cyr.  The structure elucidation of the new compd. was primarily based on HR-ESI-MS, ESI-MS, UV, IR, 1D-, and 2D-NMR analyses, including COSY, HMQC, and HMBC correlations.

3) There is growing use of anticancer complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) worldwide.  The purpose of the current study is to assess a sizeable variety of natural and plant sources of diverse origin, to ascertain prospective research directives for cancer treatment and potential new chemotherapy drug sources.  In this study, 374 natural exts. (10 mg/mL-5 mg/mL) were evaluated for dose-dependent tumoricidal effects using immortal neuroblastoma of spontaneous malignant origin.  The findings indicate no pattern of tumoricidal effects by diverse plants with similar families/genus under the classes Pinopsida, Equisetopsida, Lycopodiosida, Filicosida, Liliopsida Monocotyledons or Magnoliopsida Dicotyledons.  The results indicate that many of the most commonly used CAMs exhibited relatively weak tumoricidal effects including cats claw, astragalus, ginseng, echinacea, mistletoe, milk thistle, slippery elm, cayenne, chamomile, don quai, meadowsweet, motherwort and shepherd's purse.  The data demonstrate that the most potent plant exts. were randomly dispersed within the plantae kingdom (LC50 = 31-490 mg/mL) in order of the lowest LC50 Dioscorea villosa (Dioscoreaceae) > Sanguinaria canadensis (Papaveraceae) > Dipsacus asper (Dipsacaceae) > Populus balsamifera (Salicaceae) > Boswellia carteri (Burseraceae) > Cyamopsis psoralioides (Fabaceae) > Rhamnus cathartica (Rhamnaceae) > Larrea tridentate (Zygophyllaceae) > Dichroa febrifuga (Hydrangeaceae) > Batschia canescens (Boraginaceae) > Kochia scoparia (Chenopodiaceae) > Solanum xanthocarpum (Solanaceae) > Opoponax chironium (Umbelliferae) > Caulophyllum thalictroides (Berberidaceae) > Dryopteris crassirhizoma (Dryopteridaceae) > Garcinia cambogia (Clusiaceae) > Vitex agnus-castus (Verbenaceae) > Calamus draco (Arecaceae).  These findings show tumoricidal effect by exts.
of wild yam root, bloodroot, teasel root, bakuchi seed, dichroa root, kanta kari, garcinia fruit, mace, dragons blood and the biblically referenced herbs: balm of gilead bud, frankincense and myrrh gum.

Origins: Found in dooryards, cultivated ground, waste land, damp woods, thickets, and gardens.

Uses: The herb is classed as a refrigerant, demulcent, and expectorant.

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Origin

Throughout India at 600 – 1650 m.

Action:

Antirheumatic, antiinflammatory, astringent, refrigerant, demulcent, emollient, vulnerary, antipruritic. Dispels excessive body heat, relieves irritation. Used internally for rheumatism, externally in the form of ointment for chronic skin conditions, varicose ulcers and abscesses. Applied as a plaster for broken bones and swellings.

1) GONZALEZ, Matías ; LOMBARDO, Atilio ; VALLARINO, Aida. Plantas de la medicina vulgar del Uruguay. Montevideo : Talleres Gráficos, 1937, p.138.

2) PDR for herbal medicines. 4th ed. Montvale: Thomson Healthcare Inc., 2007. p. 189.

3) FIOR, Simone, et al. Molecular  phylogeny  of the Caryophyllaceae (Caryophyllales) inferred from chloroplast matK and nuclear rDNA ITS sequences. American Journal of Botany. 2006, vol.93, nº3, p.399-411.
 
4) VANHAECKE, Mieke, et al. Metabolism of galactosyl-oligosaccharides in Stellaria media - Discovery of stellariose synthase, a novel type of galactosyltransferase.  Phytochemistry (Elsevier). 2010, vol.71, nº10, p.1095-1103.
 
5) HU, Y. M., et al. New triterpenoid from Stellaria media (L.) Cyr. Natural Product Research, Part A: Structure and Synthesis. 2009,  vol.23, nº14, p.1274-1278.
 
6) MAZZIO, Elizabeth A.; SOLIMAN, Karam F. A. In vitro screening for the tumoricidal properties of international medicinal herbs.  Phytotherapy Research. 2009, vol.23, nº3, p.385-398.

7) A guide to medicinal plants of  Appalachia/ Krochmal, Arnold; Walter, Russel S.; Doughty, Richard M.: USA: U.S.D.A Forest Service:,1959.

8) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p 625.