PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: La raíz.

ACCION FARMACOLOGICA= Pharmacological action: Antisifilítico.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: A new jatrophone derivative (6), jatrophone (3), jatropholone A (4) and jatropholone B (5), acetyl aleuritolic acid (1), cyperenoic acid (2) and a monoterpene were isolated from the rhizomes of the Paraguayan crude drug Jatropha isabelli.  The compounds were characterized by spectroscopic means.  The gastroprotective effect of jatrophone, jatropholone A and B as well as 9beta,13alpha-dihydroxyisabellione 6 and the triterpene 1 was assessed in the HCl/EtOH-induced gastric lesions model in mice.  Jatrophone elicited a strong gastroprotective effect with no significant differences between 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg and reducing lesions from 88 to 93%.  The jatropholones A and B showed remarkable differences in the gastroprotective assay.  Jatropholone A presented a dose-related response, with maximum effect (54% lesion reduction) at the highest dose (100 mg/kg), jatropholone B showed a strong action at all the doses, reducing lesions by 83-91%.  The cytotoxicity of the compounds was assessed towards fibroblasts and AGS cells.  Jatrophone was toxic against both cell lines (IC50 values: 2.8 and 2.5 microM, respectively).  Jatropholone B (5) was not cytotoxic while jatropholone A (4) displayed a selective effect against AGS cells (IC50: 49 microM).  The relevance of stereochemistry in the biological effects is clear comparing the effect of jatropholone A and B against AGS cells, with IC50 values of 49 and > 1000 microM for the beta and alpha C-16 isomers, respectively.  The results provide scientific support for the use of "yagua rova" as a gastroprotective crude drug in Paraguayan traditional medicine.

ZONA GEOGRAFICA= Geografical zone: N.E. de Argentina.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur,1980, p.53.

2) PERTINO, Mariano; et al. Gastroprotective effect and cytotoxicity of terpenes from the Paraguayan crude drug "yagua rova" ( Jatropha   isabelli ). Journal of ethnopharmacology. 2007, vol.111, nº3, p.553-9.